JP2008284476A - Apparatus for removing foreign matter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for removing foreign matter, by which foreign matter such as air can be easily removed. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus 10 for removing foreign matter is arranged between a housing vessel 3 for housing a liquid gasket material 2 to which UV energy is applied and which is cured and an application unit 5 for applying the liquid gasket material 2 to a workpiece 4 and provided with: a connection pipe 11 which is used for connecting the housing vessel 3 to the application unit 5 and on which a window 18 is formed; a foreign matter detection unit 19 for monitoring the liquid gasket material 2 through the window 18 and detecting foreign matter 8 contained in the liquid gasket material 2; an energy addition unit 20 for adding UV energy to the foreign matter 8-containing liquid gasket material 2 when the foreign matter 8 contained in the liquid gasket material 2 is detected by the foreign matter detection unit 19; and a removal unit 16 for removing the gasket material 2a to which the UV energy is applied from the energy addition unit 20 and which is cured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a resin supply device that supplies a liquid resin such as an ultraviolet curable resin, and more particularly to a foreign matter removing device.

  For example, in an automobile manufacturing process, a liquid gasket material is applied and cured on a work such as an oil pan, a chain case, a cylinder head and a cam carrier, and a carriage, and used as a gasket. Since the gasket material is in a liquid state, this gasket has advantages such as filling the unevenness of the workpiece or being in close contact with the workpiece. As a form of the liquid gasket, for example, CIPG (Cured In Place Gasket) is known. CIPG is used as a gasket by applying an uncured gasket material to a workpiece and curing it by irradiating ultraviolet rays or heating. The gasket material is applied to the workpiece by an application device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional coating apparatus 5.
The coating device 5 is connected to the storage container 3 filled with the gasket material 2 via the supply pipe 100. In the coating device 5, the gasket material 2 is supplied from the storage container 3 through the supply pipe 100 when the pressurizer 7 applies pressure to the back surface of the storage container 3. The coating device 5 controls the gasket material 2 discharged from the tip nozzle 5 a and applies the gasket material 2 to the workpiece 4.

  Here, if the foreign material 8 such as air is mixed in the gasket material 2 applied to the work 4, the quality of the gasket material 2 deteriorates. For example, the surface of the gasket material 2 applied to the work 4 becomes uneven after curing. It leads to the outflow of defective products such as cracks and cracks. In particular, when the gasket material 2 runs out of the container 3, the coating device 5 is detached and the new container 3 is opened and attached. Since the gasket material 2 has a high viscosity, there is a possibility that air is sealed between the gasket material 2 remaining in the supply pipe 100 and the end face of the new storage container 3, and air is mixed into the gasket material 2. Further, dust or the like adhering to the end face of the new container 3 may be mixed into the gasket material 2. Therefore, a foreign matter removing device for removing foreign matter 8 such as air and dust from the gasket material 2 is required.

  The applicant conducted a prior art literature search on foreign matter removing devices in the automobile industry, but could not find it. Therefore, the applicant conducted a prior art document search on foreign matter removing devices in other industries and found, for example, Patent Document 1.

  The invention described in Patent Document 1 removes bubbles from a resist solution discharged to a coating target. That is, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, a pump for sending a resist solution and a nozzle for discharging the resist solution onto a wafer are connected via a pipe, and bubbles contained in the resist liquid flowing in the pipe are detected by a bubble detection unit. . Since the nozzle drops a predetermined amount of resist solution onto the wafer, the invention described in Patent Document 1 calculates a prescribed number of resist solutions that do not contain bubbles from the bubble detection position, and drops the resist solution. When the number of times reaches the specified number, the nozzle driving unit moves the nozzle to a position other than the wafer to drop the resist solution. Therefore, according to the invention described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to prevent the resist solution mixed with bubbles from dropping on the wafer.

JP 2005-136185 A

  However, when the foreign matter removing device described in Patent Document 1 is applied to a foreign matter removing device that removes the foreign matter 8 from the gasket material 2, the foreign matter removing device detects the foreign matter 8 contained in the gasket material 2. Based on the detected position, the amount of the gasket material 2 that does not include the foreign material 8 is applied to the workpiece 4 from the tip nozzle 5a of the coating device 5 and the calculated amount of the gasket material 2 is applied to the workpiece 4 from the coating device 5. Thereafter, the coating device 5 is moved to a place other than the workpiece 4 and the gasket material 2 including the foreign material 8 is discarded. The amount of application of the gasket material 2 to the workpiece 4 is much larger than the amount of application of the resist solution to the wafer. Therefore, the number of times the foreign material 8 is detected during one step of applying the gasket material 2 to one region of the work 4 is inevitably larger than the number of times air is detected during one step of applying the resist solution to one wafer. To be more.

  Therefore, every time the foreign material 8 is detected, the amount of the gasket material 2 that does not include the foreign material 8 is calculated and the amount of the foreign material 8 is removed by stopping the application of the gasket material 2. One process of applying the gasket material 2 to one region of the workpiece 4 while removing it takes too much time and labor. The gasket material 2 applied to the workpiece 4 is cured by applying energy such as ultraviolet rays to constitute a gasket. Since the application time of the gasket material 2 is not the same, the gasket in which the application time of the gasket material 2 is too long, the sealing performance is not uniform and tends to be defective. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to apply the invention described in Patent Document 1 to a foreign matter removing apparatus that removes the foreign matter 8 from the gasket material 2.

  In the automobile production line, the work is performed in conjunction with the gasket material application work. Therefore, if it takes too much time to remove foreign matter from the gasket material 2, there is a risk that other operations will be delayed or stopped.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a foreign matter removing apparatus that can easily remove foreign matters such as air.

The foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present invention has the following configuration.
(1) A foreign matter removing apparatus disposed between a storage container that stores a liquid gasket material that is cured by applying energy, and a coating device that applies the gasket material to a workpiece, the storage container and the A connecting pipe having a window formed thereon, a foreign material detecting device for monitoring the gasket material through the window and detecting a foreign material contained in the gasket material, and the foreign material detection An energy application device that applies the energy to the gasket material containing the foreign material when the device detects a foreign material contained in the gasket material, and a gasket material that is cured by the energy addition device applying the energy. And a removing device for removing.

(2) In the invention described in (1), the removing device is a filter disposed on the downstream side of the energy adding device.

(3) In the invention described in (1), the removal device includes an application stopping unit that stops application of the gasket material by the application device when the foreign material detection unit detects the foreign material, and the energy application. Backflow means for backflowing and pushing back the gasket material hardened by applying energy from the apparatus to the upstream side of the energy application apparatus, and the hardened gasket material pushed back by the backflow means to the container An accommodating means for accommodating the is provided.

(4) In the invention according to any one of (1) to (3), the apparatus includes a foreign matter size measuring unit that measures a size of the foreign matter detected by the foreign matter detecting device, and the energy adding device includes: The energy is added to the gasket material when the size of the foreign material is equal to or greater than a specified value.

(5) In the invention according to any one of (1) to (4), when the foreign matter detecting means detects the foreign matter, supply of the gasket material from the storage container to the coating device is stopped. Gasket material supply stop means is provided.

(6) In the invention described in any one of (2), (4), and (5), when it is determined that the number of times that the energy adding device has added the energy is equal to or greater than a set number, the filter is replaced. Notification means for notifying

  In the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention, when the foreign matter detecting means detects a foreign matter through the window, the energy adding device applies energy to the gasket material containing the detected foreign matter and hardens the periphery of the foreign matter. Thereby, a part of gasket material hardens | cures with a foreign material in a connecting pipe, and becomes a solid material larger and heavier than a foreign material. The gasket material solidified together with the foreign matter is mixed with the liquid gasket material, but is larger and heavier than the foreign matter, and thus is easily removed from the liquid gasket material by the removing device. As described above, the foreign matter removing device of the present invention removes foreign matter from the gasket material by removing the gasket material solidified together with the foreign matter in the connecting pipe from the liquid gasket material. Therefore, according to the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention, the amount of the gasket material that does not contain foreign matter can be calculated based on the foreign matter detection position, or the foreign matter can be moved by moving the coating device to a place other than the workpiece. It is not necessary to discard the gasket material containing, and foreign matters mixed in the gasket material can be easily removed.

  In particular, in the automobile manufacturing process, the amount of gasket material applied to the workpiece is large, and foreign matter may be detected a plurality of times during one process of applying the gasket material to one region of the workpiece. However, as described above, the foreign matter removing device of the present invention cures a part of the gasket material together with the foreign matter in the connecting pipe, and removes the solidified gasket material from the liquid gasket material, thereby removing the foreign matter from the gasket material. Easy to remove from. For this reason, it takes a short time to stop applying the gasket material during one step of applying the gasket material to one region of the workpiece. Therefore, when the gasket material applied to one area of the workpiece is cured by applying energy, and the gasket is configured, the gasket has almost the same application conditions of the gasket material, so the sealing performance is substantially uniform, Hard to be defective. Further, by performing the foreign matter removal work, other work performed in parallel with the gasket material application work in the automobile production line is not delayed or stopped due to the foreign matter removal work.

  In the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention, the solid gasket material cured together with the foreign matter flows together with the liquid gasket material to the downstream side from the energy adding device. The liquid gasket material passes through the filter, but the gasket material solidified together with the foreign matter is caught by the filter. That is, the liquid gasket material is filtered through a filter to remove foreign matters. Therefore, the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention can remove foreign matter from the gasket material without stopping the supply of the gasket material.

  In the foreign matter removing device of the present invention, when the foreign matter detecting means detects foreign matter, the gasket material cured by applying energy from the energy adding device in a state where the application of the gasket material by the coating device is stopped is used by the backflow means. It pushes back to the upstream side from the energy adding device and is accommodated in the accommodating means. Thereafter, even if the application of the gasket material by the application device is resumed, the gasket material solidified with the foreign matter is accommodated in the accommodation means and is not supplied to the application device. That is, the foreign matter accommodated in the accommodating portion is not supplied to the coating device via the connection pipe. Therefore, the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention can reliably prevent the gasket material solidified together with the foreign matter from being applied to the workpiece from the coating device, and can improve the reliability.

  In the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention, when the size of the foreign matter detected by the foreign matter detecting device is equal to or larger than a specified value, the energy adding device adds energy to the gasket material and partially cures the gasket material around the foreign matter. Therefore, according to the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the work of hardening and removing even the gasket material around the foreign matter that does not cause the quality of the gasket material to be reduced, and the trouble and time of the foreign matter removing work are further reduced. This can be further reduced.

  In the foreign matter removing device of the present invention, when the foreign matter detecting device detects the foreign matter, the foreign matter remains in the vicinity of the window by stopping the supply of the gasket material from the container to the coating device, and in this state, the energy adding device is used as the gasket material. Energy. Therefore, according to the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to increase the certainty of hardening the gasket material around the foreign matter and improve the foreign matter removal reliability.

  The foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention notifies the filter replacement when it is determined that the number of times that the energy adding apparatus has applied energy is equal to or greater than the set number of times, so that the filter can be easily maintained.

