JPH09314304A - Spray agent spray method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] To realize spray spraying at an appropriate flow rate in accordance with actual conditions, reduce the amount of spray agent consumed, and improve the quality of molded products. A die spray robot that includes a spray head having a spray nozzle at a robot wrist tip of an articulated robot and sprays a spray agent supplied by a spray agent supply device onto a die cavity surface of a die casting machine, The spray agent spraying amount of the spray agent supply device is controlled in synchronization with the work procedure of the mold spray robot and the spray nozzle operation path.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for spraying a spray agent such as a release agent or a heat retaining agent, and for example, a die spray robot in a molding apparatus such as a die casting machine for casting an aluminum alloy or a magnesium alloy in a die. When performing the spray work, the spray spray device is controlled to control the spray conditions (start spray, change spray amount, stop spray, etc.) in association with the operation of the die spray robot, and It is intended to effectively use, improve the quality of cast products, extend the life of the mold, and suppress the occurrence of blister.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a spraying agent such as a mold release agent or a heat retaining agent is spray-applied to the mold cavity surface of a die casting machine, for example, as shown in FIG. The spraying agent is blown under pressure to feed the spraying agent from the filter 3 and is sent to the spraying device 10 via the solenoid valve 4 and the flow rate adjusting valve 5, and the spraying air supplied from the compressor 6 is supplied to the solenoid valve. 7 and the pipe 8 to the spray device 10 to spray the spray agent L, and a pair of left and right platens (fixed platen 11) from the spray nozzle 10a.
A, the surface of the mold 12 (fixed mold 12A, movable mold 12B) attached to the movable platen 11B) was sprayed.
The spray device 10 is configured to reciprocate vertically in the center vertical direction of both molds 12A, 12B in the open state by an actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder 9, and a plurality of sprays attached to the side surface of the spray head 10A of the spray device 10. It was taken into consideration that the nozzle 10a uniformly and evenly applied the entire surface of the die 12 to be sprayed. Further, the adjustment of the supply amount of the spray agent L spray-applied to the mold 12 was controlled by adjusting the opening degree of the flow rate adjusting valve 5 provided between the tank 1 of the spray agent L and the spray device 10.

[0003] As described above, the conventional spraying method of the die-casting machine has a constant spraying rate with respect to the mold by maintaining a constant flow rate of the spraying agent and a spraying distance between the spray nozzle and the mold cavity surface. The spray was sprayed under the conditions. On the other hand, in recent years, a mold spray robot has begun to be used for spray work of a mold, and in this case, it was necessary to instruct the robot control device attached to the mold spray robot how to perform the spray work in advance. .

The teaching method of such a die spray robot is usually taught by online teaching, that is, so-called teaching playback. However, this work is extremely complicated and requires a long time. Further, the teaching work for the high-mix low-volume production requires the teaching work of the spray work every time the product changes, which is not suitable for the die spray robot. For this reason, in recent years, offline teaching has become mainstream by connecting a computer and a robot.

In the off-line teaching, a user (operator) constructs a work area in which a robot works on a computer screen in a three-dimensional manner, and sets a robot motion path in a three-dimensional manner. There was a problem that skill was required for the setting method. Furthermore, in addition to the robot operation program that controls the operation path of the die spray robot created in this way, an operation program of the spray agent supply device that controls the spray conditions of the spray agent supply device is created to perform the spraying work. Was.

[0006]

