JPH054685A - Filling gun - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Even when the inlet does not have a flange, the filling gun is used to securely clamp the inlet so that the liquid can be filled. [Structure] The guide plate 22 at the tip of the nozzle 5 is inserted into the injection port 2, and the clamp socket 23 is rotationally driven by a drive motor to insert the clamp socket 23 into the injection port 2.
Tighten the male thread 3. By tightening the clamp socket 23, the clamp socket 23 and the guide plate 22
The liquid is discharged from the nozzle 5 while the injection port 2 is clamped between and.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filling gun for automatically filling a predetermined container with liquid, and more particularly to a filling gun suitable for filling liquid by a vacuum filling system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A gun for automatically filling a radiator of an automobile with cooling water is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-60-193898.
Some are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication. As shown in FIG. 5, this filling gun has a nozzle 53 attached to the tip of a robot arm 51 via an equalizing mechanism 52,
The nozzle 53 is provided with a pair of clamp claws 54 provided on the outer periphery of the tip end portion, and an air cylinder 55 for opening and closing the clamp claws 54. Since the clamp claw 54 is inserted and guided in the cam groove 56, when the clamp claw 54 is pulled up by the air cylinder 55 from the open state shown by the phantom line, the clamp claw 54 moves upward while performing the clamp operation. The seal rubber 57 at the tip of the nozzle 53 is pressed against the seating surface S of the injection port P by being caught by the flange portion F of the injection port P and relatively lowering the nozzle 53.

That is, in order to fill the radiator R with cooling water by the vacuum filling method, first, the inside of the radiator R is depressurized by so-called vacuuming, and then the cooling water is supplied to the nozzle 5.
Since it will be released from 3, the above-mentioned clamp claw 54
By the two-step operation, the contact between the seal rubber 57 and the seat surface S is ensured.

Further, instead of the above structure, a pair of clamp claws 54, 54 are separated from each other across the inlet P by an air cylinder arranged in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the nozzle 53. Similarly, there is also one in which the injection port P is clamped.

[0005]

In the conventional structure, the clamp claw 5 is provided on the lower portion of the neck of the flange portion F of the injection port P.
Since the injection port P is clamped by hooking 4, 54, the injection port P does not have the flange portion F, and the screw portion Q for attaching the cap is the injection port P as shown in FIG. If it is formed on the outer circumference, the injection port P
Cannot be securely clamped.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a male thread portion for mounting a cap on the outer periphery of the inlet when the male thread portion is formed. It is to provide a structure in which the injection port can be clamped by utilizing.

[0007]

A filling gun of the present invention comprises a nozzle fixedly supported by a holder and an inner peripheral surface of an injection port fixed to the tip of the nozzle and having a screw portion formed on the outer peripheral surface. As a reference, a guide member for centering the injection port and the nozzle, and a tip end portion that is mounted on the outer periphery of the nozzle and is urged toward the injection port side by an elastic body and is rotationally driven about the nozzle as a rotation center. A clamp socket for clamping the injection port between the internal thread portion of the circumference and the male thread portion of the injection port side for clamping the injection port, and a rotation driving means for rotationally driving the clamp socket are provided.

[0008]

According to this structure, when the filling gun is positioned so as to have a predetermined positional relationship with the injection port on the other side,
The guide member is inserted into the inlet to center the nozzle and the inlet. At the same time, the clamp socket is pressed against the open end of the injection port by the force of the elastic body. Therefore, when the clamp socket is rotationally driven in this state, the clamp socket is screwed and tightened with respect to the injection port, so that the injection port is reliably clamped by the guide member and the clamp socket.

[0009]

1 to 4 are views showing an embodiment of the present invention.
1 shows an example of a filling gun for automatically filling a brake fluid reservoir tank with brake fluid in an automobile assembly line.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a male screw portion 3 for attaching a cap is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the front end of the inlet 2 of the reservoir tank 1 filled with the brake fluid.

