JPH105964A - Mold spray robot - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To have a posture control mechanism that realizes spray spray at an appropriate angle according to the actual situation with a relatively simple structure, reduce spray agent consumption, and improve molded product quality. . A mold spray robot that connects a spray head having a spray nozzle to a tip end of a robot wrist of an articulated robot and sprays a spray agent supplied by a spray agent supply device onto a mold cavity surface of a die casting machine or the like. And a spherical movable body in which the spray head is attached to one point with the spray nozzle facing outward, and a movable body portion at least where the spray head is attached has an inner surface which is a spherical surface and the movable body is opened. The housing comprises a housing rotatably movable therein and a means for rotationally moving the movable body, and the movable body is rotationally moved in an arbitrary direction and at an arbitrary angle with respect to the housing using the rotating and moving means. A posture control mechanism that can be interposed and joined between the robot wrist tip and the spray head.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mold spraying robot for spraying a spraying agent such as a release agent or a heat insulating agent onto a mold surface of a die casting machine, and more particularly to a vertical articulated robot or a mechanism having three orthogonal axes. In addition, the present invention relates to a mold spray robot having a posture control mechanism that can freely control the posture of a spray nozzle attached to a robot wrist tip.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a method of spraying a spray agent such as a release agent or a heat insulating agent onto a mold cavity surface of a die casting machine by spraying, as shown in FIG. The spray agent is blown into the spray device 10 via the solenoid valve 4 and the flow control valve 5, and the spray air supplied from the compressor 6 is sent to the solenoid valve. Spray device 1 via 7 and pipe 8
0 and sprayed with the spraying agent L, and a pair of left and right platens (fixed platen 11A,
The spray was sprayed on the surface of the mold 12 (fixed mold 12A, movable mold 12B) attached to the movable platen 11B). The spray device 10 is configured to be able to reciprocate up and down in the vertical direction at the center of both dies 12A and 12B in an open state by an actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder 9, and a plurality of spray devices attached to the side surface of a spray head 10A of the spray device 10. The nozzle 10a has been designed so that the entire surface of the sprayed surface of the mold 12 is evenly and evenly applied. The adjustment of the supply amount of the spray agent L to be spray-applied to the mold 12 is as follows.
The control was performed by adjusting the opening degree of the flow control valve 5 provided between the spray agent L tank 1 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.

[0004]

However, in such a mold spray robot, the distance between the spray nozzle and the mold surface is set to a desired distance in a limited narrow space between the opened molds. Although it is possible to spray while holding it, if the angle of the spray nozzle is changed, it may interfere with a mold or peripheral equipment such as a tie bar, and may not be changed to a desired angle. Therefore, it is not possible to properly spray the spray agent by changing only the spray nozzle of the robot wrist to a desired angle on a mold surface having a complicated unevenness and a complicated change in the mold surface angle. The above spray amount is consumed, the mold surface is cooled more than necessary, and a large thermal stress is repeatedly applied to reduce the life of the mold, or blisters frequently occur, leading to a decrease in the quality of molded products. Was. In the present invention, such a problem is solved,
The object of the present invention is to provide a mold spray robot that can easily control the position of a spray nozzle, and has a small and rigid posture control mechanism and can spray a spray agent onto a mold surface that supplies an appropriate amount of spray. I have.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a spray head having a spray nozzle is connected to a tip end of a robot wrist of an articulated robot, and the spray head is supplied by a spray agent supply device. Mold spray robot that sprays a spray agent onto a mold cavity surface of a die casting machine or the like, the spherical movable body having a spray head attached to one point with the spray nozzle facing outward, and a spherical surface inside. At least, a movable body portion at the mounting position of the spray head is opened, and a housing in which the movable body is rotatably accommodated therein, and a rotating means for moving the movable body, and An attitude control mechanism capable of rotating and moving the movable body in an arbitrary direction and an arbitrary angle with respect to the housing is provided between the robot wrist tip and the spray head. Has a structure joined Te. Also, the first
As a more specific embodiment of the invention of the second aspect,
A spherical ultrasonic motor was used as a means for rotating and moving the movable body. Further, in the third invention, a spherical movable body to which the spray head is attached with the spray nozzle facing outward is formed of an insulator, and one permanent body attached to the spherical surface behind the spray head attaching portion. A magnetic piece made of a magnet or an iron piece, and a plurality of electromagnets which are individually arranged in a grid pattern on the inner surface of the housing so as to face the magnetic piece, and the energizing timing of the plurality of electromagnets is changed over time. A posture control mechanism capable of arbitrarily changing the spray nozzle axis direction to a desired direction by rotating and moving the movable body by performing selection control by changing the selection control is interposed between the robot wrist tip and the spray head. Joined.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, a spray head having a spray nozzle is connected to the tip of a robot wrist of an articulated robot, and a spray agent supplied by a spray agent supply device is supplied to a die cavity of a die casting machine or the like. A mold spray robot that sprays onto a surface, a spherical movable body having a spray head attached to a single point with a spray nozzle facing outward, and a movable body having an inner surface that is a spherical surface and at least where the spray head is attached. A part is opened and comprises a housing in which the movable body is rotatably stored inside, and a rotating means for rotating the movable body, and the movable body can be arbitrarily moved with respect to the housing using the rotating means. Direction, a posture control mechanism capable of rotating and moving at an arbitrary angle, and a configuration in which the robot and the spray head are interposed and joined between the robot wrist tip and the spray head. By using a spherical ultrasonic motor, or by arranging a plurality of electromagnets on the spherical surface inside the housing and moving the position of the electromagnetic attraction force with the magnetic piece attached to the movable body on the insulator spherical surface, the movable body is moved inside the housing. Even if the mold surface changes angle intricately by rotating in the direction, the spray nozzle axis direction can be set to any direction separately from the robot arm,
The spray nozzle can be inclined at an arbitrary inclination angle, and the spray nozzle is freely controlled in attitude to an angle suitable for the mold surface, so that appropriate spray spraying is performed.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 6 relate to an embodiment of the present invention,
1 is an overall configuration diagram of a die casting machine, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a control device of a mold spray robot, FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the mold spray robot, and FIG. 4 is a side view of an attitude control mechanism of the mold spray robot. 5, FIG. 5 is a front view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a side view of a posture control mechanism of the mold spray robot showing another embodiment, and FIG. 7 is an electromagnet of a housing in the posture control mechanism of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows arrangement | positioning.

