JP2005088136A - Method and apparatus for attaching bolt - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an apparatus for attaching a bolt with high productivity in a relatively simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for attaching a bolt consists of a part feeder 40 for storing bolts, a robot 10 for moving the bolt in the part feeder to a workpiece, and a control means 70 for controlling the operation of the robot, and attaches the bolt to the workpiece 20. The apparatus is equipped with a bolt guide having a bolt insertion hole at the same position as a bolt attaching position on the workpiece and a bolt guide storage 30 for reserving the bolt guide, and moves the bolt guide to the predetermined part feeder, attaches the bolt and assembles it with the workpiece. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a bolt mounting apparatus, and more particularly to a bolt mounting apparatus suitable for an automatic assembly apparatus for a robot that mounts a plurality of bolts on a part coupling portion of a robot.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, there are bolt mounting methods in a robot assembly line. In FIG. 5, 10 is an assembly robot, 20 is a workpiece, 40 is a parts feeder, and 80 is a control means. When the workpiece 20 flows into the assembly line, the robot 10 takes out the bolts one by one from the parts feeder 40 and attaches them to the workpiece 20 for assembly.
As another method, there is a method of selecting a predetermined bolt from a plurality of parts feeders when assembling a vehicle engine, and taking out a plurality of bolts and supplying them simultaneously to a nutrunner (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-11-254255

However, in the conventional method of mounting on a workpiece, since the robot grips one by one from the parts feeder and inserts it into the bolt guide, it takes time to assemble and is inefficient. Also in this method, in addition to the basic devices of the robot and the parts feeder, a lot of peripheral devices are necessary, and the entire facility is large.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a bolt mounting method and apparatus having a relatively simple structure and high productivity.

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, in the bolt mounting method for mounting the bolt on the workpiece by moving the bolt from a parts feeder that stores the bolt by a robot, the same bolt as the bolt mounting position of the workpiece. A bolt guide having a bolt insertion hole is provided at an attachment position, moved to a predetermined parts feeder, the bolts are mounted from the parts feeder, the bolt guides are rotated by the robot, and the bolt guides are sequentially mounted. It is made the structure which moves to a workpiece | work and is assembled | attached to the said workpiece | work, and the said bolt guide is moved after that.
The invention of claim 2 comprises a parts feeder for storing bolts, a robot for moving the bolts of the parts feeder to a workpiece, and a control means for controlling the operation of the robot, wherein the bolts are attached to the workpiece. In the mounting device, a bolt guide having a bolt insertion hole at the same position as the bolt mounting position of the workpiece and a bolt guide storage section for storing the bolt guide are provided.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the bolt guide has a substantially cylindrical shape and has a concave portion for holding the robot hand on the outer periphery thereof.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the recess is provided with a screw hole that communicates with the bolt insertion hole at a right angle, and a ball plunger is provided therein.
In the invention of claim 5, the control means includes a bolt guide selection means for selecting the bolt guide according to the dimensions of the bolt, a parts feeder selection means for selecting the parts feeder, and bolt insertion holes of the bolt guide. Bolt insertion hole positioning means for aligning the position with the bolt outlet of the parts feeder and screw feed signal output means for outputting a screw feed signal to the screw feed unit of the parts feeder are provided.

