JP2010073630A - Method and apparatus for assembly of vehicle mounted operation panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for assembly of a vehicle mounted operation panel, which improves assembling property of the vehicle mounted operation panel by efficiently, quickly and accurately carrying out automatic insertion of sliding shafts of a push switch to holes in the vehicle mounted operation panel. <P>SOLUTION: A sliding shaft insertion section 3 is moved in the horizontal direction, holding of the sliding shafts is released by positioning the sliding shafts to a second position in the sliding shafts inserting section 3 and the sliding shafts with the holding released are inserted into the holes in the vehicle mounted operation panel 50 by pressure after inserting a tip of the sliding shaft into a hole in the vehicle mounted operation panel 50 by pressure feeding a plurality of sliding shafts which are cut out and allotted in a sliding shaft supplying section 1 by a pressure feeding section 2 and lowering the sliding shaft inserting section 3 to a position of the vehicle mounted operation panel 50 while having the sliding shafts which are pressure fed to the sliding shaft inserting section 3 held in a first position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for assembling an in-vehicle operation panel by automatically inserting a slide shaft into a hole formed in the in-vehicle operation panel and then assembling an operation knob on the head of the slide shaft.

  In-vehicle operation panels such as an air conditioner operation panel, an audio operation panel, and a car navigation operation panel are provided with a plurality of push switches, and each push switch includes a switch body disposed on a control board, an operation knob, A sliding shaft that connects the operation knob and the switch body is included (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In such a push switch, the sliding shaft passes through the hole of the operation panel, and one end of the sliding shaft inserted into the in-vehicle operation panel is connected to the switch body and exposed to the outside of the operation panel. An operation knob is assembled to the other end of the. Therefore, when the occupant presses the operation knob, the sliding shaft slides and the push switch is turned on.

By the way, when assembling the in-vehicle operation panel, as shown in FIG. 11, the operator manually inserts the slide shaft 110 of the push switch into the plurality of holes 151 formed in the in-vehicle operation panel 150 one by one. is doing.
JP 62-123618 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-156002

  However, it is inefficient and long time for an operator to manually insert the sliding shafts 110 one by one into a large number (for example, 8 to 16) of holes 151 formed on the on-vehicle operation panel 150 as in the past. There was a problem of requiring.

  Moreover, since it is a manual work, there is a possibility that the insertion of the sliding shaft 110 may be forgotten, or a different type of sliding shaft 110 having a different length or thickness may be erroneously inserted.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to perform an on-vehicle operation by automatically inserting the sliding shaft of the push switch into the hole of the on-vehicle operation panel efficiently and in a short time. It is an object of the present invention to provide an in-vehicle operation panel assembling method and an assembling apparatus capable of improving the panel assembling property.

  In order to achieve the above object, an in-vehicle operation panel assembling method according to claim 1 is characterized in that after a sliding shaft is automatically inserted into a hole formed in the in-vehicle operation panel, an operation knob is attached to the head of the sliding shaft. A plurality of slide shafts cut out and distributed by the slide shaft supply portion to the slide shaft insertion portion by the pressure feed portion, and the slide shaft insertion portion After the sliding shaft inserted into the in-vehicle operation panel is lowered by lowering the sliding shaft insertion portion to the position of the in-vehicle operation panel while holding the sliding shaft pumped to the first position. The sliding shaft insertion portion is moved in the horizontal direction, the sliding shaft is positioned at the second position of the sliding shaft insertion portion, the holding of the sliding shaft is released, and the sliding is released. Movement The Yafuto by pressure, characterized in that so as to insert into the hole of the vehicle control panel.

