JP2003164971A - Welding torch with built-in visual sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor capable of exactly detecting a state of a welding part at all times and detecting image information capable of realizing excellent welding. <P>SOLUTION: The torch is provided with a cylindrical main cylinder 10, a slat 63' which is rotated around a support shaft 61 installed in the center part inside the main cylinder and prevents the collision by changing a spatter track 94 flying to a visual sensor, and a shielding gas supply port 50' which jets the shielding gas from a main cylinder side wall to a direction deviating from the center shaft of the main cylinder and rotates the slat 63'. As a result, the spatter is collided with the slat 63' and spattered, the collision and adhesion with the visual sensor can be prevented, the image information is always detected without blocking a field of view by the adhesion of the sputter, the welding track and a welding condition can be corrected, thereby excellent welding can be realized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor, and in particular, welding that occurs at a welding portion during welding, and flies toward a visual sensor that detects image information of the welding portion at the tip of the welding torch. The spatter adheres to the filter glass, etc. provided on the visual sensor to prevent the visual field of the visual sensor from being obstructed or the image from becoming unclear, and constantly detecting the accurate image information and welding locus. The present invention relates to a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor, which enables the welding conditions to be corrected more accurately and achieves good welding.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A visual sensor such as a CCD camera detects visual information such as a welding groove formed at a welded portion of a workpiece to be welded or welded bead, and the visual information is controlled by a visual sensor controller. To the welding robot controller, the welding power source, etc., and the visual sensor controller determines from this information that good welding can be performed on the workpiece, and the welding trajectory is based on these instructions. Conventionally, a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor has been used, which has been modified so that welding conditions such as power supply and electric power supply can be modified to achieve good welding.

FIG. 3 is an overall view showing an automatic welding apparatus provided with such a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor. As shown in the figure, such an automatic welding apparatus mainly includes a welding torch 1, a welding robot 2, a welding robot controller 2 ',
Wire feeder 3, welding power source 3 ', conduit cable 31, visual sensor controller 4, visual sensor 40, signal cable 42, shield gas cylinder 5, gas hose 51
Etc.

Further, in the automatic welding apparatus having such a structure, the welding wire fed from the wire feeding apparatus 3 via the conduit cable 31 to the welding torch 1 fixed to the arm tip of the welding robot 2. 30 and electric power from the welding power source 3 ′ are supplied to generate an arc between the tip of the welding wire 30 and the welded portion of the workpiece 8 to melt the welding wire 30 and the workpiece 8. While the welded material 8 is welded, the shield gas is supplied from the shield gas cylinder 5 to the periphery of the welded portion via the inside of the main cylinder 10 via the gas hose 51 and the shield gas supply port 50,
The molten metal is protected from oxidation by the outside air so that good quality welding is performed.

In such welding, as shown in FIG. 4 showing the details of the welding torch 1, a visual sensor 40 provided above the welding torch 1 preliminarily attaches to the object 8 to be welded. Weld groove 81 being processed
Alternatively, image information of the welding bead 82 and the like formed on the object to be welded 8 is detected through the space in the main cylinder 10, and these image information is output to the visual sensor controller 4 via the signal cable 42. It

In the visual sensor controller 4, the optimum welding locus and welding conditions stored in advance in the visual sensor controller 4 are judged from the inputted image information, and a command based on the judgment result is given to the welding robot. The welding torch 1 is placed in the controller 2 ′, the welding power source 3 ′, the wire feeding device 3 or the like, and the arm of the welding robot 2 is operated to arrange the welding groove 81 and the welding torch 1 with a proper gap for arc generation. The welding condition is corrected by controlling the electric power supplied from the welding power source 3'or the feeding speed of the welding wire 30 supplied from the wire feeding device 3 while operating so as to draw an appropriate welding trajectory. This makes it possible to achieve excellent welding even in welding of complicated shapes.

