JP2003266252A - Automatic assembling and dismantling device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve space-saving and energy-saving, and improve profitability by efficiently assembling multiple sorts of parts of largely different sizes, and efficiently dismantling used products comprising multiple sorts of parts. <P>SOLUTION: On a work robot part 4 of a work station 2, a rotary table 7, and two robots 6a and 6b installed on an outer circumferential parts of the rotary table 7 are provided. When a large part is processed, the rotary table 7 is rotated, and the two robots 6a and 6b are actuated in cooperation. When a small part is processed, the rotary table 7 is not rotated, and the two robots 6a and 6b are actuated separately from each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus that efficiently assembles office equipment and home electric appliances having various kinds of parts and efficiently disassembles used office equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Office equipment such as copying machines and printers and home electric appliances are composed of various kinds of parts. , These products are produced in small quantities with a wide variety of products due to product diversification and shorter product life. Therefore, unlike the conventional mass production, it is necessary to automatically assemble a variety of parts of 5 to 20 parts per device in the parts assembling work of these products. The various types of parts are various, from large parts such as covers, cases and frames to small parts such as screws, pins, bearings and springs. In order to assemble these parts by an automatic assembling apparatus, various functions such as a hand and a parts supply system are required centering on the assembly robot.

Further, there is an urgent need to shift to a recycling-oriented society that effectively uses resources due to global environmental problems. A recycling law was enacted aiming at this recycling society, and it is important for the manufacturing industry to oblige the manufacturer to take responsibility for collection and to promote the reuse of parts. From the viewpoint of effective use of this resource, various kinds of reuse are being actively developed in specific used products such as copying machines and printers. If 100% of this used product is collected, disassembled, and reused, the amount becomes enormous, and it becomes necessary to assemble and disassemble as efficiently as possible. In particular, the cost of recycling and reusing the collected parts is compared with the cost of new parts, and if the cost of new parts is low, a circulated production system will not work. Therefore, there is a need for an automatic disassembly device that can disassemble multiple parts of a product efficiently and at low cost.

The conventional automatic assembly apparatus for assembling many kinds and many parts occupies a very large area including the parts supply area, and requires about twice as much installation area as a human assembly line. It was Furthermore, the robot must be moved in order to get many kinds and many parts to the parts supply area, which significantly increases the assembly work time. Further, when the component supply area is provided at a plane position within the robot operation range of the assembling apparatus, the component supply area becomes small and it becomes impossible to supply a wide variety of components. As a method of supplying various kinds of parts, there is also a method of arranging and supplying various kinds of parts in a tray in advance, but it is necessary to replace the trays to supply the parts, and if the trays are automatically replaced, the device Is complex and expensive.

Further, in recent years, a multifunctional hand has been developed which can handle small parts such as pins and bearings with one hand without hand replacement. However, in the case of one robot, it is necessary to handle large parts such as a frame, a unit and rollers with a dedicated hand. In this case, it takes a long time to exchange the hands, and high-speed assembly cannot be performed.

On the other hand, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3012463
The component supply and assembly device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication has a plurality of robots installed on a moving table, and by installing the component supply device adjacent to the moving direction of the moving table, a wide component supplyable area is obtained, It is essential to assemble parts of various types and points by assembling parts alternately by a plurality of robots.

The component assembling apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-8078 is provided with a component supplying device, a component processing device, and a component accommodating device around a circulating assembly jig conveying device. All of the storage positions are placed within the movable range of multiple robots, and the process of completing parts is divided by multiple robots to complement the work and improve area productivity and model change compatibility. I am trying.

[0008]

However, the component supply / assembling apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3012463 has the following problems.
The larger the number of parts to be assembled, the more it is necessary to install the parts supply device in the moving direction of the moving table, and the assembly time increases as a quadratic function according to the number of parts. In addition, the larger the number of parts, the larger the installation space for the assembly device. For this reason, there is a disadvantage in that it cannot be applied to an apparatus that automatically assembles various types of parts.