  Next, an embodiment of a foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
<Overall configuration of gasket material applicator>
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a gasket material application device 1.
The gasket material applicator 1 includes an accommodating container 3 that accommodates a liquid gasket material 2 that is cured by being applied with ultraviolet UV, which is an example of “energy”, an applicator 5 that applies the gasket material 2 to a workpiece 4, and an accommodating device. A foreign matter removing device 10 disposed between the container 3 and the coating device 5 is provided. The container 3 is a resin molded product, and is provided with a resin pressure unit 6 that is pressurized by a pressure machine 7 on the back side. The gasket material applicator 1 pressurizes the pressurizing unit 6 provided at the rear end of the container 3 with a pressurizer 7, thereby applying the gasket material 2 of the container 3 to the applicator 5 via the foreign matter detector 10. To supply. The coating device 5 is held by a driving means (not shown) so as to move on the workpiece 4. In the coating device 5, the discharge amount of the gasket material 2 discharged from the tip nozzle 5a is controlled by an open / close valve (not shown).

<Overall configuration of foreign matter removing apparatus>
The foreign matter removing device 10 includes a connecting tube 11 that connects the container 3 and the coating device 5. A window 18 is formed in the connecting pipe 11. Outside the connection pipe 11, a camera 19 that is an example of a “foreign matter detection device” and an ultraviolet irradiator 20 that is an example of an “energy adding device” are arranged at positions corresponding to the windows 18. Inside the connecting pipe 11, a filter 16 that is an example of a “removal device” is disposed on the downstream side of the ultraviolet irradiator 20.

<Configuration of connecting pipe>
The connection pipe 11 is a resin molded product, and is subjected to ultraviolet ray prevention processing so that the ultraviolet ray does not hit the gasket material 2 flowing inside. The connecting pipe 11 includes a connector part 12, a foreign substance processing part 13, a foreign substance removing part 14, and a conduit part 15. The connector part 12, the foreign substance processing part 13, the foreign substance removal part 14, and the conduit part 15 may be configured and connected with separate members, or may be integrally formed.

The connector portion 12 is a portion in which a female screw that is screwed to a male screw formed on the outer peripheral surface of the connection portion 3 a of the storage container 3 is formed and is detachably coupled to the connection portion 3 a of the storage container 3.
The foreign substance processing unit 13 is a part that detects the foreign substance 8 and hardens the gasket material 2. The inner diameter of the foreign substance processing section 13 is smaller than the inner diameter of the connection section 3a of the container 3, and the flow rate of the gasket material 2 is reduced. A window 18 is formed in the foreign matter processing unit 13. The window 18 is not subjected to ultraviolet ray prevention processing and opens the gasket material 2 to the outside.
The foreign matter removing portion 14 is a portion that removes the foreign matter 8 from the gasket material 2. The foreign matter removing unit 14 forms a filter chamber 17 in which the filter 16 is built. The foreign substance removing unit 14 has an inner diameter larger than the pipe diameters of the foreign substance processing unit 13 and the conduit unit 15 and increases the volume of the filter chamber 17.
The conduit portion 15 connects the foreign matter removing portion 14 to the coating device 5.

<Configuration of camera and ultraviolet irradiation device>
The camera 19 constantly monitors the gasket material 2 through the window 18 and detects the foreign matter 8 contained in the gasket material 2. The ultraviolet irradiator 20 is installed in the vicinity of the camera 19 and is positioned so as to irradiate the window 18 with ultraviolet UV. The camera 19 and the ultraviolet irradiator 20 are connected to the control device 21. The control device 21 constantly monitors the presence or absence of foreign matter 8 such as air or dust mixed in the gasket material 2 based on the captured image taken by the camera 19 and determines that the foreign matter 8 is present in the captured image of the camera 19. In some cases, the ultraviolet irradiator 20 is operated.

<Filter configuration>
A plurality of filters 16 are installed in the filter chamber 17 and remove from the liquid gasket material 2 the gasket material 2 a that has been hardened and solidified in the foreign substance processing unit 13. The filter 16 has an area larger than the pipe area of the foreign substance processing unit 13 and is installed in the filter chamber 17 so as to block the flow of the gasket material 2. Each filter 16 has a different stitch size and is not easily clogged.

<Description of operation>
The gasket material application apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 supplies the gasket material 2 from the storage container 3 to the application apparatus 5 via the foreign substance removal apparatus 10 when the pressurizer 7 pressurizes the pressurization unit 6 of the storage container 3. . The application device 5 discharges the gasket material 2 from which the foreign matter 8 has been removed while moving on the workpiece 4, and applies the gasket material 2 to a predetermined region of the workpiece 4. The gasket material 2 applied to the workpiece 4 is cured by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays UV to form a gasket.

  In the gasket material application device 1, when the gasket material 2 of the container 3 is used up, the existing container 3 is removed from the connection pipe 11, and the new container 3 is connected to the connector portion 12 of the connection pipe 11. At this time, air enters between the end surface of the connecting portion 3a provided in the new container 3 and the liquid surface of the gasket material 2 filled in the connector portion 12, or dust adhering to the connecting portion 3a becomes the gasket material 2. May be mixed in. Such foreign matter 8 such as air and dust is removed when it flows through the foreign matter removing apparatus 10.

Next, a foreign matter removing method using the foreign matter removing apparatus 10 will be specifically described. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion A in FIG.
The camera 19 images the gasket material 2 through the window 18 and monitors whether or not the foreign material 8 exists in the gasket material 2. When recognizing that the foreign material 8 is present in the captured image of the camera 19, the control device 21 causes the ultraviolet irradiator 20 to irradiate the ultraviolet ray UV. The ultraviolet irradiator 20 irradiates ultraviolet rays UV toward the window 18 instantly when the camera 19 detects the foreign material 8. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the gasket material 2 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays UV while the foreign matter 8 passes through the window 18, and the periphery of the foreign matter 8 is partially cured as shown by the hatched portion in the figure. Solidify. That is, a solid material of the gasket material 2 including the foreign material 8 is generated.

