JP2001162472A - Clamp device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a clamp device for clamping works for plural vehicle models. SOLUTION: In this clamp device, a rotor rotatably installed to support plates 13, 14 can freely index-rotate around a rotary shaft 15. The rotor is provided with plural reception jigs 26a-26c. The support plate 13 is provided with clamp cylinders 35, while a piston rod 38 of each the clamp cylinder 35 is provided with a clamp arm 41 cooperating with each the reception jig 26a-26c to clamp the work. The support plate 13 is provided with a locking pneumatic cylinder 32 for locking the rotor index-rotated to a prescribed position. The support plate 13 is installed with a swinging actuator 17 index-driving the rotor, the pneumatic cylinder 32 and the clamp cylinders 35.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clamp device for fixing a plate-like work such as a panel constituting an automobile body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automobile body, that is, a body is assembled by joining various pressed panel materials by means such as welding. The assembling process of the car body includes a center structure process to assemble the floor that will be the base of the car body, a side structure process to assemble the side that will be the main part of the side wall of the car body, and the roof as well as the side to be the side wall to the base floor. It has a body construction process of forming a frame of a vehicle body for forming a cabin, a mounting process of attaching a door, a hood, and the like to the body construction. The side structure is assembled by joining a plurality of panel materials such as a rear quarter and a center pillar.

As described above, in order to assemble an automobile body, a plurality of panel members are joined by a spot welder or the like. In welding, two panel members joined to each other are positioned and fixed. A clamping device is used to keep it. In addition, in order to improve the efficiency of assembling the vehicle body, a plurality of models and models are mixed and assembled in one assembly line. Accordingly, it is necessary to clamp a plurality of types of floor panels. A clamping device for positioning and clamping a panel has a panel receiving jig for supporting the panel and a clamper for fastening the panel with the panel receiving jig. The clamper can be freely opened and closed by a pneumatic cylinder.

[0004]

For this reason, conventionally,
In each of the above-described steps, a plurality of pairs of clamping devices including a panel receiving jig and a clamper are provided in correspondence with the types of panels so that a plurality of types of panels can be clamped.

However, if a plurality of pairs of clamp devices are provided on a stage connecting the panels in accordance with the type of panel, there is a problem that the space occupied by the clamp devices increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to achieve a compact clamp device for clamping a plate-like work.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a clamp apparatus comprising: a support base on which a rotating body is indexably rotatably mounted;
Indexing and rotating means for indexing and rotating the rotating body, a plurality of receiving jigs attached to the rotating body at predetermined intervals in the rotating direction, each supporting a work, and a rod provided on the support table for moving forward and backward. An actuator for clamping, a clamp arm provided on the rod and fastening the work with the receiving jig, and a lock unit for fixing the rotating body that has been indexed and rotated, By rotating the workpiece, a plurality of workpieces of different types can be clamped by the receiving jig and the clamp arm.

In the clamp device of the present invention, the clamp actuator pivots the rod so that the clamp arm pivots and retreats from the receiving jig when the clamp arm separates from the receiving jig. It is characterized by the following. Further, the support base includes first and second two plate-like members disposed on both sides of the rotating body, and one of the support bases includes the indexing rotation unit, the clamp actuator, and the lock unit. Is provided. Further, the indexing rotation means, the clamping actuator and the locking means are pneumatic devices operated by pneumatic pressure.

[0009]

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

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a clamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 1, and FIG. A in 2
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A of FIG.
It is sectional drawing which follows a line.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the clamp device has a base member 12 to which a spacer 11 is fixed, and support bases 13 and 14 each formed of a plate-like member. The spacers 11 are fixed to each other with a gap of the thickness T of the spacer 11 therebetween. As shown in FIG. 5, a plate-like rotating body 16 is fixed to a rotating shaft 15 rotatably mounted on the support bases 13 and 14 in a horizontal direction. In order to reciprocate the rotary shaft 16 within a range of 240 degrees, a swing actuator 17 which is operated by air pressure is used as an indexing rotating means.
It is fixed to. The oscillating shaft 18 of the oscillating actuator 17 is connected to the rotating shaft 15 via a timing belt 23 that is stretched over a pulley 21 fixed thereto and a pulley 22 fixed to the rotating shaft 15. Support table 1
The pulleys 21 and 22 and the timing belt 23 are covered with a cover 24 fixed to the cover 4. Note that an electric motor may be used instead of the swing actuator 17 that operates by air pressure, and the rotating shaft 15 may be directly driven by a motor or a swing actuator without using a timing belt.

