JP2006142426A - Facility and method for manufacturing ball bearing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To significantly reduce a cycle time of a post-process after a stock discharging process compared with a cycle time of a process before the stock discharging process while suppressing cost rise of manufacturing facilities, and consequently, that of a ball bearing. <P>SOLUTION: A stocker 13a capable of storing and discharging a plurality of intermediate assemblies is arranged between an assembly device 14, which manufactures the intermediate assembly being a ball bearing before mounting a seal ring, and a grease sealing device 15 for sealing grease in the intermediate assembly, in the flow direction of a workpiece. By this constitution, it is possible to prevent the post-process after the stock discharging process from being excessively divided into a plurality of processes by a work unit. Consequently, the cycle time of the post-process after the stock discharging process can be significantly reduced compared with the cycle time of the process before the stock discharging process. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement in a manufacturing method of a ball bearing including manufacturing equipment used for manufacturing a ball bearing, a processing step of a bearing ring of the ball bearing, and a combination step of combining the bearing ring and the ball.

  A structure as shown in FIG. 4 is known as a ball bearing. The ball bearing includes an outer ring 2 having an outer ring raceway 1 on an inner peripheral surface, an inner ring 4 having an inner ring raceway 3 on an outer peripheral surface, and a plurality of rolling rings provided between the outer ring raceway 1 and the inner ring raceway 3. The ball 5 is provided. Each of these balls 5 is held by a cage 6. By providing a pair of seal rings 7, 7, each of which is a seal member, between the inner peripheral surface of both ends of the outer ring 2 and the outer peripheral surface of both ends of the inner ring 4, the plurality of balls 5 are attached. Both ends of the installed internal space 8 are sealed. In addition, grease for lubrication is enclosed in the internal space 8.

  In order to manufacture such a ball bearing, conventionally, for example, it has been considered to use a ball bearing manufacturing facility whose combination is shown in FIG. When manufacturing a ball bearing using this manufacturing facility, first, as a turning process using the turning device 20, a rod-like or tubular material (raw ring material) is turned, and then a heat treatment device 21 is used. As the heat treatment used, the outer ring 2 or the inner ring 4 (FIG. 4) having a rough shape is obtained by subjecting this material to heat treatment. Then, as a first grinding process for the outer ring, a first grinding apparatus (grinding machine) 22 for the outer ring is used to subject the outer ring 2 to surface grinding and outer peripheral surface grinding, and in parallel therewith. Then, as the first grinding process for the inner ring, the inner ring 4 is subjected to surface grinding using a first grinding machine (grinding machine) 23 for the inner ring.

  Next, the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 machined in this way are combined into one set of bearing ring automatic processing equipment 9 out of a plurality of sets of bearing ring automatic processing equipments 9 and 9 constituting the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19. send. Each set of bearing ring automatic processing equipment 9 includes an outer ring automatic processing equipment 10 and an inner ring automatic processing equipment 11. The outer ring automatic machining facility 10 includes an outer ring second grinding device (grinding machine) 24 and an outer ring super finishing machine (super finishing plate) 25. The inner ring automatic machining facility 11 is used for an inner ring. Second and third grinding devices (grinding machines) 26 and 27 and an inner ring super finishing machine (super finishing machine) 28 are provided. The second outer ring grinding device 24 is for grinding the outer ring raceway 1 (FIG. 4), and the outer ring superfinishing device 25 is for superfinishing the outer ring raceway 1. is there. The second and third grinding devices 26 and 27 for the inner ring are for grinding the inner ring raceway 3 (FIG. 4) and the inner peripheral surface of the inner ring 4, respectively. The inner ring super-finishing device 28 is for super-finishing the inner ring raceway 3. The outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 processed by the first outer ring grinding device 22 and the first inner ring grinding device 23 are stored in a cart near the automatic ball bearing manufacturing equipment 19. The operator carries it. Accordingly, no automatic conveying equipment is provided between the outer ring first grinding device 22 and the inner ring first grinding device 23 and the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19.

  On the other hand, above each processing device 24, 25 constituting the outer ring automatic processing facility 10 of each set of the bearing ring automatic processing facility 9 and above each processing device 26, 27, 28 constituting the inner ring automatic processing facility 11. In addition, a conveyor is provided. And by this automatic conveyance apparatus provided with the conveyance conveyor and the robot, taking out the outer ring 2 (or inner ring 4) from each processing apparatus 24, 25 (or 26-28) and processing apparatus 25 (or 27, 28). The outer ring 2 (or inner ring 4) can be supplied to the vehicle.

  The outer ring 2 processed by the first outer ring grinding device 22 is subjected to grinding processing on the outer ring raceway 1 by the outer ring automatic processing facility 10 and then superfinishing the outer ring raceway 1. Further, the inner ring 4 processed by the first inner ring grinding device is subjected to the inner ring raceway 3 and the inner peripheral surface in order by the inner ring automatic machining facility 11 and then subjected to grinding processing. Finishing is applied.

  The outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 processed by the respective automatic processing equipments 10 and 11 in this way are transferred to the stocker 13 by the automatic transfer device, temporarily stored in the stocker 13, and then combined in a subsequent process. Based on a request from the combination device 14 which is equipment, the stocker 13 is discharged. The discharged outer ring 2 and inner ring 4 are sent to the combination device 14 and then combined with a plurality of balls 5 and a cage 6 to form an intermediate assembly. Next, this intermediate assembly is filled with grease in a grease filling device 15 which is a grease filling facility, and then sealed with seal rings 7 and 7 in a seal mounting device 16 which is a seal mounting facility. Become. Thereafter, the finished product is packaged by the packaging device 17 and then shipped.

  In the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19 shown in FIG. 5, a conveyor is installed in the stocker 13, the combination device 14, the grease filling device 15, the seal mounting device 16, and the packaging device 17. And by this automatic conveyance apparatus provided with the conveyance conveyor and the robot, the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 (or intermediate assembly or completion) from each of the devices 13 to 16 used in the preceding process before the packaging process using the packaging device 17. Product) and supply of the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 (or intermediate assembly or finished product) to the devices 14 to 17 used in the post-process rather than the stock discharge process using the stocker 13. The stocker 13, the combination device 14, the grease filling device 15, the seal mounting device, the packaging device, and the automatic conveyance device constitute a finished product automatic assembly facility 18. Although omitted in FIG. 5, in the case of an actual ball bearing manufacturing facility, an inspection device is provided for inspecting the quality of the ball bearing.

