JP2001347428A - Cable assembling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cable assembling device capable of processing an assembling process requiring plural jigs like terminal processing of a cable in short cycle time. SOLUTION: A robot 31 moves by holding a bobbin 60 by a mechanical hand 40 installed on the tip. An inner skin separating device 33, a connector part inserting device 34, an adhesive hardening device 35, a grinding device 36 and a polishing device 37 are arranged in an operation range of the robot 31. The robot 31 performs processing by the other processing units after delivering the bobbin 60 to the adhesive hardening device 35 and the polishing device 37 being a processing unit long in processing time in respective processing units.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cable assembling apparatus, and more particularly to a cable assembling apparatus suitable for use in terminal processing of an optical cable or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional automatic assembling apparatus using a robot, it is common to assemble a work fixed on a previously installed line in a predetermined procedure using a robot. As a conventional automatic assembling apparatus, for example, as described in JP-A-6-320363, a plurality of robots are arranged back to back at one station on a previously installed line, and the robot body moves. -The thing which responds to complicated assembly work by rotating is known.

[0003]

However, according to the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-320363, in a process requiring a plurality of jigs and tools, such as cable terminal processing, the number of robots and the number of robots on a line are limited. Stations will increase, and the equipment development period and development costs will be enormous. In order to prevent this, it is conceivable to use a method in which a plurality of hands are provided for each process, and the hands are exchanged for assembling. However, since the number of work processes in one station increases, the tact time becomes longer. there were.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cable assembling apparatus capable of performing an assembling process requiring a plurality of jigs and tools, such as a cable terminal process, in a short tact time.

[0005]

(1) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a robot which holds and moves a workpiece by a mechanical hand mounted on a tip thereof, and which is disposed within an operating range of the robot. Wherein the robot sequentially moves a workpiece to the plurality of processing means and executes processing for each processing means. Among the means, the work is delivered to the processing means having a long processing time, and then the processing by another processing means is executed. With this configuration, the work is delivered to the processing unit having a long processing time, and then the processing by another processing unit is performed, so that the tact time can be reduced.

(2) In the above (1), preferably,
The processing means for delivering the work is constituted by a plurality of processing means having the same function, and the robot is provided with a processing means which is not executing processing among the plurality of processing means having the same function. Thus, the above-mentioned work is delivered. With this configuration, the tact time can be further reduced by performing parallel processing by a plurality of processing units having the same function.

(3) In the above (1), preferably,
The mechanical hand includes a chuck having a mechanism for holding a work and changing a direction of the held work. With this configuration, the configuration of the processing unit can be simplified.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction and operation of a cable assembling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the overall configuration of the cable assembly device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a layout of an overall configuration of a cable assembling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the following description, the work to be processed by the cable assembling apparatus according to the present embodiment is a two-core optical fiber cable, and the cable assembling apparatus will be described as an example that performs terminal processing of the optical fiber cable. .

The cable assembling apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a pre-processing unit 10 and a post-processing unit 30. The pre-process processing section 10 includes a pre-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 11 having a mechanical hand 20 attached to a tip portion. A pre-loader / unloader 12, a skin peeling device 13, a sleeve insertion device 14, and a crimping device 15 are arranged within the operation range of the horizontal multi-indirect robot 11 for the pre-process.

The specific processing contents of each of the devices 13, 14, and 15 will be described later with reference to FIG.
The outline will be described. The bobbin 60 which is a work is placed on the pre-process loader / unloader 12 manually. The bobbin 60 has an optical fiber cable 50
Are wound, and both ends for performing terminal processing protrude from the bobbin 60.

The pre-process horizontal articulated robot 11 includes joints J1 and J2. The robot 11 is rotatable in the direction of arrow A1 between the rotation center J0 and the joint J1. Further, the joint J1 of the robot 11 and the joint J2
Between them, it is rotatable in the direction of arrow A2. A mechanical hand 20 is attached to the tip of the joint J2, and the mechanical hand 20 is rotatable in the direction of arrow A3. The rotation center J0 of the robot 11 can move up and down in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. That is, the mechanical hand 20 attached to the tip of the horizontal multi-indirect robot 11 for the pre-process can move in the three-dimensional direction.

The skin peeling device 13 cuts the outer skin at the end of the optical fiber 50, removes the outer skin, and further cuts the Kevlar. The sleeve insertion device 14 inserts a strain relief into the end of the optical fiber 50. The crimping device 15 inserts a crimping ring into the end of the optical fiber 50 and performs crimping.

