JPH0911087A - Working line having quality check station - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the efficiency of quality check work by providing a quality check station at each one end of plural unit working lines. CONSTITUTION: A work sent from a work carry-in table 11 to a loading station 17 of a conveyer 15a is conveyed to an empty working machine 21 of a unit working line 20 by a conveying robot and subjected to designated working. The finished work is moved to an unloading station 16 of the conveyer 15b by the conveying robot. At this time, if a quality check switch of a console panel of a quality check station 23 is pressed, the work is conveyed from the working machine 21 to the quality check station 23 and subjected to quality check on dimensional measurement by an operator. After that, a completion switch is pressed to move the work to the unloading station of the conveyer 15b by the conveying robot and convey the same to the next working line 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises a plurality of processing machines, a transfer device for transferring the work between the processing machines, and a quality check station for checking the quality of the work processed by the processing machines. Regarding processing line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a workpiece is machined by using a plurality of machining machines, as shown in FIG. 8a, the machining machines 1, 2, 3 ... 1,
The parts 2, 3, ..., N are connected by a transfer device 4 such as a transfer robot. Further, the processing machines 1, 2, 3 ...
If there are many numbers and the straight lines cannot be arranged, arrange the processing machines 1, 2, 3, ... N in a U shape as shown in FIG.
They are connected by the transport device 4.

When performing quality checks such as machining accuracy after performing arbitrary machining, for example, after machining with the machining machines 1 and 2, quality for quality check between the machining machines 2 and 3. There was a check station 5.

[0004]

However, since the quality check station 5 is provided between the processing machines 2 and 3, the operator can perform a quality check in an environmentally unfavorable situation between the operating processing machines. Must be performed, and it was one of the potential factors that cause work mistakes in terms of safety and psychology.

Further, since the quality check stations are scattered between the processing machines, an operator walks through the processing line, which is a factor of lengthening the quality check time. Furthermore, when increasing the number of processing machines, the entire processing line had to be changed.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems, a plurality of processing machines and an inter-processing-machine transfer device for transferring a work between the plurality of processing machines are provided. A unit machining line is constructed by arranging the unit machining lines in parallel, a quality check station is provided at one end of the plurality of unit machining lines, and the work is conveyed between the plurality of unit machining lines. An inter-line transfer device is provided.

The invention according to claim 2 is based on claim 1.
In the configuration of the invention described in (1), a dummy work indicating a change in the type of the work to be introduced into the unit machining line prior to the change in the type of the work, and a dummy work provided for each of the unit machining lines and identifying the dummy work An identification means, and a dummy work storage for retracting the dummy work when the dummy work is identified by the dummy work identification means,
Dummy work retreating means for retracting the dummy work to the dummy work storage area by the dummy work identifying means identifying the dummy work, and a machining machine in the unit machining line due to the dummy work being identified by the dummy work identifying means At the end of machining of the workpiece currently being machined, the machining machine stopping means for stopping the machining machine for setup change of the change of the type of the workpiece, and the restarting of machining from the dummy workpiece storage to the unit machining line transfer device. Further, a dummy work transfer means for discharging the dummy work is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the unit machining line is provided with a quality check station at one end and an inter-unit machining line conveying device for conveying the work between the unit machining lines at the other end. It is a thing. further,
According to the configuration of the invention of claim 4, the parallel unit processing lines are radially arranged.

[0009]

According to the configuration of the invention of claim 1 described above, after the work is processed by the processing machine in the unit processing line,
If necessary, a quality check is performed by the operator at the quality check station. Then, between the unit processing lines, the work is transferred by the inter-unit processing line transfer device.

In addition, when a worker carries out a quality check,
All you have to do is walk across one end of the unit processing line. Further, according to the configuration of the invention of claim 2, when the dummy work is carried into the unit machining line, it is determined by the dummy work determining means that the dummy work is the dummy work, and the dummy work retracting means places the dummy work in the dummy work storage area. Are evacuated, and the machining machines are sequentially stopped by the machining machine stopping means from the machining machines on which the machining of the unit machining lines has been completed. And
When the setup change work is performed due to the change of the type of the work, the work is restarted after the work is changed, and the work is transferred from the dummy work place to the unit inter-processing line transfer device by the dummy work transfer means.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of a machining line for machining a plurality of types of workpieces, and 10 is a workpiece W.
At the line loading station for loading
Reference numeral 40 is a unit processing line which is arranged in parallel with each other for performing a predetermined processing on the work W. Also, 14 is a line unloading station.

