JP2013245996A - Piping form correction device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a piping form correction device, which accurately and easily assembles piping of machinery with a plurality of pipes.SOLUTION: A piping form correction device comprises: a manipulator including, at the end thereof, a detector 4 for detecting a displacement and a rotation angle of a probe 5, and a hand chuck 6 being a holder for holding a pipe A; a control part 7a for controlling movement of the manipulator; and an operation part 8a. The operation part 8a instructs the control part 7a to move the detector 4 with the manipulator to a designed end face position of the pipe A calculated on the basis of three-dimensional design data, calculates an actual end face position of the pipe A on the basis of a displacement and a rotation angle of the probe 5 against the actual end face position of the pipe A detected by the detector 4, and if the difference between the designed end face position and the actual end face position is over a permissible limit, corrects a form of the pipe A by instructing the control part 7a to drive the manipulator holding the pipe A with the hand chuck 6 so that the actual end face position of the pipe A corresponds to the designed end face position.

Description

  The present invention relates to a pipe shape correcting device that corrects the shape of a pipe based on a measurement result of a position and an angle at which the pipe is mounted, for example, when performing pipe assembly of a device including a plurality of pipes such as an air conditioner and a refrigerator. .

  For example, when manufacturing equipment including a plurality of pipes such as an air conditioner and a refrigerator, it is necessary to assemble a plurality of pipes. In this case, conventionally, the position and angle of the pipe is measured using a pipe end surface measuring device having a probe attached to the tip of the manipulator, and it is checked whether the pipe is piped at a desired position and angle (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 58-68607 A

In the conventional pipe assembly, the position of the pipe end face can be measured using a pipe end face measuring device.
However, if the pipe shape is not the desired one, remove the pipe and bend it manually to correct the pipe shape, or reassemble the pipe and reassemble it to remeasure the position of the pipe end face. It must be repeated until the shape is obtained.
Therefore, there is a problem that it is not easy to perform piping assembly with high accuracy.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a pipe shape correcting device capable of easily and accurately performing pipe assembly of equipment having a plurality of pipes. .

  The pipe shape correcting apparatus according to the present invention is a pipe shape correcting apparatus for correcting the shape of a pipe assembled based on three-dimensional design data, and holds a detector and a pipe for detecting a displacement amount and a rotation angle of a probe. A manipulator with a holder attached to the tip, a control unit that controls the movement of the manipulator, and a manipulator that instructs the control unit to detect the end face position of the design pipe calculated based on three-dimensional design data The actual pipe end face position is calculated based on the displacement and rotation angle of the probe relative to the actual pipe end face position detected by the detector, and the design end face position and actual end face position are calculated. When the difference between the two is outside the allowable range, the end of the actual pipe is driven by instructing the control unit to drive the manipulator holding the pipe with the holding tool. Position is characterized in that it comprises a computing unit for modifying the shape of the pipe so that the end surface position in design.

  According to this invention, there exists an effect that piping assembly of the apparatus provided with several piping can be performed easily with high precision.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the piping shape correction apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a detection unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the pipe shape correcting device according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the piping shape correction which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of piping shape correction using two manipulators. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the detection part of the piping shape correction apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a pipe shape correcting apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A pipe shape correcting apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an apparatus that corrects the shape of the pipe A based on the result of measuring the position and angle at which the pipe A is attached, and includes arms 2a to 2d, joints 3a to 3c, and a detection unit 4. , Measuring element 5, hand chuck 6, control device 7, computer 8 and monitor 9.

The arms 2a to 2d are arms constituting a manipulator that attaches the detection unit 4 to the tip, and are connected by joints 3a to 3c, respectively.
In addition, angle detectors are provided in the joint portions 3a to 3c, and the relative angles of the arms 2a to 2d are detected by these angle detectors. The three-dimensional position of the tip of the arm 2a in the three-dimensional coordinate system set in the manipulator body can be calculated based on the relative angle and the arm dimensions. As the angle detector, for example, a potentiometer or an encoder can be used.