The detailed configuration of the mechanical hand 20 will be described later with reference to FIG.
Loads the work 60 from the pre-loader / unloader 12 and moves to the outer-skin peeling device 13 to perform processing such as outer-skin cutting. Next, the mechanical hand 20 moves the work 60 to the sleeve insertion device 14 and performs a strain relief insertion process. Next, the mechanical hand 20
Moves the work 60 to the crimping device 15 to perform crimping of the crimp ring. When the crimping process is completed, the mechanical hand 20 unloads the work 60 to the pre-loader / unloader 12. The post-process processing unit 30 includes a post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31 having a mechanical hand 40 attached to the tip. The post-process loader 32, the endothelial peeling device 33, the connector component insertion device 34, the adhesive curing device 35, the grinding device 36, the polishing device 37 , And an unloader 38 are disposed. Adhesive curing device 35
Has three curing furnaces 35A, 35B, 35C having the same configuration.

The specific processing contents of each of the devices 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 will be described later with reference to FIG. 4, but the outline will be described here. The post-processed bobbin 60 from the pre-process loader / unloader 12 is manually placed on the post-process loader 32.

The post-process horizontal articulated robot 31 includes joints J1 and J2. The robot 31 is rotatable in the direction of arrow B1 between the rotation center J0 and the joint J1. Also, the joint J1 of the robot 31 and the joint J2
Is rotatable in the direction of arrow B2. A mechanical hand 40 is attached to a distal end of the joint J2, and the mechanical hand 40 is rotatable in the direction of arrow B3. Further, the rotation center portion J0 of the robot 31 can move up and down in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. That is, the mechanical hand 40 attached to the tip of the horizontal multi-direct robot 31 for the post-process is movable in the three-dimensional direction. Further, the operation of the robot 31 is controlled by the control unit 31CONT. The control unit 31CONT includes an endothelial peeling device 33,
It is connected to the connector part insertion device 34, the adhesive curing device 35, the grinding device 36, and the polishing device 37 by a communication line, and receives a command to end the work from each device.

The endothelial peeling device 33 peels the inner skin of the optical cable 50 and further removes the primary coat. The connector component insertion device 34 inserts the connector component filled with the adhesive into the end of the optical cable 50. The adhesive curing device 35 heats and cures the adhesive. Grinding device 3
6 removes the core wire and the adhesive protruding from the tip of the connector component. The polishing device 37 polishes the end face of the connector component.

Next, the structure of the end of the optical cable in a state where the end of the optical cable has been processed by using the cable processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the structure of the end of the optical cable in a state where the processing of the end of the optical cable has been performed using the cable processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
Shows a state in which the endothelial peeling process has been completed by the endothelial peeling device 33.

The optical cable 50 includes two core wires 51, an inner skin 52 covered by the core wire 51, an outer skin 54, and an inner skin 52.
And a Kevlar 53 interposed between the outer skin 54. The core wire 51 has a diameter of, for example, 0.2 mm.
The endothelium 52 is made of, for example, Teflon (registered trademark),
The outer diameter is φ2 mm. The Kevlar 53 is a thin and long string made of vinyl, and several thousand pieces are interposed between the outer skin 54 and the inner skin 52. The Kevlar 53 is used for protecting the core wire 51. The outer cover 54 is made of, for example, vinyl chloride and has an outer diameter of 10 mm.

At the end of the inner skin 52, the inner skin 52 is cut off and peeled off, and the core wire 51 is exposed. At the end of the optical cable 50, a sleeve Sv is inserted between the Kevlar 53 and the inner skin 52. The sleeve Sv is made of, for example, vinyl chloride. The end of the outer cover 54 is covered with a strain relief Sr. Strain relief Sr
Is made of, for example, vinyl chloride, and is used to relieve stress applied when the optical cable 50 is bent. An inner crimp ring Ir is put on an end of the strain relief Sr, and a Kevlar 53 is folded back on the outer periphery thereof. Inner crimp ring Ir
Is made of brass, for example, and has a file on its surface. A crimping ring Pr is attached from the outer periphery of the folded Kevlar 53, and pressure is applied from the outer periphery, so that a pressure is applied between the strain relief Sr and the crimping ring Pr.
The inner crimp ring Ir and the Kevlar 53 are fixed by crimping. The crimp ring Pr is made of, for example, copper.

Next, the contents of processing in the pre-processing unit 10 of the cable assembling apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIG.
The configuration of the mechanical hand 20 used in the pre-processing unit 10 of the cable assembling apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of the mechanical hand 20 used in the pre-processing unit 10 of the cable assembling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The cable bobbin chuck 22 of the mechanical hand 20 can be opened and closed in directions indicated by arrows C1 and C2 with a mounting point of the mechanical hand 20 to the base 21 as a fulcrum. The bobbin 60 can be held by setting the bobbin 60 as a work with the cable chuck bobbin 22 opened and closing the cable chuck bobbin 22.

