JP2010201593A - Work conveyer and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a work conveying method capable of preventing a working efficiency from being deteriorated, in a work station provided on the periphery of a rotary table, even when matched with a following process in timing. <P>SOLUTION: Works are fed intermittently (1)-(12) to the rotary table 1 of this work conveyer 10, and working is thereby carried out in each of the work stations 51-58, to be delivered according to the order of the feed (1)-(12). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a workpiece transfer apparatus and method.

  One of the workpiece transfer modes is a mode in which a rotary table is used as a transfer device, a plurality of work stations are provided around the rotary table, and workpieces are sequentially placed in the circumferential direction of the rotary table and transferred to the work station. (Patent Document 1).

  Another technique related to the present invention is Patent Document 2.

JP 2007-168038 A JP-A-2005-50583

  In a workpiece transfer apparatus using such a rotary table, workpieces are sequentially placed on the rotary table. For this reason, if the subsequent process and the workpiece conveyance timing do not match, the rotary table is stopped and the timing is waited. In this case, work at a plurality of work stations provided around the rotary table must be stopped, which causes a problem that work efficiency is lowered.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a workpiece transfer apparatus and method that does not reduce the work efficiency in a work station provided around the rotary table even when the timing of the subsequent process is matched.

  In order to achieve the above object, a workpiece transfer apparatus according to the present invention includes a rotary table that sends workpieces to a plurality of work stations arranged around the workpiece, a loading unit that loads workpieces into the rotary table, and a workpiece that is discharged from the rotary table. And a payout means. Then, the control means controls the loading means so that the workpieces are intermittently loaded with respect to the workpiece placement scheduled positions arranged in the circumferential direction on the rotary table, and the dispensing is performed so as to dispense in the order of the loaded workpieces. Control means.

  Moreover, the workpiece conveyance method by this invention for achieving the said objective mounts a workpiece | work in the circumferential direction on a rotary table, and conveys a workpiece | work to the several work station arrange | positioned around this rotary table. The workpieces are intermittently introduced to the workpiece placement scheduled positions arranged in the circumferential direction on the rotary table with respect to the workpiece conveying device, and the workpieces are discharged from the rotary table in the order of the inputted workpieces.

  According to the present invention, the workpieces are intermittently loaded into the workpiece placement scheduled position on the rotary table of the workpiece transfer device, and are dispensed in that order. For this reason, it is possible to dispense the work at an appropriate timing in accordance with the subsequent process without reducing the work transfer speed by the turntable or delaying the work at the work station arranged around the turntable. Can do. Therefore, the work efficiency in the work station provided around the rotary table is not reduced.

It is drawing which shows an example of the production equipment using the workpiece conveyance apparatus by the rotary table by embodiment to which this invention is applied. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the workpiece conveyance method to which this embodiment is applied. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the workpiece conveyance method compared with embodiment.

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

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of production equipment using a work transfer device with a rotary table according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a workpiece conveyance method to which the embodiment is applied, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a workpiece conveyance method to be compared with the embodiment.

  The production facility 100 includes a work transfer device 10 having a rotary table 1, an input belt conveyor 2 (input means) that inputs a work to the work transfer device 10, and a payout belt conveyor that pays out the work from the work transfer device 10. 3 (payout means). A plurality of work stations 51 to 58 are installed around the workpiece transfer apparatus 10. In the figure, an arrow R indicates a rotation method of the turntable 1.

  On the rotary table 1, a plurality of workpiece placement planned positions 11 set in advance so that the workpieces are arranged in the circumferential direction are set. As the rotary table 1 rotates, the workpiece is put into the workpiece placement planned position 11. And the work is conveyed in front of each work station as the turntable 1 rotates. In the work stations 51 to 58, work is performed on the workpieces that have arrived there.

  Note that the work placement planned position 11 is determined by how many works are put in the circumferential direction on the rotary table 1, and is a position at which the work is explicitly placed on the rotary table 1. Is not specified. Here, the workpiece placement planned position 11 is set so that 12 workpieces can enter. This is because, when a plurality of workpieces are loaded, if the time interval during which the workpieces are thrown is constant, the workpieces are arranged in the circumferential direction at substantially regular intervals on the rotary table. Accordingly, the work placement scheduled positions 11 are set so that 12 works are arranged at almost equal intervals. Of course, in the case of 10 workpieces, there are 10 workpieces, and if 20 workpieces are inserted, there are 20 workpiece placement planned positions 11.