The in-vehicle operation panel assembling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the slide shaft is automatically inserted into the hole formed in the on-vehicle operation panel, and then the operation knob is assembled to the head of the slide shaft. A device for assembling
A sliding shaft supply section that cuts out and distributes a plurality of aligned sliding shafts one by one;
A pumping unit for pumping the sliding shaft supplied from the sliding shaft supply unit;
A first position for positioning and holding the sliding shaft pumped by the pumping section and a second position for allowing passage of the sliding shaft are held, and the sliding shaft at the second position is held or passed. A movable sliding shaft insertion portion comprising a shutter means and a pressure feeding means;
It is characterized by including.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the pumping portion and the sliding shaft insertion portion are connected by a plurality of flexible tubes, and the inside of the flexible tube is used as a pumping path of the sliding shaft. It is characterized by that.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect of the present invention, an engagement hole for engaging a head of the sliding shaft is formed at a first position of the sliding shaft insertion portion. A through-hole through which the sliding shaft can pass is formed at position 2, and the engagement hole and the through-hole communicate with each other.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the sliding shaft is provided in the shutter portion of the sliding shaft insertion portion. To do.

  According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the plurality of slide shafts cut out and distributed by the slide shaft supply section are pumped to the slide shaft insertion section by the pumping section, and are pumped to the slide shaft insertion section. With the sliding shaft held in the first position, the sliding shaft insertion portion descends to the position of the in-vehicle operation panel, so that the tip of the sliding shaft is inserted into the hole in the in-vehicle operation panel. If the sliding shaft insertion portion is moved in the horizontal direction while the position is fixed and the state is maintained, the sliding shaft is positioned at the second position of the sliding shaft insertion portion. When the shutter means is opened and the holding of the sliding shaft is released, the sliding shaft is pushed into the hole of the in-vehicle operation panel by the pressure from the pressure means and is completely inserted. Therefore, the plurality of sliding shafts can be automatically and efficiently inserted into the corresponding holes of the in-vehicle operation panel without being manually performed by the operator, and the assemblability of the in-vehicle operation panel is improved.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, since the pressure feeding portion and the sliding shaft insertion portion are connected by the plurality of flexible tubes, the sliding shaft insertion portion freely moves with respect to the pressure feeding portion and its position is arbitrarily adjusted. Is done. For this reason, the assembling apparatus can be applied to assembling a plurality of types of operation panels having different hole positions, and the versatility thereof is enhanced.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the head of the sliding shaft is engaged with the engaging hole formed at the first position of the sliding shaft insertion portion, and the engaging shaft is supported vertically, Posture is stabilized. After that, if the sliding shaft insertion portion is lowered and the manual shaft insertion portion is moved in the horizontal direction with the tip end portion of the sliding shaft being inserted into the hole of the in-vehicle operation panel, the second of the sliding shaft insertion portion is obtained. Since the through hole formed at the position fits into the sliding shaft and the through hole allows passage of the sliding shaft, if the shutter means is opened and the holding of the sliding shaft is released, the sliding shaft It is completely inserted into the hole of the on-vehicle operation panel by the pressure.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the presence or absence of the sliding shaft can be detected by the sensor provided in the shutter portion of the sliding shaft insertion portion, the occurrence of problems such as forgetting to insert the sliding shaft is certain. Is prevented.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an in-vehicle operation panel assembling apparatus according to the present invention. The assembling apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is an apparatus for automatically inserting a sliding shaft of a push switch into a hole formed in an in-vehicle operation panel. It is. The assembling apparatus according to the present invention has a function of assembling the operation knob to the head of the sliding shaft automatically inserted into the hole of the in-vehicle operation panel, but the illustration and explanation of the apparatus part are omitted.

  The assembling apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is supplied from a sliding shaft supply unit 1 that cuts out and distributes a plurality of aligned sliding shafts 10 (see FIGS. 2 and 5) one by one, and is supplied from the sliding shaft supply unit 1. The pressure-feeding part 2 for pressure-feeding the sliding shaft 10, and the slide-shaft 10 pressure-fed by the pressure-feeding part 2 are transported to the on-vehicle operation panel 50 and are transferred to the holes 51 of the on-vehicle operation panel 20 (FIG. 8). The sliding shaft insertion portion 3 is provided to be inserted by being pushed into (see FIG. 10).