Next, the details of welding by such a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 (a) is a side view of the welding torch 1 shown in a partial vertical section, and FIG. 4 (b) is a plan view of the welding torch 1 shown in a partial cross section taken along the line CC of FIG. 4 (a). is there.

In the figure, 10 is a cylindrical main cylinder, 11 is a shield nozzle which is concentrically arranged and fixed to the tip of the main cylinder 10, and 12 is an oblique posture on the side surface of the main cylinder 10. A branch cylinder having a front end fixed and a rear end connected to the conduit cable 31, 20 is a torch holder provided so as to project from the side surface of the branch cylinder 12, and supported by the arm tip of the welding robot 2, 13 is a rear The wire guide, 14 is inserted into the main cylinder 10 with its end communicating with the conduit cable 31 and penetrating the axial center of the branch cylinder 12 and having its tip bent along the center line of the main cylinder 10 and inserted into the main cylinder 10. The power feed tip fixed to the tip of the wire guide 13 penetrates the center of the wire guide 13 to fix the tip of the welding wire 30 supplied by the wire cable feeding device 3 and the conduit cable 31. With directing welding groove 81 of the welded portion to be described later, the welding power source 3 'conduit cable 3
The electric power supplied by No. 1 is supplied to the tip of the welding wire 30.

Further, 15 is a filter glass fixing base which forms a part of the main cylinder 10 by projecting from the inner peripheral surface of the main cylinder 10 above the mounting position of the branch cylinder 12, and 16 is a peripheral edge of the filter glass fixing base 15. The upper and lower parts are supported and the visual sensor 4
Reference numeral 41 is a filter glass arranged below 0, and 41 is a lens arranged above the filter glass 16 and forming a part of the visual sensor 40. Further, 81 is the object to be welded 8
Welding groove processed in the welding portion of No. 2, welding beads formed in the welding groove 81, 91 spatter generated from the welding portion at the time of welding, 92 spatter adhered to the lower surface of the filter glass 16, 94 spatter It is the locus of 91.

The welding torch 1 is constructed as described above, and the welding wire 30 fed from the wire feeding device 3 passes through the conduit cable 31 and penetrates through the central portion of the branch tube 12 to form the wire guide 13. Electric power sent from the power supply tip 14 toward the object 8 to be welded through the inside and also from the welding power source 3 ′ through the conduit cable 31 is supplied to the tip portion of the welding wire 30 via the power supply tip 14. Therefore, by providing an appropriate gap between the tip of the welding wire 30 and the object 8 to be welded, the welding wire 30 and the object 8 to be welded, which are melted in the welding groove 81 due to the arc, are welded.

On the other hand, the shield gas supplied from the shield gas cylinder 5 through the gas hose 51 and the supply port 50 is supplied into the main cylinder 10 through the shield gas supply port 50 and ejected from the shield nozzle 11 toward the welded portion. As a result, the molten metal before solidification can be protected from oxidation and the like, and high quality welding becomes possible. In addition, the wire guide 1 is attached to the tip inner diameter of the shield nozzle 11 which is fixed to the lower end of the main cylinder 10 and is tapered.
Since the outer diameter of 3 is made small, through the gap between the outer circumference of the wire guide 13 and the inner circumference of the shield nozzle 1,
It is possible to observe the surface of the welding groove 81 and the surface of the welding bead 82 from the upper part of the welding torch 1 through the inner space of the main cylinder 10.
Through the filter glass 16, the visual sensor 40 can detect image information such as a welding situation.

This video signal is transmitted from the visual sensor 40 to the visual sensor controller 4 via the signal cable 42, and the welding status is judged from this video signal. Depending on the welding status, the welding robot controller 2'and welding are performed. By giving a correction command to the power source 3 ', it is possible to correct the welding condition so that excellent welding can be performed.