Further, in the component assembling apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-8078, components having greatly different sizes, for example, small components such as pins and bearings are assembled, and large components such as a frame, a unit and a roller are assembled. However, there is a disadvantage in that the assembly cannot be performed efficiently in a short time.

The present invention solves the above disadvantages, efficiently assembles a wide variety of parts of different sizes, efficiently disassembles used products composed of a wide variety of parts, and saves space and energy. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus capable of improving the profitability.

[0011]

An automatic parts assembling / disassembling apparatus according to the present invention is to assemble parts to complete a product,
An automatic assembling / disassembling device for disassembling parts from a collected product, which has a work station and a carrying device provided along the work station for carrying a product to be assembled and a used product. The work robot unit has a component supply device or a component collection device provided before and after the work robot unit in the moving direction of the transfer device. The work robot unit includes a rotary table and an outer peripheral portion of the rotary table. It has two articulated robots installed, a rotary table and a robot controller that controls the operation of the two articulated robots. The robot controller rotates the rotary table when processing large parts. When operating two articulated robots in cooperation to process small parts,
It is characterized in that the two articulated robots are independently operated without rotating the rotary table.

The rotary table is provided with a weight for removing an imbalance of weight in a position opposite to the moving direction of an arm having two articulated robot hands, a replacement hand and a jig, and a rotary table. Reduce the unbalance of the thrust load of the bearing that receives it.

Further, two articulated robots are installed on the rotary table via a moving mechanism for adjusting the installation interval,
It is applied to parts of various sizes and products of different sizes.

Further, a large component supply device or a large component recovery device for storing a long component or a large component at a position facing the work station with the transport device interposed therebetween, and a large component supply device for storing a large number of components to be used, or With a large-volume parts collection device, large parts can be processed by two multi-joint robots in a coordinated manner, or parts used in large quantities can be processed by two multi-joint robots individually and processed. Corresponds to various parts.

Further, the large-scale component supply device and the large-scale component supply device have a three-dimensional structure to increase the storage amount of large-scale components and components used in large quantities.

[0016]

1 is a layout view showing the structure of an automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus 1 has a work station 2 and a conveyor 3 provided along the work station 2. The work station 2 has a work robot unit 4 and component supply devices 5a and 5b provided before and after the work robot unit 4 in the moving direction of the conveyor 3. As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2, the work robot unit 4 has two articulated robots (hereinafter, referred to as robots) 6 a and 6 b installed on the outer periphery of the rotary table 7, and the rotary table 7 operates to move two robots. The directions of the robots 6a and 6b can be changed. A robot controller 8 for controlling the two robots 6a and 6b and the rotary table 7 in cooperation with each other is provided under the rotary table 7.

The transport conveyor 3 is installed in front of the rotary table 7 and transports products to be assembled on the transport pallet 9, products to be used and disassembled, and products to be assembled and completed.

The automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus 1 configured as described above.
As shown in FIG. 3, the component tray 10 provided on one component supply device 5a accommodates large components, such as rollers 11 and small components 12, used for assembly, and the component tray of the other component supply device 5b. 13 stores various small parts 14,
With respect to the assembled product 15 conveyed to the front of the work station 2 by the conveyer 3, rollers 11, small parts 12,
The operation of assembling 14 will be described.

For example, when the roller 11 is attached to the assembly product 15, as shown in FIG.
Is rotated to orient the postures of the two robots 6a and 6b toward the component supply device 5b. And two robots 6
Hold the left and right ends of the roller 11 with a and 6b,
The rollers 11 are lifted in cooperation with each other. After that, FIG.
As shown in (b), turn the rotary table 7 clockwise 90
The robots 6a and 6b are rotated once to make the postures of the two robots 6a and 6b face the front assembly product 15, and the two robots 6a and 6b are operated in cooperation with each other to attach the roller 11 to the assembly product 15 at a predetermined position. . Assembled product The roller 11 is assembled to the product placed on the product transportation pallet by cooperative operation. As described above, since a large component such as the roller 11 is conveyed by the coordinated operation of the two robots 6a and 6b while rotating the rotary table 7 and is attached to the assembly product 15, the large component is stably conveyed at high speed. Assembled product 15
Can be attached to.