As shown in FIG. 5, the rotating body 16 is formed with three mounting surfaces 25a to 25c.
In 5a to 25c, receiving jigs 26a to 26c are fixed at equal intervals in the rotation direction of the rotating body 16, that is, every 120 degrees, and these receiving jigs have different shapes from each other. As described above, since a plurality of receiving jigs are provided on the outer periphery of the rotating body 16 made of a plate material in a circumferential direction, a plurality of receiving jigs are provided within the width of the thickness of one receiving jig. Can be arranged.

By operating the oscillating actuator 17 to rotate the rotating body 16, each of the receiving jigs 26a to 26c can be rotationally moved between the clamp position and the retracted position. In FIG. 5, the receiving jig 26a
Is the clamp position, and the other two receiving jigs 26b, 2
6c shows a state where the retracted position has been reached. In this state, when the rotating body 16 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 5 by 120 degrees, the receiving jig 26b is in the clamp position, and the other two receiving jigs 26a and 26c are in the retracted positions. On the other hand, in the state of FIG.
Is rotated by 120 degrees, the receiving jig 26c becomes the clamp position, and the other two receiving jigs 26a and 26c become the retracted positions.

In order to detect that each of the receiving jigs 26a to 26c has reached the clamp position by the rotation of the rotating body 16, as shown in FIG.
27c are provided on the support 13. As shown in FIG. 5, a position display hole 28a is formed in the rotating body 16 at a position facing the position detection sensor 27a when the receiving jig 26a is at the clamp position. The position indicating hole 28b is formed at a position facing the position detecting sensor 27b when the position of the receiving jig 26c reaches the clamp position.
A position display hole 28c is formed at a position where 7c faces.

Each of the position detection sensors 27a to 27c
Has a light emitting element for irradiating light and a light receiving element for receiving reflected light, and when the corresponding position indicating hole is located at the position of the position detection sensor, the reflected light is no longer received. The position can be detected. However, by providing a reflecting plate without providing a hole in the position indicating holes 28a to 28c and preventing light from being reflected in other portions, when a predetermined indexing position is reached, each position is detected. The sensors 27a to 27c may receive the reflected light. Further, the index detection position may be detected by using a limit switch or the like as the position detection sensor.

In order to fix the rotating body 16, the support 1
A pneumatic cylinder 32 for reciprocating the lock pin 31 in the axial direction is attached to 3 by an attachment block 33 as a locking means. The pneumatic cylinder 32 is a single-acting type in which a spring is incorporated therein, and a forward spring force is constantly applied to the lock pin 31. When compressed air is supplied to the internal pneumatic chamber, the lock pin 31 Moves backward. The lock pin 31 may be driven in the axial direction by using a solenoid instead of the pneumatic cylinder 32 as the lock means.

As shown in FIG. 5, three lock holes 34a to 34c are formed in the rotating body 16 at intervals of 120 degrees in the rotation direction, and the lock holes 34a are formed in the receiving jig 26a through the center of rotation. The other lock hole 34 formed on the opposite side
Also, b and 34c are formed on opposite sides of the respective receiving jigs 26b and 26c. Therefore, the lock pin 3
1 is fitted into the lock hole 34a as shown in FIG.
The receiving jig 26a is fixed to the clamp position, and the receiving jig 2
6b is set to the clamp position, the lock pin 3
1 is set to the lock hole 34b and the receiving jig 26c is set to the clamp position, the lock pin 31 is set to the lock hole 34c.
, Each receiving jig is fixed at the clamp position.

Two clamp cylinders 35 are mounted on the support base 13 as clamp actuators by brackets 36 so as to face up and down, respectively.
7 is fixed. Each clamp cylinder 35
Clamp arms 41 are fixed to the ends of the piston rods 38 driven by the
The panel P1, shown in FIG.
A clamp 42 for tightening P2 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the clamp fitting 42 is formed by a bolt having a steel ball 43 embedded at the tip, and the steel ball 43 comes into point contact with the surface of the panel.
As described above, since the steel ball 43 is provided on the clamp fitting 42, even when the panel, which is a work, is inclined, a clamping force can be reliably applied to the panel.