However, such a visual sensor 4
In order to perform good welding in an automatic welding device equipped with a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor, the welding condition is corrected based on the image information transmitted from the visual sensor 40 so as to perform good welding. The obstacle is that the field of view of the weld is blocked by the fumes and spatter 91 generated from the weld, or the detected image information becomes unclear.

Of these, the fumes having a small specific gravity are blown off by the shielding gas and thus do not cause much trouble, but the spatter 91 has a large specific gravity and is set to a flow rate that does not hinder welding even if the wind speed is intense. It is impossible to blow it off at the flow rate of the shield gas, and it also penetrates into the welding torch 1 and some of it is filtered glass 1
6 collides with the surface of 6, solidifies, adheres and deposits, and sputters 92
Becomes For this reason, the visual field of the visual sensor 40 is significantly obstructed, it becomes impossible to detect the image information in the vicinity of the welded portion, or the sharpness of the image information is not lost. There is a problem that it is impossible to give a command to the welding robot controller 2 ', the welding power source 3', etc., and good welding becomes impossible.

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional visual sensor built-in welding torch, the present invention blocks spatters flying from the weld toward the visual sensor, or loci. To prevent it from adhering to the filter glass, etc. provided on the visual sensor at least, so that the visual field of the visual sensor is not obstructed or at least prevented from becoming unclear. An object of the present invention is to provide a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor, which can detect the situation accurately and can detect image information that can realize good welding.

[0016]

Therefore, the visual sensor built-in welding torch of the present invention has the following means.

(1) The visual information of the welded portion is detected by the visual sensor, the welding condition is judged from the image information, the welding locus,
In a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor that performs welding while modifying the welding conditions, a cylindrical main cylinder with a visual sensor installed at the upper end and a support shaft installed in the center of the main cylinder below the visual sensor It rotates around and changes the trajectory of spatter that flies from the welding surface toward the visual sensor during welding, and the vane plate that prevents collision with the visual sensor and shield gas toward the direction deviating from the central axis of the main cylinder. Shield gas supply with an opening in the side wall of the main cylinder so that the blade plate can be efficiently rotated by jetting it and colliding with it at a position that deviates from the base end (blade root) of the blade plate toward the blade tip. It was equipped with a mouth.

(A) As a result, spatters generated at the welding portion during welding and flying toward the visual sensor installed above the main cylinder and adapted to detect the image information of the welding portion are shield gas supply ports. Was ejected into the main cylinder from
It is possible to prevent the impeller from colliding with the rotating blade plate by the fluid pressure of the shield gas and being splashed, changing its trajectory and colliding with the filter glass or the like provided below the visual sensor to solidify and adhere. As a result, the visual sensor does not obstruct the field of view of the welding surface due to spatter adhesion, or at least can always detect clear video information of the welded part, and the command judged based on this video information can be used to send commands to the welding robot controller and welding. By putting it out and operating it,
The welding locus and welding conditions can be corrected, and good welding can be realized.

The visual sensor built-in welding torch of the present invention has the following means in addition to the above-mentioned means (1).

(2) The vane plate has a structure in which a plurality of flat plates are fixed to the outer periphery of a bearing having a recess formed in the axial center portion in the axial direction so that the plate surfaces are parallel to the axial center. Therefore, a recess is fitted in a support shaft arranged in the center of the main cylinder in parallel with the center axis of the main cylinder so as to be rotatable.

(B) With the above structure, the vane plate is formed in a plane parallel to the central axis of the main cylinder while maintaining the effect of the above (a). The image information of a wide range of welds can be detected with almost no hindrance to the detection field of view, and the welding trajectory and welding conditions can be corrected with high accuracy based on the image information, resulting in better welding. become able to. Also, the spatter spattered by the blade plate adheres to the inner peripheral surface of the main cylinder near the rotating impeller or loses its adhering ability due to cooling, effectively preventing it from adhering to the filter glass. can do.

The visual sensor built-in welding torch of the present invention has the following means in addition to the above-mentioned means (1).