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 posture control mechanism 280 connected to the lower end And a spray head 260 joined thereto. The spray head 260 has a spray nozzle (also called a spray gun) 2.
A pair of right and left or a plurality of pairs 60a are attached to face the mold surface. Then, the spray agent is spray-applied toward the mold cavity surface at a required spray flow rate by the illustrated spray pipe.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a first example of the attitude control mechanism 280.
In the embodiment, the movable body 282 is rotatably stored inside a main body 284a of a spherical ultrasonic motor 284, and the movable body 282 is rotationally moved in a desired direction by energizing the spherical ultrasonic motor 284. I do. The spherical ultrasonic motor 284 is a motor that uses ultrasonic vibration as a driving source, and is composed of a rotor 284A and four stators 284B that surround the rotor 284A from the surroundings and have a piezoelectric element 284b disposed on an opposing surface of the rotor 284A. This rotor 28
4A is replaced with a movable body 282. In the operation, by applying a two-phase high-frequency voltage to the piezoelectric element 284b attached to each stator 284B, ultrasonic vibration is excited on the stator surface, and the rotor 284A rotates in an arbitrary direction. The rotation direction and the rotation speed can be controlled by controlling the magnitude and direction of the ultrasonic vibration excited in each stator 284B. The spherical ultrasonic motor 284 is small and lightweight, can drive three degrees of freedom, has a high holding torque, and is suitable for controlling the attitude of the spray nozzle. Such a spherical ultrasonic motor 284 is
And the rotor 284A is mounted on the movable body 28.
2, and a spray head 260 having a spray nozzle 260a is attached.

On the other hand, the one shown in FIG.
80 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the movable body 282 is formed of an insulator, and the spray head 2 includes a spray nozzle 260a.
60, a magnetic piece (permanent magnet or iron piece) 282a is disposed on the back of the movable body 282,
A plurality of independent electromagnets 286a are arranged in a grid on the inner spherical surface facing the magnetic piece 282a of the housing 286 for storing the magnetic piece 282, and the electromagnets 286a to be energized are appropriately selected and controlled with time to obtain the magnetic piece 282a. The movable body 282 is sequentially rotated and moved to a desired angular position by the electromagnetic attraction force of the electromagnet 286a and the energized electromagnet 286a. FIG.
Is the housing 2 of the posture control mechanism (second embodiment) 280 of FIG.
This shows the arrangement of the electromagnets 286a attached to the inner surface of 86, and a large number of electromagnets are installed independently so as not to contact each other in an axially symmetric manner with respect to the electromagnet located at the center.

The attitude control mechanism 280 thus configured
Are joined between a vertical shaft 250 as a robot arm and a spray head 260 to be joined to the vertical shaft 250. That is, the spray head 2 is
60 and the main body 284a and the housing 286 of the spherical ultrasonic motor 284 are attached to the vertical axis 25 of the robot arm.
0. In order to incline the axis of the spray head 260 attached to the movable body 282, that is, the spray nozzle 260a in a desired direction, an operation command calculated by a previously input algorithm is given to the spherical ultrasonic motor 284 or input in advance. This is achieved by energizing each electromagnet 286a according to an energizing order calculated by an algorithm.

The attitude control mechanism 280 thus configured
And the spray head 260 has one end at the tip of the vertical shaft 250.
Or two (180 degrees apart).

On the other hand, the control device 300 for controlling the operation of the mold spray robot 200 is
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.

