JPS6355463B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a workpiece transport vehicle, and more particularly to a workpiece transport vehicle that transports a workpiece to a work station.

This type of workpiece carrier is often used, for example, to support the body of a car and transport it between work stations, and to assemble various parts and members to the car body at each station. Conventional workpiece transport carts are equipped with pneumatic tools for positioning the workpiece installed on the cart, a clamper for fixing the workpiece on the jig during assembly work, and a lifter for raising and lowering the workpiece. In addition to the operating cylinders, a large part of the electrical system, such as the electrical control device for sequentially operating these cylinders, the signal transmission device for this electrical control, and the power supply section, is configured to suit the workpiece, the car body. There is.

Furthermore, this conventional workpiece carrier electrically detects the operation of the clamper and lifter, and based on this detection, the work robots for assembling parts installed at each work station are operated in sequence. , an electrical operation detector for this purpose, a power supply section for the detector, and an electrical system such as a signal transmission device for transmitting the detection signal output from the detector to the work station side.

For this reason, when changing the model of a car body as a workpiece, it is actually necessary to reconfigure most of the electrical systems installed on many bogies for controlling the work process, and the electrical systems described above must be reconfigured. Since the system is complex, reconfiguring the trolley conventionally requires a considerable amount of time and expense.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a workpiece transport vehicle that can be easily reconfigured in response to a model change of a workpiece such as a car body, and that can be manufactured at a relatively low cost. It is something to do.

The present invention provides a workpiece transport vehicle for transporting a workpiece to a work station, a compressed air connection port connectable to a compressed air supply pipe provided in the work station, and compressed air supplied through the compressed air connection port. and a signal air cylinder device that operates a control switch provided on the work station side in accordance with the operation of the workpiece working air cylinder. .

According to the present invention having the above configuration, no electrical system for controlling the work process is disposed on the workpiece transport vehicle,
Most of it was transferred to the work station, and the rest was replaced with an air-operated system, and a control switch was placed on the electrical system that had been transferred to the work station, and this control switch was installed on the trolley side. Since it is operated by a signal air cylinder device that operates according to the air cylinder device,
The structure of the bogie has become extremely simple, and it has become possible to easily and inexpensively change the model of the bogie itself in response to the model change of the car body, which is the workpiece.

Particularly in the automobile industry, as the types and specifications of produced vehicles are diversifying, it is desirable to use a mixed flow line in which various types of vehicle bodies are flown through one work line. The conveyor carts used in this mixed flow line must be equipped with an electrical system for controlling the work process so that they can accommodate all the vehicle types flowing on the line, and a large number of such carts must also be prepared. The cost of modification required for a single model change is extremely high. However, if the workpiece transport vehicle of the present invention is used, all electrical control systems are installed only in the work station, so the number of required electrical control systems is greatly reduced, and the structure of the vehicle is extremely simple, resulting in a significant reduction in equipment costs. can be reduced to

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A workpiece transport vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a workpiece carrier according to the present invention together with a work station.

In FIG. 1, the reference numeral S indicates a work station, the reference numeral 1 indicates a workpiece transport vehicle (hereinafter simply referred to as a vehicle), and the reference symbol R indicates a rail laid between a plurality of work stations S, respectively. Trolley 1
is for holding the work W in a predetermined position and moving the work W on the rail R to transport the work W between the work stations S.

A positioning jig 2 is placed on the cart 1, and a workpiece W is held on the positioning jig 2. On the other hand, a main wheel 3 for running on the rail R is provided at the lower part of the bogie 1 (second
(see figure).

On the positioning jig 2, when performing work on the workpiece W at the work station S, there is a
A plurality of clampers 4 are provided for clamping the jig 2 onto the jig 2. This clamper 4 is actuated by an air cylinder device 5. Further, a lift cylinder device 6 is disposed on the positioning jig 2 to raise and lower the workpiece W on the jig 2. In order to supply compressed air to the air cylinder device 5 and the lift cylinder device 6 as air cylinder devices for work work, an air conduit 7 as a compressed air supply conduit is installed on the jig 2. A compressed air intake port 8 is provided at the tip of the air pipe line 7 as a compressed air connection port for introducing compressed air into the air pipe line 7. This compressed air intake port 8 is preferably arranged near the side edge as shown.

On the other hand, on the work station S side, a compressed air source P which is an air pump, an air pipe line 9, a compressed air supply port 10 provided at the tip of this air pipe line 9, and a cart 1 are located at a predetermined position of the work station S. An autojoy inverter 11 is provided which automatically connects the compressed air supply port 10 to the compressed air intake port 8 on the truck 1 side when the vehicle is placed in the vehicle. The autojoy inverter 11 includes an air cylinder device 11a, which is normally in a retracted state and connects the compressed air supply port 10 to the compressed air intake port 8 in an extended state, which is an operating state. When a position detector (not shown) provided on the work station S detects that the cart 1 is placed at a predetermined position on the work station S, the air cylinder device 11a operates using a solenoid valve (not shown), etc. It is automatically activated via the The position detector may be of any optical, electromagnetic, mechanical, etc. configuration.