The nozzle 5, which is the center of the filling gun 4, is rotatably supported by a hand base member 6 on the side of a robot arm (not shown) via an equalizing mechanism 7. The nozzle 5 is integrally fixed to a holder 8, and the holder 8 is connected to a slide shaft 9.

The equalizer frame 10 of the equalizing mechanism 7 incorporates a linear guide (not shown) and a spring for urging the equalizer frame 10 in a mutually opposing direction, whereby the equalizer frame 10 is a hand base member. 6 is slidable in the Y direction. Then, when no external force acts on the nozzle 5, the equalizer frame 10 is positioned at the neutral position of the slide stroke in the Y direction by the force of the spring.

A slider 12 is supported on the equalizer frame 10 via two guide rods 11 so as to be slidable in the X direction.
A slide shaft 9 connected to is supported so as to be vertically movable. The slide shaft 9 is biased downward by a compression coil spring 13 and its lower limit position with respect to the slider 12 is restricted by a stopper 14, while the slider 12 is positioned so as to be positioned at a neutral position of a slide stroke in the X direction. It is urged by the tension coil springs 15 and 16 that oppose to each other. Therefore,
The nozzle 5 connected to the slide shaft 9 has X, Y, Z
It is possible to float in three axis directions.

A spline is formed on the outer periphery of the slide shaft 9 and is spline-coupled to the slider 12, so that the slide shaft 9 is prevented from rotating with respect to the slider 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, a small-diameter auxiliary nozzle 17 capable of maintaining a predetermined gap with respect to the inner diameter of the nozzle 5 is inserted in the nozzle 5, and the nozzle 5 itself has a double cylinder structure. .. The upper end of the auxiliary nozzle 17 communicates with the supply passage 18 of FIG.
Is connected from a port 19 to a brake source supply source (not shown).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a predetermined passage 20 is formed between the nozzle 5 and the auxiliary nozzle 17 in the nozzle 5 of the double cylinder nozzle structure. The upper end communicates with the chamber 40 inside the holder 8, and the chamber 40 is connected via a pipe 21 to a vacuuming device (not shown). Then, this evacuation system is used when the inside of the reservoir tank 1 is evacuated to a predetermined degree of decompression before the reservoir tank 1 is filled with the brake fluid as described later.

A circular tapered guide plate 22 is fixed to the tip of the nozzle 5, while a clamp socket 23 is rotatably mounted on the outer periphery of the nozzle 5, and an upper end of the clamp socket 23 is attached to the clamp socket 23. Driven gear 2
4 is integrally fixed. As shown in FIG. 4, the guide plate 22 includes an inner plate 25 inside the inlet 2.
It is pressed against and is fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the inlet 2 to center the inlet 2 and the nozzle 5.

On the inner circumference of the lower end portion of the clamp socket 23, a screw portion 26 corresponding to the male screw 3 on the injection port 2 side is formed, and the clamp socket 23 itself is vertically movable with respect to the nozzle 5. , Compression coil spring 27
Is urged downward by. Here, the spring constant of the compression coil spring 27 is set smaller than that of the compression coil spring 13 that biases the nozzle 5 itself in a floating manner.

On the other hand, a motor bracket 28 coupled to the holder 8 is provided with a drive motor 29 capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions, and an output shaft 30 of the drive motor 29 is provided with a drive gear 31 meshing with the driven gear 24 on the nozzle 5 side. It is fixed. Therefore, when the drive motor 29 is started, the clamp socket 23 is driven to rotate about the nozzle 5, and the drive motor 29 and the drive gear 3 are rotated.
1 and driven gear 24 to clamp socket 23
The rotation driving means of is constituted.

In the filling gun constructed as described above, the filling gun 4 is moved to the inlet 2 by the movement of the robot arm.
When the filling gun 4 is lowered after being moved right above, the guide plate 22 is inserted into the inlet 2 as shown in FIG. 4, and the clamp socket 23 compresses the compression coil spring 27. It moves relatively upward and is pressed against the open end face of the injection port 2.