The base 21 has tip chucks 23A, 23A.
B and tip chucks 24A and 24B are attached. The tip chuck 23A is movable in the direction of arrow C3, and the tip chuck 23B is movable in the direction of arrow C4. The optical cable 50A can be held by moving in a direction in which the distance between the tip chucks 23A and 23B increases, disposing the end of the optical cable 50A in the meantime, and then moving in a direction to close the tip chucks 23A and 23B. . The tip chuck 24A is movable in the direction of arrow C5, and the tip chuck 24B is movable in the direction of arrow C6. The optical cable 50B can be held by moving in a direction in which the distance between the tip chucks 24A and 24B increases, arranging the end of the optical cable 50B in the meantime, and then moving in a direction to close the tip chucks 24A and 24B. .

Next, the contents of the pre-processing step will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a process chart showing processing steps in the pre-processing unit 10 of the cable assembling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

First, the horizontal multi-indirect robot 11 for the pre-process
Moves to the position of the pre-process loader / unloader 12, and
The mechanical hand 20 mounted on the tip of the horizontal multi-indirect robot 11 for the pre-process includes a pre-process loader / unloader 12.
The bobbin 60 placed on the is gripped and loaded.

Next, the horizontal multi-indirect robot 11 for the pre-process
Inserts the distal end of the optical cable 50 held by the mechanical hand 20 into the sheath peeling device 13. As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the peeling device 13
The outer skin 54 at the end of “0” is cut, the outer skin 54 is removed, and the Kevlar 53 is further cut.

When the removal of the outer skin 54 and the cutting of the Kevlar 53 are completed, the horizontal articulated robot 11 moves the distal end of the optical cable 50 held by the mechanical hand 20 to the sleeve insertion device 14. As shown in FIG. 4A, the sleeve insertion device 14 inserts the strain relief Sr into the end of the optical fiber 50, and furthermore, inserts the inner crimp ring Ir into the strain relief S.
Insert at the end of r. Further, the sleeve insertion device 14
As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the sleeve Sv
Is inserted between the Kevlar 53 and the endothelium 52. Sleeve S
After the insertion of v, the sleeve insertion device 14 moves the strain relief Sr toward the end of the optical cable 50, and as shown in FIG.
Between them, the Kevlar 53 and the outer skin 54 are sandwiched.

When the insertion of the sleeve Sv is completed, the pre-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 11 presses the distal end of the optical cable 50 held by the mechanical hand 20 onto the crimping device 1.
Go to 5. The crimping device 15 folds the end of the Kevlar 53 as shown in FIG. Further, the crimping device 1
5, as shown in FIG. 4D, the crimp ring Pr is inserted into the end of the optical fiber 50, and further, the crimp ring Pr is further inserted.
Apply pressure from around to deform the crimp ring Pr,
Crimp.

When the mounting of the pressure ring Pr is completed, the horizontal multi-direct robot 11 for the pre-process conveys the bobbin to the position of the pre-loader / unloader 12 and unloads the bobbin 60.

With the bobbin 60 placed on the pre-loader / unloader 12, a washer spring Ws is manually attached to the outer periphery of each inner skin 52 as shown in FIG. I do. Insertion of the washer spring Ws is performed manually because it takes less time and is more efficient to perform it manually than to mechanize it. Then, as a step of ending the pre-process by crimping work, a washer spring is manually inserted within the tact time and set in the post-process loader 32.

Next, the contents of processing in the post-processing unit 30 of the cable assembling apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 1, 1, and 4. First, the configuration of the mechanical hand 40 used in the post-processing unit 30 of the cable assembling apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows a mechanical hand 40 used in the post-processing unit 30 of the cable assembling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.
It is a perspective view which shows a structure of. FIG. 5A is an overall perspective view of the mechanical hand 40, and FIG.
It is a perspective view of an important section of (A).

The cable bobbin chuck 42 of the mechanical hand 40 can be opened and closed in the directions of arrows D1 and D2 with the mounting portion of the mechanical hand 40 to the base 41 as a fulcrum. The bobbin 60 can be held by setting the bobbin 60 as a work with the cable chuck bobbin 42 opened and closing the cable chuck bobbin 42.

The base 41 has outer skin chucks 43A and 43A.
B and outer skin chucks 44A and 44B are attached. The outer skin chuck 43A is movable in the direction of arrow D3, and the outer skin chuck 43B is movable in the direction of arrow D4. One end of the optical cable 50 is moved by moving the outer chucks 43A and 43B in a direction in which the distance between the outer chucks 43A and 43B is widened. The portion of the outer skin 54 of the end 50A can be held. The outer skin chuck 44A is movable in the direction of arrow D5, and the outer skin chuck 44B is movable in the direction of arrow D6. After moving in the direction in which the distance between the outer skin chucks 44A and 43B is widened, placing the other end of the optical cable 50 therebetween, and then moving the outer chucks 44A and 44B in the closing direction, the other end of the optical cable 50 is moved. The portion of the outer skin 54 of the portion 50B can be held.