(3) The vane plate is fixed to the outer periphery of a bearing having a recess formed in the axial center portion in the axial direction so that the base end portion is parallel to the shaft center, and the base end portion to the tip end portion. It is composed of a plurality of curved plates that are two-dimensionally curved toward the (wing tip), and the recess is fitted into the support shaft that is installed in the center of the main cylinder in parallel with the center axis of the main cylinder, and then rotated. It was decided to be free.

(C) With the above-described configuration, as in the case of (b) above, it is possible to detect a wide range of image information of the welding surface from the visual sensor without substantially obstructing the detection visual field of the welding surface through the inside of the main cylinder. Further, since the blade plate is formed to be curved from the base end portion to the tip end portion, it is possible to efficiently receive the shield gas ejected from the shield gas supply port, and rotate the blade plate at a higher speed. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the probability of spatter passing between the blades. As a result, the visual field of the visual sensor is not obstructed, the image information of the welding surface in a wider range can be detected, the welding trajectory and the welding condition can be corrected with high accuracy, and better welding can be realized.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawing, the same or similar members as those shown in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as much as possible. FIG. 1 is a view showing a first embodiment of a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor according to the present invention, FIG. 1 (a) is a side view partially shown in a vertical cross section, and FIG. 1 (b) is FIG. 1 (a). View A shown in
It is a top view shown in the partial cross section in -A.

In the figure, 50 'is a shield gas supply port, and the conventional shield gas supply port 50 shown in FIG.
The one end of the main cylinder 10 is fixed to the side surface of the main cylinder 10 by arranging the shaft center of the shield gas supply port toward the zero axis part, whereas the shield gas supply port of the present embodiment is arranged. 50 '
Is arranged so that its axis is oriented in a direction away from the axis of the main cylinder 10, and one end thereof is fixed to the side surface of the main cylinder 10.

Reference numeral 51 'denotes such a shield supply port 5
0'is a gas hose connected to the tip of the shield gas cylinder 5 to supply the shield gas from the shield gas cylinder 5, and 60 is directed from the inner peripheral surface of the main cylinder 10 slightly below the opening of the shield gas supply port 50 'to the center of the main cylinder 10. The lower end of the support base 61 is fixed to the support base 60, and the support base 61 extends from the main cylinder 10 to the main cylinder 10.
The support shaft 62 is provided so as to project upward from the central axis, and an axial hole is formed in the shaft center portion of the support shaft 62. The support shaft 61 is inserted into this hole so as to be rotatable around the support shaft 61. The bearing 63 is a blade plate composed of four plates having a base end fixed to the outer circumference of the bearing 62 and having a surface parallel to the main shaft 10 direction.

On the wall surface of the main cylinder 10 at the lower end of the vane plate 63, there is provided a shield gas supply port, 51 ', whose axial center is arranged toward the position deviated from the central axis of the main cylinder 10. Therefore, the shield gas ejected from the shield gas supply port 51 ′ collides with a position deviated from the base end portion of the blade plate 63 in the blade tip direction, so that the blade plate 63 receives the bearing 62.
At the same time, the main shaft 10 rotates at high speed around the support shaft 61. In the figure, 93 is a spatter that collides with the vane plate 63 and is splashed off and adheres to the inner peripheral surface of the main cylinder 10, and 94 is a locus of this sputter 93.

As described above, the blade plate 63 provided in the visual sensor built-in welding torch according to the present embodiment has the main cylinder 10
It is assembled so as to form a plane parallel to the central axis of the, and its thickness can be made thin as long as the shape can be maintained. Moreover, by the shield gas supplied from the shield gas supply port 50 'to the weld, Since the vane plate 63 can be rotated at high speed, the visual sensor 40 can observe the welding condition through the inside of the main cylinder 10 with almost no interruption of the visual field.

