JP2002160132A - Product assembling/disassembling system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a product assembling/disassembling system for disassembling used products and picking used parts to be reassembled and recycled in new products. SOLUTION: The product assembling/disassembling system having a plurality of assembling/disassembling lines 7, 9 arranged in parallel and compatibly assembling/disassembling cells 6 provided in respective working steps for working in steps of assembling and disassembling predetermined parts comprises first storage means for storing the parts assembled or disassembled by the compatibly assembling/disassembling cells, first carrying means 8 for carrying products between the compatibly assembling/disassembling cells, second storage means for storing the parts, supply means for supplying the parts from the second storage means to the compatibly assembling/disassembling cells, second carrying means for carrying the parts from the assembling/disassembling cells to the second storage means, and control means for controlling the whole system.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work system for disassembling and assembling a used product, disassembling a used product, taking out a used part, and incorporating the used part into a new product. And incorporate new parts into new products or units.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A system for reusing used parts for reusing (recycling) used products, a product which facilitates disassembly of a used product, and a method for disassembling the product are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11 (1999).
-239926. JP-A-Hei 1
The invention described in Japanese Patent Application No. 1-239926 has a dedicated line for product assembly and a dedicated line for disassembly of used products. For this reason, for example, when the used product is lost and only the product is to be assembled,
The dedicated line for disassembly of used products will be stopped, and if only the disassembly of used products is to be performed, the dedicated line for product assembly will be stopped, resulting in a decrease in equipment operation rate. There is a problem. To avoid a reduction in the operating rate of a used part recycling system for disassembling such used products or units (hereinafter, "product or unit" is simply referred to as "product") and assembling a new product. For this reason, it is required that the ratio of a new product assembling operation and a used product disassembling operation in the system can be easily changed regardless of the supply amount of the used product.

[0003]

[PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED]
The objects of the claimed invention are as follows. 1. An object of the invention according to claim 1 is to provide a product assembling / disassembling system in which a used product is disassembled, a used part is taken out, the used part is incorporated in a new product, and a new part is assembled. It can be integrated into a new product, and used parts can be integrated into a new product,
The idea is to devise the overall configuration of the system so that it can be reused. 2. The object of the invention according to claim 2 is to change the ratio of the work of assembling and disassembling the product so that the equipment can be used effectively regardless of the required supply of the product and the fluctuation of the used product supply. , The above-mentioned assembling / disassembling system. 3. The object of the present invention according to claim 3 is to prevent a corresponding part necessary for assembling a product from being supplied from another second storage means so that the first storage means for storing a part to be assembled or a disassembled part does not run short. The purpose of the present invention is to allow parts necessary for assembling to be supplied to each assembling / disassembling cell without shortage by transferring the parts. 4. The object of the invention according to claim 4 is that when the first storage means is almost full due to a part disassembled and taken out of a used product, the first storage means transfers from the first storage means to the other second storage means. An object of the present invention is to prevent the first storage means provided in the assembly / disassembly shared cells from becoming full by transporting the corresponding parts. 5. The object of the invention according to claim 5 is that the second storage means in the invention according to claim 1 includes a conveyor on which a tray for storing components is placed, and discharges the component storage tray in the order in which the components are loaded on the conveyor. Thus, parts to be assembled into a new product are used in order from the oldest one. 6. An object of the invention according to claim 6 is to devise a conveying means in the invention according to claim 1. 7. An object of the invention according to claim 7 is to devise a transporting means in the invention according to claim 1. 8. An object of the invention according to claim 8 is to disassemble a used product, determine whether or not the taken out part can be reused, and perform cleaning, so that a reusable part and a reused part can be used in each assembly / disassembly cell. An object of the present invention is to configure a product assembling / disassembling system so as to separate unusable parts and perform an assembling operation using usable parts. 9. The object of the invention according to claim 9 is to obtain product information such as manufacturing date recorded in a used product, and to use reusability determination information such as a reusable period of each part stored in a database. By comparing the product information and determining whether or not each part can be reused, it is possible to distinguish a reusable part from a non-reusable part. 10. It is an object of the invention according to claim 10 to disassemble a used product and inspect each part taken out, so that a reusable part and a non-reusable part can be separated. .