A tip chuck 45A is provided at the tip of the outer skin chuck 43A. Tip chuck 45
A is the two ends of one end 50A of the two-core optical cable 50.
The part of the inner skin 52 corresponding to one of the cores is held. A tip chuck 45 is attached to the tip of the outer chuck 43B.
B is provided. The tip chuck 45B holds a portion of the inner skin 52 corresponding to the other core wire of the two cores at one end 50A of the two-core optical cable 50.

Further, at the tip of the outer skin chuck 44A,
A tip chuck 46A is provided. Tip chuck 4
6A holds a portion of the inner skin 52 corresponding to one of the two cores of the other end 50B of the two-core optical cable 50. A tip chuck 4 is provided at the tip of the outer chuck 44B.
6B are provided. The tip chuck 46B holds a part of the inner skin 52 corresponding to the other core wire of the two cores of the other end 50B of the two-core optical cable 50.

Tip chucks 45A, 45B, 46A, 4
6B are each rotatable in the direction of arrow E. That is, the tip chucks 45A, 45B, 46A, 46B
As shown in FIG. 5 (B), when the position in the horizontal direction is used as a reference, it is rotatable in the direction of arrow E1, that is, upward by 90 °, and the core wire 51 can be directed directly upward (vertically). it can. In addition, it is also possible to fix the position at an arbitrary angle between the horizontal position and the direction directly above. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, the tip chucks 45A, 45B, 46A, and 46B have the arrow E2 with reference to the horizontal position.
The core wire 51 can be turned 90 degrees downward in the direction, that is, downward, and the core wire 51 can be directed in a direction directly below (vertical direction). In addition,
It is also possible to fix the position at any angle between the horizontal position and the direction directly below.

That is, the tip chucks 45A, 45B, 46A and 46B of the post-process mechanical hand 40 operate independently in the E1 and E2 directions to change the direction of the cable tip and maintain the angle. ing. Using the mechanical hand 40, the direction of the cable tip is changed so as to match the setting direction of each processing apparatus, and the process is advanced to simplify the structure of each single-function automatic machine.

Next, the contents of the pre-processing step will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the horizontal multi-directive robot 31 for the post-process is used for the post-loader / unloader 3.
Move to the position 2 and use it for the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 3
The mechanical hand 40 mounted on the front end of the device 1 grips and loads the bobbin 60 placed on the post-process loader / unloader 32. At this time, as described in FIG. 5, the outer skin chuck 43A of the mechanical hand 40,
Both ends of the optical cable 50 are held by 43B and outer chucks 44A and 44B, respectively, and portions of the inner skin 52 corresponding to the respective core wires are held by tip chucks 45A, 45B, 46A and 46B.

Next, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31
Inserts the distal end of the optical cable 50 held by the mechanical hand 40 into the endothelial peeling device 33. At this time, the tip chucks 45A, 45B, 46A, 46B
In the state shown in FIG. 5B, the optical cable is inserted into the endothelial peeling device 33 while holding the optical cable so that the endothelium 52 faces in the horizontal direction.

The endothelial exfoliating device 33 exfoliates the tip of the endothelium of the optical cable 50 from the state shown in FIG. 4D to the state shown in FIG. Further, the endothelial peeling device 33 removes the primary coat covering the outer periphery of the core wire 51. For the primary coat, for example, silicon rubber or the like is used.

Next, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31
Moves the distal end of the optical cable 50 held by the mechanical hand 40 to the connector component insertion device 34. At this time, the tip chucks 45A, 45B, 46A,
Reference numeral 46B denotes a connector component insertion device 3 which is rotated 90 degrees in the direction of arrow E1 in the state shown in FIG. 5B and holds the optical cable so that the inner skin 52 faces directly upward.
Move to 4. FIG.
As shown in (f), the connector component Cp filled with the adhesive is inserted into the end of the optical cable 50.

Here, the processing contents of the connector component insertion device 34 used in the post-processing unit 30 of the cable assembling apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the operation of the connector component insertion device 34 used in the post-processing section 30 of the cable assembly device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 1, the control unit 31CON controls the robot 31.
T and the connector component insertion device 34 are connected via a communication port, and the control unit 31CONT of the robot 31 complements the operation of the connector component insertion device 34 by communication between the two.