As shown in FIG. 2, the clamp cylinder 35 rotates 90 degrees while the piston rod 38 moves backward by a predetermined stroke S1 from the forward limit position. Thereby, the clamp arm 41 turns 90 degrees from the state shown by the solid line to the state shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. When the clamp arm 41 is turned to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line, the clamp arm 41 is brought into a clamp position where the panel is tightened by the receiving jig.

The guide block 37 has a clamp arm 4
The guide arm 45 is guided by the guide groove 45 when the piston rod 38 moves backward by the distance of the clamp stroke S3 through the extra stroke S2 after the piston rod 38 moves backward by the revolving stroke S1. You. When the clamp arm 41 comes into contact with the panel due to the backward movement, the clamp operation ends.

When the clamp arm 41 enters the guide groove 45, since the tapered surface 46 is formed at the end of the guide groove 45, the clamp arm 41 smoothly shifts from the turning movement to the clamping operation.

As shown in FIG. 4, circular grooves 47, 48 are formed on both surfaces of the rotating body 16, and the respective grooves 47, 48 are formed.
A ring-shaped seal member 49 attached to the support bases 13 and 14 is inserted into the grooves formed opposite the grooves 47 and 48 on both the support bases 13 and 14. With this sealing member 49,
Even if the molten metal scattered from the panel at the time of welding by sputtering is adhered to the outer periphery of the rotating body 16 by the operation of the spot welding machine arranged around the clamping device,
And between the two supports 13 and 14 are prevented. Thus, smooth rotation of the rotating body 16 can be maintained for a long period of time, and malfunction of the position detection sensors 27a to 27c can be prevented. The one groove 47 is formed by an outer peripheral surface of the disk 50 and an inner peripheral surface of the step portion by screwing the disk 50 to a step portion formed on the surface of the rotating body 16.

The swing actuator 17 for indexing and rotating the rotary body 16, the pneumatic cylinder 32 for locking for fixing the rotary body 16 at that position when indexed and rotated, and two clamp cylinders 35 are all provided. The position detecting sensors 27a to 27c are mounted on the support 13 on the front side of the clamp device, and a panel as a work is arranged on the back side of the clamp device. Therefore, the signal line for the sensor and the pneumatic piping connected to the pneumatic drive device can be provided on the front side of the clamp device, and it is not necessary to route the wiring and piping around the panel which is the work. .

Each of the supports 13 and 14 is installed in a vertical direction, and the clamp cylinder 35 is mounted so as to be parallel to the support 13. On the other hand, piston rod 38
If the direction of forward and backward movement of the
The workpieces may be clamped with the horizontal directions of 3 and 14.

Next, the procedure for clamping the panel by the above-described clamp device will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, when the receiving jig 26a is set at the clamping position, the panel is used by using the receiving jig 26a. In order to perform the clamping, the panels P1 and P2 are placed on the receiving jig 26a in a state where the respective clamp cylinders 35 are operated and the piston rod 38 is at the forward limit position. At this time, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, the clamp arm 41 is retracted from right above the panel, so that the panel can be easily arranged.

When the clamp cylinder 35 is operated to move the piston rod 38 backward in a state where the panel is arranged, first, the clamp arm 41 is moved from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Retreats while turning 90 degrees to. Next, the clamp arm 41 retreats from the position shown by the two-dot chain line toward the panel without turning, and the panel is sandwiched and fixed between the receiving jig 26a and the clamp arm 41.

In this state, the panels are welded to each other by the spot welding machine, and after welding, the clamp arm 41 is separated from the panel.