  When ball bearings are manufactured by the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19 shown in FIG. 5 described above, in the bearing ring machining process using the bearing ring automatic machining equipment 9, the dimensions of the workpiece and the machining allowance (removal allowance). ), The cycle time is determined by the grinding ability of the grindstone. Further, in the finished product assembly process using the finished product automatic assembly facility 18, it is disassembled into a plurality of processes (units) that can be carried out for each work unit such as assembling work of balls 5 and evenly distributed work. The cycle time is determined under the condition that the time required for is shortened. In the present specification and claims as a whole, the “cycle time” is the time required for one basic pattern in each unit for each work unit, and is in a steady state (in the case of not considering the setup change described later). The one that includes the stop time (waiting time).

  In general, in the case of manufacturing a standard ball bearing having an inner diameter of about 180 mm, the cycle time of the bearing ring machining process is longer than the cycle time of the finished product assembly process. For these reasons, in the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19 shown in FIG. 5 described above, three sets of bearing ring automatic processing equipments 9 and 9 are combined with one set of finished product automatic assembling equipment 18. These sets of bearing ring automatic processing facilities 9 and 9 are arranged in parallel with respect to the flow direction of the bearing ring (the outer ring 2 or the inner ring 4) or the intermediate assembly, which is a workpiece. Then, the processing timing is shifted between the above-mentioned sets of the automatic race ring processing equipments 9 and 9 so that the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 can be sent to the stocker 13 in order from each other. With this configuration, the apparent cycle time in each processing device 24, 25, 26-28 becomes longer, but the outer ring 2 and the inner ring fed from each processing device 24, 25, 26-28. 4 is shortened to 1/3 of the apparent cycle time. In addition, the automatic processing equipments 9 and 9 of each set of bearing rings are processed simultaneously, and the processed outer ring 2 and inner ring 4 are merged at the outlet of the processing equipments 9 and 9 or in the middle and sent to the stocker 13. You can also. Then, the line formation is made such that the processing line composed of a plurality of sets of bearing ring processing facilities 9 and 9 and the assembly line composed of the finished product automatic assembly facility 18 are balanced so as to make the production capacity per unit time the same.

The conventional ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19 shown in FIG. 5 has the following problems to be improved.
(1) The stocker 13 is provided on the upstream side of the combination device 14 in the work flow direction. For this reason, in the case of the conventional ball bearing manufacturing method using the ball bearing manufacturing equipment 19, the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 are stored (stocked) in the stocker 13 and discharged after the stock discharging process. In addition, it is necessary to perform a number of processes including a combination process by the combination apparatus 14, a grease sealing process by the grease sealing apparatus 15, a seal mounting process by the seal mounting apparatus 16, and a packaging process by the packaging apparatus 17. In addition, when it is required to shorten the cycle time in each process at a later process than the stock discharge process, each process is broken down into a plurality of small processes of a small work unit and It is necessary to shorten the time required for the process sufficiently. Therefore, when many processes including the combination process are performed in the post process rather than the stock discharge process as described above, the equipment becomes large and the cost increases.

(2) When it is required to make the cycle time in each process after the stock discharge process shorter than the cycle time in the previous process before this stock discharge process, the stock discharge process It is more difficult to set a longer cycle time in the combination process using the combination apparatus 14, which is a part of the subsequent process. For this reason, it is conceivable that in this combination process, there is a tendency that a stop state caused by a failure frequently occurs, which is called a chocolate stop. That is, in the above combination process, it is desirable to set a long cycle time in order to prevent the stop state called the “chocolate stop” from occurring frequently, but if this is difficult, the choke stop is likely to occur. Can be considered. This leads to an increase in management costs, which in turn causes an increase in the cost per single product during mass production of ball bearings.

  In addition, the problems (1) and (2) above occur when increasing the cumulative production volume of the finished ball bearings and improving the operating rate of the bearing ring automatic processing facilities 9 and 9 are considered. Especially problematic. In explaining this, first, the relationship between the production amount of the finished product and the passage of time in the conventional ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows the accumulated production amount of the finished product by a Gantt chart. Further, in this Gantt chart, the operating state in the bearing ring processing facilities 9 and 9 and the operating state in the combination device 14 and the grease filling device 15 are shown. In addition, when these each equipment and apparatus 9,14,15 stop operation, the automatic conveyance apparatus for supplying a workpiece | work to these each apparatus 9,14,15 also stops operation. Further, in FIG. 6, the elapsed time is shown on the horizontal axis, and the accumulated production amount of the finished product is shown on the vertical axis. Moreover, the solid line a indicates the accumulated production amount of the finished ball bearing actually completed over time, and the dotted line b indicates that no setup change occurs in the grease filling process. The cumulative production amount of the finished ball bearing obtained when it is assumed that 17 does not stop at all (the cumulative production amount in the steady production state) is shown.

  Further, in FIG. 6, the satin portion in each facility and apparatus indicates that these facilities and apparatuses are in operation, and the oblique lattice portion similarly indicates that each facility and apparatus for the changeover in the grease filling device 15. Indicates that the operation has stopped. Further, in the “worker amount in stocker” portion of FIG. 6, the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4, which are works accumulated in the stocker 13 disposed between the bearing ring processing facilities 9, 9 and the combination device 14. The relationship between the amount of and the elapsed time is represented by a graph.

  FIG. 6 shows the operating state of the grease sealing device 15 on the assumption that the operating state of the devices 14 to 17 subsequent to the stock discharging process is determined by the changeover in the grease sealing device 15. Yes. For example, in the case shown in FIG. 6, when the setup change of the grease filling device 15 and the seal mounting device 16 is started simultaneously, the setup change of the grease filling device 15 is the same as or after the setup change of the seal mounting device 16. finish. However, when the operating state of the devices 14 to 17 in the subsequent process is determined by the changeover in the seal mounting device 16, the operating state of the seal mounting device 16 in FIG. By replacing the state instead of the state, the accumulated production amount of the finished product according to the elapsed time can be obtained.

  Note that the “stage change” means that the grease filling device 15 or the seal mounting device is used when the operator needs to change the lot with a change in the type of grease or seal throughout the present specification and claims. In FIG. 16, a new type of grease or seal is set instead of the current one, or the jig is exchanged together with such a set in some cases.

  Further, in the case shown in FIG. 6, the cycle time of the combination process and the grease filling process by the combination device 14 and the grease filling device 15 (FIG. 5) is shown as the race ring by the automatic processing equipment 9 and 9 (FIG. 5). The cycle time of the machining process can be shortened within a range of less than 10% (several%). The production capacity of the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19 in the steady production state is determined by the production capacity of the bearing ring automatic machining equipment 9, 9 which is the bottleneck that takes the longest time for the process. That is, the production capacity per unit time of the ball bearing automatic manufacturing facility 19 in the steady production state is determined by the production capacity of the automatic bearing ring machining facilities 9 and 9.