Further, it is difficult to blow the gas at the flow rate of the shield gas, and the visual sensor 4 penetrates into the main cylinder 10.
The spatter 91 having a large mass flying toward 0 is splashed by colliding with the blade plate 63 rotating at a high speed, collides with and adheres to the inner surface of the main cylinder 10, and is cooled and solidified. Even if it is possible to reach the filter glass 16 surface by repeating a complicated collision without reaching the 16 surface, the sputter trajectory 94 becomes longer due to the repeated collisions, so that the spatter trajectory 94 is already sufficiently cooled and solidified. Therefore, it does not adhere to the surface of the filter glass 16.

As described above, the visual sensor 4 adapted for use in the welding torch with a built-in visual sensor according to the present embodiment.
At 0, the surface of the filter glass 16 is kept clean, the field of view of the welded part is not obstructed, and at least the image information showing the welding condition can be prevented from becoming unclear. Therefore, good welding work can always be realized.

Next, FIG. 2 is a view showing a second embodiment of the welding torch with a built-in visual sensor of the present invention. FIG. 2 (a) is a side view showing a partial vertical section, and FIG. 2 (b) is a drawing. It is a top view shown in a partial cross section in arrow BB shown in 2 (a).

In the figure, 63 'has a surface parallel to the central axis of the main shaft 10 as in the vane plate 63 of the first embodiment, but is curved from the base end to the tip. A blade plate 65 is a support plate fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the main cylinder 10 on the outer peripheral side of the blade plate 63 ′, and 66 is a ring-shaped collision plate supported by the inner peripheral surface of the support plate 65.

As described above, the vane plate 63 'constituting the visual sensor built-in welding torch according to the present embodiment has the blade end 63a fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the bearing 62 from the blade end in the radial direction orthogonal to the rotating direction. Since it is formed so as to be curved toward the end portion which is the portion, the shield gas ejected from the shield gas supply port 50 ′ can be efficiently received, and compared with the vane plate 63 of the first embodiment. It can be rotated at a higher speed. Further, the curvature formed in the radial direction is two-dimensionally curved, so that the visual sensor 4
There is also an advantage that the field of view of 0 is hardly blocked.

The ring-shaped collision plate 65 formed on the inner periphery of the support plate 65 installed on the inner peripheral surface of the main cylinder 10 so as to face the tip of the vane plate 63 'is the central axis of the main cylinder 10. Since the unevenness is formed in the direction, and the inclined surface inclined downward, particularly the inclined surface having the inner diameter increasing from the upper side to the lower side can be formed, it is splashed by the blade plate 63 ′, The spatter 93 that is about to fly in the direction of the filter glass 16 is again splashed downward by colliding with this inclined surface, and the probability of reaching the surface of the filter glass 16 and adhering to it is extremely low. There is also.

[0036]

As described above, the welding torch with a built-in visual sensor of the present invention comprises a cylindrical main cylinder having the visual sensor installed above, and a support shaft installed in the center of the main cylinder below the visual sensor. It rotates around and changes the spatter trajectory that flies from the weld to the visual sensor during welding, and one end is fixed to the vane plate and side wall of the main cylinder that prevents collision, and shield gas is directed toward the direction off the center axis of the main cylinder. A shield gas supply port having an opening for ejecting and colliding with a position deviated from the base end portion of the vane plate to rotate the blade is provided.

As a result, the spatter flying toward the visual sensor is prevented from colliding with the rotating blade plate and being repelled to change its trajectory, colliding with and adhering to the filter glass and the like below the visual sensor. it can. Further, the field of view of the welded portion is not obstructed by spatter adhesion, at least clear image information of the welded portion can always be detected, and the welding trajectory and welding conditions can be corrected, and good welding can be realized.

Further, in the welding torch with a built-in visual sensor of the present invention, a support shaft having a blade plate installed in the center of the main cylinder in parallel with the center axis of the main cylinder is inserted into the center of the shaft, and is rotated around the support shaft. The base end portion is fixed to the outer circumference of the bearing, and is formed of a flat plate parallel to the central axis.