  Here, the foreign substance processing unit 13 has a narrower pipe line than the connection part 3a of the container 3 and the filter chamber 17 of the foreign substance removal unit 14, and the flow rate of the gasket material 2 is reduced. Therefore, the ultraviolet rays UV are easily transmitted to the gasket material 2 through the window 18, and the gasket material 2 around the foreign material 8 can be quickly cured.

  The gasket material 2a solidified in the foreign material processing unit 13 is pushed downstream from the foreign material processing unit 13 together with the liquid gasket material 2 by the pressure by which the pressurizer 7 pressurizes the pressurizing unit 6 of the storage container 3. It flows into the chamber 17. The liquid gasket material 2 passes through the filter 16, while the solidified gasket material 2 a is caught by the filter 16. That is, the gasket material 2 is filtered by the filter 16 to remove the foreign matter 8. The gasket material 2 that has passed through the filter 16 is supplied to the coating device 5 through the conduit portion 15.

  Here, the gasket material 2 is partially cured and solidified around the foreign material 8 in the foreign material processing unit 13. Therefore, the solidified gasket material 2 a is larger than the actual foreign material 8. Therefore, in order to improve the flow of the gasket material 2, even if the stitches of the filter 16 are increased, the solidified gasket material 2 a is caught on the filter 16 and the foreign material 8 can be removed from the gasket material 2. Moreover, since the area of the filter 16 is larger than the pipe area of the foreign substance processing unit 13, the filter 16 is not easily clogged by the solidified gasket material 2a.

  Further, the foreign matter removing section 14 has an inner diameter larger than the diameters of the foreign substance processing section 13 and the conduit section 15, and the volume of the filter chamber 17 is large. The gasket material 2 that has flowed into the foreign material removal unit 14 from the foreign material processing unit 13 is once stored in the filter chamber 17, and then the cured gasket material 2 a is removed by the filter 16 and flows to the conduit unit 15. Therefore, even if the flow of the liquid gasket material 2 in the filter 16 portion is somewhat deteriorated, the foreign matter removing apparatus 10 can reduce the supply amount of the gasket material 2 supplied from the filter chamber 17 to the coating device 5 through the conduit portion 15. It is hard to influence.

  When the gasket material 2 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays UV through the window 18, for example, the foreign material 8 is sufficiently cured and solidified, but the solidified gasket material 2 a is insufficiently cured and completely solidified. It is thought that there are sticky parts that cannot be solidified. The viscous portion is supplied to the coating device 5 through the filter 16 by the pressure applied to the gasket material 2 by the pressurizer 7 through the pressurizing unit 6, and is mixed with the liquid gasket material 2 and applied to the work 4. Is done. However, since the viscous part included in the gasket material 2 applied to the workpiece 4 is increased in viscosity by the ultraviolet UV irradiated in the foreign substance processing unit 13, the UV is irradiated on the workpiece 4. However, the gasket material 2 is not altered.

<Effect>
As described above, when the foreign matter removing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment detects the foreign matter 8 based on the captured image of the camera 19, the ultraviolet irradiator 20 irradiates the gasket material 2 containing the foreign matter 8 with ultraviolet UV. The periphery of the foreign material 8 is cured. Thereby, a part of the gasket material 2 is cured together with the foreign matter 8 in the connecting pipe 11, and becomes a solid material larger than the foreign matter 8 and heavier. The gasket material 2 a solidified together with the foreign matter 8 is mixed with the liquid gasket material 2, but is larger and heavier than the foreign matter 8, and thus is easily removed from the liquid gasket material 2 by the filter 16. Thus, the foreign material removal apparatus 10 of 1st Embodiment removes the foreign material 8 from the gasket material 2 by removing the gasket material 2a solidified with the foreign material 8 in the connection pipe 11 from the liquid gasket material 2. To do. Therefore, according to the foreign substance removal apparatus 10 of 1st Embodiment, the quantity which can apply | coat the gasket material 2 which does not contain the foreign material 8 to the workpiece | work 4 based on the detection position of the foreign material 8 is calculated, or the coating device 5 is used as a workpiece | work. It is not necessary to dispose the gasket material 2 including the foreign material 8 by moving it to a place other than 4, and the foreign material 8 mixed in the gasket material 2 can be easily removed.

  In particular, in the automobile manufacturing process, the amount of the gasket material 2 applied to the work 4 is large, and the foreign material 8 may be detected a plurality of times during one process of applying the gasket material 2 to one region of the work 4. However, as described above, the foreign matter removing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment cures a part of the gasket material 2 together with the foreign matter 8 in the connecting pipe 11, and converts the solidified gasket material 2 a from the liquid gasket material 2. By removing, the foreign material 8 is easily removed from the gasket material 2. For this reason, it takes a short time to stop applying the gasket material 2 during one step of applying the gasket material 2 to one region of the workpiece 4. Therefore, when the gasket material 2 applied to one region of the work 4 is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays UV to form a gasket, the application condition of the gasket material 2 is almost the same. Almost uniform and difficult to be defective. Further, by performing the foreign matter removal work, other work performed in parallel with the gasket material application work in the automobile production line is not delayed or stopped due to the foreign matter removal work.