  When the production management system issues an instruction to end the production of the currently produced lot and switch to the production of a new lot with a change in the grease specifications, the grease filling device 15 stops, and the setup change work is performed. (Refer to the portion indicated by the oblique grid in the portion A of FIG. 6). During this setup change operation, the work does not flow downstream from the grease filling device 15 with respect to the work flow direction, so that the production amount of the finished product does not increase. Further, the outer ring 2 and the inner ring, which are workpieces, are also transferred from the stocker 13 upstream of the combination device 14 to the combination device 14 (FIG. 5) arranged upstream of the grease sealing device 15 with respect to the flow direction. 4 is not supplied. For this reason, the combination device 14 is in a stopped (standby) state until the above-described changeover operation is completed (see the portion indicated by the oblique grid in the portion B in FIG. 6). As a result, the automatic transfer device for transferring workpieces between the devices 13 to 17 constituting the finished product automatic assembly facility 18 stops.

  Even when the automatic conveying device is stopped, the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 that are workpieces can be stored in the stocker 13 up to an allowable limit amount. For this reason, the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 are accumulated in the stocker 13 for a while (refer to part C in FIG. 6). When the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 accumulated in the stocker 13 reach the permissible limit amount (becomes full), the track ring automatic of the previous step disposed upstream of the stocker 13 in the work flow direction. The outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 cannot be sent out from the processing equipments 9 and 9 to the stocker 13, and each of the track ring automatic processing equipments 9 and 9 stops and enters a standby state (indicated by a slant in the portion D in FIG. (See the part shown by the grid). As a result, the automatic transfer device for transferring the workpieces between the devices 24 to 25 (or 26 to 28) constituting the track ring automatic machining facilities 9 and 9 is also stopped.

When the setup change operation is completed, the finished product automatic assembly facility 18 and the respective bearing ring automatic processing facilities 9 and 9 resume operation, and the work flows from the stocker 13 to the devices 14 to 17 in the subsequent process. As a result, the cumulative production of finished products increases. Further, when the operation is resumed, a sufficient amount of the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 are accumulated in the stocker 13, and therefore the cycle time T ₁ in the finished product automatic assembly facility 18 is automatically processed for each bearing ring that becomes a bottleneck. The actual cycle time T ₂ in the facilities 9 and 9 can be slightly shorter (in the range of less than 10%) (T ₁ <T ₂ ). As a result, the amount of work accumulated in the stocker 13 is gradually reduced. However, since the setup change frequently occurs in the grease filling process, the automatic transfer device of the finished product automatic assembly facility 18 stops before the stocker 13 becomes empty. In this case, a certain amount of work is accumulated in the stocker 13 due to the stop of the automatic transfer device of the previous completed product automatic assembly facility 18. For this reason, even after the automatic conveying device is stopped, the bearing ring automatic machining devices 9 and 9 operate for a while, but the work amount in the stocker 13 reaches the allowable limit amount in a short time (becomes full), The automatic conveying device of the bearing ring automatic processing devices 9 and 9 stops in a short time. Then, as a result of the same cycle being repeated after completion of the above-described setup change operation, as shown by a solid line “a” in FIG. 6, the cumulative production amount of the finished product increases stepwise.

  In the case of the conventional ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19 and ball bearing manufacturing method shown in FIG. 6, the increase in the production amount of the finished product is stopped while the grease filling device 15 is being replaced. The production loss occurs according to the time when the bearing ring processing facilities 9 and 9 are stopped. In the recent ball bearing market, there are various requirements for the specifications of grease and seals, and a variety of small-quantity production has been carried out, in which ball bearings combining different specifications of grease and seals are produced in small quantities. It is supposed to be. In view of such a market background, in the grease filling process and the seal mounting process, the work for changing the setup has been performed quite frequently. For this reason, the production loss is likely to occur. As a result, as shown by the solid line a in FIG. 6, the actual accumulated production amount has to be lower than the accumulated production amount in the steady production state indicated by the dotted line b.

  As a means for suppressing such a production loss, the production speed by the finished product automatic assembly facility 18 when the finished product automatic assembly facility 18 and the bearing ring automatic processing facilities 9 and 9 are restarted is increased. It is conceivable to adopt a means for shortening the cycle time in the finished product automatic assembly facility 18 (faster), in other words. When this means is adopted, the gradient of the range indicated by arrows a, b, and c of the solid line a representing the accumulated production amount in FIG. 6 can be increased, and this accumulated production amount is represented by the dotted line b in FIG. It is possible to approach the cumulative production amount in the steady production state represented by.

  However, in the case of the conventional ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19 shown in FIG. 5 described above, the stocker 13 is provided on the upstream side of the combination device 14 with respect to the flow direction of the workpiece. It is necessary to perform many processes including a combination process. For this reason, when the cycle time in the finished product automatic assembly facility 18 is further shortened, it is necessary to disassemble each process in the subsequent process into a plurality of small processes of smaller work units than the stock discharging process. This further increases the size of the apparatus and increases costs. For this reason, it is difficult to effectively increase the cumulative production amount and effectively improve the production capacity per unit time while suppressing an increase in cost.

  Further, if the cycle time in the finished product assembly process, which is a process subsequent to the stock discharge process, cannot be significantly shorter than the cycle time in the raceway machining process, which is a process preceding the stock discharge process, the grease sealing device 15 Alternatively, when the setup change in the seal mounting device 16 is completed and the finished product automatic assembly device 18 resumes operation, the amount of the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 accumulated in the stocker 13 can be reduced only slowly. For this reason, in the state where the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 are stored in the stocker 13, the next setup change often occurs. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, in the stocker 13 after a short period of time has passed since the apparatus such as the combination device 14 and the grease filling device 15 on the downstream side of the stocker 13 with respect to the work flow direction has stopped. The accumulated outer ring 2 and inner ring 4 reach the allowable limit amount, and the raceway automatic machining facilities 9 and 9 upstream of the stocker 13 with respect to the flow direction also stop operating. The bearing ring automatic processing equipments 9 and 9 are generally very expensive. Nevertheless, such a frequent stoppage of the raceway automatic machining equipment 9 and 9 and a decrease in the operating rate only hinders effective increase in the cumulative production of finished products. It is also a problem in terms of investment efficiency.