However, in such a control method in which the robot operation program and the spraying agent spraying operation program are separated from each other, the shape of the die surface and the distance between the die surface and the spray nozzle are adapted. The spray work with an appropriate spray amount is not performed, so that the spray amount is consumed more than necessary, or the mold surface is cooled more than necessary and a large thermal stress is repeatedly applied, resulting in a decrease in mold life, Blisters frequently occur, leading to deterioration of the quality of molded products. The present invention solves such a problem and presents a spraying agent spraying method for supplying an appropriate spraying amount.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, in the first invention, a spray head having a spray nozzle is provided at the tip of a robot wrist of an articulated robot, and a spray agent is provided. In a mold spray robot for spraying a spray agent supplied by a supply device onto a mold cavity surface of a die casting machine, a spray of the spray agent supply device is synchronized with a working procedure of the mold spray robot and a spray nozzle operation path. It was decided to control the amount of agent sprayed. Further, in the second invention, the first
In the invention, a spray agent is created separately by creating a robot operation program for setting an operation path of the die spray robot and incorporating a function of outputting a synchronization signal at each path point or path change point in the robot operation program. A function of monitoring the synchronization signal of the robot operation program is added to the operation program of the supply device, and the spray agent spray amount of the spray agent supply device is adjusted according to the output of the synchronization signal of the die spray robot during the spraying operation. I changed it.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION According to the first aspect of the present invention, a spray head having a spray nozzle is provided at the tip of a robot wrist of an articulated robot, and a spray agent supplied by a spray agent supply device is used for a die casting machine. In a mold spray robot for spraying on the mold cavity surface of, since it was decided to control the spray agent spray amount of the spray agent supply device in synchronization with the work procedure and spray nozzle operation path of the mold spray robot. Spraying work is performed with an appropriate spray amount that matches the distance between the spray nozzle and the mold surface. Specifically, as in the second aspect of the invention, a function of creating a robot operation program for setting an operation path of the die spray robot and outputting a synchronization signal to each path point or path change point in the robot operation program. And a function to monitor the synchronization signal of the robot operation program is added to the operation program of the spray agent supply device that is separately created, and the spray agent is output according to the output of the synchronization signal of the die spray robot during the spraying work. It is designed to change the spray amount of the spraying agent of the supply device, and it is possible to carry out the spraying work of an appropriate spray amount according to the spray start timing and the spray stop timing, or the mold surface distance and the mold surface shape. Spraying agent spraying and excessive cooling of the mold surface are prevented, and high-quality molded products with less blister generation can be obtained.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 11 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a die casting machine, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a control device, FIG. 3 is a display screen diagram of a screen display device, and FIG.
5 is a display screen diagram for explaining a spray path setting method, FIG. 5 is a flowchart for spray path setting, FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining allocation of external input / output signals when setting spray operation conditions, and FIG. 7 is a method for setting spray operation conditions. 8 is a flow chart showing the spray operation condition setting for the path, FIG. 9 is a display screen view showing a work generation screen and a spray path setting screen, and FIG. 10 is a mold spray robot operation program and spray agent supply device operation. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a program creation flowchart, and FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a synchronous interlocking work procedure between the mold spray robot and the spray agent supply device.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the overall structure of a die casting machine 100 according to the present invention.
00 is equipped with a mold spray robot 200 and a control device 300 for controlling the mold spray robot 200 as an auxiliary device. The mold spray robot 200 is a multi-joint type spray robot. The mold spray robot 200 has a rotating seat 210 that stands upright on the top of the fixed platen 11A, and rotates around a vertical axis by a motor 210a. A first arm 220 and a second arm 230, a motor 240 pin-connected to the lower end of the second arm 230, a vertical shaft 250 connected to the motor and rotatable about a vertical axis, and a spray head 260 connected to the lower end. The spray head 260 has a pair of left and right or plural pairs of spray nozzles (also referred to as spray guns) 260a opposed to the mold surface. Then, the spray agent is spray-applied toward the mold cavity surface at a required spray flow rate through the illustrated spray piping.

On the other hand, the control device 300 that controls the operation of the mold spray robot 200 is the mold spray robot 200.
Control device 310 that controls the operation of the mold spray robot 200, a personal computer (personal computer) 320 that gives a spray operation command to the robot control device 310 offline, and a sequencer 3 that controls the sequential activation of the mold spray robot 200.
30, a valve 340 for shutting off the supply of the spray agent and the compressed air based on an operation command of the sequencer 330, a die casting machine operation panel 350, and a valve 340.
It is composed of a spray agent supply device (release agent supply device) 360 for supplying a spray agent.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed configuration of the control device 300. The offline programming device 320 used in place of the personal computer 320 includes:
As shown, the mouse 320a and the keyboard 320b
, A storage device 320c, a screen display device (CRT screen) 320d, and a printer 320e.

A teaching method of the die spray robot of the die casting machine 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the display screen of the screen display device 320d attached to the personal computer 320 is arbitrarily moved to the work area display screen A displaying the front surface of the mold, which is the work, and to the side and the lower side thereof. Cross-sectional shape display of vertical vertical lines and horizontal horizontal lines that can be designated A vertical-axis direction cross-sectional shape display area B indicating a cross-sectional shape cut by a cursor line m and a horizontal-axis direction cross-sectional shape display area C are formed and displayed. Then, in order to model an actual mold having a complicated shape into a simple model, for example, a single shape such as a cylinder, a prism, a rectangular parallelepiped, a cube, a sphere, or the like is previously stored in a personal computer (or an offline programming device) 320. They are stored and called up as necessary to combine them to model a complicated mold shape into a simple shape. The model M in the case of FIG. 3 has a rectangular flat plate and a prism having a cylindrical hole attached diagonally. In the vertical sectional shape display area B and the horizontal sectional shape display area C, the cross section cut by the sectional shape display cursor line m arbitrarily designated on the work area display screen A is respectively displayed. It is displayed as a sectional shape display area B and a sectional shape display area C in the horizontal axis direction. The above is the work creation work (work modeling) for converting the mold shape into a simple model.