  Below, the structure and effect | action of the said sliding shaft supply part 1 are demonstrated based on FIGS.

  2 (a) to 2 (c) are diagrams showing the configuration and operation of the cutout portion of the sliding shaft supply unit, where the upper part is a plan view, the lower part is a front view, and FIG. 3 is the distribution part of the sliding shaft supply part. FIG. 4A is a plan view, FIG. 4B is a front view, FIG. 4C is a side view, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing the configuration and action of the distributing portion of the sliding shaft supply unit. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a large number of sliding shafts 10 are vertically held in the sliding shaft supply unit 1 in a state of being aligned in a line along the supply rail 4. Here, each sliding shaft 10 is composed of a large-diameter head portion 10a and a small-diameter main body portion 10b extending perpendicularly from the head portion 10a, and the head portion 10a is engaged with the supply rail 4. Is held vertically.

  The sliding shaft supply unit 1 includes three cutting blades 5, 6, 7 arranged in the vertical direction, and the cutting blades 5, 6 positioned below the uppermost stage are provided on the sliding shaft 10. They are horizontally arranged in the vicinity of the head 10a and the main body 10b, and their tips are formed in a sharp knife edge shape as shown in FIG. The remaining cutting blade 7 is a thin plate that stands vertically near the end of the supply rail 4 and presses the sliding shaft 10 before being cut out as shown in FIG. It functions to prevent falling off from the supply rail 4.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 2A, the sliding shaft 10 aligned with the supply rail 4 has the cutting blades 5 to 7 indicated by the arrow a (right side of the drawing) in FIG. When moving horizontally, one located at the end of the supply rail 4 is cut out in the direction of arrow b (downward in the figure) by the knife-edge-like slope at the tip of the cutting blades 5 and 6. When the cutting blades 5 to 7 are further moved in the direction of arrow a, as shown in FIG. 2C, one sliding shaft 10 located at the end of the supply rail 4 is completely cut out in the direction of arrow b. It is.

  One sliding shaft 10 cut out as described above is transferred to a block-shaped shaft receiver 8 arranged in the vicinity of the cutting blades 5 to 7 as shown in FIG. Here, at the center of the shaft receiver 8, a tapered hole 9 that extends upward is provided in the up-down direction. An opening 8 a for receiving the cut-out sliding shaft 10 is formed at the upper end side portion of the shaft receiver 8, and this opening 8 a communicates with the tapered hole 9. Then, one end of a shaft transport tube 12 connected to the tapered hole 9 is connected to the lower end of the shaft receiver 8 through a plug 11. The shaft transport tube 12 extends vertically downward from the shaft receiver 8 to the distributing portion shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an electric actuator 13 is provided in the distribution unit, and a block 15 is attached to the tip of an arm 14 that extends horizontally from the electric actuator 13. The block 15 holds the lower end portion of the shaft transport tube 12 extending vertically from the shaft receiver 8 (see FIG. 3). Although not shown, a plurality of shaft conveying tubes 12 arranged in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG.

  4 is provided with a distribution block 16 that constitutes the pressure-feeding unit 2. The distribution block 16 has a plurality of through holes 17 extending in two rows perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The upper ends of a plurality of flexible tubes 18 connected to the respective through holes 17 are connected to the lower surface of the sorting block 16 via plugs 19, respectively. The distribution block 16 is formed with a pressure feed nozzle 20 for blowing compressed air into the through holes 17. Each pressure feed nozzle 20 is connected to an air hose (not shown) extending from a pressure supply source (not shown) such as an air compressor.

  A plurality of flexible tubes 18 extending vertically downward from the distribution block 16 are inserted and supported by the shaft insertion block 21 of the sliding shaft insertion portion 3 as shown in FIG.