  In the foreign matter removing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, the gasket material 2 a cured and solidified together with the foreign matter 8 flows into the filter chamber 17 together with the liquid gasket material 2. The liquid gasket material 2 passes through the filter 16, but the solidified gasket material 2 a is caught by the filter 16. That is, the liquid gasket material 2 is filtered by the filter 16 to remove the foreign matter 8. Therefore, the foreign matter removing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment can remove the foreign matter 8 from the gasket material 2 without stopping the supply of the gasket material 2. Thereby, even when the foreign material 8 is detected in the middle of applying the gasket material 2 to the workpiece 4, the foreign material 8 can be removed without stopping the application of the gasket material 2 by the coating device 5. The quality of 2 can be made more stable. This is particularly effective when a large amount of gasket material 2 is applied in one process, such as in the automobile manufacturing process.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment according to the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the gasket material application device 30.
The foreign matter removing apparatus 31 according to the second embodiment is that the ultraviolet irradiator 20 applies the ultraviolet ray UV to the gasket material 2 when the size of the foreign matter 8 detected by the line sensor 37 is equal to or larger than a specified value i. It differs from the form. Therefore, here, it demonstrates centering on a different point from 1st Embodiment, and the point which is common in 1st Embodiment attaches | subjects the code | symbol used in 1st Embodiment to drawing, and abbreviate | omits description suitably.

<Configuration of foreign matter removing device>
The foreign matter removing device 31 is incorporated in the gasket material applying device 30. The foreign substance removing device 31 is different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the foreign substance processing unit 33 of the connecting pipe 32.

  In the foreign substance processing unit 33, windows 34 and 35 are formed at opposite positions across the pipeline. A light emitter 36 and a line sensor 37, which are an example of “foreign matter detecting means”, are arranged opposite to each other with the foreign matter processing unit 33 interposed therebetween. The position of the light emitter 36 is adjusted so that detection light is incident from the window 34 into the pipe line, and is installed on the window 34 side. The position of the line sensor 37 is adjusted so as to receive the detection light incident from the window 34 and passing through the pipe line and the window 35, and is installed on the window 35 side.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion B in FIG.
The line sensor 37 has a plurality of light receiving elements 37 a arranged in a line along the flow direction of the gasket material 2. The light receiving element 37a is turned on when the detection light projected by the light emitter 36 is received, and is turned off when the detection light projected by the light emitter 36 is not received.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the foreign matter removing unit 14 is provided with an exchange sensor 38 that detects the exchange of the filter 16. The line sensor 37, the ultraviolet irradiator 20, the pressurizer 7, and the replacement sensor 38 can communicate with a control device 39, which is an example of “foreign material size measuring unit”, “gasket material supply stop unit”, and “notification unit”. It is connected to the. The control device 39 stores a program (described later) for removing the foreign matter 8. The control device 39 is provided with an operation unit 40 for inputting mode settings and set values, and a display unit 41 for displaying data.

<Description of operation>
Next, the operation of the foreign matter removing apparatus 31 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device 39 shown in FIG.
The control device 39 reads a program for removing the foreign matter 8 using the time when the gasket material application device 30 is activated as a trigger, and executes the processing shown in FIG.

  That is, first, in step 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as “S1”), the control device 39 initializes the accumulated number of times n of irradiation of the ultraviolet irradiator 20 with the ultraviolet rays UV to “0”.

  In S2, the presence or absence of the foreign matter 8 is detected based on whether or not all the light receiving elements 37a are in the ON state. When it is determined that all the light receiving elements 37a are in the ON state and there is no foreign matter 8 (S2: YES), the process returns to S2, and foreign matter detection is performed again.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when it is determined that all of the light receiving elements 37a are not in the ON state and there is the foreign material 8 (S2: NO), the size of the detected foreign material 8 is the specified value in S3 of FIG. It is determined whether or not i is greater than or equal to i. The detection light emitted from the light emitter 36 is diffusely reflected when it hits the foreign material 8 such as air when it enters the window 34 and passes through the gasket material 2. For this reason, the light receiving element 37a located at the position corresponding to the foreign object 8 is turned off due to the insufficient amount of received light, and the light receiving element 37a corresponding to the place where the foreign object 8 is not present is sufficiently received and turned on. Therefore, the control device 39 can recognize the size of the foreign matter 8 based on the ON / OFF state of each light receiving element 37a constituting the line sensor 37. Here, the “specified value i” is a size harmful to the quality of the gasket material 2 and is registered in the control device 39 in advance. The “specified value i” is not limited to a fixed value, and may be a value that can be set and changed by the operation unit 40 of the control device 39.

  If it is determined that the size of the foreign material 8 is not equal to or greater than the specified value i (S3: NO), the process returns to S2 without irradiating the gasket material 2 with ultraviolet UV. In this case, the detected foreign matter 8 is mixed with the liquid gasket material 2, passes through the filter 16, is supplied to the coating device 5, and is finally applied to the workpiece 4. The detected foreign matter 8 is less than the prescribed value i and is not harmful to the quality of the gasket material 2, so that it does not deteriorate the sealing performance of the gasket even if it is applied to the workpiece 4 and then cured by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays UV. .

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the foreign matter 8 is equal to or greater than the specified value i (S3: YES), in S4, the pressurization by the pressurizer 7 is stopped and the gasket material from the container 3 to the coating device 5 is stopped. 2 supply is stopped. As a result, the flow of the gasket material 2 stops, and the foreign matter 8 detected by the line sensor 37 stops near the position corresponding to the windows 34 and 35.

  In step S5, the ultraviolet irradiator 20 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays UV. Ultraviolet rays UV are transmitted through the window 35 into the gasket material 2. The gasket material 2 around the foreign material 8 is cured by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays UV and solidified.

  Then, in S6, 1 is added to the cumulative irradiation number n. In S7, the pressurizer 7 is repressurized with the gasket material 2 of the container 3, and the pressurization is resumed. Thereby, the solidified gasket material 2 a flows into the filter chamber 17 together with the liquid gasket material 2 by the pressure of the pressurizer 7 and is removed by the filter 16. In S8, it is determined whether or not the cumulative irradiation number n is equal to or greater than the set number N. Here, the “setting number N” means the number of times that the filter 16 is considered to be clogged, and can be set by the operation unit 40 of the control device 39. If the cumulative number of irradiations n is not greater than or equal to the set number N (S8: NO), the process returns to S2.