[0004]

Means taken to solve the problem The means of each invention taken to solve the above problem are as follows. 1. A solution of the invention according to claim 1 is to disassemble a used product, take out a used part, incorporate the used part into a new product, and integrate a new part into a new product. For an assembly / disassembly system capable of both, a number of assembly / disassembly lines are arranged in parallel in which a plurality of assembly / disassembly lines for performing the operations of each process are arranged in parallel so that all product disassembly and assembly work steps are completed. In the assembly and disassembly of the product, a common assembly / disassembly cell for assembling and disassembling predetermined parts is provided for each work process in accordance with a component assembling order and a component disassembly order. / First storage means for storing parts to be assembled or disassembled by the shared cell;
First transport means for transporting products between the assembly / disassembly shared cells, second storage means for storing parts,
Supply means for supplying parts from the second storage means to the assembling / disassembling cell, second conveying means for transferring parts from the assembling / disassembling cells to the second storage means, and control of the entire system Control means for performing the control.

[0005] 2. According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control means in the first aspect of the present invention controls the production amount required by the assembling / disassembling system.
This is to control a part of a plurality of assembly / disassembly lines to perform a part assembling operation so as to produce a required quantity, and to perform a disassembly operation to the remaining assembly / disassembly lines. 3. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the control means in the first aspect of the present invention is arranged such that, in accordance with the production amount required by the assembling / disassembling system, a corresponding part is provided for each of the assembly / disassembly shared cells. If the amount required for the first storage means is insufficient, control is performed so that the corresponding parts are supplied from the second storage means to the respective assembly / disassembly shared cells.

[0006] 4. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the control means is a line in which a used product is disassembled among a plurality of assembly / disassembly lines. When the first storage means of the parts provided in the disassembled / shared cell is almost full with the disassembled parts, control is performed such that the corresponding parts are transferred from the assembled / disassembled shared cells to the second storage means. That is.

[0007] 5. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the second aspect of the present invention,
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a conveyor on which a component storage tray for storing components is placed, and to control the component storage trays to be discharged in the order in which the components are loaded on the conveyor.

[0008] 6. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the first transporting means and the second transporting means are based on an automatic guided vehicle.

[0009] 7. A solution of the invention according to claim 7 is that the first transport means and the second transport means in the invention according to claim 1 are based on a conveyor.

[0010] 8. A solution of the invention according to claim 8 is a robot according to the invention according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of shared cells for assembly / disassembly perform assembly of parts, disassembly of a used product, and removal of parts. A cleaning means for cleaning the disassembled and removed parts, and a determination means for determining whether the disassembled and removed parts can be reused.

9. According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the determining means in the eighth aspect of the present invention includes: a product information acquiring unit for acquiring product information such as a date of manufacture of a used product; And a database in which reusability determination information such as a possible period is stored.

10. According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the determining means of the eighth aspect of the present invention includes means for inspecting a part disassembled and taken out of the product.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A product assembling / disassembling system according to the present invention has a plurality of disassembly / assembly lines connected in parallel at both ends to an annular transport path, and a finished product storage conveyor 1 is used outside both ends of the annular transport path. Place the finished product storage conveyor 11,
The component storage tray storage conveyor 3 is disposed on the opposite side of the finished product storage conveyor 1 with a part of the annular transport path therebetween, and the components are stored on the opposite side of the annular transport path with the component storage tray storage conveyor 3 between. It has a basic configuration in which a tray input line 5 is arranged, and stores a component storage tray 4 for storing components to be assembled into a product, an unmanned carrier 8 for transporting the component storage tray 4 or a product, and the component storage tray. The component storage tray storage conveyor 3 for storing the finished products 4, the completed product storage conveyor 1 for storing the finished products, and the component storage tray 4 placed on the automatic guided vehicle 8 are connected to the finished product storage conveyor 1 or the components storage. At the time of transfer to the tray storage conveyor 3, the unmanned carrier 8 travels, and the finished product and component storage tray discharge line 2, and the component storage tray 4 A component storage tray input line 5 on which the automatic guided vehicle 8 travels when transferring from the tray storage conveyor 3 to the automatic guided vehicle 8, an assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 for assembling parts and disassembling used products, And an assembly line 7 for assembling are arranged as shown in the figure.
A disassembly line 9 for disassembling the used product 12 and an assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 for assembling and disassembling operations in each process.
And an inspection device (not shown) for inspecting the components, a cleaning device (not shown) for cleaning the components, and a defective product collection box for putting in non-reusable components provided in the assembly / disassembly common cell 6. (Not shown) and used product 12
When the transfer of the used product storage conveyor 11 and the component storage tray 4 mounted on the automatic guided vehicle 8 to the used product storage conveyor 11 is performed, the automatic guided vehicle 8 travels. It has an input line 10 and a controller (not shown) for controlling the entire product assembling / disassembling system.