The control unit 31CONT of the robot 31 starts communication with the connector component insertion device 34, and checks whether the status of the connector component insertion device 34 is in a work preparation completed state. When it is confirmed that the operation preparation is completed, the controller 31 CONT of the robot 31 is checked.
Outputs a work start command to the connector insertion device 34. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 6A, the mechanical hand 41 moves in the direction of the arrow F1 with the tip chuck portions 45, 46 with the cores of the optical cables 50A, 50B facing directly upward, and It is conveyed to the fixed core wire guide portion 34A of the component insertion device 34. Tip chuck 4
At the stage when the movement amount of the optical cables 50 and 46 reaches a predetermined distance, the connector component insertion device 34 is notified of the arrival of the connector component insertion position on the assumption that the core wires of the optical cables 50A and 50B have been transported to the set position.

Next, the connector component chuck 34B of the connector component insertion device 34 that has received the work start command holds the connector Cp, fills the connector component Cp with an adhesive, and inserts the connector Cp at the insertion start position (FIG. 6A). The connector component 60 is supplied up to the position shown in FIG. The connector component Cp is, for example,
It is made of ceramics. The control unit 31CO of the robot 31
If the arrival of the connector component insertion position from the NT has been received, the movable core guide 34 of the connector component insertion device 34
C and the connector component chuck 34B descend in the direction of the arrow F2, and guide the connector core Cp held by the connector component chuck 34B to the optical cable while guiding the core of the optical cable toward the center of the connector component Cp by the movable core guide 34C. Into the core wire at the tip of. After moving the predetermined distance, the connector component insertion device 34 notifies the controller 31 CONT of the robot 31 of the completion of the temporary insertion operation, assuming that the temporary insertion operation of the connector component Cp has been completed. When the temporary insertion operation is completed, the connector component Cp has not been inserted to the regular position.

Next, the control unit 31CONT of the robot 31 having received the operation end from the connector component insertion device 34,
As shown in FIG. 6B, the mechanical hand 41 is raised in the direction of arrow F3, and the insertion dimension of the connector component Cp is moved to the normal position. Here, the normal position is a position where the tip of the core wire projects from the center hole of the connector component Cp. The movement in the direction of arrow F3 is performed by sliding the axis J0 of the robot 31 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. When the operation of the connector component insertion device 34 is complemented,
The control unit 31CONT notifies the connector component insertion device 34 of the completion of the supplementary operation.

Next, the controller 31 CONT of the robot 31
Component insertion device 34 receiving the completion of the complementary operation from
As shown in FIG. 6 (C), the movable core guide 34C, which can be divided into two, and the connector component chuck 34B are opened in the directions of arrows F4 and F5, respectively, to release the connector component Cp as a work. , The control unit 3 of the robot 31
Notify 1CONT of the end of work.

Next, in response to the work end signal from the connector component insertion device 34, the robot 31 moves the tip chucks 45 and 46 in the direction of arrow F6 as shown in FIG. Move on. At the same time, the connector component insertion device 34 operates the movable core wire guide 34C and the connector component chuck 34B in the direction of arrow F7 to assist the ejection of the robot, return to the neutral position, and enter a work ready state.

At the time when the insertion of the connector component Cp by the connector component insertion device 34 is completed, as shown in FIG. 4F, the connector component Cp is mounted on the tip of the inner skin 52, and the center of the connector component Cp is inserted. The core wire 51 protrudes from the hole.

Next, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31
Moves the tip of the optical cable 50 held by the mechanical hand 40 to the adhesive curing device 35. The adhesive curing device 35 includes three curing furnaces 35A having the same configuration,
35B and 35C, the control unit 31CONT of the robot 31 has three curing furnaces 35A, 35B and 35C.
Among C, the leading end of the optical cable 50 is conveyed to an unused curing furnace. At this time, the tip chucks 45A, 45A
In the state shown in FIG. 5B, B, 46A, and 46B are rotated by 90 degrees in the direction of arrow E1 to hold the optical cable so that the inner skin 52 faces directly upward. Move up to.

Since the heating and curing time in the adhesive curing device 35 in the post-process area requires at least 20 minutes, the mechanical hand 40 of the robot 31 sends the optical cable as a work to one of the curing furnaces 35A, 35B and 35C. The robot 31 is opened by passing it to the table, and the process of the optical cable as another work is advanced. The adhesive to be filled in the connector component Cp is of a two-liquid mixture type, and is cured by heating at 130 ° C. for 20 minutes. In this way, for a processing device with a long processing time, an optical cable as a work is passed,
By opening the robot, the total time is kept within the takt time. By operating three curing furnaces in parallel, the tact time can be reduced. The tact time will be described later with reference to FIG.

When the heating process is completed, the post-process horizontal articulated robot 31 receives the optical cable from the curing furnace of the adhesive curing device 35 by the mechanical hand 40,
The held end of the optical cable 50 is moved to the grinding device 36. At this time, the tip chucks 45A, 45B, 4
6A and 46B are rotated 90 degrees in the direction of arrow E2 in the state shown in FIG. 5B, and hold the optical cable so that the end of the core wire 51 is directed downward, and Move to insertion device 34. The grinding device 36 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (f), the core wire 51 (the amount of protrusion is 5 to 10 mm) protruding from the tip of the connector component Cp is cut, and the end of the connector component Cp is roughly polished, so that the connector component Cp is cut. The adhesive which has leaked out from the end and has been hardened is removed to obtain a state shown in FIG.