  On the other hand, when the cumulative irradiation number n is equal to or greater than the set number N (S8: YES), the display unit 41 of the control device 39 displays that the filter 16 is to be replaced in S9. In S10, based on the detection result of the replacement sensor 38, it is determined whether or not the filter 16 has been replaced. Until the filter 16 is replaced (S10: NO), it stands by. On the other hand, after the filter 16 is replaced (S10: YES), the process returns to S1 to prepare for the next foreign matter removal process.

<Effect>
Therefore, in the foreign substance removing device 31 of the second embodiment, when the size of the foreign substance 8 detected by the line sensor 37 (the light receiving element 37a...) Is equal to or larger than the specified value i, the ultraviolet irradiator 20 transmits ultraviolet rays through the window 35. The gasket material 2 is irradiated with UV to partially cure the gasket material 2 around the foreign material 8 (S3 in FIG. 5: YES; see S4 and S5). Therefore, according to the foreign matter removing apparatus 31 of the second embodiment, the work of removing the cured and hardened gasket material 2 around the foreign matter 8 that does not deteriorate the quality of the gasket material 2 is eliminated. The time and effort can be further reduced. Moreover, the foreign material removal apparatus 31 of 2nd Embodiment can avoid the waste of the gasket material 2. FIG.

  In particular, for example, in the semiconductor manufacturing process, it is necessary to remove even fine foreign matter in order to obtain the quality of the thin film, but in the automobile manufacturing process, if a certain sealing performance is obtained, the foreign matter 8 is completely removed. There is no need to do. Therefore, in the automobile manufacturing process, it is beneficial to remove the foreign material 8 of the specified value i or more as in the foreign material removing apparatus 31 of the second embodiment, in order to avoid the delay and stoppage of the gasket material application work. is there.

  When the line sensor 37 (the light receiving element 37a...) Detects the foreign material 8, the foreign material removing device 31 of the second embodiment stops the pressurizer 7 so that the foreign material 8 stays in the vicinity of the position corresponding to the windows 34 and 35. (See S2: NO, S3: YES, S4 in FIG. 5). Thereby, for example, even when the viscosity of the gasket material 2 is low and the flow of the gasket material 2 is fast, or when the windows 34 and 35 are made small, the gasket material 2 around the foreign material 8 is transferred from the ultraviolet irradiator 20 to the window 35. UV rays are radiated through the film and cured surely. Moreover, even if it is the gasket material 2 which is hard to harden instantaneously, the gasket material 2 around the foreign material 8 is hardened more reliably by stopping the pressurization by the pressurizer 7 and securing the ultraviolet irradiation time. Is possible. Therefore, according to the foreign material removal apparatus 31 of 2nd Embodiment, the certainty of hardening the gasket material 2 containing the foreign material 8 can be improved, and the reliability of foreign material removal can be improved.

  The foreign matter removing apparatus 31 according to the second embodiment displays on the display unit 41 that the filter 16 is to be replaced when it is determined that the cumulative number of irradiations n with which the ultraviolet irradiator 20 has irradiated ultraviolet rays UV is equal to or greater than the set number N. (S8 in FIG. 5: YES, S9), the filter 16 can be easily maintained. The filter replacement notification is not limited to the display on the display unit 41, and may be a blinking display using a lamp such as an LED, a sound notification using a buzzer or a sound, a notification using vibration, or the like.

(Third embodiment)
Subsequently, a third embodiment according to the foreign matter removing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 6 and 7 are schematic configuration diagrams of the gasket material application device 50.
The foreign material removing apparatus 51 of the third embodiment causes the foreign material 8 to be contained in the accommodating portion 64 by causing the cured gasket material 2a to flow back to the accommodating container 61 side as shown in FIG. The point of removal is different from the first embodiment. Therefore, here, it demonstrates centering on a different point from 1st Embodiment, and the point which is common in 1st Embodiment attaches | subjects the code | symbol used in 1st Embodiment to drawing, and abbreviate | omits description suitably.

<Configuration of foreign matter removing device>
The foreign matter removing device 51 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is incorporated in the gasket material applying device 50. The foreign matter removing device 51 includes a connecting pipe 52 that connects the container 61 and the coating device 5. The connection tube 52 is a flexible tube made of rubber or the like, and is subjected to ultraviolet ray prevention processing. The connecting pipe 52 is detachably connected to the pipe pipe 62 of the storage container 61 using a connecting member 60. The connection pipe 52 is provided with a step on the inner peripheral surface of the end portion into which the pipe pipe 62 is fitted so that the flow path surface connected to the pipe pipe 62 is not uneven, thereby preventing the foreign matter 8 from accumulating. The connecting pipe 52 is formed with a window 18 on the downstream side of a connecting portion that is connected to the pipe pipe 62 of the container 61. The camera 19 and the ultraviolet irradiator 20 are disposed at a position corresponding to the window 18.

  In the foreign matter removing device 51, the removing device 55 includes a backflow device 53 that is an example of “backflow means” and a coating stop device 54 that is an example of “application stopping means”. The storage container 61 is provided with a storage portion 64 that is an example of a “storage means” that stores the cured gasket material 2a.

The backflow device 53 is installed on the connecting pipe 52 on the downstream side from the position where the ultraviolet irradiator 20 is disposed, and the gasket material 2 a cured by the ultraviolet UV irradiated from the ultraviolet irradiator 20 and solidified is irradiated with ultraviolet rays. It is made to flow backward from the machine 20 and push it back. As the backflow device 53, a pinch valve that crushes the connection pipe 52, a roller pump that squeezes the connection pipe 52 from the downstream to the upstream, or the like can be considered.
The coating stop device 54 is attached to the coating device 5 and stops the application of the gasket material 2 by the coating device 5. The coating stop device 54 may be configured by a pinch valve, an on-off valve, or the like that is separate from the component parts of the coating device 5, or may be configured by an on-off valve (not shown) already installed in the coating device 5.

