JP2006350773A - Production system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a production system that can stabilize low cost and favorable production. <P>SOLUTION: The production system, which has a line 2 in which workpieces 1 are carried and the workpieces 1 are machined or part-assembled to continuously produce a plurality of types of products, has on the line 2 a reading means 15 for reading information 7 inscribed on the workpieces 1. The workpieces 1 inscribed with the information 7 are machined or part-assembled according to the information 7 read by the reading means 15. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is used in, for example, automobile manufacturing factories, and so-called mixing in which a plurality of types of products having similar process sequences and work methods are continuously produced in one production line, and these are mixed and flown. The present invention relates to a production system constituting a product line.

  For example, in the above-described production system that produces a plurality of types of automobile engines as products, an arbitrary number of various products are usually produced in line within a predetermined period (for example, one day) based on a production plan prepared in advance. . The operation rate of the entire line changes depending on the product production order, and in order to increase the operation rate, it is necessary to appropriately determine the product production order.

  That is, in the production system, there are a plurality of types of products to be produced, and the length of the process sequence that passes from the start to the end of the production and the work time in the specific process are different for each type of product. For this reason, for example, if a product with a long working time in a specific process and a product with a short process sequence are continuously produced, the flow stops in the specific process, or there is a specific process that does not perform processing, causing play, and the entire line The utilization rate of will decrease. Therefore, appropriate determination of the production order of products, such as producing a product with a short work time after a product with a long work time in a specific process, or producing a product with a long process line after a product with a short process time However, it is important for increasing the line utilization rate and reducing manufacturing costs.

  The production system that produces a plurality of types of products in the above production order, when assembling the parts on the work transported on the production line and producing each product, shows the assembly contents of the parts to the work. There is an assembly instruction means for corresponding to the above. The assembly instruction means is provided in a medium having assembly information attached to a jig pallet to be conveyed while holding a workpiece, and an assembly unit for executing each assembly process of the line, and can read the assembly information from the medium. It consists of reading means that can. The medium is composed of, for example, an ID card or an IC tag.

  In the production system configured as described above, when the jig pallet holding the workpiece is conveyed and reaches the assembling unit, the reading means provided in the assembling unit reads the assembling information from the medium attached to the jig pallet, Assembly is performed on the workpiece based on the read assembly information.

  However, the above-described conventional production system requires a collation device for collating the assembly information of the medium attached to the pallet with the workpiece when transferring the workpiece to the pallet, and the cost for the entire production system is high accordingly. There was a problem of becoming.

  Also, when the work is taken out of the line and repaired due to parts failure, assembly failure, etc., the work is removed from the pallet and the assembly information of the medium attached to the pallet is temporarily stored in the storage device. Perform the rework. The assembly information stored in the storage device is written to the medium attached to the pallet to which the workpiece is transferred before returning the workpiece after completion of the rework to the line. Therefore, a storage device for temporarily storing the assembly information is required, and when the work is temporarily separated from the pallet as described above, the assembly information of the medium attached to the pallet and the work are stored. There was a problem that the probability of not being in agreement increased, and the possibility of workpiece mix-up increased accordingly.

  Further, in the production system, since a medium is attached to each pallet, a large number of media are required, and there is a problem that the cost for the entire production system increases accordingly. In addition, depending on the production line, the work may be splashed with water, causing the medium to break down. This failure causes the production of the product to become unstable, and if the medium has a waterproof structure to prevent this, the cost increases. Furthermore, it will be spurred.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a production system capable of stably performing good production at low cost.

  In order to achieve the above object, a production system according to the present invention is a production system having a line for continuously producing a plurality of types of products by carrying a workpiece and processing or assembling parts to the workpiece. Reading means for reading information stamped on the workpiece is provided in the line, and based on the information read by the reading means, processing or assembly of parts is performed on the workpiece stamped with the information. (Claim 1).

  In the invention according to claim 1, a production system capable of stably performing good production at low cost can be obtained. That is, the conventional production system has a configuration in which information used as a guide for the work is written on a medium prepared separately from the work when the work of assembling the parts to the work is performed by the assembling unit. Therefore, because the work and the medium are separate, as described above, an auxiliary device such as a collation device for collating the two and a storage device for temporarily storing medium information is required. It was. In addition, when an ID card, an IC tag, or the like is used as the medium, there arises a problem that a production system is expensive to construct. Further, when a label on which a barcode or the like is printed is used as the medium, if the label is peeled off or the printing is blotted by water applied to the work, a problem occurs in reading the information by the reading means provided in the assembly unit. As a result, there is a serious problem that the correct assembly is not reliably performed, and that good production of the product is not realized.