The product assembly / disassembly system operates as follows. In other words, the product disassembly procedure is generally the opposite of the parts assembling procedure. Therefore, the assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 (cell (1), (2)) for each of a number of work steps arranged on the product disassembly / assembly line .. (N)), the used product can be sequentially moved in one direction, and the product can be disassembled in the order of the process. The product assembly can be completed by moving in the order of steps. Then, the automatic guided vehicle moves along the circular transport path, receives the used products from the used product storage conveyor 11, transfers the finished products to the finished product storage conveyor 1, and transfers the finished products to the component storage tray storage conveyor 3. The part storage tray is delivered, enters the disassembly line from one side, enters the assembly line from the other side, moves along the disassembly line in the order of the disassembly work process, and moves along the assembly line along the assembly work process. In the meantime, the product and the component storage tray are transferred to and from each assembly / disassembly shared cell 6, and further, enter the component storage tray input line 5 to receive the component storage tray storage conveyor 3.
Of the component storage tray from. In this example, a plurality of lines near the used product storage conveyor 11 are operating as disassembly lines, and in this state, the automatic guided vehicle 8 travels on the used product input line 10 and the used product storage conveyor From 11, the used product 12 is transferred to the automatic guided vehicle 8. The automatic guided vehicle 8 enters the disassembly line 9 with the used product 12 placed thereon, and travels along the disassembly line 9, and the first assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 of the line is used.
The cell is stopped and positioned in front of (cell (n)), and the used product is delivered to the shared cell 6 for assembly / disassembly. The assembling / disassembling shared cell 6 disassembles a used product 12 delivered from the automatic guided vehicle 8 into a predetermined number of parts according to the disassembly order, and disassembles and takes out the extracted parts. (Not shown) for inspection, and rejectable parts in the disassembly / shared cell 6
OX (not shown), reusable parts are put into the above-mentioned cleaning device (not shown) in the disassembly / shared cell 6 for cleaning, and the component storage tray 4 in the assembly / disassembly / common cell 6 is used. Store the cleaned parts in And the automatic guided vehicle 8
Receives the used product that has completed the disassembly work in the first step and performs the next disassembly work on the assembly / disassembly shared cell 6
To transfer the product to the next assembly / disassembly shared cell 6, and cause the next assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 to perform the next disassembly operation. In this step, as in the previous step, inspection and cleaning of the disassembled and removed parts are performed, and reusable parts and non-reusable parts are stored in the parts storage tray 4 and the defective goods collection box, respectively. I do. In this way, the disassembly work by all the assembly / disassembly shared cells 6 (cells (1), (2)... (N)) of the disassembly line 9 is completed. When the disassembly and rerun are completed, nothing returns to the automatic guided vehicle 8, so the automatic guided vehicle 8 moves to the used product storage conveyor 11 again, receives the used product from the product storage conveyor 11 again, and disassembles again. You will head to the line.

The operation of the line used for the assembling operation of the assembling / disassembling system is as follows. That is,
When an empty automatic guided vehicle 8 enters the assembly line 7 and comes before the first assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 (cell (1)) of the line, it stops and is positioned there. The first assembling / disassembling shared cell 6 performs a predetermined assembling operation using the components of the component storage tray 4 in the assembling / disassembly shared cell 6.
The assembled (unfinished product) is delivered to an unmanned working vehicle. The unmanned working vehicle is the next assembly / disassembly shared cell 6
It moves to the position of (cell (2)) and delivers the unfinished product to the assembling / disassembling shared cell 6. In this way, the automatic guided vehicle 8 sequentially moves to the position of the assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 ((1) (2)... (N)) in accordance with the assembly order.
The unfinished product is delivered, and a predetermined number of parts are assembled in each cell. Assembly line 7 with automatic guided vehicle
When all the assembly work processes in the above are completed, the automatic guided vehicle 8 receives the finished product from the final assembly / disassembly shared cell 6, travels along the component storage tray discharge line 2, and stops in front of the finished product storage conveyor 1, The loaded finished product 13 is delivered to the finished product storage conveyor 1, and the empty product 13 goes to the assembly line 7 again.

A group of shared cells for assembly / disassembly 6 (cells (1), (2)... (N)) provided on a number of lines 7 and 9 of the assembly / disassembly system for this product ) Is to selectively perform disassembly work and assembly work for each line. Therefore, the number of assembly lines and disassembly lines is appropriately determined according to the amount of work for disassembling used products and assembling work for products. Can be set. That is,
The number of lines required for the production amount of the product required for this assembly / disassembly system can be operated as an assembly line, and the remaining lines can be operated as disassembly lines.

