JP2001047328A - Product assembling device and its remodeling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate a hindrance to the existing production plan, for example when changing over to another item to be manufactured, and facilitate modification of the equipment. SOLUTION: An E/C assembly line EL, rear floor assembly line RL, and front floor assembly line FL to constitute a sub-assembly line for assembling an engine compartment 3, rear floor 5 and front floor 7 are provided along a main assembly line ML to assemble the floor main 1 of an automobile. These assembly lines EL, RL, and FL are equipped with first manufacturing equipments EL1, RL1 and FL1, and second manufacturing equipments EL2, RL2 and FL2 installed in their respective adjoining spaces of the same sizes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a product assembling apparatus for assembling a product and a method for modifying the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional product assembling apparatus, for example, an automobile body production facility will be described. In a vehicle body production facility, by producing a plurality of vehicle types on the same production line, that is, performing so-called mixed production, there is an advantage that the facility can be effectively used and production facility cost is reduced. FIG. 2 shows such an automobile body production facility.

In this vehicle body production facility, products are transported leftward in the figure. First, in step A, the floor main is supplied to a transfer device which is a transfer device on the line, and
The rear panel is set and supplied at a predetermined position on the floor main, and further, in step C, the body side, the roof and the air box are set and supplied at predetermined positions on the floor main.

In the next step D, positioning and temporary welding of the body side, the roof and the air box with respect to the floor main are performed. Thereafter, in steps E and F, each part is subjected to additional welding, and in step G, a hood ledge reinforcement is supplied to a predetermined position on the floor main and welded, and further increased in steps H, I, and J as appropriate. After the punch welding, in step K, the assembled product is carried out.

[0005] Between a step D and a step E, an idle step L for performing the same positioning and temporary welding work as in the step D for a vehicle different from the current production vehicle, and an additional stroke for the other vehicle. The idle process M for performing the welding operation is set in advance.

As described above, in the conventional body production equipment, in order to support a plurality of vehicle types on the same production line, it is necessary to previously set a so-called idle process for another vehicle type on the production line.

As an example in which the idle process is not provided, the temporary welding process is a general-purpose process common to all types of vehicles, and the number of additional robots is increased by increasing the number of additional punching processes. There is a way to respond.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional vehicle body production equipment, it is necessary to perform a trial for a new vehicle type at the time of vehicle type switching on a line where the current vehicle type is being produced. When any trouble occurs, it is necessary to stop the production line, and there is a problem that the production plan of the current production model is hindered. Further, in order to be able to newly produce another model in a production line of a single model, that is, equipment in which the idle processes L and M in FIG. 2 are not provided, the current production line is stopped. Since the equipment is to be remodeled, the holiday work is mainly performed, the construction period becomes long, and the remodeling work of the equipment becomes extremely inefficient.

[0009] Therefore, the present invention has an object to make it easy to remodel equipment without interrupting the current production plan when switching to another type of product as a manufactured product. I have.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a main assembly line, and various kinds of workpieces arranged along the main assembly line and assembled to the main assembly line. A plurality of sub-assembly lines to be supplied are provided, and a facility space similar to the installation space of the production facility is provided adjacent to the production facility of the sub-assembly line.

According to the product assembling apparatus having such a configuration,
In order to be able to manufacture new products of other types or to increase production of existing products, we will install new equipment in the equipment space that is almost the same as that of current products. It becomes possible. When this manufacturing facility is added, the current product is continuously manufactured in a manufacturing facility installed adjacent to the equipment space.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, a manufacturing facility substantially equal to a manufacturing facility of a sub-assembly line installed adjacent to the facility space is installed in the facility space. is there.

[0013] According to the above configuration, while the current product is being manufactured in one of the manufacturing facilities, the manufacture of another type of product is performed.
Alternatively, when increasing the production of the current product, the production can be performed at another production facility provided in the facility space adjacent to the production facility of the current product.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the second aspect of the present invention, the transport means for transporting various works to the main assembly line includes a sub-assembly line manufacturing facility and an equipment space adjacent to the manufacturing facility. It is shared with the manufacturing facilities provided in

According to the above configuration, the transfer means operates alternately with respect to the two manufacturing facilities to transfer the work from each manufacturing facility to the main assembly line.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to any one of the first to third aspects, the works are a front floor, a rear floor, and an engine compartment of an automobile, and the main assembly line is a floor main assembly. There is a configuration to assemble.