  In addition, if the automatic processing equipment 9 and 9 of the ring is frequently operated and stopped repeatedly, each part of the apparatus becomes thermally unstable, and the processing accuracy by the automatic processing equipment 9 and 9 of the ring is increased. Management to maintain becomes troublesome. These problems are not limited to the case where a plurality of sets of bearing ring automatic processing equipments 9 and 9 are arranged for one set of finished product automatic assembly equipment 18 as shown in FIG. The same occurs when one set of bearing ring automatic processing equipment is arranged for the automatic product assembly facility or when a plurality of sets of automatic bearing ring processing facilities are arranged for the plurality of sets of finished product assembly facilities. In addition, there exist patent documents 1-4 as a prior art document relevant to this invention.

JP 2000-167723 A JP 2000-167724 A JP-A-5-278815 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-118903

  In view of the circumstances as described above, the ball bearing manufacturing equipment and manufacturing method of the present invention are designed to reduce the stock discharge in order to increase the production amount of the finished ball bearing and to improve the operating rate of the bearing ring processing equipment. Even when it is possible to make the cycle time of the post-process rather than the process significantly shorter than the cycle time of the pre-process, the invention was invented to suppress the increase in the cost of the manufacturing equipment and the ball bearing.

As described in claim 1, the ball bearing manufacturing equipment of the present invention is
Manufacture of a ball bearing comprising an outer ring having an outer ring raceway on an inner peripheral surface, an inner ring having an inner ring raceway on an outer peripheral surface, and a plurality of balls provided between the outer ring raceway and the inner ring raceway so as to be freely rollable. The facility includes a bearing ring processing facility, a combination facility, a grease filling facility, and a seal mounting facility.
Of these, the bearing ring processing facility grinds at least the outer ring and the inner ring.
Further, the above-mentioned combination facility is an intermediate assembly formed by combining the outer ring and the inner ring processed by the bearing ring processing facility together with a plurality of rolling elements.
Further, the grease sealing facility is for sealing grease inside the intermediate assembly made by the combination facility.
The seal mounting facility is for mounting a seal member on an intermediate assembly sealed with grease by the grease sealing facility.
A stocker is provided between the combination facility and the grease filling facility with respect to the flow direction of the workpiece. The stocker can store and discharge the intermediate assembly.

Moreover, the manufacturing method of the ball bearing of the present invention, as described in claim 3,
A ball bearing manufacturing method that uses the above-described ball bearing manufacturing equipment, and includes a bearing ring processing step, a combination step, a grease sealing step, and a seal mounting step.
Of these, the bearing ring machining step includes a step of grinding at least the outer ring and the inner ring by a bearing ring machining facility.
In the combination process, an intermediate assembly is formed by combining the outer ring and the inner ring processed in the raceway processing step together with at least a plurality of balls by a combination facility. In the grease filling step, grease is sealed inside the intermediate assembly produced in the combination step by a grease filling facility.
In the seal mounting process, the seal member is mounted on the intermediate assembly sealed with the grease in the grease sealing process by a seal mounting facility to produce a finished ball bearing.
Then, after the combination step, before the grease filling step, the stocker stores the intermediate assembly transported from the device in the previous step, and the intermediate assembly is changed to this based on a request from the subsequent step. A stock discharge process is performed for discharging to a post-process apparatus.

  According to the ball bearing manufacturing equipment and manufacturing method of the present invention configured as described above, the stock discharging process by the stocker can be performed after the combining process by the combination equipment and before the grease filling process by the grease filling equipment. . For this reason, the number of post-processes to be performed after this stock discharging process can be reduced. Therefore, even when it is possible to shorten the cycle time in the subsequent process, it is not necessary to excessively disassemble the work unit into a plurality of small processes in the subsequent process. This leads to a reduction in the cost of manufacturing equipment. As a result, it is possible to significantly shorten the cycle time in the post-process than the cycle time in the pre-process rather than the stock discharge process, while suppressing an increase in the cost of manufacturing equipment. In addition, since the cycle time in the combination process using the above-mentioned combination equipment can be extended, it is difficult to cause the equipment to stop operating due to a malfunction, reducing the management cost, and thus the manufacturing cost of the ball bearing. Can be reduced.

  In addition, since the cycle time in the post-process can be significantly shorter than the cycle time in the pre-process, the stocker can be used between the end of the setup change and the next setup change. The intermediate assembly housed inside can be eliminated. For this reason, when the next setup change occurs, the number of intermediate assemblies that can be accommodated in the stocker can be increased. Stopping can be prevented. For this reason, lots are frequently changed during the production of ball bearings, which involves changing the type of grease or seal, so that even if setup changes frequently occur in grease filling equipment or seal installation equipment, it is expensive. It is possible to increase the operating rate of the bearing ring processing equipment that is likely to become. Further, since this raceway processing facility can be prevented from being repeatedly operated and stopped, it is possible to prevent each part of this raceway processing facility from becoming thermally unstable. For this reason, it is possible to easily maintain the machining accuracy in this bearing ring machining facility without the need for troublesome management.

  In addition, although the structure regarding the production line of a rolling bearing is described in the said patent documents 1, 2, and 4, it is not described at all about the arrangement | positioning of a stocker. Further, Patent Document 3 describes a configuration in which a stocker is arranged on the upstream side of the combination device with respect to the work flow direction. For this reason, in the case of the configuration described in Patent Document 3, the same inconvenience as in the case of the conventional structure shown in FIG.

  When the ball bearing manufacturing equipment of the present invention is implemented, preferably, as described in claim 2, the bearing ring machining equipment includes an outer ring grinding apparatus for grinding the outer ring raceway and the outer ring raceway. One outer ring finishing machine for finishing is provided for each outer ring, and the outer ring grinding machine and the outer ring super finishing machine are arranged in series in the flow direction of the workpiece, Inner ring first grinding machine for grinding inner ring raceway, inner ring second grinding machine for grinding inner circumferential surface of inner ring, and inner ring superfinishing process for superfinishing the inner ring raceway And an inner ring machining facility in which the first and second inner ring grinding machines and the inner ring super finishing machine are arranged in series with respect to the flow direction of the workpiece. To do. Further, the outer ring processed by the outer ring processing facility and the inner ring processed by the inner ring processing facility can be supplied to the combination facility.