At this time, even if there is some misalignment between the injection port 2 and the nozzle 5, the guide plate 22 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the injection port 2 and the nozzle 5 is used as a reference.
The center of the injection port 2 and the center of the nozzle 5 coincide with each other by copying the side, and the movement of the nozzle side accompanying the misalignment correction is absorbed by the degrees of freedom of the equalizing mechanism 7 in the X and Y directions.

When the drive motor 29 is started in this state,
The clamp socket 23 rotates (normally rotates) via the drive gear 31 and the driven gear 24, and the clamp socket 23 is screwed by the male screw portion 3 on the injection port 2 side and the female screw portion 26 on the clamp socket 23 side. It is fastened to the inlet 2. As a result, the injection port 2 is clamped so as to be sandwiched between the guide plate 22 and the clamp socket 23.

Here, the clamp socket 23 is the inlet 2.
Although the clamp socket 23 is pressed against the opening end surface of the injection port 2 before being tightened in, the pressing force is not due to the pressing force of the robot itself or the force of the compression coil spring 13 and has a small spring constant. Since it is provided by the compression coil spring 27, the opening end face of the injection port 2 is not scratched or the screw part 3 is not galled.

When the clamp socket 23 clamps the inlet 2 in this manner, the interior of the reservoir tank 1 is evacuated by a conventional method and then the predetermined brake fluid is filled from the nozzle 5.

That is, prior to the filling of the brake fluid, the air in the reservoir tank 1 is evacuated by a vacuuming device (not shown) through the passage 20 between the nozzle 5 and the auxiliary nozzle 17, the chamber portion 40, the communication passage 41 and the pipe 21. Is sucked to perform so-called vacuuming, and when the inside of the reservoir tank 1 is brought to a predetermined depressurized state, the brake fluid is filled through the auxiliary nozzle 17.

When the brake fluid in the reservoir tank 1 becomes full, the supply of the brake fluid is cut off, while the drive motor 2
9 is driven in reverse. As a result, the clamp socket 23
Then, the clamp socket 23 is disengaged from the inlet 2 and the clamp socket 23 is disengaged from the inlet 2, and thereafter, the entire filling gun 4 is pulled up by the movement of the robot arm to complete the filling work of the brake fluid.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the clamp socket mounted on the outer periphery of the nozzle is rotationally driven to be screwed to the male screw portion on the injection port side, so that the space between the guide plate and the clamp socket is increased. Since the injection port is clamped in, the injection port can be reliably clamped and the liquid can be automatically filled even if the injection port does not have the conventional flange portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional explanatory view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side explanatory view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view before the clamp socket of FIG. 1 is tightened.

FIG. 5 is a structural explanatory view showing an example of a conventional filling gun.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of an injection port.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reservoir tank (container) 2 ... Injection port 3 ... Male screw part 4 ... Filling gun 5 ... Nozzle 8 ... Holder 9 ... Slide shaft 12 ... Slider 22 ... Guide plate (guide member) 23 ... Clamp socket 26 ... Female screw part 27 ... Compression coil spring (elastic body) 29 ... Drive motor (rotation drive means)

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. In a filling gun for mounting a nozzle on an inlet of a predetermined container to fill a liquid in the container, the nozzle fixedly supported by a holder and fixed at a tip of the nozzle. , A guide member for centering the inlet and the nozzle on the basis of the inner peripheral surface of the inlet having a screw portion formed on the outer peripheral surface, and mounted on the outer periphery of the nozzle and directed toward the inlet side by an elastic body When the nozzle is rotated around the nozzle, the female thread on the inner circumference of the tip screw-engages with the male thread on the inlet side to clamp the inlet between the guide member. And a rotary drive means for rotationally driving the clamp socket, and a filling gun.