The detection unit 4 is a detection unit that detects the amount of displacement and the rotation angle of the probe 5 and is detachably attached to the tip of the arm 2a. Based on the displacement and rotation angle of the probe 5 with respect to the end face position of the pipe A, the actual end face position of the pipe A is calculated.
The measuring element 5 is a measuring element having a conical shape, and the displacement amount and the rotation angle are detected in a state where the measuring element 5 is inserted into the end face opening of the pipe A from the distal end portion.
The hand chuck 6 is a hand chuck for chucking and holding the pipe A, and is attached to the tip of the arm 2a. The hand chuck 6 at the tip of the arm 2a and the measuring element 5 of the detecting unit 4 are in a predetermined positional relationship, and the coordinate position of the hand chuck 6 can be calculated from the coordinate position of the measuring element 5.

The control device 7 is a control device that controls the driving of the manipulator based on the calculation result of the position coordinates by the computer 8, and includes a control unit 7a and a storage unit 7b.
The control unit 7a drives the manipulator according to an instruction from the calculation unit 8a to move the measuring element 5 to the end surface position of the pipe A, or if the difference from the design end surface position is outside the allowable range, Controls the operation of correcting the shape.
The storage unit 7 b is a storage unit that stores the three-dimensional position data on the design of the pipe A and the detection result of the end face position of the pipe A by the detection unit 4.

The computer 8 is a computer that performs calculation processing, and includes a calculation unit 8 a and a monitor 9.
The calculation unit 8a performs calculation of the coordinate position in the measurement of the end face position of the pipe A and calculation in the correction of the pipe shape. The monitor 9 is a monitor that displays the calculation result of the computer 8 and the detection result of the coordinate position of the pipe A by the detection unit 4.
The jig 10 is a jig such as a clamp for holding the pipe A when the pipe shape is corrected using the pipe shape correcting apparatus 1.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the detection unit according to Embodiment 1, and shows the detection unit 4 and the measuring element 5 of FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the detection unit 4 cut along the shaft axis direction of the probe 5, and FIG. 2B is an arrow of a cross section cut along the line BB in FIG. 2A. FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the detection unit 4 includes a linear motion system including linear motion block portions 11a and 11b and rail portions 11c and 11d.

  The linear motion block portion 11a is slidably provided along the rail portion 11c, and the rail portion 11d is mounted on the linear motion block portion 11a. The rail part 11c and the rail part 11d are orthogonally crossed up and down via the linear motion block 11a.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG.2 (b), spring 12a, 12b and the displacement sensor 15 are each provided in the linear motion block part 11a in the sliding direction along the rail part 11c. Similarly, the linear motion block portion 11b is provided with springs 12c and 12d and a displacement sensor 15 in the sliding direction along the rail portion 11d.

  The linear motion block portions 11a and 11b are always biased to the original position by the springs 12a to 12d unless a moving force is applied to the probe 5. When a moving force is applied to the probe 5 and the linear motion block portions 11a and 11b slide, the displacement sensor 15 detects the amount of displacement in the sliding direction.

A shaft receiving portion 14a is attached to the central portion on the linear motion block portion 11b, and the shaft receiving portion 14b is attached to the surface of the casing of the detection portion 4 that faces the surface on which the linear motion system is provided.
The shaft 13 extending from the conical bottom surface of the measuring element 5 is provided with universal joints 13a and 13b in the axial direction thereof, and the universal joints 13a and 13b are attached to the shaft receiving portions 14a and 14b. Thereby, the measuring element 5 is hold | maintained through the shaft 13 so that floating is possible.

  Although not shown in FIG. 2, the detection unit 4 includes a linear motion mechanism that can linearly move in the normal direction of the plane including the sliding direction of the linear motion block portions 11a and 11b, that is, in the extending direction of the arm 2a. A linear motion displacement sensor for detecting the amount of displacement is also provided. A camera for confirming the position of the pipe end face is also attached.

Next, the operation will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the pipe shape correcting apparatus according to the first embodiment. Details of the measurement of the end face position of the pipe A and the pipe shape correcting process will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the calculation unit 8a of the computer 8 reads design three-dimensional data about the pipe A of the target workpiece from the storage unit 7a of the control device 7 (step ST1), and the pipe A in the design three-dimensional data is read. Coordinate position data is recognized (step ST2).

Next, the calculation part 8a calculates each coordinate position of the position used as the reference | standard of piping assembly, and the end surface of the piping A using the design three-dimensional data (step ST3). The coordinate position data calculated by the calculation unit 8 a is output to the control unit 7 a of the control device 7.
The control unit 7a drives the manipulator based on the design coordinate position data input from the calculation unit 8a, and moves the detection unit 4 to the design coordinate position of the end face of the pipe A (step ST4).