The bolt mounting method and apparatus according to the present invention have the following effects.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a bolt guide having a bolt insertion hole is provided at the same bolt mounting position as the bolt mounting position of the workpiece, the bolt guide is moved to a predetermined parts feeder, and the bolt is mounted from the parts feeder. The robot is rotated by a robot and sequentially mounted, then moved to the workpiece and assembled to the workpiece, and then the bolt guide is moved, so that the bolt mounting operation can be completed in a short time.
In the invention of claim 2, since the bolt guide having the bolt insertion hole and the bolt guide storage part for storing the bolt guide are provided at the same position as the bolt mounting position of the workpiece, the equipment can be made relatively simple. .
In the invention of claim 3, since the bolt guide has a substantially cylindrical shape and has a recess for holding the robot's hand on the outer periphery thereof, the robot can surely hold it.
In the invention of claim 4, since the screw hole that leads to the bolt insertion hole at a right angle is provided in the recess, and the ball plunger is provided therein, the bolt can be temporarily fixed, and even if the attachment site is on the side, it falls out. There is nothing.
In the invention of claim 5, the control means includes a bolt guide selection means for selecting a bolt guide according to the dimensions of the bolt, a parts feeder selection means for selecting a parts feeder, and the position of the bolt insertion hole of the bolt guide. Bolt insertion hole positioning means that matches the bolt outlet and screw feed signal output means that outputs a screw feed signal to the screw feed unit of the parts feeder, so selection and movement of the bolt guide, movement to the parts feeder A series of operations such as rotation of the bolt guide and mounting of the bolt, assembly to the workpiece, and movement of the bolt guide can be smoothly performed, and the bolt mounting operation is completed in a short time.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a robot automatic assembly apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 30 is a bolt guide storage unit for storing bolt guides of various sizes, and 70 is a control means of the robot 10. There are four types of bolt guide storage units 30: 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d. Other symbols are the same as in the conventional example. Within the operation range of the assembly robot 10, there are part feeders 40a, 40b, 40c and a workpiece 20 on the assembly line. The details of the tip of the assembly robot 10 are shown in FIG. 2A is a top view and FIG. 2B is a side view. In the figure, 11 is a wrist, 12 is a joint, 13 is a hand, 31 is a bolt guide, 60 is a nutrunner, and 61 is a bit.
As shown in the partial sectional view of FIG. 3, the bolt guide 31 has a concave groove 31 b on the outer periphery of the bolt insertion hole 31 a, and the concave portion 31 b is held by the hand 13. Further, a screw hole that communicates with the bolt insertion hole 31a at a right angle is provided in the central portion of the recess 31b, and the ball plunger 31c is screwed into the screw hole. This is one that is lightly pressed by a spring pressure when the bolt 50 is inserted and temporarily fixed.
As shown in FIG. 4, the control means 70 is mainly composed of five means. In the figure, 71 is a bolt guide selection means, 72 is a parts feeder selection means, 73 is a bolt positioning means, 74 is a bolt guide rotation instruction generation means, and 75 is a screw feed signal output means.
The bolt guide selection means 71 stores information such as the storage positions of all the bolt guides 31 stored in the bolt guide storage unit 30. If information on the workpiece 20 is entered, the bolt guide 31 that matches the information is selected. Commands are given to the robot 10. The parts feeder selection means 72 selects the parts feeder 40 having a bolt size that matches the specifications based on the information of the workpiece 20. The bolt positioning means 73 positions the bolt insertion hole 31a of the bolt guide 31 at the tip of the hose 41, which is a bolt outlet attached to the selected parts feeder 40. The position information of the hose 41 is stored, the position of the bolt insertion hole 31a of the bolt guide 31 held by the robot 10 is calculated, and the hose 41 is aligned with the bolt insertion hole 31a. The bolt guide rotation instruction generating means 74 is rotated by an articulated arm in order to align the position of the bolt insertion hole 31a of the bolt guide 31 held by the robot 10 with the hose 41. The screw feed signal output means 75 sends a signal to the screw feed unit of the parts feeder 40 to send the bolt 50 from the screw feed unit when the positions of the hose 41 and the bolt insertion hole 31a coincide.