The line carrying-in station 10, the unit processing lines 20, 30, 40 and the carrying-out station 14
Are connected to one ends of the unit processing lines 20, 30, and 40 by conveyors 15a, 15b, 15c, and 15d extending in a direction orthogonal to the unit processing lines 20, 30, and 40, respectively. The line loading station 10 includes a work loading table 11 on which a work W is placed, and a work loading station 13 formed at one end of the conveyor 15a.
And the work loading table 11 to the work loading station 13
It is configured by a loading robot 12 that transports the work W.

A plurality of works W are piled up on the work carrying-in table 11, and the work-in robot 12 carries the piled works W to the work loading station 13. The work loading station 13 is provided with a work detector 13a for detecting that the work W is placed, and the loading robot 12 controls the loading of the work W by the detection signal of the work detector 13a.

A loading station 17 is formed at the other end of the conveyor 15a. A work detector 17a is attached to the loading station 17 as shown in FIG.
A discriminating device 17b for discriminating between is attached.

It should be noted that the conveyors 15b and 15c also have a loading station 17 at one end, like the conveyor 15a.
And the unloading station 1 is formed at the other end.
6 are formed. A loading station 17 is formed at one end of the conveyor 15d, and a work discharge station 18 is formed at the other end.

The carry-out station 14 has a conveyor 15
The work unloading table 60 and the transfer robot 61 that carry out the work W conveyed to the work discharge station 18 of d.
It consists of. As shown in FIG. 2, the unit processing line 20 includes a conveyor 15a, a conveyor 15b, and a processing machine 2.
1, 22, the quality check station 23, and the transfer robot 24 are the main components.

The unloading station 16 and the loading station 17 of the conveyors 15a and 15b are overlapped and placed in parallel, and the unloading station 16 of the conveyor 15a and the loading station 17 of the conveyor 15b are connected to each other. The unit processing line 20 extends in the connecting direction, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the conveyor 15a.

A quality check station 23 is provided at one end of the unit processing line 20, and a guide rail 25 of a transfer robot 24 extends from the quality check station 23 to the conveyor 15b. Guide rail 2
On the side of 5, the work table 21 of the processing machines 21, 22
a and 22a are arranged. A hanging type articulated robot 26 is slidably attached to the guide rail 25. The articulated robot 26 guides the guide rail 25 between the conveyor 15a, the conveyor 15b, the processing machines 21 and 22, and the quality check station 23. Move along,
As shown in FIG. 3, the grip claw 2 attached to the tip thereof.
The work W is gripped by 7.

The quality check station 23 is a work placing table 2 on which a work W conveyed from the conveying robot 24 is placed.
The control panel 28 is provided with a quality check switch 28a, a completion switch 28b, and a start switch 28c. This quality check switch 28a is pushed to convey the work W processed by one of the processing machines 21 and 22 to the work mounting table 23a when the operator arbitrarily checks the quality of the work W, and is completed. The switch 28b is pressed to convey the work W to the unloading station 16 when the quality check is completed, and the start switch 28c is pressed to start the processing line 20.

The operation panel 28 is connected to the control device 50. This control device 50 controls the entire unit machining line 20, and controls the work detector 17a, the work detector 16a, and the machining machines 21 and 22 described above.
It is connected to the C device 13 and is also connected to a dummy work detector 51a of a dummy work place 51 on which a dummy work WD to be described later is placed.