  According to this preferable configuration, it is possible to reduce the number of processing apparatuses used for the raceway processing step. For this reason, the installation area of the whole manufacturing equipment can be made small. Further, even when the change of the model number (change of set) according to the size or the like of the ball bearing occurs during the production of the ball bearing, the set change time required for changing the jig or the grindstone can be reduced. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the administrative effort of feeding back countermeasures for quality problems caused by the raceway machining process detected in the combination process to each machining apparatus. Furthermore, since the cycle time of the previous process is longer than that of the stock discharge process, the cycle time of the subsequent process can be shortened more effectively than the cycle time of the previous process. The utilization rate can be improved more effectively.

Further, when the ball bearing manufacturing method of the present invention is carried out, preferably, the time required for one setup change operation in the grease filling facility or the seal mounting facility is defined as t _C , The shortest time from the end of the setup change to the start of the next setup change is t _S, and the substantial cycle time in the bearing ring machining process and the combination process is T _g. When the cycle time in T is T _S , T _S / T _g ≦ t _S / (t _C + t _S ).

  According to this preferable configuration, it is possible to eliminate the intermediate assembly accumulated in the stocker at the time of the setup change operation from the end of the setup change to the start of the next setup change. For this reason, it is possible to more effectively prevent the operation of the bearing ring processing facility from stopping when the intermediate assembly in the stocker reaches the allowable limit amount.

Further, preferably when implementing the structure according to claim 4 above, as set forth in claim 5, the tolerable amount S _t of storable intermediate assembly stocker, (t _C / T _g ) Or more.

According to this preferred configuration, substantial cycle time T _g of the raceway processing steps and combining step, the relationship between the operation time t _C of changeovers, intermediate assembly to be stored in the stocker reaches the tolerable amount You can prevent things. For this reason, it is possible to more effectively prevent the operation of the bearing ring processing facility from being stopped during the manufacturing operation of the ball bearing.

Further, when implementing the configuration described in claim 3 above, preferably, as described in claim 6, T _g is a substantial cycle time in the bearing ring machining step and the combination step, and the grease filling step In addition, the substantial cycle time in the seal mounting process is T _S , the time required for one set-up operation in the grease filling facility or the seal mounting facility is t _C, and the next set-up starts from the end of the set-up. When the shortest time until t is t _S , T _S = T _g when the intermediate assembly is not stored in the stocker, and T _S / T when the intermediate assembly is stored in the stocker. T _g ≦ t _S / (t _C + t _S ).

According to this preferred configuration, the actual cumulative production of finished products, the bearing ring machining process and can be close to the cumulative production of a steady production state determined by the cycle time T _g of the combination process, more effectively production Can be increased.

More preferably, when the configuration described in any one of claims 3 to 6 is implemented, as described in claim 7, the substantial cycle time in the bearing ring machining step is T _g , and the grease When the cycle time in the sealing step and the seal mounting step is T _S , T _g ≧ T _S is satisfied.
According to this preferable configuration, it is possible to increase the operating rate of the bearing ring processing facility that is likely to be expensive, and to improve the investment efficiency.

  1 and 2 show Embodiment 1 of the present invention corresponding to claims 1 and 3 to 7. The feature of the present invention resides in that the arrangement of each facility in the ball bearing manufacturing facility and the order of performing each step in the ball bearing manufacturing method are devised. The function of each facility or apparatus in the ball bearing manufacturing facility of this embodiment and the manufacturing method in each process are substantially the same as those of the conventional manufacturing facility and manufacturing method shown in FIG. Therefore, in the following description, the same parts as those of the conventional manufacturing equipment shown in FIG. The description will focus on the differences from the conventional manufacturing equipment and manufacturing method shown in FIG.

  In the case of the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19a of the present embodiment, the combination device 14 which is a combination equipment and the grease with respect to the flow direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 1) of the outer ring 2, the inner ring 4 or the intermediate assembly which is a workpiece, A stocker 13a capable of storing and discharging a plurality of intermediate assemblies is provided between the grease sealing device 15 serving as a sealing facility. In the ball bearing manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, the stock discharging step by the stocker 13a is performed after the combining step by the combination device 14 and before the grease filling step by the grease filling device 15. . That is, in the case of the conventional ball bearing manufacturing method shown in FIG. 5 described above, the stock discharge process by the stocker 13 is performed before the combination process, whereas in the case of this embodiment, this stock discharge process is performed. The process is performed after the combination process.

  In the case of such a manufacturing method of the ball bearing of the present embodiment, as a combination process, the combination device 14 was sent by an automatic conveying device from a plurality of sets of automatic processing devices 9 (see FIG. 5). The intermediate assembly before mounting the seal ring 7 (see FIG. 4) is constructed by combining the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4, the plurality of balls 5, and the cage 6. Then, the intermediate assembly is sent to the stocker 13a by an automatic conveying device, and temporarily stored in the stocker 13a as a stock discharging step, and then discharged to the grease filling device 15 by an automatic conveying device.

  Also, in the case of the automatic ball bearing manufacturing equipment 19a of the present embodiment, as in the case of the automatic ball bearing manufacturing equipment 19 having the conventional structure shown in FIG. In addition, a transfer conveyor of an automatic transfer device is installed in the seal mounting device 16 and the packaging device 17 which are seal mounting facilities. Then, by the transfer conveyor and the robot, the combination device 14, the stocker 13a, the grease filling device 15, and the removal of the intermediate assembly (or the finished product) from the seal mounting device 16, and the stocker 13a The intermediate assembly (or finished product) can be supplied to the grease sealing device 15, the seal mounting device 16, and the packaging device 17. Although not shown, the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19a is provided with a quality inspection device for performing a quality inspection process.

Next, the relationship between the cycle times of the steps in this embodiment and the allowable limit amount of the intermediate assembly that can be stored in the stocker 13a will be described.
In this embodiment, the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19a is combined with an apparatus that can satisfy the following cycle time relationship. In the case of the present embodiment, the bottleneck in the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19a is each of the bearing ring automatic processing devices 9. In the raceway machining process using each of these raceway automatic machining devices 9, the grinding wheel grinding ability, cooling conditions, machine rigidity, measurement accuracy, etc., for the dimensions of workpieces, machining allowances, and mechanical properties of materials are determined. Under the optimized processing conditions, the shortest cycle time is determined empirically. Further, in the process preceding the stock discharging process, the shortest substantial cycle time of the above-described bearing ring machining process (= when there are three sets of the bearing ring automatic machining devices 9 as shown in FIG. 5). With 1/3) of the apparent cycle time as a bottleneck, a slightly surplus cycle time _Tg is set so as not to hinder this.