  The input belt conveyor 2 is provided with a pickup device (for example, a robot hand (not shown)) for moving a work on the belt onto the rotary table 1 as a part of the input means. Similarly, the payout belt conveyor 3 is provided with a pickup device (for example, a robot hand (not shown)) for moving the work on the rotary table 1 onto the belt of the payout belt conveyor 3 as a part of the payout means. Yes. The input means may be a facility without a pick-up device. For example, the input means may be configured such that the workpiece moves on the rotary table 1 due to the flow of the input belt conveyor or the inclination of the input belt conveyor. Similarly, there is no pick-up device or the like in the payout means, and various forms are possible, for example, a facility in which a part of the rotary table 1 is inclined to slide out.

  The production facility 100 includes a facility control device 110 (control) that controls the rotational speed of the rotary table 1 (substantially becomes the workpiece transfer speed), the loading of the workpiece onto the rotary table 1, and the dispensing of the workpiece from the rotary table 1. Means).

  The mechanical configuration of the workpiece transfer device 10 itself using such a rotary table 1 may be the same as that in the related art and is not particularly limited. For example, when the rotary table 1 continues to rotate and the workpiece comes before the work stations 51 to 58, the workpiece is temporarily lifted (floating from the rotary table) and a predetermined work is performed on the workpiece. (See Patent Document 1, for example). In addition, when the work is moved to the front of the work stations 51 to 58 by the rotation of the turntable 1, the turntable 1 may stop once and a predetermined work may be performed on the work.

  In the present embodiment, a process of laminating a negative electrode sheet, a positive electrode sheet, and a separator, which are power generation elements of a stacked battery, will be described as an example of the production facility 100.

  As is well known (see, for example, Patent Document 2), a laminated battery is formed by sequentially laminating a negative electrode sheet, a separator, and a positive electrode sheet, and then laminating and sealing with an electrolyte solution.

  In this production facility 100, work stations 51 to 58 are provided in order to sequentially stack a negative electrode sheet, a separator, and a positive electrode sheet. That is, the work station 51 places the negative electrode sheet on the work. The next work station 52 places the separator on the workpiece. The next work station 53 places the positive electrode sheet on the workpiece. The next work station 54 places the separator on the workpiece. Thereafter, the work station 55 places the negative electrode sheet, the work station 56 places the separator, the work station 57 places the positive electrode sort, and the work station 58 places the separator in the same order. Therefore, as the work rotates the rotary table 1, the number of stacks increases by repeatedly passing through the work stations 51 to 58. Here, a workpiece obtained by laminating a negative electrode sheet, a separator, and a positive electrode sheet in this order is referred to as a laminate.

  And the delivery belt conveyor 3 carries out the workpiece | work (laminate) which the lamination | stacking of the predetermined | prescribed lamination | stacking number finally ended to the subsequent process.

  There is a work station (not shown) for performing a predetermined work on the laminated body as a post process at the tip of the payout belt conveyor 3. The post-process includes, for example, a temporary fixing process using a tape of the laminated body, insertion into a laminate sheet, injection of an electrolytic solution, sealing of the laminate sheet, and the like.

  In these post-processes, the operation time performed on one laminated body is longer than the lamination operation time of each sheet performed on the workpiece in the production facility 100.

  For this reason, if a workpiece | work is simply put in the turntable 1, naturally the payout will also be paid out in the order that the laminated body was completed. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the arrangement order of the workpieces when the workpieces are sequentially placed on the rotary table 1.

  As can be seen from FIG. 3, the workpieces 20 are arranged on the turntable in the order indicated by parentheses from (1) to (12). For this reason, the payout is also paid out by the payout belt conveyor 3 in that order and sent to the subsequent process.

  If it does so, the workpiece | work (laminate) from the production equipment 100 will be paid out in the order in which the predetermined number of laminations was completed. Thus, the payout time interval is substantially the same as the time interval at which the workpiece is sent to the next work station. Here, the time interval at which the work 20 is sent to the next work station is the time for one work by each work station and the time for the work to move to the next work station by the rotary table 1.