Next, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31
Moves the tip end of the optical cable 50 held by the mechanical hand 40 to the polishing device 37. At this time, the tip chucks 45A, 45B, 46A, 46B
In the state shown in FIG. 5B, the optical cable is rotated by 90 degrees in the direction of arrow E <b> 2 and moved to the connector component insertion device 34 while holding the optical cable so that the end of the core wire 51 is directed downward. I do. The polishing device 37 polishes the end face of the connector component Cp. Since the polishing time in the polishing device 37 is 8 minutes, the mechanical hand 40 once passes the optical cable to the polishing device 37 to put the robot 31 in a free state. In the polishing device 37, the end face of the connector component Cp, in particular, the end of the core wire 51 is polished using two types of coarse and dense polishing paper.

When the polishing by the polishing device 37 is completed, the horizontal multi-directed robot 31 for the post-process is moved by the mechanical hand 4.
0, the optical cable is received from the polishing device 37,
The bobbin 60 which is a work is moved to the unloader 38.
To unload.

Next, the processing steps of the post-processing section of the cable assembling apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a process perspective view showing the processing contents of the post-processing unit 30 of the cable assembling apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 7, the horizontal axis represents time, and one division is 2 minutes. The vertical axis indicates each device. That is, (31) at the bottom of the vertical axis indicates the robot 31
3 shows the operation state. The vertical axis (32) indicates the post-process loader 32. (33) on the vertical axis indicates the operating state of the endothelial peeling device 33. (34) on the vertical axis indicates the operating state of the connector component insertion device 34. (35) on the vertical axis indicates the operating state of the adhesive curing device 35. The adhesive curing device 35 includes three curing furnaces 35A, 3A.
5B and 35C. (36) on the vertical axis is
The operation state of the grinding device 36 is shown. (37) on the vertical axis
Indicates an operation state of the polishing apparatus 37. The vertical axis (3
8) shows an unloader 38. Further, circled alphabets (A) to (H) in the figure indicate bobbins 60A to 60H, which are different works, respectively.

First, the horizontal multi-direct robot 31 for the post-process
Loads the bobbin 60A from the post-process loader 32,
It moves to the endothelial peeling device 33 to execute the endothelial peeling process. The processing time of the endothelial peeling device 33 is 2 minutes. It should be noted that the processing time depends on the pre-process (in this case, the post-process loader 3).
This includes the movement time from 2) to the endothelial peeling device 33. In each of the following steps, the processing time includes the moving time from the previous step.

When the endothelial peeling process of the bobbin 60A is completed, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31 moves the bobbin 60A.
Is moved from the endothelial peeling device 33 to the connector component insertion device 34 to execute a connector component insertion process. The processing time of the connector component insertion device 34 is 4 minutes.

When the connector component insertion process of the bobbin 60A is completed, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 moves the bobbin 60A from the connector component insertion device 34 to the adhesive curing device 35. Here, the post-process horizontal articulated robot 31 moves the bobbin 60A to the curing furnace 35A, and transfers the bobbin 60A to the curing furnace 35A so that other workpieces can be handled. The processing time of the curing furnace 35A is 20 minutes. That is, in the steps so far, the horizontal multi-direct robot 31 for the post-process handles the bobbin 60A as shown in the lowermost column (31) on the vertical axis of FIG.

Next, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31
Loads the bobbin 60B from the post-process loader 32,
It moves to the endothelial peeling device 33 to execute the endothelial peeling process. When the endothelial peeling process of the bobbin 60B is completed, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31 moves the bobbin 60B from the endothelial peeling device 33 to the connector component inserting device 34, and executes the connector component inserting process. When the connector component insertion process of the bobbin 60B is completed, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 moves the bobbin 60B to the connector component insertion device 34.
Is moved to the curing furnace 35B of the adhesive curing device 35, and the bobbin 60B is delivered to the curing furnace 35B. That is, in the steps up to this point, as shown in the lowermost column (31) on the vertical axis of FIG.
Is handling.

Next, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31
Loads the bobbin 60C from the post-process loader 32,
It moves to the endothelial peeling device 33 to execute the endothelial peeling process. When the endothelial peeling process of the bobbin 60C is completed, the horizontal multi-directive robot 31 for the post-process moves the bobbin 60C from the endothelial peeling device 33 to the connector component inserting device 34, and executes the connector component inserting process. When the connector component insertion processing of the bobbin 60C is completed, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 inserts the bobbin 60C into the connector component insertion device 34.
Is moved to the curing furnace 35C of the adhesive curing device 35, and the bobbin 60C is delivered to the curing furnace 35C. That is, in the steps so far, as shown in the lowermost column (31) on the vertical axis of FIG.
Is handling.