When the end face position of the pipe A coincides with the designed coordinate position, the tip of the measuring element 5 is automatically inserted into the end face opening of the pipe A as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, if there is a difference between the position of the end face of the pipe A and the design coordinate position, the position is confirmed automatically with the camera attached to the detection unit 4 or the position is adjusted automatically. The tip of the probe 5 is inserted into the end face opening of the pipe A by moving flexibly around the receiving portions 14a and 14b. The displacement amount and rotation angle of the probe 5 at this time are detected by the displacement sensor 15, the linear motion displacement sensor, and the rotation angle detector, and input to the calculation unit 8 a via the control device 7.

  The calculation unit 8a uses the detection result obtained by the displacement sensor 15 or the like to three-dimensionally measure the current end face position of the pipe A (step ST5). For example, the orientation of the end face of the pipe A is specified by the detected rotation angle, and the displacement amount in the XYZ axis direction detected by the displacement sensor is added to the design coordinate position according to the orientation of the end face to The coordinate position data of the end face of the pipe A is obtained. That is, the coordinate position data of the end face of the pipe A can be obtained by the combination of the angle detector attached to each arm, the length measurement sensor of the detection unit 4, and the detection data of the rotation angle sensor.

  The coordinate position data of the current end face of the pipe A calculated by the calculation unit 8a is displayed on the monitor 9 together with the design coordinate position data (step ST6). Thereby, the operator can visually recognize that the pipe A is deviated from the design value.

Subsequently, the calculation unit 8a determines whether or not the difference between the measured coordinate position data of the end face of the pipe A and the coordinate position data of the end face of the designed pipe A is within a preset allowable range. Determination is made (step ST7).
At this time, if the difference in the coordinate position data is within the allowable range (step ST7; YES), the calculation unit 8a stores the measured coordinate position data of the end face of the pipe A in the storage unit 7b (step ST8). Thus, by storing the coordinate position data deviated from the design value within the allowable range, the tendency of the pipe A to shift within the allowable range can be analyzed using the stored data.
Further, the quality can be further improved by feeding back the analysis result to the manufacturing process.

  If the difference in the coordinate position data is outside the allowable range (step ST7; NO), the calculation unit 8a uses a visual method using the monitor 9 or an auditory method using a speaker (not shown). Thus, the operator is notified that the current end face position of the pipe A is unacceptably displaced (step ST9).

When the operator receives the above notification, the straight portion near the root of the pipe A is fixed with a jig 10 such as a clamp so that other than the bent portion of the pipe A is not deformed as shown in FIG. Step ST10). Further, the end surface of the pipe A is chucked by the hand chuck 6.
For example, a counter that counts the number of times of correction of the pipe shape may be prepared in the computer 8 and the correction frequency may be stored. In this case, when the correction frequency exceeds a predetermined threshold, the calculation unit 8a notifies the operator, so that the processing conditions of the manufacturing process can be reviewed.
Further, by storing data whose difference from the design value is outside the allowable range in the storage unit 7b, the data can be used as data for determining the review contents of the machining conditions. For example, the calculation unit 8a analyzes the tendency of increase / decrease in deviation from the design value and the tendency of increase / decrease in the correction frequency and notifies the operator.

  Next, the calculation unit 8a calculates a predetermined movement amount of the hand chuck 6 based on the current coordinate position data of the end face of the pipe A with the coordinate position data of the end face of the pipe A as a target position (step) ST11). For example, the amount of movement in the XYZ axis directions is calculated according to the degree of deviation from the coordinate position data of the end face of the piping A in design. The movement amount data calculated by the calculation unit 8a is output to the control unit 7a.

  The controller 7a drives the manipulator for each predetermined amount of movement input from the calculator 8a to correct the shape of the pipe A (step ST12). For example, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 4B, the pipe A is further bent to correct its shape. Thereafter, returning to the process of step ST5, the shape correction of the pipe A is repeated until the difference between the end face position of the pipe A whose shape has been corrected and the design value is within the allowable range.