  On the other hand, in the invention according to claim 1, the information is stamped on the workpiece itself, and this stamping can be easily performed at the time of forming the workpiece. Therefore, since a medium or the like is not used separately, it can be constructed at a lower cost, and the above-described defects do not occur in the information stamped on the workpiece, so that a production system capable of stably performing good production can be obtained. . Moreover, in the present invention, since the workpiece and the information are integrated, an auxiliary device such as the collation device and the storage device required when the information is written on a medium different from the workpiece becomes unnecessary. Therefore, the cost for constructing the production system can be reduced, and the configuration itself is simple.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing the configuration of a production system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of a pallet that holds a workpiece used in the production system. FIG. 3 is a front view schematically showing the configuration of the pallet holding the workpiece.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the production system according to this embodiment has a production line 2 that continuously produces a plurality of types of products by conveying the workpiece 1 and processing or assembling parts to the workpiece 1. Yes. In this embodiment, the workpiece 1 is a cylinder block, and the parts assembled to the workpiece 1 are a crank (crankshaft), a head (cylinder head), a cam (camshaft), etc. The product produced by the system is an automobile engine.

  The production line 2 has an assembly line 4 having a plurality of assembly parts 3 in which an assembly process for assembling the parts to the workpiece 1 is performed. The assembly line 4 is connected upstream of the assembly line 4. A work supply line 5 for supplying the work 1 is provided.

  In the workpiece supply line 5, the material 6 is processed (cutting or the like) to be finished into the workpiece 1, and assembly information 7 (see FIG. 2) is imprinted on the material 6 at the time of this processing. This assembling information 7 indicates the assembling contents according to the product to be produced from the workpiece 1, and in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a two-dimensional information representing information by a square two-dimensional distribution pattern in a front view. Symbol (for example, data matrix, QR code, etc.). In addition, a plurality of types of workpieces 1 (2 to 3 types in this embodiment) are used, the contents of the assembly information 7 are set for each type, and the order according to a predetermined production order of products. Is supplied to the assembly line 4.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the workpiece 1 formed in the workpiece supply line 5 is transferred to the pallet 8 and conveyed to the assembly line 4 while being held on the pallet 8.

  Here, as the pallet 8, those having various configurations can be adopted. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pallet 8 of this embodiment holds one side portion of the workpiece 1. A clamp part 9, a base part 10 having a means for stopping the rotation of the clamp part 9 at an arbitrary angle, which is attached in a state where the clamp part 9 is rotatable around an axis, and the base part 10 are slidably held. A substantially arc-shaped guide rail 11 and a table unit 12 that holds the guide rail 11 rotatably about its axis are provided.

  The base portion 10 has a clamping lever 13 as means for stopping the rotation of the clamping portion 9 at an arbitrary angle. That is, when the clamping lever 13 is rotated in one direction, the clamping portion 9 is allowed to rotate around the axis, and when the clamping lever 13 is rotated in the other direction, the clamping portion 9 cannot be rotated around the axis. It is comprised so that it may become a state.

  Further, the base portion 10 slides from one end portion to the other end portion of the guide rail 11 by the driving force of the motor 14 as a driving source, and the guide rail 11 stops the base portion 10 at an arbitrary position. It is comprised so that it can be made to.

  The pallet 8 having the above configuration can freely adjust the angle of the held work 1 in the rolling direction, the pitching direction, and the yawing direction. The details of the pallet 8 are shown as an assembling jig in the specification and drawings attached to the application of Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-022802 relating to the earlier application of the present applicant. However, the pallet 8 used in this embodiment is not limited to the one having the above configuration.

  On the other hand, each assembly portion 3 provided in the assembly line 4 supplied with the workpiece 1 held on the pallet 8 reads the assembly information 7 stamped on the workpiece 1 as shown in FIG. Reading means 15 is provided. The production system is configured to assemble parts on the workpiece 1 on which the information 7 is engraved based on the information 7 read by the reading means 15 in the assembling unit 3. That is, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view schematically showing the configuration of the reading means 15.

  Here, the reading means 15 can be of various configurations, but the reading means 15 of this embodiment is imprinted with the information 7 of the workpiece 1 as shown in FIG. The surface s is imaged by the camera 16, and the image 7 is processed by the image processing device 17 to read the information 7. When the information 7 is read by the camera 16, the incident angle of the light a irradiated from the illumination unit 18 to the marking surface s becomes an appropriate angle (for example, substantially perpendicular to the marking surface s), and the reflected light thereof. b is configured to enter the camera 16. The details of the reading means 15 are shown as a marking reading method in the specification and drawings attached to the application of Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-079905 relating to the earlier application of the present applicant. However, the reading means 15 used in this embodiment is not limited to the above configuration.