According to the above configuration, the front floor, the rear floor, and the engine compartment are respectively manufactured in the manufacturing facilities of the corresponding sub-assembly line, and the manufactured front floor, rear floor, and the engine compartment are supplied to the main assembly line. It is assembled as a floor main.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of sub-assembly lines for supplying various assembled works to the main assembly line are provided along the main assembly line, and a plurality of sub-assembly lines are provided adjacent to the sub-assembly line manufacturing facilities. Providing the same equipment space as the installation space of this manufacturing equipment, when increasing the production of current products or producing other types of products by the manufacturing equipment, in the equipment space, a manufacturing equipment equivalent to the manufacturing equipment There is a method of remodeling a product assembly device to be installed.

According to the above-described method of modifying the product assembling apparatus,
When a new manufacturing facility is added to the equipment space, the existing product is continuously manufactured by the existing manufacturing equipment installed adjacent to the equipment space.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when it is necessary to increase the production of the current product or to manufacture another type of product,
In the equipment space adjacent to the manufacturing equipment of the subassembly line,
By providing a new manufacturing facility that is substantially the same as the current product manufacturing facility, it is possible to easily cope with the problem. At this time, the production of the current product can be continuously performed in the existing corresponding production equipment.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when increasing the production of the current product or producing another product while one of the production facilities is producing the current product, the production facility for the current product is produced. Can be handled by another manufacturing facility provided in the facility space adjacent to the existing product.For example, if any trouble occurs during a trial at this other manufacturing facility, the current product can be manufactured without stopping the production line. It can be performed continuously at the manufacturing facility and does not interfere with the current product production plan.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the transport means for transporting various works to the main assembly line is made up of a sub-assembly line production facility and a production facility provided in a facility space adjacent to the production facility. Because they are shared, effective use of equipment space and reduction in cost can be achieved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the front floor panel, the rear floor panel, and the engine compartment are respectively manufactured by the manufacturing equipment of each sub-assembly line, and the manufactured front floor panel, rear floor panel, and the engine compartment are: It is sequentially supplied to the main assembly line and can be assembled as a floor main.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when increasing the production of the current product or producing other types of products in the sub-assembly line, the production facility and the production facility are installed in a facility space adjacent to the production facility of the sub-assembly line. By installing an equivalent manufacturing facility, it can be easily handled, and at this time, the production of the current product can be continuously performed by the existing manufacturing facility.

[0025]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall structure of a vehicle body assembling apparatus as a product assembling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This vehicle body assembling apparatus is for assembling a floor main 1 of an automobile on a main assembly line ML in which a work transfer direction is a left direction in the drawing. Along the main assembly line ML, an E / C assembly line EL for assembling the engine compartment 3 located on the right side of the main assembly line ML in the drawing, and a main assembly line ML.
A rear floor assembly line RL for assembling the rear floor 5 located on the upper right side in the figure and a front floor assembly line FL for assembling the front floor 7 on the upper left side in the figure of the main assembly line ML are sequentially arranged. ing.

Each of the above E / C assembly lines EL, rear floor assembly line RL and front floor assembly line FL
Constitutes a sub-assembly line, and the engine compartment 3, the rear floor 5 and the front floor 7 constitute a work. Each work assembled on each of the sub-assembly lines EL, RL, FL is supplied to the main assembly line ML and assembled as the floor main 1.

The above-mentioned three sub-assembly lines EL, R
L and FL each have two sets of manufacturing facilities. That, E / C assembly line EL includes a first production facility EL ₁ arranged on the upper side in the figure, the same lower side adjacent thereto, a first installation space approximately the same production equipment EL ₁ Second manufacturing equipment E arranged in the equipment space of
And a L _2. Also, the rear floor assembly line RL
A first production facility RL _1, which is disposed on the right side in the figure, the same left adjacent thereto, a second production facility arranged in a first installation space and comparable equipment space manufacturing facilities RL ₁ and a RL _2. Further, the front floor assembly line FL includes a first manufacturing facility FL arranged on the left side in the figure.
₁ and a second, located on the same right-hand side adjacent thereto as the installation space of the _first production facility FL ₁
And a production facility FL ₂ of.

The above-mentioned first and second manufacturing facilities EL ₁ , E
L ₂ , the first and second production facilities RL ₁ , RL ₂ and the first
Each of the second manufacturing facilities FL ₁ and FL ₂ is a general-purpose one, and can correspond to a plurality of vehicle types.

The first manufacturing equipment EL ₁ and the second manufacturing equipment EL ₂ in the E / C assembly line EL have a parts setting step 9, a parts processing step 11, and a parts processing unloading step 13. In the component setting step 9, various components constituting the engine compartment 3 placed in the storage 15 are set on a jig by the handling robot 17. The handling robot 17 performs the component setting process 9
And a storage device 15 can be moved on a slide device 18 extended in the vertical direction in the figure.