On the other hand, the time required for one setup change operation is defined as t _C in the grease filling device 15 and the seal mounting device 16, and the next setup change from the end of the setup change in the grease filling process and the seal mounting process. T _S is defined as the shortest time until the start of (set change minimum interval). When t _C and t _S are defined in this way, the relationship between the cycle time T _S and the cycle time T _g after the stock discharging process including the grease filling process and the seal mounting process is as follows. (1).
T _S / T _g ≦ t _S / (t _C + t _S ) −−− (1)

Further, in order to perform the setup change operation, the intermediate assembly sent from the combination device 14 is stored in the stocker 13a while the operation of the grease filling device 15 and the seal mounting device 16 is stopped. Accumulated. If the intermediate assembly in the stocker 13a reaches an allowable limit amount (becomes full), the operation of each of the track ring machining devices 9 and the combination device 14 stops. On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, the allowable limit amount _St (number) of the intermediate assemblies that can be stored in the stocker 13a is set to It is set by equation (2).
_St ≧ (t _C / T _g ) −−− (2)

As can be seen from the above formulas (1) and (2), if the time t _C required for one setup change operation is shortened, the cycle time T _S of the subsequent process can be made longer than the stock discharging process, and it can be reduced tolerable amount S _t of the stocker 13a. For this reason, shortening the time required for one setup change operation through work analysis and equipment improvement is useful for simplifying the manufacturing equipment and reducing costs.

Further, as a case of satisfying the above (1) (2), for example, comprises a bearing ring machining process, a substantial cycle time T _g of the steps before the stock discharging step 10 seconds, once setup change work The time t _C required for this is 15 minutes (= 900 seconds). In addition, the minimum interval for changeover t _S is set to 60 minutes (= 3600 seconds), the cycle time T _S of the post process after the stock discharge process is set to 8 seconds or less, and the allowable limit of the intermediate assembly that can be stored in the stocker 13a. The quantity _St is 90 or more.

According to the ball bearing manufacturing equipment and manufacturing method of the present embodiment configured as described above, the stock discharge by the stocker 13a is performed after the combining step by the combining device 14 and before the grease filling step by the grease filling device 15. The process can be performed. For this reason, the number of post-processes to be performed after this stock discharging process can be reduced. Therefore, even when it is possible to shorten the cycle time T _S in the subsequent process, it is not necessary to excessively disassemble the work time into a plurality of small processes in the subsequent process. This leads to a reduction in the cost of manufacturing equipment. As a result, according to the present embodiment, the cycle time T _S in the subsequent process is significantly shorter than the cycle time T _g in the preceding process than the stock discharging process, while suppressing an increase in the cost of the manufacturing facility. Things are possible. Further, since it increased the cycle time T _g of the a combination process using the combining device 14, and less likely to occur a situation that equipment operation stop due to failure, reducing the administrative costs, by extension ball bearing The manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Also, since the cycle time T _S in the subsequent process can be made significantly shorter than the cycle time T _g in the previous process, the period from the end of the setup change until the next setup change occurs. In addition, the intermediate assembly (work) accommodated in the stocker 13a can be eliminated. For this reason, when ball bearings are manufactured, the lot change is frequently accompanied by a change in the type of grease or seal, so that even when the setup change frequently occurs in the grease filling device 15 or the seal mounting device 16, The operating rate of the bearing ring processing facility 9 that tends to be expensive can be increased.
Next, this will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a Gantt chart showing the accumulated production amount and the like of the finished ball bearing as in the case shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, as in the case shown in FIG. 6 described above, it is assumed that the operation state of the post-process apparatus is determined rather than the stock discharge process by the changeover in the grease filling apparatus 15. The operating state of the sealing device 15 is shown. For example, in the case shown in FIG. 2, when the set-up of the grease filling device 15 and the seal mounting device 16 is started simultaneously, the set-up of the grease filling device 15 is the same as or later than the set-up of the seal mounting device 16. finish. However, in the case where the operation state of the above-described post-process device is determined by the setup change in the seal mounting device 16, the operation state of the seal mounting device 16 is replaced with the operation state of the grease filling device 15 in FIG. As a result, it is possible to obtain the accumulated production amount of the finished product according to the elapsed time.

  In FIG. 2, the solid line a ′ indicates the accumulated production amount of the finished ball bearing actually completed over time, and the dotted line b ′ indicates that no setup change occurs in the grease filling process. The accumulated production amount (cumulative production amount in the steady production state) of the finished ball bearing obtained when it is assumed that the respective facilities and devices 9, 14, 13a, and 15 to 17 do not stop at all is shown.

Further, in the case of the present embodiment, unlike the case shown in FIG. 6 described above, before the stock discharging step, the bearing ring machining step by the bearing ring automatic machining facility 9 as a bottleneck and the combination step are performed. for performing, it is synchronized with the cycle time T _g of the these two steps. Then, the cycle time T _g of the these two steps, from the above (1), including the grease step and seal mounting step, and determines the cycle time T _S in a later step than the stock discharge process, Each device is arranged corresponding to each of these cycle times T _g and T _S. Further, the production capacity of the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19a in the steady production state depends on the bottleneck. For this reason, the gradient of the broken line b ′ in FIG. 2, which is the increasing speed of the accumulated production amount of the finished product in the steady production state, is determined by the production capacity of the bearing ring automatic processing facility 9.

  When the production management system issues an instruction to end the production of the currently produced lot and switch to the production of a new lot with a change in the grease specifications, the grease filling device 15 stops, and the setup change work is performed. (Refer to the portion indicated by the oblique grid in the portion A of FIG. 2). During this setup change operation, the workpiece is not transferred to a device subsequent to the grease filling step by the grease filling device 15. For this reason, naturally, the production amount of the finished product does not increase.

On the other hand, is a device used in the previous step than the grease step, the stocker 13a, combined by the combination unit 14 the intermediate assembly is accumulated in the following range limits the allowable amount S _t. And the apparatus used in a process before the stock discharging process including this combination apparatus 14 continues to operate even after the operation of the grease sealing apparatus 15 is stopped. In addition, in the case shown in FIG. 2, the limit _t of the intermediate assembly that satisfies the above-mentioned expression (2) and can be stored in the stocker 13a is set to the time t _C required for the setup change operation, It is sufficiently larger than the ratio t _C / T _{g with} respect to the cycle time T _g downstream of the stock discharge process with respect to the work flow direction ( _St > t _C / T _g ). Therefore, before the intermediate assembly in the stocker 13a reaches a tolerable amount S _t, tooling change is completed. Therefore, even if the operation of the device after the stock discharge step is stopped due to the occurrence of the setup change in the grease filling step, the device before the stock discharge step may stop operating. Absent.