The first embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5 configured as described above
The die spray robot 20 of the die casting machine 100 including the attitude control mechanism 280 of the embodiment and the second embodiment of FIG.
The operation of 0 will be described. An operation program specifying the operation path of the mold spray robot 200 is created and input to an offline programming device (personal computer) 320 for transmitting an operation command to the sequencer 330 for controlling the sequence start of the mold spray robot 200 in advance. Each operation is performed so that the spray axis of the spray nozzle 260a is orthogonal to the mold surface (accurately, the center axis of the spray flow is orthogonal to the mold surface) in accordance with the unevenness and the curved surface of the mold surface. An operation command is transmitted to the attitude control mechanism 280 along the route, and during spraying, the spray nozzle 26
Operation is performed so that the 0a spray axis is as perpendicular to the mold surface as possible.

The attitude control mechanism 280 responds to these transmission signals so that the axis of the spray nozzle 260a is directed in a desired direction to the spherical ultrasonic motor 284 by an algorithm input to the offline programming device 320 in advance. Send an operation command, or
The electromagnets 286a are energized in the order of energization of the electromagnets 286a set by a previously input algorithm, and the movable bodies 282 are respectively rotated and moved to perform desired attitude control.

As described above, during the operation of the mold spray robot in a relatively simple manner, the spray axis of the spray nozzle 260a is moved to the mold surface having a complicated curved surface in conjunction with the operation of the mold spray robot. Attitude control is always performed so as to be orthogonal. In this way, the spray flow rate and the attitude control are linked, and the spray is performed according to the actual situation such as the distance between the spray nozzle 260a and the mold surface and the spray angle.
In the spray spraying operation, when the spray nozzle spray flow is orthogonal to the mold surface, the spray state becomes uniform, and at the same time, the spray amount can be reduced, so that the consumption of the spray agent can be minimized and the mold cooling Since the history is small, the life of the mold can be prolonged, and the occurrence of blisters can be reduced, so that the quality of molded products can be improved.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the attitude control of the spray nozzle can be easily and inexpensively performed with an extremely simple structure in conjunction with the operation of the mold spray robot, and the operation path can be controlled. On the other hand, it is possible to supply a necessary minimum amount of a spraying agent such as a release agent or a heat retaining agent, so that the following excellent effects can be obtained. That is, (1) the amount of the spray agent scattered can be reduced, and the spray agent can be reduced. (2) The life of the mold can be extended. (3) Since the occurrence of blisters can be suppressed, defects in molded products are reduced, and the quality of cast products is improved.

[Brief description of the 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 of the mold spray robot according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a mold spray robot according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a posture control mechanism of the mold spray robot according to the embodiment (first embodiment) of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view taken along line AA of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a posture control mechanism of a mold spray robot according to another embodiment (second embodiment) of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an electromagnet arrangement of a housing in the attitude control mechanism of the mold spray robot of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional die casting machine.

[Description of Signs] 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 Rotary seat 210a Motor 220 First arm 230 Second arm 232 Robot wrist tip point 240 Motor 250 Vertical axis 260 Spray head 260a Spray nozzle (spray gun) 280 Attitude control Mechanism 282 Movable body 282a Magnetic piece 284 Spherical ultrasonic motor 284A Rotor 284B Stator 284a Main body 284b Piezoelectric element 286 Housing 286a Electromagnet 300 Control device 310 Robot control Location 320 personal computer (offline programming device) 320a mouse 320b keyboard 320c storage device 320d CRT screen 320e printer 330 sequencer 340 valve 350 die casting machine operating panel 360 spray agent supply device (release agent supply device)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A mold spray for connecting a spray head having a spray nozzle to a tip end portion of a robot wrist of an articulated robot to spray a spray agent supplied by a spray agent supply device onto a mold cavity surface of a die casting machine or the like. A robot, comprising: a spherical movable body having a spray head mounted at one point with a spray nozzle facing outward; and a movable body having an inner surface which is a spherical surface and at least a movable body portion at which the spray head is mounted is opened. A housing in which is rotatably stored inside,
A posture control mechanism for rotating and moving the movable body with respect to the housing in any direction and at any angle with respect to the housing by using the rotational movement means; A mold spray robot characterized in that the mold spray robot is interposed between and joined to the spray head. 2. The mold spray robot according to claim 1, wherein a spherical ultrasonic motor is used as a means for rotating the movable body. 3. A permanent magnet or iron piece, wherein a spherical movable body to which a spray head is attached is formed of an insulator with the spray nozzle facing outward, and a permanent magnet or iron piece attached to a spherical surface behind the spray head attaching portion. And a plurality of electromagnets, each of which is independently arranged in a grid pattern on the inner surface of the housing facing the magnetic piece, and the energization timing of the plurality of electromagnets is changed over time. A posture control mechanism capable of rotating the movable body by selecting and controlling the movable body to arbitrarily change the spray nozzle axis direction to a desired direction is interposed between the robot wrist tip and the spray head. Item 1. A mold spray robot according to Item 1.