The work station S also includes first and second limit switches 12 as control switches.
13 are arranged as shown in the figure, and control relays CR are connected to the limit switches 12 and 13, respectively. The operation of this control relay CR will be described later. On the other hand, on the side of the truck 1, first and second signal air cylinder devices 14 and 15 are disposed corresponding to the limit switches 12 and 13, respectively. This signal air cylinder device 1
The air cylinder device 5 and the lift cylinder device 6 of the clamper 4 are operated when the operation of the air cylinder device 5 and the lift cylinder device 6 of the clamper 4 are completed, for example, when the clamping operation of the workpiece W by the clamper 4 is completed. Each is connected to the cylinder device 6.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the pneumatic system disposed on the truck 1 and the station S will be described, focusing on the operational connection state of the air cylinder device 5 and the limit switch 12.

The compressed air intake port 8 has first, second, and third intake elements 8a, 8b, and 8c, and the compressed air supply port 10 has first, second, and third supply port elements 10a, 10b, and 10c. Each is equipped with
The first supply port element 10a is a compressed air source P
The second and third supply port elements 10b, 10c are connected to a compressed air source P via a clamp control solenoid valve 16 and a clamp release control solenoid valve 17, respectively.
On the other hand, the first intake element 8a is connected via a two-position switching valve 18 to a first chamber 19a or a second chamber 19b separated by a piston 20 of a cylinder 19 of an air cylinder device 5. There is.

As shown in FIG. 3, the two-position switching valve 18 has a clamp release position connecting the first intake element 8a to the second chamber 19b of the cylinder 19, and a clamp release position that moves to the right from this clamp release position. 1st above
It is possible to assume a clamping position connecting the intake element 8a to the first chamber 19a. This two-position switching valve 18 is provided with a clamp pilot line 18a and a clamp release pilot line 18b, and these pilot lines 18a, 18b are connected to the first and second intake elements 8b, 8c. are connected to each.

The piston 20 sliding inside the cylinder 19 has
A piston rod 21 is provided on the second chamber 19b side. This piston rod 21 is connected to the cylinder 1
9 to actuate the clamper 4, the clamper 4 is activated in the extended position shown by the broken line in FIG. 3, and is inactivated in the retracted position shown by the solid line in FIG. First and second limit valves 22, 23 are provided at intervals along the sliding path of the piston rod 21. The first limit valve 22 is for detecting that the clamp 4 is in an active state, and the second limit valve 23 is for detecting that the clamp 4 is in an inactive state.

The signal air cylinder device 14 is connected to the cylinder 2
4, and a piston 25 that slides within the cylinder 24. The inside of the cylinder 24 is divided by the piston 25 into a first chamber 24a and a second chamber 24b. The first chamber 24a and the second chamber 24b are connected to a compressed air source P via a switching valve 26 and a switching valve 27, respectively. Switching valve 26
opens the first chamber 24 to the atmosphere in the inactive state shown in FIG. 3, and connects the first chamber 24 to the compressed air source P in the active state moved to the right in the figure. The switching valve 27 connects the second chamber 24b to the compressed air source P in the operating state shown in FIG. 3, and opens the second chamber 24b to the atmosphere when moved upward in the figure. Therefore, when the switching valve 26 is in the operating state and the switching valve 27 is in the inactive state, compressed air is supplied into the first chamber 24a and the second chamber 24b is opened to the atmosphere, so that the piston 25 is It is moved downward in the figure. A piston rod 28 is provided on the second chamber 24b side of the piston 25.
When the piston 25 descends as described above, this piston 25
At the same time, it descends and hits the limit switch 12, turning it on.

When the limit switch 12 is in the ON state, it activates the control relay CR, and the limit switch 12 activates the control relay CR connected to it, for example, a display device (not shown) or a robot that is a working device (not shown) for the next process for the workpiece W. It is designed to automatically operate electrically actuated devices such as

The connection state between the air cylinder device 5 and the limit switch 12 has been described above, but since the operating state of the lift cylinder device 6 and the limit switch 13 have the same structure, a detailed explanation will be omitted.

As explained above, in the present invention, all jig control on the workpiece transport vehicle is performed by pneumatic pressure, eliminating the need for any electric actuation device or power supply device for the same. Since only the pneumatic system is installed, the structure of the bogie is simple, and when the model of the workpiece car body is changed, it is extremely easy to reconfigure the bogie itself in response to this change. Become.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the workpiece transport vehicle of the present invention;
2 is a side view of the workpiece carrier shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a piping diagram showing a pneumatic system used in the workpiece carrier shown in FIG. 1. S...Work station, W...Work, 1...
...Workpiece transport vehicle, 4...Clamper, 5...Lift cylinder device, 8...Compressed air intake, 10...
...Compressed air supply port, 11...Autojyo inter,
12...Limit switch, 14...Signal air cylinder device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a workpiece transport vehicle that transports a workpiece to a work station, a compressed air connection port that can be connected to a compressed air supply pipe provided in the work station, and that operates with compressed air supplied through the compressed air connection port. Air cylinder device for workpiece work,
and a workpiece transport vehicle, comprising a signal air cylinder that operates a control switch provided on the work station side in accordance with the operation of the workpiece work air cylinder device.