  As a result, since the work time of the post process is longer than the time paid out from the production facility 100 as it is, the rotation of the turntable 1 is delayed in accordance with the work time of the post process (post process tact time) or temporarily. Will have to be stopped. That is, it is necessary to slow down the work speed of the production facility 100 provided around the work transfer device 10 using the rotary table 1. In this case, it is meaningless to have a production facility configuration in which work efficiency is increased by the work transfer device 10 using the rotary table 1.

  It should be noted that a work line is not sent directly to the subsequent process by the payout belt conveyor 3 but a buffer line is provided in the middle to collect the payout laminated body so as not to slow down the production speed in the production facility 100. It is also possible to do. However, in this case, a sufficient number of post-processes (number of stations) is required to process the produced laminate, and if the number of post-processes (number of stations) is small, overproduction may occur.

  In the present embodiment, in order to eliminate the work delay of the production facility 100 provided around the work transfer device 10 using such a turntable 1, the turntable is changed according to the work time (tact time) of the subsequent process. The workpiece was intermittently loaded into the workpiece placement planned position of 1.

  This is because when a workpiece is loaded into the rotary table 1, the workpiece is loaded with a time corresponding to the work time of the subsequent process. As a result, the work 20 is intermittently input to the work placement scheduled position 11 as the rotary table 1 is rotated during the input interval. That is, the workpiece input interval is determined by the work time of the subsequent process.

  This will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, twelve workpieces 20 are arranged on the rotary table 1. The order of loading is as shown in (1) to (12), and the workpieces 20 arranged on the rotary table 1 are not arranged in order (see FIG. 3 for comparison).

  On the other hand, since the work at each work station 51 to 58 is performed every time the work 20 arrives at each work station, it can be carried out regardless of the order of loading. In the initial stage of loading the workpiece 20, the work at the work station 51 where the workpiece has not arrived is not performed. When the turntable 1 makes several turns, all the work placement planned positions 11 are filled with the work 20.

  Then, a laminate in which the required number of layers of electrodes and the like are laminated is completed. Since the laminated body completed at this time is naturally put in the order in which it is put, the turn-out order from the rotary table 1 is also the order in which the workpieces 20 are put in.

  On the other hand, the movement of the workpiece 20 on the rotary table 1 is performed for each of the work stations 51 to 58. Therefore, after the workpiece 20 of (1) is paid out, the workpiece 20 which has come to the next payout position on the rotary table 1 (position where the payout belt conveyor 3 is connected) is not in a state of being paid out. That is, the required number of layers has not been stacked. Therefore, the workpiece 20 is not paid out in this state. Further, when the work 20 of (2) reaches the payout position by the rotation of the turntable 1, the work 20 of (2) is paid out because it can be paid out.

  During this time, in the figure, the workpiece 20 of (6), (11), (4), (9) moves between (1) and (2). During this time, since the work 20 is not paid out, the work payout is delayed correspondingly. On the other hand, the work on the workpiece 20 on the rotary table is executed. Therefore, the work delay as the production facility 100 does not occur. This delay in payout time is the same as the time interval when the workpiece 20 is input. As described above, this time interval coincides with the work time of the subsequent process. These controls are performed by the equipment control device 110, and only the workpieces completed as a laminated body in which the necessary number of layers of electrodes are stacked in each workpiece 20 are paid out.

  An easy-to-understand example of the time interval is as follows.

  For example, assume that the time required to transfer the workpiece 20 from one work station to the next work station in the production facility 100 is 20 seconds (for example, the work time at the work station is 19 seconds and the work is carried by the rotary table 1). Time is 1 second). On the other hand, the working time of the post process is set to 100 seconds. In this case, it takes 100 seconds for the workpiece 20 to pass through the five work stations. Therefore, if the fifth workpiece 20 is intermittently arranged in the number of the workpiece placement planned positions 11 (that is, there are four workpieces in between), the dispensed workpieces 20 are spaced 100 seconds apart. Will be paid out.

  As a result, even in the work transfer device 10 using the turntable 1, the work 20 is paid out in accordance with the work time of the subsequent process even if the speed of the turntable 1 is not slowed down or stopped.