  Thus, the sliding shaft 10 cut out at the cut-out portion is delivered to the shaft receiver 8 as shown in FIG. That is, the cut-out sliding shaft 10 is introduced from the opening 8a of the shaft receiver 8 into the tapered hole 9 in the shaft receiver 8 and passes through the shaft conveying tube 12 extending vertically downward from the shaft receiver 8 as shown in FIG. To the sorting section shown in FIG.

  In the sorting section, the arm 14 and the block 15 attached to the tip of the arm 14 by the electric actuator 13 reciprocate in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 4 together with the shaft conveyance tube 12, and are conveyed downward in each shaft conveyance tube 12. The sliding shaft 10 is distributed and inserted into the through-holes 17 opened in the distribution block 16.

  As described above, the sliding shaft 10 that has been distributed to the distribution block 16 is inserted into each flexible tube by the pressure of the compressed air supplied from the pressure-feed nozzle 20 formed in the distribution block 16 to the through hole 17. 18 is pumped toward the sliding shaft insertion portion 3.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, the shutter part 22 connected to each flexible tube 18 is attached to the lower part of the shaft insertion block 21 of the sliding shaft insertion part 3. A shutter member 24 that is opened and closed by an actuator 23 such as the like is provided so as to be rotatable about a shaft 25. Each shutter member 24 is always urged to the closed side by a return spring (not shown) wound around the shaft 25.

  One end of each wire 26 is attached to one end of each shutter member 24. Each wire 26 extends upward from each shutter member 24, and then is bent at a right angle by a roller 27 to extend horizontally. The end is connected to the rod 23 a of the actuator 23.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, the pressure-feeding part 2 and the sliding shaft insertion part 3 can be moved up and down integrally along a vertically extending guide rail 28, and can slide. The shaft insertion portion 3 is movable in the horizontal direction, and these are moved in a predetermined direction by a driving means (not shown).

  Next, the configuration and operation of the shutter portion 22 of the sliding shaft insertion portion 3 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 5 is a side view of the sliding shaft, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an engagement hole and a through hole formed in the shutter portion, and FIG. 7A shows a state in which the sliding shaft is held at the first position. FIG. 7B is a side view, FIG. 8 is a partial side view showing a state where the tip of the sliding shaft held in the first position is inserted into the hole of the on-vehicle operation panel, and FIG. (A) is a plan view showing a state in which the sliding shaft is located at the second position, FIG. 9 (b) is a partial side view thereof, and FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the state where the sliding shaft in the second position is an in-vehicle operation panel. It is a partial side view which shows the state inserted in the hole.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the sliding shaft 10 is composed of a large-diameter (outer diameter D) head portion 10a and a small-diameter (outer diameter d <D) main body portion 10b extending perpendicularly from the head portion 10a. In the shutter portion 22, as shown in FIG. 6, an engagement hole 29 is formed at a first position A, and a through hole 30 is formed at a second position B adjacent thereto, The engagement holes 29 and the through holes 30 communicate with each other. Although not shown, an optical sensor for optically detecting the presence or absence of the sliding shaft 10 is provided in the vicinity of the first position A of the shutter portion 22.

  Here, the first position A of the shutter portion 22 is a position that supports the sliding shaft 10 vertically as shown in FIG. The inner diameter of the engagement hole 29 is set equal to the outer diameter d of the main body portion 10b of the sliding shaft 10 (actually slightly larger). Accordingly, the sliding shaft 10 initially inserted into the engagement hole 29 is supported vertically as shown in FIG. 7 because only the main body portion 10b passes through the engagement hole 29 and the head portion 10a cannot pass. The posture is properly maintained. At this time, since the sliding shaft 10 is pressurized by the pressure of the compressed air at the head 10a, the posture thereof is stabilized.

  On the other hand, the second position B of the shutter portion 22 is a position that allows the sliding shaft 10 to pass (drop), and the inner diameter of the through hole 30 formed in the second position B is the sliding shaft. It is set equal to the outer diameter D of 10 (actually slightly larger). Therefore, in the second position B, the sliding shaft 10 can pass (drop) through the through hole 30.