Then, when the setup change in the grease filling device 15 is completed, the operation of the post-process device restarts from the stock discharge process, and the intermediate assembly is sent from the stocker 13a to the post-process device. Cumulative production of finished products increases. In this case, until the stocker 13a exhausts the intermediate assembly accumulated therein, the production capacity of the finished product depends on the cycle time T _S of the post process rather than the stock discharge process, and the bottleneck It does not depend on the cycle time T _g of the raceway processing steps according to an orbital ring automatic processing apparatus 9. Then, the transfer speed in the post-process is increased, and the cycle time T _S in the post-process is significantly shorter than the cycle time T _{g in the} raceway machining process (T _S <T _g ). The production amount of the product is rapidly increased (see the range indicated by the solid arrow a ′ shown in FIG. 2). On the other hand, in the step before the stock discharge process, it continues to operate unchanged by the cycle time The T _g combined bottleneck continues to send intermediate assembly stocker 13a.

In this case, compared with the transfer speed at which the intermediate assembly is sent to the stocker 13 from the apparatus in the process prior to the stock discharge process, the transfer speed for sending the intermediate assembly to the apparatus in the process subsequent to the stock discharge process is sufficient. The cycle time T _S of the post process after the stock discharge process becomes sufficiently shorter than the cycle time T _{g of the} pre process before the stock discharge process. For this reason, as is apparent from FIG. 2, when the amount of work in the stocker 13a (accumulated amount of intermediate assembly) is considered, the amount (number) of intermediate assemblies accumulated in the stocker 13a is abrupt. To decrease. The reduction rate of the intermediate assembly in the stocker 13a is sufficiently high (fast) from the relationship of the above formula (1), and before the next setup change occurs in the grease filling device 15, the reduction rate in the stocker 13a. It is guaranteed that there will be no intermediate assemblies.

Then, when the intermediate assembly in the stocker 13a is exhausted, the cycle time T _{S of the} post process becomes longer than the stock discharge process, and this cycle time T _S becomes the cycle time of the post process of the stock discharge process. It becomes the same as T _g (T _S = T _g ). In this case, the cumulative production of finished products of the ball bearing is dependent on the cycle time T _g of the raceway processing steps according raceway automatic processing equipment 9 is a bottleneck (the solid line shown in a'in Fig arrow (Refer to the range indicated by “b”).

  As a result of such a cycle being repeated, the raceway automatic machining facility 9 continues to operate and the operation is not stopped. For this reason, when ball bearings are manufactured, the lot change is frequently accompanied by a change in the type of grease or seal, so that even when the setup change frequently occurs in the grease filling device 15 or the seal mounting device 16, As shown in FIG. 2, the actual production amount of the ball bearing can be made to substantially coincide with the production amount based on the production capacity in the steady production state of the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19a.

  Further, it is possible to prevent the raceway automatic machining equipment 9 that tends to be expensive from stopping operation due to the above-described change of the setup, and to increase the operating rate of the raceway automatic machining device 9 that tends to be expensive. Further, since this automatic operation of the bearing ring automatic machining facility 9 can be prevented from frequently repeating the operation and the stop, it is possible to prevent each part of the automatic bearing ring automatic machining facility 9 from becoming thermally unstable. For this reason, it is possible to easily maintain the machining accuracy in the automatic race ring machining equipment 9 without requiring troublesome management.

  As a result, according to the present embodiment, it becomes possible to make a production plan based on the production capacity of the bearing ring automatic machining equipment 9 which is likely to be expensive, and by frequent changeovers due to changes in grease and seal specifications. Production plans are less affected. For this reason, it becomes easy to cope with a large variety of small-quantity production. Moreover, since the operating rate of the bearing ring automatic machining apparatus 9 can be improved, the production capacity for capital investment can be stably improved. Further, the improvement in the operation rate facilitates the management of the processing quality of the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows Embodiment 2 of the present invention corresponding to claims 1 to 7. In the case of the present embodiment, the outer ring automatic processing facility 10 constituting the bearing ring automatic processing facility 9 includes an outer ring second grinding device 24 for grinding the outer ring track 7 (see FIG. 4), and the outer ring. One super-finishing device 25 for the outer ring for super-finishing the track 7 is provided, and each processing device 24, 25 is arranged in series with respect to the flow direction of the outer ring 2, which is a workpiece. . Further, the inner ring automatic machining facility 11 constituting the bearing ring automatic machining facility 9 corresponds to the first inner ring grinding device according to claim 2 for grinding the inner ring raceway 3 (see FIG. 4). The inner ring second grinding apparatus 26 and the inner ring third grinding apparatus corresponding to the inner ring second grinding apparatus according to claim 2 for grinding the inner peripheral surface of the inner ring 4 (see FIG. 4). Each of the grinding device 27 and the inner ring super finishing device 28 for super finishing the inner ring raceway 3 is provided, and each of these processing devices 26 to 28 is a flow of the inner ring 2, which is a workpiece. They are arranged in series with respect to the direction. Then, the inner ring 4 and the outer ring 2 can be supplied to the combination device 14 by the outer ring automatic machining equipment 10 and the inner ring automatic machining equipment 11. Therefore, in the case of the present embodiment, one set of bearing ring automatic processing equipment 9 is combined with one set of finished product automatic assembly equipment 18a.

In the case of such a ball bearing manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment, the inner ring 4 and the outer ring 2 processed by only one set of bearing ring automatic processing equipment 9 are supplied to the combination apparatus 14 when the ball bearing is manufactured. Sent. Therefore, substantial cycle time T _g of the bearing ring machining process is longer than the case of Example 1 described above. And according to this cycle time, the cycle time of another process is determined. Therefore, in the case of the present embodiment, the accumulated production amount of the finished ball bearing is lower than that in the case of the first embodiment.

  On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, only one set of the bearing ring automatic machining equipment 9 needs to be installed, and the number of processing devices 24 to 28 used in the bearing ring machining process is the same as that of the first embodiment described above. Less than you can. For this reason, the installation area of the whole manufacturing equipment can be made small. In addition, since the number of the processing devices 24 to 28 can be reduced, even when a change in the model number (change of set) occurs according to the dimensions of the ball bearing during the production of the ball bearing, the jig or the grindstone is changed. The time required for changing the set can be reduced. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the administrative effort of feeding back the countermeasures for the quality problem caused by the raceway machining process detected in the combination process to the machining devices 24 to 28.