  According to the present embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, the workpiece 20 is intermittently loaded into the workpiece placement scheduled position 11 on the rotary table 1 of the workpiece transfer apparatus 10 and is paid out in that order. For this reason, even if it does not reduce the conveyance speed of the workpiece | work by the turntable 1, or delay the operation | work in the work stations 51-58 arrange | positioned around the turntable 1, it is an appropriate timing according to a post process. The workpiece 20 can be paid out. In addition, since it is not necessary to provide a buffer line in order to take a timing with a subsequent process, excessive production can be prevented.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the input interval of the workpiece 20 is determined in accordance with the work time of the post process, the work 20 can be dispensed with good timing according to the work time of the post process.

  Further, in this embodiment, the interval at which the workpiece 20 is input is input with a time corresponding to the work time of the post-process, so that the workpiece placement is performed by the amount of rotation of the turntable 1 during that time. The workpiece 20 is intermittently input to the planned position 11. Therefore, the payout time interval is automatically adjusted only by adjusting the time at the time of insertion.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, since the work stations 51 to 58 of the process of sequentially laminating the negative electrode sheet, the separator, and the positive electrode sheet in the production of the laminated battery are arranged, each laminating work is allowed to proceed without delay. The timing with the post-process can be taken.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, intermittent intervals (input time intervals) when workpieces are intermittently input are set to be equal intervals, but they are not necessarily equal intervals. This is because the work 20 to be dispensed from the turntable 1 only needs to meet the work time of the subsequent process as a whole. For example, after two workpieces are continuously dispensed with an interval of 20 seconds, the next workpiece is dispensed with an interval of 80 seconds. Thus, the third workpiece from the first dispensed workpiece is transferred to the subsequent process after 100 seconds. Therefore, all the third workpieces can be processed in the work time of three post-processes.

  Moreover, although embodiment mentioned above demonstrated manufacture of a laminated battery as an example, this invention is not limited to such a form. In other words, the present invention can be applied to any production facility in which work stations that continuously perform work are arranged around the rotary table and work is sequentially performed on the work by the work stations.

1 rotary table,
2 input belt conveyor,
3 payout belt conveyor,
10 Work transfer device,
20 works,
51-58 work stations,
100 production facilities,
110 Equipment control device.

Claims (8)

A rotary table that sends work to a plurality of work stations arranged around it,
Loading means for loading the workpiece into the rotary table;
Dispensing means for dispensing the workpiece from the rotary table;
The loading means is controlled so as to intermittently throw the workpiece onto the workpiece placement planned positions arranged in the circumferential direction on the rotary table, and the workpieces are discharged in the order of the thrown workpieces. And a control means for controlling the payout means.   2. The workpiece transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intermittent interval is determined in accordance with a work time of a process performed after the payout unit pays out.   The intermittent interval is a time when the work is put in a time corresponding to the work time of the process to be performed after the paying out, and the work table is supposed to be placed by the amount the turntable rotates during that time. 3. The workpiece transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is intermittently input to the workpiece.   The plurality of work stations perform work of sequentially laminating a negative electrode sheet, a separator, and a positive electrode sheet in order to manufacture a laminated battery. Work transfer device. For a workpiece transfer device that places a workpiece in the circumferential direction on a rotary table and transfers the workpiece to a plurality of work stations arranged around the rotary table,
The work is intermittently thrown into the work placement scheduled position arranged in the circumferential direction on the rotary table,
A workpiece transfer method, wherein workpieces are dispensed from the rotary table in the order of the input workpieces.   6. The workpiece transfer method according to claim 5, wherein the intermittent interval at the intermittent position is determined in accordance with a work time of a process performed after the payout.   The intermittent interval between the intermittent positions is determined by inserting the work after a time corresponding to the work time of the process to be performed after the dispensing, and by rotating the rotary table during that time. 7. The work transfer method according to claim 5, wherein the work is intermittently placed at the intended placement position.   The plurality of work stations are configured to perform an operation of sequentially laminating a negative electrode sheet, a separator, and a positive electrode sheet in order to manufacture a stacked battery. Workpiece transfer method.

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