On the other hand, when a panel having a shape different from that described above is clamped in order to assemble a vehicle body of another vehicle type or model, for example, when the panel is clamped using the receiving jig 26b. After supplying the compressed air to the pneumatic cylinder 32 and moving the lock pin 31 backward from the lock hole 34a, the compressed air is supplied to the swing actuator 17 so that the rotating body 16 is turned clockwise in FIG. Rotate. The fact that it turned 120 degrees
It is detected when the position detection sensor 27b detects the position display hole 28b. In this state, the lock hole 34b
When the supply of compressed air to the pneumatic cylinder 32 is stopped at this position, the lock pin 31 moves forward by the compression coil spring incorporated in the pneumatic cylinder 32 to move the lock pin 34 into the lock hole 34b. Into the locked state. As a result, the rotation of the rotating body 16 is stopped, and the panel is clamped in this state.

If another type of vehicle body is to be assembled, the rotating body 16 is indexed and rotated by the same procedure as described above so that the receiving jig 26c is at the clamp position, and the panel is clamped. An operation is performed.

As described above, the panel receiving jigs 26a to 26a-2
Since the clamp arm 41 to be clamped by 6c can be used for any panel, it is possible to clamp all types of panels using the common clamp cylinder 35. Moreover, since the plurality of receiving jigs 26a to 26c are attached to one rotating body 16, the size of the clamp device can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, in the illustrated clamp device, two clamp cylinders 35 are provided on the support base 13, and the panel P 1,
P2 may be clamped. For example, FIG.
In the case where the width in the left-right direction in the drawing of the panel shown in FIG. 4 is considerably larger than that shown in the drawing, two clamp devices each having one clamp cylinder 35 are separately installed, and both clamp devices are used. Can be clamped. Further, depending on the size of the panel, a plurality of clamp devices are arranged to clamp the panel. Further, three receiving jigs are provided on the rotating body 16, but three or more receiving jigs may be provided on the rotating body 16.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a clamping device configured to clamp a work by a receiving jig and a clamp arm, a plurality of types of receiving jigs are provided corresponding to a plurality of types of work. Since the clamp arm is provided on the rotating body and the clamp arm is shared, the downsizing of the clamp device can be achieved as compared with the case where the receiving jig and the clamp cylinder are provided corresponding to each work. it can. When the clamp arm is retracted to a position distant from the work, the clamp arm pivots to a position displaced from the receiving jig, thereby facilitating the operation of loading the work into the receiving jig. Since the indexing rotating means, the clamping actuator, and the locking means are provided on one surface of the clamping device, the clamping device can be easily attached to the assembly stage of the vehicle body while avoiding interference with a spot welding machine or the like. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a clamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Base member 13, 14 Support stand 15 Rotating shaft 16 Rotating body 17 Oscillating actuator (indexing rotating means) 26a-26c Receiving jig 27a-27c Position detecting sensor 31 Lock pin 32 Pneumatic cylinder (Locking means) 34a-34c Lock hole 35 Clamp cylinder (Actuator for clamp) 38 Piston rod 41 Clamp arm 42 Clamp bracket

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masakazu Tezuka 3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Koganei Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Teruhiko Yajima 1-7-1, Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Fuji (72) Inventor Hiroo Sakuraba 1-7-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (72) Inventor Hisashi Mori 1-2-2, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Fuji Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. F term in the company (reference) 3C016 CA04 CB03 CB04 CB14 CC01 CC04 CE01

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A support base on which a rotating body is indexably rotatably mounted; indexing rotating means for indexing and rotating the rotating body; and a rotating body attached to the rotating body at a predetermined interval in a rotating direction. A plurality of receiving jigs to be supported; a clamp actuator provided on the support base for driving a rod forward and backward; a clamp arm provided on the rod and fastening the work by the receiving jig; Locking means for fixing the rotating body, and a plurality of workpieces of different types can be clamped by the receiving jig and the clamp arm by indexing and rotating the rotating body. And clamping device. 2. The clamping device according to claim 1, wherein
The clamp device according to claim 1, wherein the clamp actuator rotates the rod so that the clamp arm rotates and retreats from the receiving jig when the clamp arm separates from the receiving jig. 3. The clamping device according to claim 1, wherein the support base is composed of first and second plate-like members arranged on both sides of the rotating body, and the indexing is performed on one of the support bases. A clamping device comprising: a rotating unit, the clamping actuator, and the locking unit. 4. The clamping device according to claim 1, wherein the indexing rotation means, the clamping actuator, and the locking means are pneumatically driven devices operated by pneumatic pressure. And clamping device.