  In the foreign matter removing device 51, the camera 19, the ultraviolet irradiator 20, the backflow device 53, the coating stop device 54, and the pressurizer 7 are connected to the control device 56 which is an example of “foreign matter size measuring means” and “gasket material supply stopping means”. It is connected so that it can communicate. The control device 56 stores a program (described later) for removing the foreign matter 8.

  On the other hand, a pipe pipe 62 is provided on the lower surface of the storage container 61 so as to protrude inward and outward. A claw 63 is formed at the upper end of the pipe tube 62. The claw portion 63 is made of resin like the container 61 and the pipe pipe 62, and is bent inward so as to be elastically deformed upward in the drawing. For this reason, the claw portion 63 allows the solid gasket material 2a to pass from the housing container 61 side to the pipe tube 62 side even though it allows the solid gasket material 2a to pass from the pipe tube 62 side to the housing container 61 side. Do not allow to do. An accommodating portion 64 is formed around the pipe pipe 62 protruding from the bottom surface of the accommodating container 61 to the inside. The accommodating part 64 is provided with a taper 65 that is inclined outward (connecting pipe 52 side) toward the center (pipe pipe 62 side) of the bottom surface, and makes it easy to collect and accommodate the solidified gasket material 2a. .

<Description of operation>
Next, the operation of the foreign substance removing device 51 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the foreign substance removing operation of the foreign substance removing apparatus 51 shown in FIG. In addition, about the process similar to the process demonstrated in 2nd Embodiment, in order to avoid repetition of description, the same code | symbol as FIG. 5 is used for FIG. 8, and description is abbreviate | omitted suitably.
The control device 56 of the foreign matter removing apparatus 51 reads a program for removing the foreign matter 8 with the activation of the gasket material application device 50 as a trigger, and executes the processing shown in FIG.

  That is, the control device 56 first determines whether or not there is a foreign object 8 in S2. The presence or absence of the foreign object 8 is determined based on whether or not the foreign object 8 is reflected in the captured image of the camera 19. If it is determined that there is no foreign object 8 (S2: NO), the process of S11 is performed.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, when the foreign object 8 passes through the window 18 and the foreign object 8 is reflected in the captured image of the camera 19, it is determined that there is the foreign object 8 (S2: YES), and FIG. In S3, it is determined whether or not the size of the foreign material 8 is greater than or equal to a specified value i. The size of the foreign object 8 is recognized based on the size of the foreign object 8 shown in the captured image of the camera 19. If the size of the foreign object 8 is not equal to or greater than the specified value i (S3: NO), the process returns to S2 and the detection of the foreign object 8 is continued.

  When the size of the foreign material 8 is equal to or larger than the specified value i (S3: YES), the pressurization by the pressurizer 7 is stopped in S4. In step S5, the ultraviolet irradiator 20 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays UV, and the gasket material 2 opened to the outside through the window 18 is cured together with the foreign matter 8.

  In S11, the tip nozzle 5a of the coating device 5 is closed by the coating stop device 54, and the coating of the gasket material 2 is stopped. Thereby, when the backflow device 53 causes the gasket material 2 to flow back, it is possible to prevent the application device 5 from sucking air from the tip nozzle 5a.

  Then, in S12, the connecting pipe 52 is pressurized. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the backflow device 53 is driven to crush the connecting pipe 52. Thereby, the gasket material 2 upstream from the backflow device 53 flows back upstream from the ultraviolet irradiator 20 together with the solidified gasket material 2a, and pushes the solidified gasket material 2a back to the container 61 side. In S <b> 13, the solidified gasket material 2 a jumps out from the upper end portion of the pipe pipe 62 into the housing container 61, falls toward the housing portion 64 due to its own weight, and is housed. In particular, since the solidified gasket material 2 a is obtained by partially curing the gasket material 2 around the foreign material 8, the gasket material 2 a is heavier than the foreign material 8 and easily falls into the accommodating portion 64.

  Thereafter, in S14 of FIG. 8, the coating stop device 54 is caused to open the tip nozzle 5a of the coating device 5. Thereby, the coating device 5 can discharge the gasket material 2 from the tip nozzle 5a.

  And in S7, pressurization of gasket material 2 by pressurizer 7 is restarted. When the pressurization of the gasket material 2 is resumed, the solidified gasket material 2 a is dropped and accommodated in the accommodating portion 64 and does not flow into the upper end portion of the pipe pipe 62.

  When the gasket material 2 disappears in the storage container 3, the connecting member 60 is released, the existing storage container 61 is removed from the connection pipe 52, and a new storage container 61 is connected to the connection pipe 52 and connected again by the connection member 60. To do.

<Effect>
Accordingly, the foreign matter removing device 51 of the third embodiment, when detecting the foreign matter 8 based on the captured image of the camera 19, stops the application of the gasket material 2 by the coating device 5 from the ultraviolet irradiator 20. The gasket material 2a cured by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays UV is pushed back upstream from the ultraviolet irradiator 20 by the backflow device 53 and is accommodated in the accommodating portion 64 of the accommodating container 61 (see S11 to S13 in FIG. 8). After that, even when the application of the gasket material 2 by the coating device 5 is resumed, the gasket material 2 a solidified together with the foreign material 8 is housed in the housing portion 64 and does not flow into the pipe pipe 62 and is not supplied to the coating device 5. That is, the foreign matter accommodated in the accommodating portion 64 is not supplied to the coating device 5 through the connection pipe 52. Therefore, the foreign material removing apparatus 51 of the third embodiment can surely prevent the gasket material 2a solidified together with the foreign material 8 from being applied to the workpiece 4 from the coating device 5, and improve the reliability. it can.