Further, the dummy work storage space 51 is used for the processing machine 2.
1 and the loading station 17. On the other hand, since the unit processing line 30 and the unit processing line 40 that are juxtaposed with the unit processing line 20 have the same configuration as the unit processing line 20, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this way, the processing line is divided into unit processing lines 20, 30, 40 in units of quality check, and a quality check station 23 for quality check is provided at one end of the unit processing lines 20, 30, 40. , This unit processing line 20, 30, 40 is a conveyor 1
Even if a processing machine is added between the processing machine 22 and the quality check station 23, for example, the guide rails 2 of the transfer robot 24 can be connected by connecting with the guide rails 2a to 5d.
5 is extended and the unit processing lines 30 and 40 that only move the quality check station 23 are affected,
There is no need to make major changes to the entire processing line.

Next, the operation until the work W is conveyed from the carry-in station 10 to the carry-out station 14 with the above-mentioned configuration will be described. When the loading robot 12 sequentially loads the workpieces W from the workpiece loading table 11 on the workpiece loading station 13 of the conveyor 15 a, the conveyor 15 a sends the workpiece W to the loading station 17.

The work W sent to the loading station 17 of the conveyor 15a is transferred by the transfer robot 24 to either the processing machine 21 or the processing machine 22 which is free, and subjected to predetermined processing. In the following description, it is assumed that the work W is transported to the processing machine 21.
Then, the work W processed by the processing machine 21 is moved by the transfer robot 24 to the unloading station 16 of the conveyor 15b. At this time, when the quality check switch 28a of the operation panel 28 of the quality check station 23 is pressed, the work W is conveyed from the processing machine 21 to the quality check station 23, and the quality check of dimension measurement is performed by the operator. After that, when the completion switch 28b is pressed, the work W is moved to the unloading station 16 of the conveyor 15b by the transfer robot 24.

After that, the work W conveyed to the unloading station 16 of the conveyor 15b is conveyed to the processing line 30 by the conveyor 15b, and the same processing as the unit processing line 20 is performed. Further, the work W is conveyed to the processing line 40 by the conveyor 15c, subjected to predetermined processing, and then carried out from the work discharge station 18 of the conveyor 15d to the work unloading table 60 by the unloading robot 61.

When the type of the work W is changed, a dummy work WD is placed on the work loading table 11 at the head of the work W of the type to be changed, and the dummy work WD is loaded into the loading station 17 via the conveyor 15a. It When the dummy work WD is carried into the loading station 17, the determination device 17b determines that it is the dummy work WD, and the type of the work is changed by the determination of the dummy work WD.
Be informed.

Then, the dummy work WD is carried to the dummy work place 51 by the carrying robot 24.
On the other hand, when the control device 50 receives the signal of the dummy work WD from the determination device 17b, it recognizes that the work W currently being processed by the processing machine 21 is the final work work before the type change, and after the completion of the work. Quality check station 2
The work W is conveyed to 3. Further, when the quality check of the final processed work before the type change is completed, the processing machine 21
Stops the machining operation, and automatically or by a worker, a setup change work is performed to handle the next type of work.

After that, the setup of the processing machine 21 is changed, and the transfer robot 24 transfers the final processed work before the type change to the unloading station 16 and then transfers the dummy work WD to the unloading station 16. Stop until the setup change is completed. When the setup change is completed, the start switch 28C is pressed and the processing machine 21 is restarted. Then, the first work W after the type change is transferred to the quality check station 23 after being processed by the processing machine 21.

The machining line operates according to the above-mentioned operations. Regarding the operation of the unit machining line 20,
The processes of the determination device 17b, the control device 50, and the NC device 13 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. FIG. 3 shows the processing of the discriminating device 17b.
It is activated by the processing completion signal output from. The discriminating device 17b determines in step 100 whether or not there is a work W on the loading station 17 by the work detector 17b.
If the work W is present, the process proceeds to step 102. If the work W is not present, the process waits until the work W is conveyed to the loading station 17 in step 100.

At step 102, the dummy work WD
It is determined whether or not there is a dummy work signal generated when is placed in the dummy work storage area 51. If there is no dummy work signal, the process proceeds to step 104. If there is a dummy work signal, nothing is done as it is. The process ends.
Next, when proceeding to step 104, the work W conveyed to the loading station 17 is discriminated, and then proceeding to step 106. In step 106, it is determined whether or not the result of the determination in step 104 is the dummy work WD. If it is not the dummy work, the process is terminated as it is, and if it is the dummy work WD, the work determination signal is sent to the control device in step 108. Output to 50 and end the process.