On the other hand, among the individual lines, in the line where the assembly work is continued for a long time, the parts in the parts storage tray 4 provided in the assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 in the assembly line 7 are in operation. Since the number of parts is reduced, the parts are replenished one after another so as not to run out of assembled parts. That is, an empty automatic guided vehicle 8 travels along the assembly line 7 to collect the component storage tray 4 in the assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 of that line, and then travels to the finished product and component storage tray discharge line 2 to remove it. Is delivered to the parts storage tray storage conveyor 3 and then travels along the parts storage tray input line 5, picks up the parts storage tray 4 storing the relevant parts, and moves to the assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 where the relevant parts are insufficient. The part storage tray 4 is delivered to the assembly / disassembly common cell 6.

In the line 9 where the disassembling operation is continued, the number of components in the component storage tray 4 provided in the assembly / disassembly common cell 6 increases, so that the component storage tray 4 becomes full. The full component storage trays 4 are sequentially collected so that the disassembled components cannot be stored in the component storage tray 4. That is, the empty automatic guided vehicle 8 travels along the disassembly line 9, picks up the component storage tray 4 of the assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 of the disassembly line, and travels along the completed product and component storage tray discharge line 2, and To the parts storage tray storage conveyor 3,
Thereafter, the vehicle travels along the component storage tray input line 5, receives the empty or nearly empty component storage tray 4, moves to the position of the assembly / disassembly shared cell 6 where the empty component storage tray 4 is insufficient, and moves the component storage tray 4. The storage tray 4 is delivered.

In the above-described embodiment, the automatic guided vehicle transports the products between the shared / assembled / disassembled cells 6 on each work line. A dedicated transfer means for sharing the same can be attached to each work line. In this case, the unmanned transport vehicle shares the remaining transport work such as the transport of the used product between the used product storage conveyor 11 and the disassembly work line, the transport of the component storage tray, and the collection of the assembled product. Become.

[0020]

The effects of the present invention are summarized as follows for each of the main claims. 1. In the assembly / disassembly system according to the first aspect of the present invention, a part of the assembly / disassembly line is disassembled, and the assembly / disassembly cell of each process in the assembly / disassembly line is used. The parts disassembled and taken out are stored in the parts storage tray, transported to the parts transport tray storage conveyor, and stored. The parts storage tray, in which the parts are stored, is transported from the parts transport tray storage conveyor to the assembly / disassembly line, and the assembly work is performed on another assembly / disassembly line. Has the effect that it can be assembled and reused.

2. Effect of the Invention According to Claim 2 The assembly / disassembly system of the invention according to claim 2 has a plurality of assembling / disassembling systems so as to produce a required production amount with respect to a production amount required for the assembly / disassembly system. Part of the disassembly line can be used to perform assembly work, and the remaining assembly / disassembly line can be used for disassembly work. This has the effect that the facilities can be operated.

3. Effect of the Invention According to Claim 3 The assembly / disassembly system of the invention according to claim 3 has a shortage of the required amount of the corresponding parts for each assembly / disassembly shared cell with respect to the production amount required by the assembly / disassembly system. In this case, the corresponding parts can be supplied from the second storage means to the respective cells for assembly / disassembly.
The operation of each assembly / disassembly shared cell is not stopped.

4. Advantageous Effects of the Invention According to Claim 4 The assembly / disassembly system according to the invention according to claim 4 is related to claim 1.
When the first storage means of (1) is almost full due to parts disassembled and taken out of the used product, the corresponding parts can be transferred from the first storage means to the second storage means of claim 1. Each of the shared cells for assembly / disassembly is not filled with the first storage means provided in the shared cells for assembly / disassembly. Can be avoided.

5. Effect of the Invention According to Claim 5 The assembly / disassembly system according to the invention according to claim 5 is based on claim 1.
The second storage means comprises a conveyor on which a tray for storing parts is placed, and the parts storage tray is discharged in the order in which the parts storage trays are put on the conveyor, so that the parts to be assembled into a new product can be changed from the oldest one. This has the effect that they can be used in order.

6. Effect of the Invention According to Claim 6 The assembly / disassembly system according to the invention according to claim 6 transports products between the assembling / disassembling shared cells arranged in the operation order of each step by an unmanned transport vehicle. This has the effect that the transfer of products between the assembly / disassembly shared cells can be automated.

7. Effect of the Invention According to Claim 7 The assembly / disassembly system of the invention according to claim 7 performs product transportation between assembly / disassembly shared cells arranged in the working order of each process by a conveyor. This has the effect that the transfer of products between shared cells can be automated.

8. Effect of the Invention According to Claim 8 The assembly / disassembly system according to the invention according to claim 8 can disassemble a used product, determine whether or not the taken-out parts can be reused, and perform cleaning. / Separation of reusable and non-reusable parts in the disassembly cell,
This has the effect that the reusable part can be made reusable.