In the component processing step 11, the various components input from the component setting step 9 are temporarily welded by the welding robot 19 and assembled. In the parts processing and unloading step 13, after receiving the input of the engine compartment 3 in which the parts are assembled, the welding robot 20 performs additional welding, and then the handling robot 21 transfers the engine compartment 3 to the conveyor 23.

The handling robot 21 is movable on a slide device 25 extending in the vertical direction in the figure, and is a transfer means shared by the first manufacturing facility EL ₁ and the second manufacturing facility EL _2. Is composed. The transfer of parts between the part setting step 9 and the part processing step 11 and between the part processing step 11 and the part processing unloading step 13 is performed by moving a jig for positioning and holding each part by a slide device. Made in.

The front end (left side in the drawing) of the conveyor 23 is extended to the vicinity of the main assembly line ML, and the handling robot 27 disposed near the end of the conveyor 23 is placed on the conveyor 23. Of the engine compartment 3 on the main assembly line ML
Set to positioning.

The first manufacturing facility RL ₁ and the second manufacturing facility RL ₂ in the rear floor assembly line RL are provided with a parts setting step 29, a parts processing step 31, and a parts unloading step 33.
And In the component setting step 29, the rear floor panel 39 on the rear floor panel assembly general-purpose jig 37 provided between the two component setting steps 29 is mounted on the rear frame 35 positioned and set on the jig. Set by. The handling robot 41 can move on a slide device 43 extending between the _first and _second manufacturing facilities RL ₁ and RL ₂ above the part setting step 29 and the part processing step 31. is there. Further, the first and second manufacturing facilities RL ₁ , RL ₂
A welding robot 4 for performing a welding operation on the rear floor panel 39 is provided below the sliding device 43 between them.
5 are arranged.

The component processing step 31 includes a component setting step 29
The rear frame 35 and the rear floor panel 39, which have been input from above, are fixed by welding by the welding robot 47,
Thereby, the rear floor 5 is obtained. The transport of components between the component setting step 29 and the component processing step 31 is performed by moving a jig for positioning and holding each component by a slide device.

In the component unloading step 33, the rear floor 5 transported from the component processing step 31 to the temporary placing table 32 by the handling robot 49 is positioned and set on the positioning jig 28 of the main assembly line ML by the handling robot 51. The handling robot 49 performs the part processing step 31
Is movable in the left-right direction by a slide device 53 extended in the left-right direction between the first manufacturing facility RL ₁ and the component unloading step 33.
When constitute a conveying means that is shared by the second and the manufacturing facility RL _2.

The first manufacturing facility FL ₁ and the second manufacturing facility FL ₂ in the front floor assembly line FL include a parts setting step 55, a parts processing step 57, and a parts unloading step 59. In the component setting step 55, various components constituting the front floor 7 are set on a jig.

The component processing step 57 includes a component setting step 55
The various components set in the above are welded and fixed by the welding robot 61, thereby obtaining the front floor 7.
The transfer of the component between the component setting step 55 and the component processing step 57 is performed by moving the jig for positioning and setting the component from the component setting step 55 to the component processing step 57 by the slide device.

The parts unloading step 59 is performed by the front floor 7 placed on the temporary placing table 64 by the handling robot 63.
Is set on the positioning jig 28 of the main assembly line ML by the handling robot 65. Handling robot 65 is movable on the slide device 67 which is extended in the vertical direction in the figure, constitute a conveying means that is shared by the first and the manufacturing facility FL ₁ second and manufacturing facility FL ₂ ing.

The main assembly line ML includes a work loading step 69 in which the engine compartment 3 and the rear floor 5 are loaded, respectively.
Welding process 73 for performing a welding operation by a welding robot 71
, The front floor 7 is put in and the welding robot 75
A welding robot 79 is provided on both sides of the assembly comprising the engine compartment 3, the rear floor 5 and the front floor 7, which are welded and fixed by a predetermined welding work such as welding and fixing between the works. Thereby, a sill inner set process 83 for performing a predetermined welding work such as assembling the sill inner 81 and a carry-out process 85 for carrying out the completed floor main 1 from the main assembly line ML to the outside are provided.

Next, the operation of the vehicle body assembling apparatus having the above configuration will be described. E / C assembly line E, a sub-assembly line
L, the rear floor assembling line RL and the front floor assembling line FL are each assumed to have, for example, one production facility with a production capacity of 10,000 units of the first production facilities EL ₁ , RL ₁ and FL ₁ respectively. If it is necessary to increase the production of the current production product from the state, as the other production facilities, for example, the second production facilities EL ₂ , RL ₂ and FL ₂ which also have a production capacity of 10,000 units are used. It will be possible to respond by running it anew.

