CA1322840C - Automatic assembling apparatus - Google Patents

Automatic assembling apparatus

Info

Publication number
CA1322840C
CA1322840C CA 601654 CA601654A CA1322840C CA 1322840 C CA1322840 C CA 1322840C CA 601654 CA601654 CA 601654 CA 601654 A CA601654 A CA 601654A CA 1322840 C CA1322840 C CA 1322840C
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
assembling
site
jig
robot arm
assembling jig
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA 601654
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Yuzi Ikeda
Ryo Niikawa
Shigeo Kaibuki
Shinpei Watanabe
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Honda Motor Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Honda Motor Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Honda Motor Co Ltd filed Critical Honda Motor Co Ltd
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1322840C publication Critical patent/CA1322840C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B62LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS
    • B62DMOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS
    • B62D65/00Designing, manufacturing, e.g. assembling, facilitating disassembly, or structurally modifying motor vehicles or trailers, not otherwise provided for
    • B62D65/02Joining sub-units or components to, or positioning sub-units or components with respect to, body shell or other sub-units or components
    • B62D65/14Joining sub-units or components to, or positioning sub-units or components with respect to, body shell or other sub-units or components the sub-units or components being passenger compartment fittings, e.g. seats, linings, trim, instrument panels

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Transportation (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Automatic Assembly (AREA)
  • Automobile Manufacture Line, Endless Track Vehicle, Trailer (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT

An automatic assembling apparatus having two identical assembling jigs. One assembling jig is attached to a robot arm and the assembling jig is then moved by operation of a robot from a setting site to an assembling site for assembling a plurality of parts set thereon at the setting site to an article place at the assembling site. Simultaneously, the plurality of parts are set on the other assembling jig. The two units are alternately attached to the robot arm at the setting site. Two receiving tables, each of which is for mounting thereon each of the assembling jigs, are provided alongside of each other at the setting site. A transfer device is provided to transfer each assembling jig from one receiving table to the other receiving table. The assembling jig attached to the robot arm is detached from the robot arm and placed on the one receiving table and the other assembling jig mounted on the other receiving table is then attached to the robot arm.

Description

~228~
AUTOr~TIC ASSEMBLING APPARATUS

BACXGROUND OF THE I~VENTION:
This invention relates to an automatic assembling apparatus for ass~mbling a plurality of parts to an article.
~n assembling apparatus has been previously proposed for assembling a plurality of automobile parts such as a roof lining, a rearview mirror, a cabin lamp, etc., to a car body, wherein an assembling jig carrying these parts is connected to an arm of a robot, and the assembling jig is then moved by operation of the robot from a settlng site to an assembling site and inserted into the cabin of the car body placed at the assembling site to assemble these parts which were set in advance on the assembling jig to the cabin ceiling portion of the car body.
Generally in an automatic assembling apparatus, it is usual that parts are set on a setting jig placed at a setting site while the assembling step is being performed at an assembling site.
When the assembling jig is returned to the setting site, those parts set on the setting jig are transferred onto the assembling ~ig. In such an assembling apparatus as the above~mentioned one for assembling parts to the cabin ceiling portion, however, it is necessary to set relatively small-sized parts such as the rearview mirror, the cabin lamp, etc. placed underneath a roof lining or the large~sized part, so that it is difficult to have the setting jig hold the small-sized parts in place thereon because the roof lining is obstructive in this ase.

I

~32~8~
In the apparatus proposed, therefore, the small-sized parts and the roof lining to be placed above them are set directly on the assembling jig when it is returned to the setting site. In this arrangement, however, the time required to carry out the setting step constitutes a time loss which is detrimental to a further improvement in productivity.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention has for its object to provide an automatic assembling apparatus that enables the assembling step to be performed efficiently without such a time loss resulting from the setting step even when no setting jig is used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
To attain the above object, the present invention provides an automatic assembling apparatus in which an assembling jig is attached to a robot arm and the assembling jig is then moved by operation of a robot from a setting site to an assembling site for assembling a plurality of parts set thereon at the setting site to an article placed at the assembling site, the apparatus being characterized in that it has at least two identical units of an assembling jig, the two units being alternately attached to the robot arm at the setting site.
While one assembling jig connected to the robot arm is moved to the assembling site and the assembling step using that one assembling jig is being per~ormed there, a plurality of part are set on the other assembling ~ig remaining at the setting site.