9. Effect of the invention according to claim 9 The assembly / disassembly system according to the invention according to claim 9 obtains product information such as manufacturing date recorded on a used product,
By comparing the product information with the reusability determination information such as the reusable period of each part stored in the database, it is possible to determine whether each part can be reused. This has the effect that unusable parts can be separated.

10. Effects of the Invention According to Claim 10 The assembly / disassembly system of the invention according to claim 10 disassembles a used product and inspects the parts taken out to determine whether the parts taken out of the used product can be reused. It has the effect of being able to determine.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an assembly / disassembly system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. Finished product storage conveyor 2. 2. Finished product and parts storage tray discharge line 3. Component storage tray storage conveyor Parts storage tray 5. 5. Component storage tray input line 6. Assembly / disassembly shared cell Assembly line 8. Automatic guided vehicle 9. Disassembly line 10. Used product input line 11. Conveyor for storing used products 12. Used products 13. Finished product

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/60 106 B09B 5/00 M

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A product assembly capable of disassembling a used product, taking out a used part, and incorporating the used part into a new product, and incorporating a new part into a new product. An assembly / disassembly system in which a number of assembly / disassembly lines are arranged in parallel with a plurality of assembly / disassembly shared cells for performing the operations of each process so that all the operation steps of disassembly and assembly of the product are completed. In the assembly and disassembly of products, according to the order of assembling parts and the order of disassembling parts, an assembly / disassembly cell for performing each operation of assembling and disassembling predetermined parts is provided for each work process. First storage means for storing parts to be assembled or disassembled by the assembling / disassembling / shared cell, and first transport means for transferring products between the assembling / disassembling shared cells;
Second storage means for storing parts, supply means for supplying parts from the second storage means to the assembly / disassembly cell, and parts from those assembly / disassembly cells to the second storage means. An assembling / disassembling system for a product, comprising a second conveying means for conveying and control means for controlling the entire system. 2. The control means assembles parts on a part of a plurality of assembly / disassembly lines so as to produce a required quantity with respect to a production amount required by the assembly / disassembly system. 2. The assembly / disassembly system according to claim 1, wherein the system is controlled so that the remaining assembly / disassembly line performs the disassembly operation. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: when the required quantity of the corresponding part in the first storage means of each of the assembly / disassembly shared cells is insufficient for the production quantity required by the assembly / disassembly system. 2. The assembling / disassembling system according to claim 1, wherein control is performed so that the corresponding parts are supplied from the two storage means to the respective assembling / disassembling shared cells. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control means is a line for performing a disassembly operation of the used product among a plurality of assembly / disassembly lines,
The first of the parts provided in each assembly / disassembly shared cell
2. The control system according to claim 1, wherein when the storage unit is almost full by the disassembled parts, the corresponding parts are controlled to be conveyed from the assembly / disassembly shared cell to the second storage unit. Assembly / disassembly system. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second storage means includes a conveyor on which a component storage tray for storing components is placed, and controls to discharge the component storage tray in the order in which the component storage trays are loaded on the conveyor. The assembly / disassembly system according to claim 1, wherein: 6. An assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first transport means and said second transport means include an automatic guided vehicle.
Disassembly system. 7. The assembly / disassembly system according to claim 1, wherein said first transport means and said second transport means include a conveyor. 8. A robot for assembling parts or disassembling a used product to take out a part by using the plurality of assembly / disassembly shared cells, a cleaning means for cleaning the disassembled and taken out part, and The assembly / disassembly system according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine whether the disassembled and taken out part can be reused. 9. The determination means stores product information obtaining means for obtaining product information such as the date of manufacture of a used product, and reusability determination information such as a reusable period of each part. The assembly / disassembly system according to claim 8, further comprising a database. 10. The assembling / disassembling system according to claim 8, wherein said judging means comprises means for inspecting parts disassembled and taken out of the product. 11. A basic configuration in which a plurality of disassembly / assembly lines are connected in parallel by connecting both ends to an annular transport path, and a finished product storage conveyor and a used product storage conveyor are disposed outside both ends of the annular transport path. The assembly / disassembly system of a product according to claim 1. 12. The product assembling / disassembling system according to claim 11, wherein a component storage tray storage conveyor is disposed on the opposite side of the completed product storage conveyor with a part of the annular transport path interposed therebetween. 13. The product assembling / disassembling system according to claim 12, wherein a component storage tray input line is disposed on a side opposite to a part of the annular transport path with the component storage tray storage conveyor therebetween.