Next, a method of setting the spray operation path will be described with reference to FIGS. The procedure of the spray operation path setting is set according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. That is, what the operator performs in the spray operation setting is the setting of the spray start point, the designation of the spray path, and the designation of the spray end point. Based on this input information, the personal computer 320 is set by the program given in advance. The intersection of the path and the setting model (the actual mold) is determined. As a result of the intersection determination, if there is no cross-contact between the set route and the set model, the set route is final and the set route is determined.

However, if the result of the crossing judgment is that a crossing contact has occurred, the route must be changed to avoid this crossing contact. The intersection determination, performs intersection determination of a path and model set, if the crossing obtain the intersection of the 2-dimensional display screen between the path and the model, and the intersection the intersection S _1, S _2, the two-dimensional display screen Add intersections S _{1 and} S ₂ to the upper route. On the other hand, the model has a height in a direction (height direction) orthogonal to the two-dimensional display screen, and the height h is added to the intersections S _{1 and} S ₂ to avoid the height h of the model. Points S _{1 a} and S _{2 a} are added to the sectional shape display screen. In this way, when the path and the model intersect, the bent corrected setting path Y shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. Figure 4 shows the initial crossing route X
Shows a situation where the vehicle is bent at a right angle to avoid it and the route is changed (corrected and changed set route Y).

The correction route may not only be bent at a right angle as described above, but may be smoothly detoured according to an arc or other curve, and the detour route may be programmed and stored in advance according to a route correction program. Alternatively, the correction route may be automatically set in the personal computer 320 to obtain the correction route. FIG. 7 shows the embodiment. In the drawing, the editing of the route means setting of detailed use such as a spray distance, a spray moving speed, and a spray injection angle in a spray operation. In addition, the positioning degree represents the smoothness of the route to be changed, and is 0%.
Is a case in which the curve is bent at a right angle, and the curve bends smoothly as the value of the positioning degree x% increases.

The flowchart of FIG. 5 is a detailed description of the teaching procedure described above. The above-described designation of the spray route is actually performed by selecting a desired route from pre-programmed route types. It has become.
In the case of FIG. 5, a straight line or a non-straight line is selected. In the case of a straight line, the setting is completed by designating an end point. In the case of a non-straight line, an arc is formed. The end point is automatically calculated and set by specifying and inputting the center point and the rotation angle of the arc. Then, an intersection between the set route and the model is determined. The processing of the result of the intersection determination is as described above. After the final setting path is determined in this way, the operation proceeds to the setting of the operation condition in the next step.

The spray operation condition setting finely regulates the operation of the die spray robot 300 when performing the spraying work according to the final set route. For example, the spray distance (spray nozzle and die surface) is used. The distance), the spray movement speed, the spray angle (how many times the spray is applied to the coating surface), the spray flow rate, etc. are designated over time. In particular,
Various spray operation items are set according to the operation condition setting flowchart shown in FIG. As can be seen from the flowchart for explaining the assignment of external input / output signals when setting the operation conditions shown in FIG. 6, the operation (distance, speed, posture) of the above-described robot with respect to the set path
At the same time, the spraying operation (spray agent flow rate, air flow rate, valve opening / closing timing, etc.) can be specified in detail to perform a finer and more advanced spraying operation.

In the spray operation condition setting, abbreviated names of external input / output signals assigned in advance are displayed as a menu, and a desired path is selected by an input device such as a mouse to be registered as an additional condition of the operation path. To be done. This eliminates the need for the user operator to add the setting of the spraying operation such as opening and closing of the valve to the taught program each time, so that the teaching operation can be performed efficiently. As described above, the details of the teaching method of the mold spray robot according to the present invention including the modeling of the work, the setting of the spray work path, and the setting of the spray operation conditions have been described. Was. FIG. 9 (a)
Shows a work generation screen, and FIG. 9B shows a spray route setting screen.