Next, the operation of the bolt mounting device of the present invention will be described.
(1) When the robot 10 arrives at the work line 20 on the assembly line, the robot 10 receives a command from the control means 70, selects a bolt guide storage section that matches the specifications of the work 20, for example, 30c, and further installs a bolt guide 31 that meets the conditions. Grab.
(2) For example, when the parts feeder 40a is selected while holding the bolt guide 31, it moves to the part feeder 40a.
(3) The bolt insertion hole 31a of the bolt guide 31 is aligned with the outlet of the hose 41a, which is the bolt outlet of the parts feeder 40a (FIG. 3).
(4) A signal is sent from the control means 70 to the screw feeding unit of the parts feeder 40a to send out the bolt 50. The bolt 50 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 31a by the compressed air in the hose 41a. At this time, the bolt 50 is temporarily fixed by the ball plunger 31c.
(5) Align the second bolt insertion hole 31a with the outlet of the hose 41a. For this reason, the robot 10 rotates the gripped bolt guide 31 by the operation of the articulated arm.
(6) When the position is determined, as in step (4), a signal is sent from the control means 70 to the screw feeding unit of the parts feeder 40a to send out the bolt 50, and the bolt 50 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 31a.
(7) The steps (3) to (5) are repeated, and the bolts 50 are inserted into all the bolt insertion holes 31a.
(8) When the insertion of the bolt 50 is completed, the robot 10 attaches the bolt guide 31 to the workpiece 20.
(9) Open the hand 13 and remove it from the bolt guide 31 once. Next, the wrist 11 or the joint 12 is operated, the nut runner 60 is operated, and the inserted bolt 50 is screwed by the bit 61.
(10) The wrist 11 or the joint 12 is operated, the bolt guide 31 is gripped by the hand 13, and stored in the bolt guide storage unit 30c at the original position.
With this process, the bolt mounting of one part of the workpiece 20 is completed.

It is a top view which shows the whole structure of the volt | bolt mounting apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the condition which hold | gripped the bolt guide of this invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is a side view. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the condition of the bolt insertion of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control means of this invention. It is a top view which shows the whole structure of the conventional volt | bolt mounting apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

10 Robot (for assembly)
11 Wrist 12 Joint 13 Hand 20 Work 30, 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d Bolt guide storage part 31 Bolt guide 31a Bolt insertion hole 31b Concave holding part 31c Ball plunger 40, 40a, 40b, 40c Parts feeder 41a Hose 50 Bolt 60 Nutrunner 61 Bits 70 and 80 Control means 71 Bolt guide selection means 72 Parts feeder selection means 73 Bolt positioning means 74 Bolt guide rotation instruction generation means 75 Screw feed signal output means

Claims (5)

In the bolt mounting method of moving the bolt from a parts feeder that stores the bolt by a robot and mounting the bolt on a workpiece,
A bolt guide having a bolt insertion hole is provided at the same bolt mounting position as the bolt mounting position of the workpiece, the bolt guide is moved to a predetermined parts feeder, the bolt is mounted from the parts feeder, and the bolt guide is attached to the robot. The bolt mounting method is characterized in that after rotating and rotating in order, the bolt is moved to the workpiece and assembled to the workpiece, and then the bolt guide is moved. In the bolt mounting apparatus for mounting the bolt on the workpiece, comprising a parts feeder for storing the bolt, a robot for moving the bolt of the part feeder to the workpiece, and a control means for controlling the operation of the robot.
A bolt guide having a bolt insertion hole at the same position as the bolt mounting position of the workpiece and a bolt guide storage section for storing the bolt guide are provided, and the bolt guide is moved to a predetermined parts feeder and the bolt is mounted. And a bolt mounting apparatus which is assembled to the workpiece.   The bolt mounting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the bolt guide has a substantially cylindrical shape and has a concave portion for holding the hand of the robot on an outer peripheral portion thereof.   4. The bolt mounting device according to claim 2, wherein a screw hole that communicates with the bolt insertion hole at a right angle is provided in the recess, and a ball plunger is provided therein. The control means includes: a bolt guide selecting means for selecting the bolt guide according to the dimensions of the bolt; a parts feeder selecting means for selecting the parts feeder; and a position of the bolt insertion hole of the bolt guide. 5. A bolt insertion hole positioning means for matching the outlet of the screw feeder and a screw feed signal output means for outputting a screw feed signal to the screw feed unit of the parts feeder. The bolt mounting apparatus described in 1.

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