  Thus, the sliding shaft 10 is inserted into the first position A of the shutter portion 22 and is supported vertically at the first position A as shown in FIG. While maintaining this state, the pumping portion 2 and the sliding shaft insertion portion 3 move down along the guide rail 28 shown in FIG. 1, and the sliding shaft 10 is mounted on the vehicle as shown by the chain line in FIG. When the position of the operation panel 50 is reached, as shown in FIG. 8, the tip of the sliding shaft 10 is inserted into the hole 51 formed in the vehicle-mounted operation panel 50 by a predetermined length L, and the position is fixed. .

  If the sliding shaft insertion portion 3 is horizontally moved in the direction of arrow c in FIG. 9 while maintaining the state shown in FIG. 8, the through hole 30 formed at the second position B of the sliding shaft insertion portion 3. Is fitted to the sliding shaft 10, and the through hole 30 allows the sliding shaft 10 to pass therethrough. At this time, since the shutter member 24 is closed, the sliding shaft 10 is held at the second position B.

  Thereafter, when the actuator 23 is driven and the rod 23a is pulled rightward in FIG. 1, the wire 26 connected thereto is pulled to open the shutter member 24 by rotating it about the shaft 25, and is not shown. Since the pressure of the compressed air supplied by the pressure means acts on the head 10a of the sliding shaft 10, the sliding shaft 10 fitted in the through hole 30 at the second position B is shown in FIG. As described above, it falls from the shutter portion 22 and is pushed into the hole 51 formed in the in-vehicle operation panel 50 to be completely inserted.

  As described above, according to the assembling apparatus according to the present invention, the plurality of sliding shafts 10 are automatically and efficiently and accurately inserted into the holes 51 formed in the in-vehicle operation panel 50 without the manual operation of the operator. Since it can be inserted, the working time is shortened and labor is saved, and the workability of the on-vehicle operation panel 50 is remarkably improved.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the pressure feeding part 2 and the sliding shaft insertion part 3 are connected by a plurality of flexible tubes 18, the sliding shaft insertion part 3 moves freely with respect to the pressure feeding part 2 and its position is changed. Adjusted arbitrarily. For this reason, the assembling apparatus can be applied to assembling a plurality of types of operation panels 50 in which the positions of the holes 51 are different, and the versatility is enhanced.

  Further, in the present embodiment, an optical sensor for optically detecting the presence or absence of the sliding shaft 10 is provided in the vicinity of the first position A of the shutter portion 22, so that a problem such as forgetting to insert the sliding shaft 10 is provided. Is reliably prevented.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the pressure feeding unit 2, the flexible tube 18, and the shutter unit 22 of the sliding shaft insertion unit 3, which are supply paths, are determined depending on the type (the difference in length and thickness) of the sliding shaft 10 to be inserted. Therefore, the proper sliding shaft 10 is always correctly inserted without erroneously inserting the sliding shaft 10 having a different diameter and length that should not be inserted.

  The present invention can be applied to the assembly of an air conditioner operation panel, an audio operation panel, a car navigation operation panel, and any other in-vehicle operation panel.

