JPH0597079A - Liquid injection device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Easily perform liquid injection work in a narrow space such as the inside of the vehicle hood. [Structure] The cylinder rods 3a and 3b are arranged symmetrically with respect to the wrist portion 1 of the robot, and the liquid injection nozzle 17 and the cap clamper 12 are connected to the cylinder rods 3a and 3b.
They are arranged in parallel with b.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for injecting a liquid such as brake oil in an automobile production line,
In particular, the present invention relates to a liquid injection device and method for injecting a liquid into a tank for liquids (hereinafter referred to as a tank) provided on a vehicle body that is conveyed along a vehicle body conveyance line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional liquid injection device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-28.
No. 072, the injection nozzle device and the cap attachment device are installed side by side in one attachment head, and after the injection nozzle injects the liquid into the tank provided on the side of the vehicle body, the cap attachment device To attach the cap.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional liquid injecting device is for injecting liquid into a tank provided on the side of a vehicle body, and is used for vertically moving the cap mounting device or the injecting nozzle device. The cylinders and the cylinders are arranged in series in the vertical direction (vertical direction).
However, with such a configuration, there is no problem in space when injecting into a tank provided on the side of the vehicle body,
When injecting into a tank provided in the hood of the vehicle body, the injecting work must be performed in a limited space with the bonnet open, which makes the injecting work difficult. Further, in the conventional liquid injecting device, the injecting of the liquid and the attachment / detachment of the cap are performed by different robots respectively, or the tool change is performed by one robot.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art. The object of the present invention is not to change the tool by one robot, but to narrow the inside of the hood of the vehicle body. It is to facilitate the liquid injection work at the place.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the liquid injecting apparatus of the present invention, the cap of the tank provided on the vehicle body which is conveyed along the vehicle body conveying line is removed, and the liquid is stored in the tank. In a liquid injecting device for injecting, a cap gripping means for gripping a cap, a cap gripping control means attached to the cap gripping means and controlling gripping by the cap gripping means, and a cap gripping means attached to the cap gripping control means. Rotation control means for controlling the cap held by the arm to rotate, and first movement control means arranged in parallel with the rotation control means for controlling the movement of the cap gripping means in the vertical direction. Liquid injecting means for injecting the liquid into the tank, and the liquid injecting means are arranged in parallel, and the liquid injecting means is vertically moved and controlled. And a second movement control means, to constitute a said first movement control means and said second movement control means so as to symmetrically arranged on both sides of the wrist of the robot. Further, a compression spring is attached to the cap gripping means or the liquid injecting means via a guide rod. Furthermore, in the liquid injection method of the present invention, the cap of the liquid injection port of the tank provided on the vehicle body that is conveyed along the vehicle body conveyance line is removed by the cap gripping means,
In a liquid injecting method of injecting a liquid into a tank by a liquid injecting means, a position of a liquid injecting port of a tank is detected, and a cap holding means is moved onto the liquid injecting port based on the detected position to lower the cap. By grasping the cap by the grasping means and removing the cap from the tank, by moving the cap grasping means upward while rotating the cap grasping means, the liquid injecting means is moved onto the liquid injecting port, and the liquid injecting is performed. The device is lowered and its tip is inserted into the liquid injection port, the liquid is injected into the tank, and after the liquid injection is completed, the liquid injection device is moved upward and swung to hold the cap The means was again moved to the liquid injection port and lowered, and the cap was attached to the tank by the cap holding means.

[0006]