In order to increase production, the second production equipment EL ₂ , RL ₂
And when operating the FL _2, it is necessary to perform a trial due to the facility, even if this time some trouble occurs, the first production facility EL _1, RL ₁ and FL ₁
The production will continue without interrupting the current production plan.

Further, even when additional models of other models are produced or when models are changed, the first manufacturing facilities EL ₁ , RL _1, and FL ₁ that produce the current model are compared with the second manufacturing facilities.
By operating the manufacturing facilities EL ₂ , RL _2, and FL ₂ of the first embodiment, it is possible to cope with the problem. Even at this time, even if some trouble occurs during the trial of the second manufacturing facilities EL ₂ , RL ₂ and FL ₂ , the production by the first manufacturing facilities EL ₁ , RL ₁ and FL ₁ is continued. It does not hinder the current production plan.

Further, the first manufacturing facility EL ₁ and the second manufacturing facility EL ₂ share a handling robot 21 for carrying out a work to the main assembly line ML side, and the first manufacturing facility RL ₁ and the second manufacturing facility EL 2 The manufacturing robot RL ₂ also shares the handling robots 49 and 51 similarly, and the first manufacturing facility FL ₁ and the second manufacturing facility FL ₂ also share the handling robot 65. Effective utilization of equipment space and cost reduction are achieved.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the second manufacturing facilities EL ₂ , EL ₂ , EL ₁ , RL _1, and FL ₁ are located adjacent to and substantially equal to the first manufacturing facilities EL ₁ , RL _1, and FL ₁ , respectively.
Although RL ₂ and FL ₂ are installed, this equipment space is not initially equipped with the second manufacturing equipment EL ₂ , RL ₂ and FL ₂ , so that it is possible to cope with future increase in production or addition of vehicle types. Alternatively, it may be set in advance as a spare empty space.

By leaving the equipment space empty as described above, for example, when the production plan shifts from the 10,000-unit system to the 20,000-unit system, as in the above-described embodiment, or when a new vehicle type is added. At the time of the model change, the second manufacturing facilities EL ₂ , RL ₂ and F
L ₂ and by newly added, readily becomes available.

Second production facility EL ₂ , RL ₂ and FL ₂
During the work of newly adding the first manufacturing facilities EL ₁ , RL ₁ and FL ₁ , there is no need to modify the existing facilities, that is, the first manufacturing facilities EL ₁ , RL ₁ and FL _1.
As a result, the production of the current product is continued, and the current production plan is not disturbed.

By providing such a production facility, it is possible to remodel the facility at a low cost and in a short period of time even for complementing production (production elasticity) between factories.

In the above embodiment, the manufacturing equipment for the body of the automobile has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to the manufacturing equipment for other products.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of a product assembling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a product assembling apparatus according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Engine compartment (work) 5 Rear floor (work) 7 Front floor (work) ML Main assembly line EL E / C assembly line (sub-assembly line) RL Rear floor assembly line (sub-assembly line) FL Front floor assembly line (sub-assembly line ) EL _1, RL _1, FL ₁ first production facility EL _2, RL _2, FL ₂ second manufacturing facility 21,49,51,65 handling robot (carrying means)

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Seiji Ichikawa 2 Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa F-term (reference) in Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. 3C030 CC01 DA00 DA01 DA11 DA25 3D114 AA11 AA12 BA01 CA01 DA12 EA03

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sub-assembly line manufacturing facility, comprising: a main assembly line; and a plurality of sub-assembly lines arranged along the main assembly line and supplying various assembled works to the main assembly line. A product assembling apparatus characterized in that an equipment space equivalent to the installation space of the manufacturing equipment is provided adjacent to the equipment. 2. The product assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein manufacturing equipment substantially equivalent to a manufacturing equipment of a sub-assembly line installed adjacent to the equipment space is installed in the equipment space. 3. A transfer means for transferring various kinds of works to the main assembly line is shared by the manufacturing equipment of the sub-assembly line and the manufacturing equipment provided in the equipment space adjacent to the manufacturing equipment. The product assembling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein 4. The work as claimed in claim 1, wherein the work is a front floor, a rear floor and an engine compartment of an automobile, and the main assembly line assembles the work as a floor main.
The product assembling apparatus according to any one of the above. 5. A plurality of sub-assembly lines for supplying assembled various works onto the main assembly line are provided along the main assembly line, and the production facilities are installed adjacent to the production facilities of the sub-assembly lines. A facility space equivalent to the space is provided, and when increasing production of a current product or producing other types of products by the production facility, a production facility equivalent to the production facility is installed in the facility space. Method of remodeling product assembling equipment.