Next, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31
Waits for the end of the adhesive curing process of the bobbin 60A in the curing furnace 35A, receives the bobbin 60A from the curing furnace 35A, and moves to the grinding device 36. The processing time of the grinding device 36 is 0.5 minutes.

When the bobbin 60A finishes the grinding process, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 moves the bobbin 60A from the grinding device 36 to the polishing device 37. Since the processing time of the polishing device 37 is 8 minutes, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 transfers the bobbin 60A to the polishing device 37.
That is, in the steps up to this point, the lowermost column (3
As shown in 1), the horizontal multiple joint robot 31 for the post-process
Handles the bobbin 60A.

When the transfer of the bobbin 60A to the polishing apparatus 37 is completed, the post-process horizontal articulated robot 31 loads the bobbin 60D from the post-process loader 32, moves to the endothelial peeling device 33, and performs the endothelial peeling process. Execute When the endothelial peeling process of the bobbin 60D is completed, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 moves the bobbin 60D to the endothelial peeling device 33.
To the connector component insertion device 34 to execute a connector component insertion process. When the connector component insertion process of the bobbin 60D is completed, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31
Moves the bobbin 60D from the connector component insertion device 34 to the curing furnace 35A of the adhesive curing device 35,
D is delivered to the curing furnace 35A. That is, in the steps up to this point, as shown in the lowermost column (31) on the vertical axis of FIG. 7, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 handles the bobbin 60D.

When the bobbin 60D is delivered to the curing furnace 35A, the horizontal multi-direct robot 31 for the post-process moves to the bobbin 60A.
Is moved from the polishing device 37 to the unloader 38, and is unloaded. That is, in the steps so far, the horizontal multi-direct robot 31 for the post-process handles the bobbin 60A as shown in the lowermost column (31) on the vertical axis of FIG.

When the unloading of the bobbin 60A is completed,
Since the post-process horizontal indirect robot 31 has completed the adhesive curing process for the bobbin 60B in the curing furnace 35B, it receives the bobbin 60B from the curing furnace 35B and moves to the grinding device 36. When the grinding process of the bobbin 60B is completed, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31 moves the bobbin 60B
From the grinding device 36 to the polishing device 37, and the bobbin 60
B is delivered to the polishing device 37. That is, in the steps up to this point, as shown in the lowermost column (31) on the vertical axis of FIG. 7, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 handles the bobbin 60B.

When the transfer of the bobbin 60B to the polishing apparatus 37 is completed, the post-process horizontal articulated robot 31 loads the bobbin 60E from the post-process loader 32, moves to the endothelial peeling device 33, and performs the endothelial peeling process. Execute When the endothelial peeling process of the bobbin 60E is completed, the post-process horizontal multi-indirect robot 31 moves the bobbin 60E to the endothelial peeling device 33.
To the connector component insertion device 34 to execute a connector component insertion process. When the connector component insertion process of the bobbin 60E is completed, the horizontal multi-direct robot 31 for the post-process is completed.
Moves the bobbin 60E from the connector component insertion device 34 to the curing furnace 35B of the adhesive curing device 35,
E is delivered to the curing furnace 35B. That is, in the steps so far, as shown in the lowermost column (31) on the vertical axis of FIG. 7, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 handles the bobbin 60E.

When the bobbin 60E is delivered to the curing furnace 35B, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 is
Is moved from the polishing device 37 to the unloader 38, and is unloaded. That is, in the steps up to this point, as shown in the lowermost column (31) on the vertical axis of FIG. 7, the post-process horizontal multiple joint robot 31 handles the bobbin 60B.

By operating as described above, bobbin terminal processing is executed one after another. Here, bobbin 60
The time Tt from when A is unloaded to when the next bobbin 60B is unloaded is the tact time. Similarly, the time Tt from when the bobbin 60B is unloaded to when the next bobbin 60C is unloaded is also a tact time. In the present embodiment, the tact time Tt is 1
It is 0 minutes. That is, the time required to execute each processing step is as follows: endothelial peeling processing (2 minutes), connector part insertion processing (4 minutes), adhesive curing processing (20 minutes), grinding processing (0.5 minutes), polishing Total time of processing (8 minutes), 3
Although it is 4.5 minutes, in the present embodiment, 1) for a process with a long processing time (adhesive curing process and polishing process), a work is used in each processing device (the adhesive curing device 35 and the polishing device 37). Delivering the bobbin to make the robot free, and 2) longer processing time (adhesive curing)
With regard to the above, a plurality of the same processing apparatuses (curing furnaces 35A, 35B, and 35C of the adhesive curing apparatus 35) are provided, and the tact time can be reduced by performing parallel processing.