Furthermore, since the cycle time T _g of the steps before the stock discharge process is increased, the cycle time T _S of the rear than the stock discharge process steps, than the cycle time T _g of the above pre-process can be more effectively shortened . That is, since the difference between these two cycle times (T _g −T _S ) can be made larger, the accumulation speed of the intermediate assembly accumulated in the stocker 13a during the setup change operation can be slowed down. The time until the intermediate assembly disappears from the inside can be shortened. For this reason, it can prevent more effectively that the operation | movement of the bearing ring automatic processing equipment 9 stops by a setup change, and can improve the operating rate of this bearing ring automatic processing equipment 9 more effectively.
Since other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, a duplicate description is omitted.

  The ball bearing manufacturing equipment of the present invention is limited to a bearing ring processing equipment, a stocker, a combination equipment, a grease filling equipment, and a seal mounting equipment, all installed in the same section in the factory. Not what you want. For example, in the first and second embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 described above, only the finished product automatic assembly facility 18a can be installed in a room or the like in which dust in the air is strictly controlled. Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, a plurality of parts or completion are continuously waited on the conveyor of the automatic transfer device between the devices of the ball bearing automatic manufacturing equipment 19a, thereby shortening or eliminating wasted time due to transfer. You can also do things.

The figure equivalent to a part of FIG. 5 which shows the manufacturing equipment of the ball bearing of Example 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the cumulative production amount of a ball bearing in the case of producing a ball bearing by Example 1 with a Gantt chart. The figure equivalent to a part of FIG. 5 which shows the manufacturing equipment of the ball bearing of Example 2 of this invention. The half expanded sectional view of a ball bearing. The figure which shows an example of the manufacturing equipment of the conventional ball bearing. The figure which shows the accumulated production amount of a ball bearing in the case of producing a ball bearing with the manufacturing equipment shown in FIG. 5 with a Gantt chart.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outer ring raceway 2 Outer ring 3 Inner ring raceway 4 Inner ring 5 Ball 6 Cage 7 Seal ring 8 Internal space 9 Bearing ring automatic machining equipment 10 Outer ring automatic machining equipment 11 Inner ring automatic machining equipment 13, 13a Stocker 14 Combination device 15 Grease filling device 16 Seal Mounting device 17 Packaging device 18, 18a Finished product automatic assembly facility 19, 19a Ball bearing automatic manufacturing facility 20 Turning device 21 Heat treatment device 22 Outer ring first grinding device 23 Inner ring first grinding device 24 Outer ring second grinding Processing device 25 Super finishing device for outer ring 26 Second grinding device for inner ring 27 Third grinding device for inner ring 28 Super finishing device for inner ring

Claims (7)

Manufacture of a ball bearing including an outer ring having an outer ring raceway on an inner peripheral surface, an inner ring having an inner ring raceway on an outer peripheral surface, and a plurality of balls provided between the outer ring raceway and the inner ring raceway so as to be capable of rolling. A bearing ring processing facility, a combination facility, a grease filling facility, and a seal mounting facility, wherein the bearing ring processing facility grinds at least the outer ring and the inner ring,
The above-mentioned combination equipment is an intermediate assembly formed by combining these outer ring and inner ring processed by this bearing ring processing equipment together with a plurality of rolling elements,
The grease filling equipment is for filling grease inside the intermediate assembly made by the combination equipment,
The seal mounting facility is for mounting a seal member on an intermediate assembly sealed with grease in the grease sealing facility,
A ball bearing manufacturing facility provided with a stocker capable of storing and discharging a plurality of intermediate assemblies between the combination facility and the grease filling facility with respect to a work flow direction.   The outer ring processing equipment has one outer ring grinding device for grinding the outer ring raceway and one outer ring super finishing device for superfinishing the outer ring raceway. Grinding of the inner ring of the inner ring and the inner ring first grinding device for grinding the inner ring raceway and the outer ring machining equipment in which the device and the super finishing machine for the outer ring are arranged in series with respect to the flow direction of the workpiece The inner ring second grinding device and the inner ring super finishing device for super-finishing the inner ring raceway are provided one by one, respectively for the inner ring first and second grinding devices and the inner ring. The super finishing machine is equipped with an inner ring processing facility arranged in series with respect to the flow direction of the workpiece, and the outer ring processed by the outer ring processing facility and the inner ring processed by the inner ring processing facility can be supplied to the combined facility. Claims Manufacturing facility of the ball bearing described. A ball bearing manufacturing method using the ball bearing manufacturing facility according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a bearing ring machining step, a combination step, a grease filling step, and a seal mounting step, The bearing ring machining step includes a step of grinding at least the outer ring and the inner ring by a bearing ring machining facility.
In the combination process, an intermediate assembly is formed by combining the outer ring and the inner ring processed in the raceway processing step together with at least a plurality of balls by a combination facility.
The above grease filling step is to fill the inside of the intermediate assembly made in the above combination step with grease filling equipment,
In the seal mounting step, a seal member is mounted on the intermediate assembly filled with grease in the grease sealing step by a seal mounting facility, thereby producing a finished ball bearing.
After the combination step, before the grease filling step, the stocker stores the intermediate assembly transported from the device in the previous step, and the intermediate assembly is moved to the subsequent step based on a request from the subsequent step. Of manufacturing a ball bearing that performs a stock discharging process for discharging to the apparatus. The time required for one setup change in the grease filling facility or the seal installation facility is t _C, and the shortest time from the end of setup change to the start of the next setup change is t _S , and the bearing ring machining process And T _s / T _g ≦ t _S / (t _C + t _S ) where T _g is the substantial cycle time in the combination process and T _S is the cycle time in the grease filling process and the seal mounting process. A method for manufacturing a ball bearing according to claim 3. The tolerable amount S _t of storable intermediate assembly stocker and (t _C / T _g) or more, the ball bearing manufacturing method according to claim 4. The actual cycle time in the bearing ring machining process and the combination process is T _g, and the cycle time in the grease filling process and the seal mounting process is T _S, and the setup is changed once in the grease filling facility or the seal mounting facility. T _S = T when the intermediate assembly is not accommodated in the stocker, where t _C is the time required to complete the changeover and t _S is the shortest time from the end of the changeover to the start of the next changeover _The ball bearing manufacturing method according to claim 3, wherein when the intermediate assembly is accommodated in the stocker, T _S / T _g ≦ t _S / (t _C + t _S ). Substantial cycle time in the bearing ring machining process and T _g, the cycle time in the greased process and seal mounting step when the T _S, and T _g ≧ T _S, any claim 3-6 A method for manufacturing a ball bearing as described above.

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