Moreover, since the foreign substance removal apparatus 51 of 3rd Embodiment replaces the container 61 which accommodated the solidified gasket material 2a with the new container 61 when the gasket material 2 is exhausted, disposal of the foreign material 8, etc. Easy maintenance.
Moreover, since the foreign material removal apparatus 51 of 3rd Embodiment does not have an unevenness | corrugation in the flow-path surface which the pipe pipe 62 and the connection pipe 52 connect, the bubble mixed in the gasket material 2 at the time of replacement | exchange of the storage container 61 is carried out to the storage container 61 side. It is easy to escape, and it is hard to collect in the connecting pipe 52.

  In addition, when the size of the foreign material 8 is equal to or larger than the specified value i, the gasket material 2 is irradiated with the ultraviolet ray UV to be cured, and when the foreign material 8 is detected, the supply of the gasket material 2 is stopped (FIG. 8). The effects of S2: YES, S3: YES, S4, and S5 are the same as those of the second embodiment.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various applications are possible.
For example, the gasket material 2 that is cured by ultraviolet rays in the above embodiment may be a gasket material that is cured in a non-contact manner by applying energy such as visible light, heat, or a magnetic field. In this case, instead of the ultraviolet irradiator 7, a visible light irradiator, a heater, a magnetic force generator, or the like is installed.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the camera 19, the optical light emitter 36, and the line sensor 37 are given as examples of the foreign object detection device. On the other hand, an infrared sensor or the like may be used as an example of the foreign object detection device.
For example, in the said 3rd Embodiment, the window 18 was formed in the downstream from the connection part of the pipe pipe 62 and the connection pipe 52. FIG. On the other hand, for example, when the viscosity of the gasket material 2 is low and air bubbles mixed during replacement of the storage container 61 are likely to move toward the storage container 61, windows are respectively provided in the pipe pipe 62 and the connection pipe 52. The pipe pipe 62 and the connecting pipe 52 may be coupled so as to form and align the windows. In this case, the camera 19 monitors the gasket material 2 through the windows of the pipe pipe 62 and the connection pipe 52, and when the foreign material 8 is found, the ultraviolet irradiator 20 moves the pipe pipe 62 and the connection pipe 52. The gasket material 2 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays UV through each window. The foreign substance removing apparatus configured as described above has a short distance from the storage container 61 to the position where the gasket material 2 is cured, and requires only a small force for backflow of the cured gasket material 2a to the storage container 61 side.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a gasket material application device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the A section expanded sectional view of FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of the gasket material application apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a B part in FIG. 3. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of a gasket material applicator according to a third embodiment of the present invention and shows a state before starting a backflow process. It is a schematic block diagram of the gasket material application apparatus shown in FIG. 6, Comprising: The state which is performing the backflow process is shown. It is a flowchart which shows the foreign material removal operation | movement of the foreign material removal apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of the conventional coating device.

Explanation of symbols

2 Gasket material 2a Cured gasket material 3, 61 Container 4 Work piece 5 Coating device 10, 31, 51 Foreign material removing device 11, 32, 52 Connection pipe 16 Filter (removing device)
19 Camera (foreign matter detection device)
20 UV irradiation machine (energy adding device)
36 Luminescent body (foreign matter detection device)
37 Line sensor (foreign matter detection device)
39 Control device (foreign matter size measurement means, gasket material supply stop means, notification means)
53 Backflow device (backflow means)
54 Application stop device (application stop means)
55 removal device 56 control device (foreign matter size measurement means, gasket material supply stop means)
64 accommodating part (accommodating means)
UV UV (energy)
i Specified value N Number of settings

Claims (6)

A foreign matter removing device disposed between a container for containing a liquid gasket material that is cured by applying energy and a coating device that applies the gasket material to a workpiece,
A connecting pipe for connecting the container and the coating device, wherein a window is formed;
A foreign matter detection device that monitors the gasket material through the window and detects foreign matter contained in the gasket material;
An energy applying device that applies the energy to the gasket material containing the foreign material when the foreign material detection device detects the foreign material contained in the gasket material;
A removal device for removing the gasket material cured by applying the energy by the energy application device;
A foreign matter removing apparatus characterized by comprising: The foreign matter removing apparatus according to claim 1,
The foreign substance removing apparatus, wherein the removing apparatus is a filter disposed downstream of the energy adding apparatus. The foreign matter removing apparatus according to claim 1,
The removal device comprises:
An application stopping means for stopping application of the gasket material by the application device when the foreign object detection means detects the foreign object;
Backflow means for backflowing and pushing back the gasket material cured by applying the energy from the energy application device, upstream from the energy application device;
An apparatus for removing foreign matter, wherein the storage container is provided with storage means for storing the hardened gasket material pushed back by the backflow means. The foreign matter removing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Foreign matter size measuring means for measuring the size of the foreign matter detected by the foreign matter detection device,
The said energy addition apparatus adds the said energy to a gasket material, when the size of the said foreign material is beyond a regulation value, The foreign material removal apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the foreign matter removal apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A foreign matter removing apparatus comprising gasket material supply stopping means for stopping supply of the gasket material from the storage container to the coating device when the foreign matter detecting means detects the foreign matter. In the foreign matter removing apparatus according to claim 2, claim 4, or claim 5,
A foreign matter removing apparatus comprising a notification means for notifying filter replacement when it is determined that the number of times that the energy adding apparatus has applied the energy is equal to or greater than a set number.

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