` ~22840 When the first assemblin~ jig is returned to the setting site after completing the assembling step at the assembling site, the robot arm is disconnected-therefrom and connected to the other assembling jig at th~ setting site.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
The above and other ob~ects and the attendant advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings where.in:
Figure 1 is an overall top plan view of an automatic assembling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present nvention;
Figure 2 is a side view thereof.taken along line II-II
in Figure l; and Figure 3 is a perspective view.of the assembling jig.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:
The accompanying drawings show an embodiment of the present invention in which the present invention is applied to an assembling apparatus for assembling a roof lining B, a rearview mirror C, a cabin lamp D, at least one grab rail E, and a sun visor F to the cabin ceiling portion of a car body Ao Referring to Figure 1, an assembling station 1 is provided on the way along an automobile assembly line. The car body A is placed at a predetermined assembling site 2 in the assembling ~L32~8~

station 1 in such a ~Jay that its lengthwise direction may be perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the assembly line.
A robot 4 is operated to move an assembling jig 5 from a setting site 3 located at one side of the assembling site 2 to the 5assembling site 2 and, as shown in Figure 2, the assembling jig 5 is inserted into the cabin through the front window of the car body to assemble to the cabin ceiling portion a plurality of such interior parts as the roo~ lining and others.
The robot 4 comprises a first slide table 4a that is lQmovable back and forth in the lengthwise direction of the car body A, a second slide table 4b which is mounted on the first slide table 4a and movable back and forth in the width wise direction of the car body A, a robot body 4c which is mounted on the second slide table 4b and turnable about the vertical axis line thereof, 15and a robot arm 4d which is attached to the robot body 4c and vertically swingable. The assembling jig 5 is detachably connected to the front end of the robot arm through a chuck member ~e.
As shown in Figure 3, each assembling jig 5 comprises a base frame 6 having a front-end arm 6a clamped by the chuck member 204e, a floating frame 7, a jig frame 8 mounted on the base frame 6 through the floating frame 7, setting units 91~ 92 and 93 for the rearview mirror C, the cabin lamp D and grab rail E, respectively, and a pair of receiving seats 10 for the roof lining B, all of which are provided on the jig-frame ~, and a setting unit 94, for 25a sun visor F. The setting unit g4 is provided on the floating frame 7 through a sub-floating frame 11. Using nut runners (not " ~3228~
shown) provided on these setting units 91 through 94, the roo~
lining B and such small-sized parts as the cabin lamp D and others are concurrently fastened to the cabin ceiling portion.
Two units of the same assembling jig 5 are included in the apparatus. Further, a pair of a first and a second receiving tables 121, l22, each of which is for mounting thereon each assembling jig 5, are provided alongside of each other in the setting site 3, so that the assembling jig 5 can be transferred by' an appropriate transfer means (not shown) from the second receiving table 122 located closer to the assembling site 2 to the first receiving table 121 located further out. : -Now, the operating steps according to the above embodiment example will be explained. .
While the first assembling jig 5 indicated by ~ in Figure 1 is moved to the assembling site 2 and the assembling step is :~
going on there, the setting units 91 through 94 on,the second assembling jig 5 placed on the first receiving table l21 and indicated by ~ are loaded with a rearview mirror C, a cabin lamp D, grab rails E and sun visors F, respectively, and a roof lining B is set above them.
After completion of the above assembling step, the robot 4 is operated to return th,~, firSt ~ assembling jig 5 from the asse~bling site 2 to the setting site 3 and mount the first jig onto the second receiving table l22. Next, the chuck means 4e is opened to release the first assembling jig 5 from the robot arm 4d and thereafter the robot arm ~d is moved to the first receiving 13228~
ble 121 to clamp the second ~ assembling jig 5 by means of the chuck member 4e.
In the meantime, the car body A for which the above assembling work has been completed is turned to have its lengthwise direction aligned with the longitudinal direction of the assembly line and then conveyed out of the assembling station l.
Thereafter, another car body A is brought into the station, stopped, and set positioned at the assembling site 2.
Next, the second ~ assembling jig 5 is lifted up from the first receiving table l21 and moved to the assembling site 2 for assembling a roof lining B and those small-sized parts such as a rearview mirror C, etc., set thereon to the cabin ceiling portion of the car body A. On the other hand, the first ~ assembling jig 5 is transferred onto the first receiving table l21 to have a roof lining B and those small-sized parts such as a rearview mirror C, etc. set thereon.
The foregoing operations are repeated to attach the ~irst - ~ and second ~ assembling jigs 5 alternately to the robot arm ~d and continuously perform the above-described assembling steps.
It is possible to set those parts on the assembling jig 5 without relocating the jig from the second receiving table l22 to the first receiving table 121. However, performing such setting step according to the above embodiment of the present invention is more advantageous in that it enables an assembly worker to perform the setting step at the same one location and thus alleviates his workload.