As a result, the field of view of the weld portion detected from the visual sensor through the inside of the main cylinder is widened, the video information of a wide range of the weld portion can be detected, and the welding locus and welding conditions can be corrected with high accuracy based on the video information. Can be performed, and better welding can be realized. Further, the spatters that have been splashed off efficiently adhere to the inner peripheral surface of the main cylinder, and can effectively prevent reaching the visual sensor.

Further, in the welding torch with a built-in visual sensor of the present invention, a support shaft having a blade plate installed in the center of the main cylinder in parallel with the center axis of the main cylinder is inserted into the center of the shaft, and is rotated around the support shaft. The base end portion is fixed to the outer circumference of the bearing, is arranged parallel to the central axis, and is formed of a curved plate that is curved from the base end portion toward the tip end portion.

This makes it possible to detect a wider range of image information on the welding surface, effectively prevent spatter from reaching the visual sensor, and further, the blade plate is curved from the base end to the tip. Therefore, it efficiently receives the shield gas from the shield gas supply port, rotates at a higher speed, does not obstruct the visual field of the visual sensor, and can detect clear image information of the welded part, resulting in a highly accurate welding trajectory. Welding conditions can be modified and better welding can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a first embodiment of a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor of the present invention, FIG. 1 (a) is a side view showing a partial vertical section, and FIG. 1 (b) is FIG. 1 (a). The top view shown by the partial cross-sectional view in the arrow AA shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a second embodiment of the welding torch with a built-in visual sensor of the present invention, FIG. 2 (a) is a side view showing a partial vertical section, and FIG. 2 (b) is FIG. 2 (a). FIG.

FIG. 3 is an overall view showing an automatic welding device including a welding torch with a built-in visual sensor,

4 is a diagram showing details of the welding torch shown in FIG.
FIG. 4A is a side view partially shown in a vertical cross section, and FIG.
It is a top view shown in the partial cross section in arrow C-C shown in (a).

[Explanation of symbols]

1 welding torch 2 Welding robot 2'Welding robot controller 3 wire feeder 3'welding power source 30 welding wire 31 conduit cable 4 Visual sensor controller 40 visual sensor 41 lens 42 signal cable 5 Shield gas cylinder 50,50 'Shield gas supply port 51,51 'gas hose 60 support 61 Support shaft 62 bearing 63, 63 'blade 64 rotation direction 65 Support plate 66 Ring-shaped collision plate 8 Objects to be welded 81 welding groove 82 Weld beads 91 spatter 92 spatter 93 spatter 94 spatter locus 10 main cylinder 11 shield nozzle 12 branches 13 Wire guide 14 Power supply chip 15 Filter glass fixing base 16 filter glass 20 torch holder

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A welding torch with a built-in visual sensor, which detects visual information of a welded portion with a visual sensor, judges a welding condition from the visual information, and corrects a welding trajectory and welding conditions. With a cylindrical main cylinder installed above, rotating around a support shaft installed in the center of the main cylinder below the visual sensor, and the trajectory of spatter flying from the weld toward the visual sensor. Alternately, a blade plate for preventing collision and one end fixed to the side wall of the main cylinder are provided with an opening for rotating the blade plate by ejecting a shield gas in a direction away from the center of the main cylinder. Welding torch with a built-in visual sensor, which has a mouth. 2. The base plate is fixed to the outer periphery of a bearing that rotates around the support shaft, the support shaft being installed parallel to the center shaft of the main cylinder. The welding torch with a built-in visual sensor according to claim 1, wherein the welding torch is formed of a flat plate arranged parallel to the axis. 3. The base plate is fixed to the outer periphery of a bearing that rotates around the support shaft, the support shaft being installed parallel to the center axis of the main cylinder. The welding torch with a built-in visual sensor according to claim 1, wherein the welding torch is formed in parallel with the axis and is formed by a curved plate curved from the base end portion toward the tip end portion.