The mold spraying operation is a work in which a spray agent is sprayed onto the surface of the mold with a certain spread from a position that is a certain distance away from the mold, and does not require precise positioning accuracy such as gripping or processing an object. Accuracy in the order of 1 mm is sufficient, and there is no need to accurately input a complicated actual mold shape to a personal computer as it is. From this, an approximate simple model is created and input by appropriately combining the work, ie, the mold surface shape with a simple single shape, and this model is displayed on a screen and used for setting an operation path. I did it.

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart for creating the mold spray robot operation program and the spray supply device operation program in the present invention. First, the operation of the mold spray robot 200 for each of the paths set as described above. A program (setting at what speed is operated) and an operation program of the spray agent supply device 360 (setting for spray supply or stop, and the supply amount thereof) are created. After that, a synchronization signal output command at a required location is additionally described in the created mold spray robot operation program, and a corresponding synchronization signal monitoring command is additionally described in the spray agent supply device operation program. In this way, the work is repeated for each route to complete the work for all the routes, and both operation programs are completed. By the way, in the example shown in the lower part of FIG. 10, the spray flow rate of 10 cc / s in the first path 1 is changed to the spray flow rate of 20 cc / s in the path 3.

FIG. 11 shows an actual mold spray robot 200 and spray agent supply device 3 using both operation programs (a mold spray robot operation program and a spray agent supply device operation program) created in this way.
The operation procedure when 60 is operated is shown. That is, in FIG. 11, in response to the output of the synchronization signal in the path of the mold spray robot 200, the spray agent supply device 360 receives this and changes the spray flow rate. It goes without saying that the spray flow rate remains the same until the synchronization output signal comes.

As described above, the operation of the die spray robot is linked to the spray flow rate by a relatively simple method, and the spray according to the actual situation such as the distance between the spray nozzle 260a and the die surface and the spray angle is carried out. To be done.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to supply the required amount of the spray agent such as the release agent or the heat retaining agent to the operation path in synchronization with the operation of the die spray robot. Therefore, the following excellent effects can be obtained. That is, (1) the quality of the casting is improved. (2) The amount of the spray agent scattered can be reduced, and the spray agent can be reduced. (3) The life of the mold can be extended. (4) The occurrence of blister can be suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a die casting machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a display screen diagram of the screen display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a display screen diagram illustrating a spray route setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a spray path setting according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating assignment of external input / output signals when a spray operation condition is set according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of setting a spray operation condition according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a spray operation condition setting for a route according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a display screen diagram showing a work generation screen and a spray route setting screen according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for creating a mold spray robot operation program and a spray agent supply device operation program according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a synchronous interlocking work procedure between the mold spray robot and the spray agent supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional die casting machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Tank 2 Compressed Air Source (Compressor) 3 Filter 4 Solenoid Valve 5 Flow Control Valve 6 Compressed Air Source (Compressor) 7 Solenoid Valve 8 Piping 9 Hydraulic Cylinder 10 Spray Device 11 Platen 11A Fixed Platen 11B Movable Platen 12 Mold 12A Fixed Mold 12B Movable mold 100 Die casting machine 200 Spray robot 210 Rotating seat 210a Motor 220 First arm 230 Second arm 232 Robot wrist end point 240 Motor 250 Vertical axis 260 Spray head 260a Spray nozzle (spray gun) 300 Controller 310 Robot controller 320 Personal computer (offline programming device) 320a Mouse 320b Keyboard 320c Storage device 320d CRT screen 320e Printer 330 Sequencer 34 Valve 350 Die-casting machine operation panel 360 Spray agent supply device (release agent supply device) A Working area B Vertical cross-section C Horizontal cross-section M Model m Cross-section shape display cursor line X Initial setting path Y Modified modified setting Route

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A mold spray robot comprising a spray head having a spray nozzle at the tip of a robot wrist of an articulated robot, and spraying a spray agent supplied by a spray agent supply device onto a die cavity surface of a die casting machine. A spray agent spraying method, wherein the spray agent spray amount of the spray agent supply device is controlled in synchronization with a work procedure of the mold spray robot and a spray nozzle operation path. 2. A spray created separately by creating a robot operation program for setting an operation path of a die spray robot and incorporating a function of outputting a synchronization signal to each path point or path change point in the robot operation program. A function of monitoring the synchronization signal of the robot operation program is added to the operation program of the agent supply device, and the spray agent spraying amount of the spray agent supply device according to the output of the synchronization signal of the die spray robot during the spraying work. The spray agent spraying method according to claim 1, wherein the spraying agent is changed.