FIG. 4 shows the processing of the NC device 13.
In the flowchart of FIG. 4, the process is started by operating the start switch 28c of the operation panel 28. In this flowchart, the presence or absence of a dummy work signal generated when the dummy work WD is placed in the dummy work place 51 in step 200 is determined. If there is no dummy work signal, the process proceeds to step 202, and the dummy work signal is output. If there is, go to step 204.

When the process proceeds to step 204, since the dummy work signal is generated, it is determined that the work W to be processed next is a work of a different type from the work W currently being processed, and the operation of the processing machine 21 is performed. To stop. Then, in step 206, the setup change processing is started, and when the setup change is completed, the processing ends.

On the other hand, when the process proceeds to step 202, since the dummy work signal is not generated, it is determined that there is a work of the same type, and the processing machine 21 outputs a request for loading the work W to the control device 50, and the step Machining is performed at 208, and a machining completion signal of the workpiece W that has been machined at step 210 is output. FIG. 5 shows the processing of the control device 50, which is also activated by operating the activation switch 28c of the operation panel 28.

When the start switch 28c is operated, the control device 50 determines whether or not the work W carried into the loading station 17 is a dummy work WD by a determination signal from the determination device 17b in step 300. If it is determined to be a dummy work WD here, step 3
At 02, the transfer robot 24 transfers the dummy work WD from the loading station 17 to the dummy work storage 51.
Is transported. As a result, the dummy work detector 51a in the dummy work place 51 outputs a dummy work signal.

In step 300, the dummy work W is also used.
If it is determined that it is not D, the process proceeds to step 304, and it is determined whether or not the machining completion signal is output from the NC device 13. If the machining completion signal is output, the process proceeds to step 306 and the machining completion signal is output. Is not output, the process proceeds to step 308. In both step 306 and step 308, it is determined whether or not the dummy work signal is output. If it is determined in step 306 that the dummy work signal is output, the process proceeds to step 310, and in step 308 the dummy work signal is output. If it is determined that the signal is output, the process proceeds to step 312.

On the contrary, if it is determined in step 306 that the dummy work signal is not output, step 31
4, the process proceeds to step 316 when it is determined in step 308 that the dummy work signal is not output. In step 310, the work W is loaded from the processing machine 21 to the quality check station 23, and the process returns to step 300.

In step 314, it is determined whether or not the quality check switch 28a of the operation panel 28 is pressed. If the quality check switch 28a is pressed, the process proceeds to step 310, and if the quality check switch 28a is not pressed, the process proceeds to step 310. Then, the process proceeds to step 318, and the work W is carried from the processing machine 21 to the unloading station 16. On the other hand, in step 312, the quality check completion switch 28 of the operation panel 28
It is determined whether or not b has been pressed, and when the quality check completion switch 28b is pressed, the work W whose quality check has been completed is transferred from the quality check station 23 to the unloading station 16 in step 320. After the transfer, the transfer robot 24 transfers the dummy work WD from the dummy work storage 51 to the unloading station 16 in step 322.
Are conveyed, the process proceeds to step 324, the quality check signal is set, and the process returns to step 300.

If the quality check completion switch 28b is not pressed in step 312, step 3
Return to 00. Further, in step 316, it is determined whether or not the quality check completion switch 28b of the operation panel 28 is pressed. If the quality check completion switch 28b is pressed, in step 326 the quality check station 23 is unloaded. After the work W of which the quality check is completed is transferred to step 16 by the transfer robot 24, the process returns to step 300. When the quality check completion switch 28b is not pressed in step 316, the process proceeds to step 328 and the NC device 13 is operated. It is determined whether or not a carry-in request has been issued.

Here, if the carry-in request is issued from the NC device 13, the work W is carried into the processing machine 21 from the loading station 17 in step 330 and the process returns to step 300. If the carry-in request is issued, It will immediately return to step 300. In this way, the machining line is divided into units for performing quality checks, a quality check station for quality check is provided at one end of this machining line, and if the setup change associated with the type of work is performed in units of this machining line, machining will be performed. Setup can be performed without stopping the entire line, and by providing a dummy work storage area for temporarily retracting the dummy work, it is necessary for the worker to move the dummy work to the unloading station after performing the setup change. Also disappears.