According to the above liquid injection device, the rotation control means and the first movement control means are arranged in parallel, and the liquid injection means and the second movement control means are arranged in parallel. Therefore, it does not take much space in the vertical direction, and the robot can facilitate the injection work in the hood.
Further, since the first movement control means and the second movement control means are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the wrist portion of the robot, the process of switching between the cap attachment / detachment work and the liquid injection work is performed by the robot wrist part. This can be easily done by rotating 180 times around the center. Further, since the compression spring is attached to the cap gripping means or the liquid injecting means via the guide rod, the vertical positioning becomes easy.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a liquid injection device of the present invention. A mounting arm 2 is installed on the wrist 1 of the robot. Cylinder rods 3a and 3b are symmetrically arranged on both left and right sides of the mounting arm 2. The liquid injection mechanism 14 is on the left side and the cap attachment / detachment mechanism 15 is on the right side of the robot wrist 1 as a reference. First, the configuration of the liquid injection mechanism 14 will be described. A tank clamp actuator 7 is attached to the cylinder rod 3a via a bracket 4a and a guide rod 6a. A tank clamper 8 is attached to the tank clamp actuator 7. During liquid injection, the tank clamp actuator 7 operates the tank clamper 8 to clamp the tank 16, and the liquid injection nozzle 17 injects the liquid into the tank 16. Thus, the tank 1
The reason why 6 is clamped by the tank clamper 8 is to prevent the liquid injection nozzle 17 from coming off due to the internal pressure at the time of liquid injection. When the liquid injecting mechanism 14 is not performing the liquid injecting operation, the injecting liquid mechanism 14 is forced by the compression spring 9a and is positionally regulated to the lowest position of the guide rod 6a by the lowering stopper 10a.

Next, the structure of the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 will be described. A rotary actuator 5 is attached to the cylinder rod 3b via a bracket 4b and a guide rod 6b. A tool actuator 11 is attached to the rotary actuator 5,
A tank cap clamper 12 is attached to the tool actuator 11. This tool actuator 11 operates the tank cap clamper 12 to clamp the cap 13. Then, the rotary actuator 5 rotates the tank cap clamper 12 via the tool actuator 11 to remove the cap 13 from the tank 16. The tank cap clamper 12 is rotated in the left-right direction by the operation of the rotary actuator 5, and the cap 13 is rotated.
Is loosened and removed from the tank 16, or conversely, the cap 11 is tightened and attached to the tank 16. When the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 is not performing the cap attaching / detaching operation, the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 operates the compression spring 9b.
And the position is regulated by the lowering stopper 10b to the lowermost position of the guide rod 6b.

A position recognition sensor 17 using a CCD camera is attached to the wrist portion 1 of the robot, and the position of the inlet of the tank 16 is detected by this. The cap 13 attached to the injection port of the tank 16 thus detected is removed by the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15, and the liquid is injected into the tank 16 by the liquid injection mechanism 14.

In FIG. 2, the robot 18 has a tank 1 of a vehicle body 19.
6 shows a state in which a liquid injection operation is being performed on No. With the hood 20 of the vehicle body 19 open, the robot 18
The wrist portion 1 of the above enters inside, and the liquid injection mechanism 14 performs the liquid injection operation. Here, while the liquid injection mechanism 14 is performing the liquid injection operation, the cap attachment / detachment mechanism 15
It is located on the opposite side of the liquid injection mechanism 14, and the cap attaching / detaching operation is not performed.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the initial state, both the liquid injection mechanism 14 and the cap attachment / detachment mechanism 15 have the compression spring 9a,
9b respectively, and they are located at the lowest positions of the guide rods 6a and 6b, respectively. First, when the robot wrist 1 approaches the tank 16, the position recognition sensor 17
Operates to detect the position of the inlet of the tank 16 (step 31). Next, based on the position data detected in step 31, the robot 18 operates and the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 moves to a position above the inlet of the tank 16 (step 32). Next, the cylinder rod 3b is actuated, and the tank cap clamper 12 moves the cap 13 of the inlet.
The cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 is lowered until it comes into contact with.
(Step 33). The slight overrun at this time is absorbed by the compression spring 9b, and the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 is slightly floated above the lowering stopper 10b of the guide rod 6b.

Next, by the tool actuator 11,
Operate the tank cap clamper 12 to set the cap 1
Clamp 3 Then, the tank actuator clamper 12 is capped by the rotary actuator 5.
Is rotated in a loosening direction to remove the cap 13 from the inlet of the tank 16 (step 34). At this time, a reaction force in the axial direction acts on the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15, but is absorbed by the compression spring 9b. Next, the cylinder rod 3b operates, and the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 moves up while the tank cap clamper 12 clamps the cap 13. (Step 35).