  A first component supply line 19 for supplying a crank as the component to be assembled to the workpiece 1 is connected to the assembly portion 3 (hereinafter referred to as assembly portion 3 </ b> A) on the most upstream side in the assembly line 4. Further, a second component supply line 20 for supplying a head and a cam as the components to be assembled to the workpiece 1 to the assembly portion 3 (hereinafter referred to as an assembly portion 3B) immediately downstream of the assembly portion 3A in the assembly line 4. Is connected.

  Here, the second component supply line 20 includes a head conveyance line 21 that conveys the head and a cam supply line 22 that supplies a cam to the head conveyance line 21. The supplied cam is assembled to the head, and the head with the cam assembled in this way is supplied to the assembly portion 3B.

  The crank, head and cam are also used in the same manner as the workpiece 1 and are supplied to the assembly line 4 (assembly units 3A and 3B) in an order corresponding to a predetermined production order of products. . Incidentally, in this embodiment, 1 to 2 types of cranks and 4 to 6 types of heads and cams are used.

  Further, in FIG. 1, only two assembly parts 3A and 3B are illustrated as the assembly part 3, but the assembly part 3 is provided in addition to the assembly parts 3A and 3B. That is, parts that require a large number of stocks, such as cranks, heads, and cams, are stocked on parts supply lines (not shown) configured by, for example, a belt conveyor, as with the supply lines 19 and 20, respectively. Is supplied to the assembly section 3. On the other hand, the parts that may have a small number of stocks are accommodated in the parts shelf 23 arranged in the vicinity of the assembly line 4 and are assembled to the workpiece 1 in the assembly unit 3 as necessary.

  Next, the operation of the production system having the above configuration will be described. First, in the workpiece supply line 5, the material 6 is processed to form the workpiece 1, and the assembly information 7 is stamped on the workpiece 1. Then, the formed work 1 is transferred to the pallet 8, and the work 1 conveyed to the assembling line 4 while being held on the pallet 8 reaches the assembling portion 3A in an inverted state.

  In this assembling unit 3A, the assembling information 7 stamped on the workpiece 1 is read by the reading means 15, and the crank supplied from the first component supplying unit 19 based on the assembling information 7 read (using the assembling information 7 as a guide). Assemble to work 1.

  Subsequently, the work 1 that has started moving from the assembly portion 3A while being held on the pallet 8 is changed in direction from an inverted state to an upright state while being held on the pallet 10, and then the assembly portion Reach 3B. In this assembly unit 3B, the assembly information 7 engraved on the workpiece 1 is read by the reading means 15, and the head supplied from the second component supply unit 20 based on the read assembly information 7 (using the assembly information 7 as a guide). Then, the cam is assembled to the work 1.

  Thereafter, similarly, the parts from the part supply line or the parts accommodated in the parts shelf 23 are appropriately assembled by the plurality of assembling units 3, and the work 1 finally becomes a predetermined type of engine as a product.

  As described above, the assembly information 7 imprinted on the workpiece 1 needs to be read by the reading means 15 in each assembly section 3 of the assembly line 4. It is stamped at a position that is not covered by the parts to be assembled.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, the assembly information 7 is not limited to a two-dimensional symbol, and may be configured by a bar code, a number, a list of alphabets, or the like.

  Further, as described above, the assembly portion 3 of the assembly line 4 may be configured to perform only the assembly of the parts to the workpiece 1, but is configured to process the workpiece 1 in addition to the assembly. May be. Furthermore, in addition to the assembly portion 3, the assembly line 4 may be provided with a plurality of processing portions that perform only processing (processing other than component assembly) on the workpiece 1. As described above, when the workpiece 1 is processed in the assembly line 4, the assembly information 7 may include information regarding processing in addition to information regarding assembly. Further, when the machining portion is provided in the assembly line 4, the reading means 15 is also provided in the machining portion, and the information 7 is engraved based on the assembly information 7 read by the reading means 15 in the machining portion. What is necessary is just to comprise a production system so that the workpiece | work 1 may be processed.

It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the structure of the production system which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the structure of the pallet holding the workpiece | work used for the said production system. It is a front view which shows roughly the structure of the pallet holding the said workpiece | work. It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the structure of the reading means in the said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 Work 2 Line 3 Assembly part 4 Assembly line 7 Assembly information 15 Reading means

Claims (1)

  A production system having a line for continuously producing a plurality of types of products by conveying a workpiece and processing or assembling parts to the workpiece, wherein the line is provided with reading means for reading the information stamped on the workpiece. The production system is characterized in that, based on the information read by the reading means, it is configured to perform processing or assembly of parts on the workpiece on which the information is imprinted.

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