In the pipe shape correction described above, the case where the straight line portion near the root of the pipe A is fixed by the jig 10 such as a clamp so that only the bent part of the pipe A is deformed is shown. Absent.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, instead of using the jig 10, another manipulator composed of the arms 2 a to 2 d and the joint portions 3 a to 3 c is prepared, A pipe fixing manipulator having a hand chuck 6 attached to the tip thereof may be used.
In this case, the calculation unit 8 a calculates the coordinate position of the clamp portion based on the design three-dimensional data and outputs the calculated coordinate position to the control unit 7 a of the control device 7.
The control unit 7a drives the pipe fixing manipulator based on the coordinate position input from the calculation unit 8a, and the hand chuck 6 at the tip holds and fixes the clamp portion. Thereby, it is possible to chuck at an optimum position.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the manipulator in which the detection unit 4 that detects the displacement amount and the rotation angle of the probe 5 and the hand chuck 6 that is a holder for holding the pipe A are attached to the distal end portion. And a control unit 7a for controlling the movement of the manipulator, and the control unit 7a is instructed by the manipulator to move the detection unit 4 to the design end face position of the pipe A calculated based on the three-dimensional design data, The end face position of the actual pipe A is calculated based on the displacement amount and the rotation angle of the measuring element 5 with respect to the end face position of the actual pipe A detected by the section 4, and the difference between the designed end face position and the actual end face position Is outside the allowable range, the controller 7a is instructed to drive the manipulator holding the pipe A with the hand chuck 6, so that the actual end face position of the pipe A becomes the designed end face position. So as to include a calculating unit 8a for modifying the shape of the pipe A. As described above, when the difference from the design value is out of the allowable range, the pipe end face is chucked by the hand chuck 6 and the pipe shape is corrected to the coordinate position of the designed three-dimensional data. Equipment piping assembly can be easily performed with high accuracy.

  Moreover, according to this Embodiment 1, the memory | storage part 7b which memorize | stores the difference between the design end surface position of the piping A and an actual end surface position, and the correction frequency which corrected the shape of the piping A as data is provided. The unit 8a uses the data stored in the storage unit 7b to analyze the increase / decrease tendency from the design end face position and the increase / decrease tendency of the correction frequency. By reviewing the processing conditions (bending conditions) in the manufacturing process based on this analysis result, it is possible to feed back the quality of the manufacturing process.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the case where the coordinate position data of the current end face of the pipe A is measured from the coordinate position of the measuring element 5 is shown, but a contact sensor such as a touch sensor is attached to the tip of the hand chuck 6, The coordinate position data of the end face of the pipe A may be calculated from the difference between the position serving as a reference for pipe assembly and the reaction position where the touch sensor touches the end face of the pipe A.
Also by doing in this way, the end surface position of the pipe A can be measured.

  Further, in the first embodiment, a plurality of manipulators are prepared, a holding tool for holding the pipe A is attached to at least one of them, and the pipe assembly process such as brazing is attached to one of the other. A tool may be attached. Thereby, after the end face position of the pipe is measured and the pipe shape is corrected, the pipe can be assembled.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the case where the tip portion (vertex portion) of the conical measuring element 5 is inserted into the end face opening of the pipe A to perform position measurement is shown. If the opening diameter of the pipe is too small, the tip can hardly be inserted into the pipe. In this case, the measurement accuracy with respect to a slight deviation decreases.
Therefore, in the second embodiment, the detection unit is made detachable at the tip of the manipulator, and is replaced with a detection unit having a probe according to the dimensions of the pipe. Thereby, it is possible to accurately measure the end face position of the pipe. Moreover, you may attach the detection part provided with the measuring element which can perform various measurements with respect to piping.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of the detection unit of the pipe shape correcting device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Note that the configuration of the pipe shape correcting device according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, except for the detection unit attached to the tip of the manipulator. 6A is a side view of the detection unit 4A according to Embodiment 2, and FIG. 6B is a side view when the detection unit 4A is arranged at the pipe measurement position. Here, only the pipe A is shown in cross section.

The detection unit 4A shown in FIG. 6 is a detection unit that is detachably attached to the distal end of the arm 2a, and includes an XY movement unit 16, a length measurement sensor 17, a universal joint 18 with a rotation angle sensor, and a measuring element 19. Composed. The XY moving unit 16 is a unit that enables movement of the measuring element 19 in a direction parallel to the distal end surface of the arm 2a, and corresponds to the linear motion system of FIG.
The XY moving unit 16 is always biased to the origin position by a spring unless a moving force is applied to the probe 19. When the moving force is applied to the measuring element 19 and it slides, the length measuring sensor 17 detects the displacement amount in the sliding direction (the displacement amount in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction).