In the above embodiment, the unit processing line 2
0, 30, 40 are arranged in parallel in parallel, and the conveyors 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d are arranged between them in a direction orthogonal to each other, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the unit processing lines 20, 30, 40 are arranged. It may be arranged radially in parallel, and the spaces between them may be connected by the conveyors 15a, 15b, 15c and 15d.

Further, the conveyors 15a, 15b, 15c,
It is not necessary to concentrate 15d on one end of the unit processing lines 20, 30, 40, and as shown in FIG.
It may be arranged such that the first and the second electrodes are sandwiched therebetween.
Further, the unit processing lines 20, 30 and 40 are not limited to being connected to the conveyor, and the unit processing lines 2 of the above embodiment
A transfer robot using a transfer robot or a transfer bar that configures 0, 30, and 40 may be used.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of processing machines and an inter-processing-machine transfer device for transferring a work between the plurality of processing machines constitute a unit processing line, and the unit processing is performed. Since the lines are arranged in parallel and a quality check station is provided at one end of each of the unit processing lines arranged in parallel, and an inter-unit processing line transfer device that transfers the work between the unit processing lines is provided, the operator can When performing the check, it is sufficient to walk over one end of the unit processing without entering the processing line, and the efficiency of the quality check work can be improved.

Further, as described in claim 2, a dummy work is inserted before the work to be changed when the type of work is changed, and the dummy work is detected to stop the machining machine of the unit machining line. If the work detection means is provided, it is possible to partially stop the machining line and carry out the setup change when changing the workpiece without stopping the entire machining line, so that it is possible to minimize the reduction in production efficiency. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a processing line according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a unit processing line in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of a unit processing line in the example.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of a work discriminating apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of the NC device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of the control device.

FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of a processing line according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a conventional processing line.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 line carry-in station 13 NC device 14 line carry-out station 17b discriminating device 20 unit processing line 23 quality check station 28 operation panel 30 unit processing line 40 unit processing line 50 controller 51 dummy work storage WD dummy work

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kaiji Murata 1-1 Asahi-cho, Kariya city, Aichi Toyota Koki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tatsuhiko Inagaki 1-1-1 Asahi-cho, Kariya city Aichi Machine Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Ikuo Ichishiro 1-1, Asahi-cho, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture Toyota Koki Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A unit machining line is constituted by a plurality of machining machines and a machine-to-machine conveying device for conveying a work between the plurality of machining machines, and a plurality of the unit machining lines are arranged in parallel. A quality check station characterized in that a quality check station is provided at one end of a plurality of unit processing lines, and an inter-unit processing line transfer device that transfers the work between the plurality of unit processing lines is provided. line. 2. A dummy work indicating a change in the type of work to be introduced into the unit machining line prior to the change in the type of work, and a dummy work identification for identifying the dummy work provided for each unit machining line. Means, a dummy work yard for evacuating the dummy work when the dummy work is identified by the dummy work identifying means, and a dummy for evacuating the dummy work to the dummy work yard by identifying the dummy work by the dummy work identifying means. When the dummy work is identified by the workpiece retracting means and the dummy workpiece identifying means, the machining machine in the unit machining line finishes machining of the workpiece that is currently machined, and the machining machine changes the type of the workpiece. The processing machine stopping means for stopping the setup change, and the dummy work when the processing is restarted. The processing line having a quality check station according to claim 1, further comprising a dummy work transfer means for discharging the dummy work from the yard to the unit processing line transfer device. 3. The unit processing line is provided with a quality check station at one end, and is provided at the other end with a unit processing line transfer device for transferring the work between the unit processing lines. A processing line provided with the quality check station according to claim 1 or claim 2. 4. The processing line having a quality check station according to claim 1, wherein the parallel unit processing lines are radially arranged. 5. A processing line provided with a quality check station according to claim 1, wherein the parallel unit processing lines are arranged in parallel.