It is a whole block diagram of the assembly apparatus of the vehicle-mounted operation panel which concerns on this invention. (A)-(c) is a figure which shows the structure and effect | action of the cutout part of the sliding shaft supply part of the vehicle-mounted operation panel which concerns on this invention, Comprising: An upper stage is a top view and a lower stage is a front view. It is a figure which shows the structure and effect | action of the distribution part of the sliding shaft supply part of the vehicle-mounted operation panel which concerns on this invention, Comprising: (a) is a top view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a side view. . It is a side view which shows the structure and effect | action of a distribution part of the sliding shaft supply part of the vehicle-mounted operation panel which concerns on this invention. It is a side view of a sliding shaft. It is a top view which shows the engagement hole and through-hole which were formed in the shutter part of the vehicle-mounted operation panel which concerns on this invention. (A) is a top view which shows the state with which the sliding shaft was hold | maintained in the 1st position of the vehicle-mounted operation panel which concerns on this invention, (b) is the same side view. It is a partial side view which shows the state by which the front-end | tip of the sliding shaft hold | maintained at the 1st position of the vehicle-mounted operation panel which concerns on this invention was inserted in the hole of the vehicle-mounted operation panel. (A) is a top view which shows the state which the sliding shaft located in the 2nd position of the vehicle-mounted operation panel which concerns on this invention, (b) is the partial side view. It is a partial side view which shows the state in which the sliding shaft in the 2nd position of the vehicle-mounted operation panel which concerns on this invention is inserted in the hole of the vehicle-mounted operation panel. It is a perspective view which shows the prior art example of the insertion operation | movement of the sliding shaft to a vehicle-mounted operation panel.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Manual shaft supply part 2 Pumping part 3 Sliding shaft insertion part 4 Supply rail 5-7 Cutting blade 8 Shaft receiver 8a Shaft receiver opening 9 Tapered hole 10 Sliding shaft 10a Sliding shaft head 10b Sliding shaft Main body 11 Plug 12 Shaft conveying tube 13 Electric actuator 14 Arm 15 Block 16 Distribution block 17 Through hole 18 Flexible tube 19 Plug 20 Pressure feed nozzle 21 Shaft insertion block 22 Shutter 23 Actuator 23a Actuator rod 24 Shutter member 25 Shaft 26 Wire 27 Roller 28 Guide rail 29 Engagement hole 30 Through hole A 1st position B 2nd position D Outer diameter of sliding shaft head d Outer diameter of main part of sliding shaft

Claims (5)

A method of assembling an in-vehicle operation panel by automatically inserting a sliding shaft into a hole formed in the in-vehicle operation panel and then assembling an operation knob on the head of the sliding shaft,
A plurality of sliding shafts cut and distributed by the sliding shaft supply unit are pumped to the sliding shaft insertion unit by the pumping unit, and the sliding shaft pumped to the sliding shaft insertion unit is set to the first position. In a state where the sliding shaft is inserted, the sliding shaft insertion portion is lowered to the position of the on-vehicle operation panel, and the tip of the sliding shaft is inserted into the hole of the on-vehicle operation panel. The sliding shaft is positioned at the second position of the sliding shaft insertion portion to release the holding of the sliding shaft, and the released sliding shaft is inserted into the hole of the in-vehicle operation panel by pressure. A method for assembling an on-vehicle operation panel, characterized in that: After automatically inserting the sliding shaft into the hole formed in the on-vehicle operation panel, an apparatus for assembling the on-vehicle operation panel by assembling the operation knob on the head of the sliding shaft,
A sliding shaft supply section that cuts out and distributes a plurality of aligned sliding shafts one by one;
A pumping unit for pumping the sliding shaft supplied from the sliding shaft supply unit;
A first position for positioning and holding the sliding shaft pumped by the pumping section and a second position for allowing passage of the sliding shaft are held, and the sliding shaft at the second position is held or passed. A movable sliding shaft insertion portion comprising a shutter means and a pressure feeding means;
An in-vehicle operation panel assembling apparatus, comprising:   3. The assembly of an on-vehicle operation panel according to claim 2, wherein the pressure feeding portion and the sliding shaft insertion portion are connected by a plurality of flexible tubes, and the inside of the flexible tube is used as a pressure feeding path for the sliding shaft. apparatus.   An engagement hole for engaging the head of the sliding shaft is formed at a first position of the sliding shaft insertion portion, and a through hole through which the sliding shaft can pass is formed at the second position. 4. The on-vehicle operation panel assembling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the engagement hole and the through hole are communicated with each other.   The in-vehicle operation panel assembling apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the sliding shaft is provided in a shutter portion of the sliding shaft insertion portion.

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