When the small parts 12 stored in the component supply device 5a and the small parts 14 stored in the component supply device 5b are attached to the assembled product 15, as shown in FIG. With the robots 6a and 6b arranged along the assembled product 15, the robots 6a and 6b are independently controlled without rotating the rotary table 7, and the robots 6a are stored in the component supply device 5a. The small component 12 is taken out and attached to the assembled product 15, and the other robot 6b takes out the small component 14 stored in the component supply device 5b and attached to the assembled product 15.

As described above, a large component such as the roller 11 rotates the rotary table 7 while the two robots 6a,
The robots 6a, 6 are used to convey small parts such as screws and springs while they are transported by the cooperative operation of 6b and attached to the assembled product 15.
By individually controlling b and attaching it to the assembled product 15, various parts can be efficiently attached to the assembled product 15 and assembled.

Further, the work station 2 is constructed by arranging the component supplying devices 5a and 5b around the work robot section 4, and the assembled product 15 is provided on the front surface of the work station 2.
Since the conveyer conveyor 3 for conveying etc. is provided, the installation area of the automatic assembling / disassembling device 1 can be reduced, and the parts to be assembled can be quickly conveyed from the component supplying devices 5a, 5b to the assembled product 15. Assembling work can be performed efficiently.

As described above, when the two robots 6a and 6b convey the heavy rollers 11 and the like to the assembly product 15 while rotating the rotary table 7, the robot 6
It is necessary to maintain the postures of a and 6b with high precision and move them with high precision. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4A, the hands 1 of the robots 6a and 6b on the turntable 7 are provided.
A weight 18 for removing an imbalance of weight is installed at a position opposite to a direction in which the arm 17 having 6 is moved,
As shown in (b), it is preferable to install a replacement hand 19 or a jig to reduce the imbalance of the thrust load of the bearing that receives the rotary table 7. Furthermore, the rotary table 7 is also thinned to the extent that the required strength can be maintained,
It is advisable to reduce the rotational moment of the rotary table 7 as much as possible.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, two robots 6a and 6b are mounted on a rotary table 7 and a moving mechanism 20 respectively.
Alternatively, the moving mechanism 20 may adjust the installation interval between the two robots 6a and 6b. By adjusting the installation intervals of the two robots 6a and 6b in this manner, larger parts can be transported and large assembled products 15 can be produced.
It is possible to attach various parts to a small assembly product and attach them to a small assembly product.

Further, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 6 and the side view of FIG.
A large component supply device 21 for supplying long components or large components and a large component supply device 22 for supplying a large amount of components are provided at positions facing each other, and stored in the large component supply device 21 or the large component supply device 22. The two large robots 6a and 6b cooperate with each other to operate the large-sized component 23, or the two robots 6a and 6b independently operate to take out and convey a large amount of components to be attached to the assembly product 15. You can By making the large-scale component supply device 21 and the large-scale component supply device 22 three-dimensional, it is possible to increase the storage amount of the large-scale component 23 and the components that are used in large quantities, and store a large number of components in a small installation area. You can Further, by feeding the stored components to the component supply port by sliding or vibration using gravity, the components can be stably gripped by the two robots 6a and 6b.

In the above description, the case where the conveyor 3 for conveying the assembled product 15 is provided in the front part of the work station 2 has been described, but the conveyor 3 for conveying the assembled product 15 in the front part and the rear part of the work station 2 is explained. It may be provided. By thus providing the conveyors 3 on both sides of the work station 2, it is possible to switch between two sets of assembly lines in a short time.