Next, the robot wrist 1 rotates 180 degrees, and this time the liquid injection mechanism 14 moves onto the injection port of the tank 16 (step 36). At this time, the axial reaction force acting on the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 disappears, the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 returns to the lowest position of the guide rod 6b, and the position is regulated by the lowering stopper 10b. Next, the cylinder rod 3a operates, the liquid injection mechanism 14 descends, and the liquid injection nozzle 17 is inserted into the injection port of the tank 16 and stopped (step 37). Next, the tank clamp actuator 7 operates the tank clamper 8 to clamp the tank 20, and the liquid is injected from the liquid injection nozzle 17 into the tank 16 (step 38). At this time, the tank 20 is clamped in order to prevent the liquid injection nozzle 17 from being separated from the injection port of the tank 16 due to the internal pressure at the time of liquid injection, as described above.

When the liquid injection is completed, the tank clamper 8
The clamp of the tank 20 due to is released, the cylinder rod 4a operates, and the liquid injection mechanism 14 rises (step 39). Then, the robot wrist 1 is rotated by 180 degrees, and the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 is moved onto the inlet of the tank 16 again (step 40). At this time, the reaction force in the axial direction acting on the liquid injection mechanism 14 disappears, the liquid injection mechanism 14 returns to the lowest position of the guide rod 6a, and the position is regulated by the lowering stopper 10a. Next, the cylinder attaching / detaching mechanism 15 descends until the cylinder rod 3b operates and the tank cap clamper 12 that clamps the cap 13 comes into contact with the inlet of the tank 16 (step 41).

Next, the rotary actuator 5 operates to rotate the tank cap clamper 12 and tighten the cap 13 (step 42). At this time also, a reaction force in the axial direction acts on the cap attachment / detachment mechanism 15, but it is advantageous in terms of tightening torque because it is in the same direction as the force of the compression spring 9b, contrary to when it is loosened. When the cap 13 is released from the tank cap clamper 12 after the cap 13 is tightened, the cylinder rod 3
b operates, the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 15 rises, and the robot 18 returns to the original position (step 43). This completes the liquid injection work.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the injection work can be easily performed even in a narrow space such as the inside of the hood of the vehicle body. Further, the switching process between the cap attachment / detachment work and the liquid injection work can be easily performed by rotating the robot wrist portion 180 degrees. Further, since the compression spring is attached to the cap holding means or the liquid injection means via the guide rod, the vertical positioning can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a liquid injection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state when a liquid injection work is being performed by a robot.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Robot wrist 2 Mounting arm 3 Cylinder rod 5 Rotary actuator 6 Guide rod 7 Tank clamp actuator 8 Tank clamper 11 Tool actuator 12 Tank cap clamper 14 Liquid injection mechanism 15 Cap attachment / detachment mechanism

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A liquid injecting device for injecting a liquid into a tank by removing a cap of a tank provided on a vehicle body conveyed along a vehicle body conveyance line, and a cap grasping means for grasping the cap and the cap grasping means. A cap gripping control means attached to the gripping means for controlling gripping by the cap gripping means, and a rotation control means mounted to the cap gripping control means for controlling the cap gripped by the cap gripping means to rotate. First movement control means arranged in parallel with the rotation control means for controlling movement of the cap gripping means in the vertical direction, liquid injection means for injecting liquid into the tank, and arranged in parallel with the liquid injection means. And a second movement control means for vertically controlling the movement of the liquid injecting means, and the first movement control means and the second movement control means. A liquid injecting device, wherein the control means and the control means are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the wrist of the robot. 2. The liquid injection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a compression spring is attached to the cap gripping means or the liquid injection means via a guide rod. 3. A liquid injecting method in which a cap of a liquid injecting port of a tank provided on a vehicle body conveyed along a vehicle body conveying line is removed by a cap gripping means, and liquid is injected into the tank by the liquid injecting means. The position of the liquid inlet is detected, and the cap gripping means is moved to and lowered from the liquid inlet based on the detected position, and the cap gripping means grips the cap to remove the cap from the fuel tank. By moving and swiveling the cap gripping means in the state of gripping, the liquid injecting means is moved onto the liquid injecting port, and the liquid injecting means is lowered to insert its tip into the liquid injecting port. After injecting the liquid into the tank, and after the liquid injection is completed, the liquid injecting means is moved upward and swung so that the cap with the cap held is held. The flop gripping means is again moved downward to the liquid inlet, a liquid injection method characterized by attaching the cap to the tank by a cap gripping means.