-` ~3228~0 As described in the foreyoing, according to the presen~
invention, while one assembling jig is moved to the assembliny site and the assembling step is being performed there, the setting work to set those parts on the other assembling jig remaining at the setting site is carried out, so that a next round of the assembling work can be readily started simply by changing connection of the robot arm from one assembling jig to the other one when the assembling step using said one assembling jig has been completed.
This enables the assembly step to be performed continuously and efficientl~ without time loss that could otherwise result from the setting work even when no setting jig is used.
It is readily apparent that the above-described has the advantage of wide commercial utility. It should be understood that the specific form of the invention hereinabove described is intended to be representative only, as certain modifications within the scope of these teachings will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Accordingly, refe~ence should be made to the following claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

Claims (4)

1. An automatic assembling apparatus in which an assembling jig is attached to a robot arm and the assembling jig is then moved by operation of a robot from a setting site to an assembling site for assembling a plurality of parts set thereon at the setting site to an article placed at the assembling site, characterized in that it has two identical units of an assembling jig, said two units being alternately attached to the robot arm at the setting site.
2. An automatic assembling apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein two receiving tables, each of which is for mounting thereon each of the assembling jigs, are provided alongside of each other at the setting site, a transfer means is provided to transfer each assembling jig from one receiving table to the other receiving table, the assembling jig attached to the robot arm is detached from the robot arm and placed on said one receiving table and the other assembling jig mounted on the other receiving table is then attached to the robot arm.
3. An automatic assembling apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the article is a car body, the plurality of parts include a roof lining and small-sized parts which are to be assembled to the cabin ceiling portion of the car body, and the assembling jig is so arranged that these small sized parts and the roof lining are set thereon to have the roof lining placed above the small-sized parts.
4. An automatic assembling apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the article is a car body, the plurality of parts include a roof lining and small-sized parts which are to be assembled to the cabin ceiling portion of the car body, and the assembling jig is so arranged that these small sized parts and the roof lining are set thereon to have the roof lining placed above the small-sized parts.
CA 601654 1988-06-03 1989-06-02 Automatic assembling apparatus Expired - Fee Related CA1322840C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP13561988A JPH01306139A (en) 1988-06-03 1988-06-03 Automatic assembling device
JP135619/1988 1988-06-03

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1322840C true CA1322840C (en) 1993-10-12

Family

ID=15156041

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA 601654 Expired - Fee Related CA1322840C (en) 1988-06-03 1989-06-02 Automatic assembling apparatus

Country Status (3)

Country Link
JP (1) JPH01306139A (en)
CA (1) CA1322840C (en)
GB (1) GB2221659B (en)

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP3430497B2 (en) * 1994-03-31 2003-07-28 マツダ株式会社 Vehicle assembling apparatus and assembling method
US5653014A (en) * 1994-09-13 1997-08-05 Axis Usa, Inc. Dynamo-electric machine component conveying systems and load/unload devices
JP3953233B2 (en) * 1999-05-26 2007-08-08 株式会社小糸製作所 Vehicle lamp assembly apparatus
DE10258633A1 (en) 2002-12-16 2004-07-08 Kuka Roboter Gmbh Method and device for positioning components to be joined
CN104309120A (en) * 2014-10-31 2015-01-28 江苏浩明光电科技股份有限公司 Second plastic component feeding and loading device of LED bulb lamp holder full-automatic assembling machine
CN104589031B (en) * 2014-12-23 2017-11-10 富诚汽车零部件有限公司 A kind of gloves box-frame bushing assembling device

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3241615A1 (en) * 1982-11-10 1984-05-10 Audi Nsu Auto Union Ag, 7107 Neckarsulm METHOD FOR ASSEMBLY OF FINISHED SKIES IN VEHICLES AND DEVICE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE METHOD
DE3428008A1 (en) * 1984-07-28 1986-02-06 Adam Opel AG, 6090 Rüsselsheim METHOD FOR INSTALLING A ROOF HEADING AND OTHER PARTS OF MOTOR VEHICLES TO BE FIXED FROM THE INSIDE, IN PARTICULAR PERSONAL VEHICLES, AND DEVICE FOR CARRYING OUT THE METHOD
US4553309A (en) * 1984-09-26 1985-11-19 General Motors Corporation Robotic assembly of vehicle headliners

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB8912887D0 (en) 1989-07-26
JPH0575533B2 (en) 1993-10-20
GB2221659B (en) 1992-07-15
GB2221659A (en) 1990-02-14
JPH01306139A (en) 1989-12-11

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