Further, in order to reduce the tact time,
The control unit 31CONT of the robot 31 assigns priorities to the respective processes, and when there are a plurality of bobbins that can be simultaneously executed, the processes are executed in descending order of priority. The priorities are listed in descending order of priority. (Priority 1) Unload the polishing finished by the polishing device 37, (Priority 2) move the bobbin to the polishing device 37, (Priority 3) new bobbin Is going to be loaded.

This priority is executed as follows in FIG. For example, when the transfer of the bobbin 60D to the curing furnace 35A is completed around 35 minutes on the horizontal axis, the polishing process of the bobbin 60A has been completed. Unload the bobbin 60A, move the bobbin 60B to the grinding device,
The execution is performed prior to the loading of E. Further, for example, when the unloading of the bobbin 60A is completed around 36 minutes on the horizontal axis, the “(priority order 2) polishing device 37
The bobbin 60B after the heat treatment is moved to the grinding device 36, and further moved to the polishing device 37 in accordance with "moving the bobbin to the bobbin 60E" in preference to the loading of the bobbin 60E. Further, for example, when the movement of the bobbin 60B to the polishing apparatus 37 is completed around 38 minutes on the horizontal axis, the bobbin 60E is loaded according to “(Priority 3) Loading a new bobbin”.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, an assembling process that requires a plurality of jigs and tools, such as a cable terminal process, can be processed in a short cycle time.

Further, the tip chuck of the mechanical hand can change the direction of the chucked member (optical cable), so that the mechanism of the processing apparatus can be simplified and the equipment development period and equipment development cost can be reduced.

Further, as long as the cable is within the operating range of the robot, it can flexibly cope with a change in the type of cable due to addition of equipment or replacement of a technical hand.

[0075]

According to the present invention, an assembling process requiring a plurality of jigs and tools, such as a cable terminal process, can be processed in a short cycle time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the structure of the end of the optical cable in a state where the end of the optical cable has been processed using the cable processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a mechanical hand 20 used in a pre-processing unit 10 of the cable assembling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a process diagram showing processing steps in a pre-processing unit 10 of the cable assembling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a mechanical hand 40 used in the post-processing unit 30 of the cable assembling apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
5B is a perspective view of a main part of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an operation of the connector component insertion device used in the post-processing unit 30 of the cable assembly device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a process perspective view showing processing contents of a post-process processing unit 30 of the cable assembling apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Pre-process process part 11 ... Horizontal articulated robot for pre-process 12 ... Pre-process loader / unloader 13 ... Skin peeling device 14 ... Sleeve insertion device 15 ... Crimping device 20 ... Mechanical hand for pre-process 22 ... Cable bobbin chuck 23, 24 right side tip chuck 30 post-processing part 31 post-process horizontal articulated robot 32 post-process loader 33 endothelial peeling device 34 connector insertion device 35 adhesive curing device 35A, 35B, 35C curing Furnace 36 ... Grinding device 37 ... Polishing device 38 ... Unloader 40 ... Mechanical hand for post-process 42 ... Cable bobbin chuck 43, 44 ... Skin chuck 45, 46 ... Cable tip chuck 50 ... Optical cable 51 ... Core wire 52 ... Endothelium 53 ... Kevlar 54 ... outer skin 60 ... cable bobbin Ir ... inner crimper pudding Cp ... connector parts Pr ... crimp ring Sr ... strain relief Sv ... sleeve Ws ... washer spring

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (Reference) G02B 6/00 335 G02B 6/00 335 6/36 6/36 G05B 19/418 G05B 19/418 B (72) Inventor Morisa, Ishizawa 1 Horiyamashita, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa F-term in Enterprise Server Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (Reference) 2H036 KA01 KA02 KA03 QA24 RA31 2H038 CA02 CA11 CA22 3C030 DA04 DA24 3F061 AA04 BA03 BB08 BE41 DB00 DB02

Claims (3)

[Claims] A robot that holds and moves a workpiece by a mechanical hand attached to a tip of the robot, and a plurality of processing means disposed within an operation range of the robot; In a cable assembling apparatus for sequentially moving a work to a means and performing processing for each processing means, the robot may transfer the work to a processing means having a long processing time among the plurality of processing means. A cable assembling apparatus for executing processing by another processing unit after the delivery. 2. The cable processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing means for transferring the work includes a plurality of processing means having the same function, and the robot performs the processing of the plurality of the same functions. A cable assembling apparatus for transferring the work to a processing unit that is not executing processing. 3. The cable assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical hand includes a chuck having a mechanism for holding the work and changing a direction of the held work.