In the above description, various parts are assembled into the product 1
Although the case where the product is attached to the assembly unit 5 and assembled is described, a component collecting device is provided in place of the component supply devices 5a and 5b, the large-scale component supply device 21, and the large-volume component supply device 22, and used products transported by the transport conveyor 3 are used. Various products can be automatically disassembled by disassembling the two robots 6a and 6b by the cooperative operation and the independent operation and collecting the disassembled parts in the part collecting device.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the work station is provided with the rotary table and the two articulated robots installed on the outer periphery of the rotary table, and the rotary table is used when processing large parts. Since the two articulated robots are rotated so as to cooperate with each other, large parts can be stably transported and processed at high speed, and workability can be improved.

When processing small parts, various parts can be efficiently transported and processed by operating the two articulated robots independently without rotating the rotary table. It is possible to improve workability.

Further, a transfer device is provided along the work station, and a parts supply device or a parts recovery device are provided before and after the work robot part having a rotary table and two articulated robots in the moving direction of the transfer device. As a result, the installation area of the automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus can be reduced, and the parts to be assembled and the disassembled parts can be transported quickly, and the work efficiency can be improved.

Further, the rotary table is provided with a weight for removing an imbalance of weight in a position opposite to the moving direction of the arm having the hands of the two articulated robots, a replacement hand and a jig are provided, and the rotary table is rotated. It is possible to reduce the imbalance of the thrust load of the bearing that receives the table, alleviate the application of an unbalanced moment load, and maintain the postures of the two articulated robots with high precision and move them with high precision.

Further, two articulated robots are installed on a rotary table via a moving mechanism for adjusting the installation interval,
It can be applied to parts of various sizes and products of different sizes.

Further, a large component supply device or a large component recovery device for storing long components or large components at a position facing the work station with the transport device interposed therebetween, and a large component supply device for storing a large number of components to be used, or Arranging a large number of parts collection device to process large parts in cooperation with two articulated robots, and to process parts used in large quantities by two articulated robots to operate independently. Thus, various parts can be processed stably.

Further, the large-scale component supply device or the large-scale component supply device can have a three-dimensional structure to increase the storage amount of the large-scale components or the components to be used in large quantities, thus improving workability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram showing a configuration of an automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a work robot unit.

FIG. 3 is a layout view showing the operation of the automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a layout diagram showing a configuration of a second automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a layout diagram showing a configuration of a third automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a layout view showing a configuration of a fourth automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a configuration of a fourth automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1; Automatic assembly / disassembly device, 2; Work station, 3; Conveyor, 4; Work robot section, 5; Parts supply device 6; Robot, 7; Rotary table, 8; Robot controller.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus for assembling parts to complete a product or disassembling a part from a recovered product, which is a work station and a product to be assembled or used which is provided along the work station. The work station has a work robot unit and a component supply device or a component collection device provided before and after the work robot unit in the moving direction of the work robot unit. The robot unit includes a rotary table, two multi-joint robots installed on the outer periphery of the rotary table, and a robot controller that controls the operations of the rotary table and the two multi-joint robots. Rotates the rotary table when processing large parts to make the two articulated robots cooperate, and rotates the rotary table when processing small parts. Automatic assembly and disassembly apparatus which is characterized in that the two articulated robot operating independently not let. 2. The turntable has a weight for removing an imbalance in weight at a position opposite to a direction in which an arm having two articulated robot hands is moved.
The automatic assembling and disassembling apparatus described. 3. The automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotary table has a replacement hand and a jig at a position opposite to a direction in which an arm having two articulated robot hands is moved. 4. The automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two articulated robots are installed on a rotary table via a moving mechanism that adjusts an installation interval. 5. A large component supply device or a large component recovery device for storing long components or large components at a position facing the work station with the transfer device interposed therebetween, and a large component supply device for storing components used in large quantities. Alternatively, the automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a large-volume parts collecting apparatus is arranged. 6. The automatic assembling / disassembling apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the large-scale component supply device and the large-scale component supply device have a three-dimensional structure.