The universal joint 18 is a joint that connects the probe 19 to the detector 4A, and includes a rotation angle sensor that detects the rotation angle of the probe 19 from the joint origin position. For example, the rotation angle sensors are respectively attached to the rotation shaft portions of the universal joint 18, and the rotation angles in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction are detected from the rotation angles detected by the rotation angle sensors.
Further, the universal joint 18 is always biased to the joint origin position by a spring unless a rotational force is applied to the probe 19. When a rotational force is applied to the probe 19 and it rotates from the joint origin position, the rotation angle is detected by the angle sensor.
The measuring element 19 is a bar-shaped measuring element whose tip is sharpened so that the sharpest part is located at the axial center.

  When measuring the end surface position of the pipe A, the control unit 7a drives the manipulator based on the design coordinate position data input from the calculation unit 8a as shown in FIG. The detector 4A is moved to the design coordinate position. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6A, when the displacement of the probe 19 relative to the end face of the pipe A is less than ½ of the inner diameter of the pipe A, the measurement is performed as shown in FIG. The child 19 is inserted into the pipe A by moving so that its tip end slides on the inner edge of the opening of the pipe A.

  The length measurement sensor 17 detects the amount of displacement of the probe 19 until it is inserted into the pipe A, and the rotation angle sensor detects the rotation angle of the probe 19 until it is inserted into the pipe A. These detected amounts are sent to the calculation unit 8a. The calculation unit 8a calculates the difference from the design value of the pipe A using these detected amounts.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, since the detection unit 4A is detachable from the tip of the manipulator, the pipe assembly can be performed by exchanging the detection unit with a probe according to the measurement application. Various measurements can be made on the available dimensions.

  Moreover, in the said Embodiment 2, the measuring element 19 may be attached or detached with respect to the detection part 4A, and the measuring element according to the dimension and measurement content of piping may be attached suitably. With this configuration, various measurements can be performed on the dimensions that can be used for pipe assembly. For example, a probe for measuring the inner or outer diameter of the pipe may be attached.

  In the present invention, within the scope of the invention, any combination of each embodiment, any component of each embodiment can be modified, or any component can be omitted in each embodiment. .

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Piping shape correction apparatus, 2a-2d arm, 3a-3c joint part, 4 detection part, 5,19 Measuring element, 6 Hand chuck, 7 Control apparatus, 7a Control part, 7b Storage part, 8 Calculator, 8a Calculation part, 9 Monitor, 10 Jig, 11a, 11b Linear block part, 11c, 11d Rail part, 12a-12d Spring, 13 Shaft, 13a, 13b, 18 Universal joint, 14a, 14b Shaft receiving part, 15 Displacement sensor, 16 XY Mobile unit, 17 measuring sensor.

Claims (6)

In the pipe shape correcting device for correcting the shape of the pipe assembled based on the three-dimensional design data,
A manipulator in which a detection unit for detecting the displacement and rotation angle of the probe and a holder for holding the pipe are attached to the tip part;
A control unit for controlling the movement of the manipulator;
The control unit is instructed to move the detection unit to the design pipe end face position calculated based on the three-dimensional design data by the manipulator, and the actual pipe end face position detected by the detection unit The end face position of the actual pipe is calculated based on the displacement amount and the rotation angle of the probe with respect to, and if the difference between the design end face position and the actual end face position is outside the allowable range, the control unit A calculation unit that corrects the shape of the pipe so that the end face position of the actual pipe becomes the designed end face position by instructing and driving the manipulator holding the pipe with the holder A piping shape correcting device characterized by that. A storage unit that stores, as data, the difference between the end face position on the design of the pipe and the actual end face position, and the number of corrections for correcting the shape of the pipe,
The pipe shape according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit analyzes a tendency of increase / decrease in deviation from a design end face position and a tendency of increase / decrease in correction frequency using data stored in the storage unit. Correction device.   The pipe shape correcting device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is detachably attached to a distal end portion of the manipulator. A contact sensor attached to the tip of the holder;
2. The pipe shape correcting device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates an end face position of the actual pipe based on a contact position with respect to an end face of the actual pipe detected by the contact sensor. It further comprises a manipulator with a holding fixture for holding the pipe attached to the tip,
Holding the other end of the pipe holding one end with a holder attached to the tip of the manipulator with a holder attached to the tip of the other manipulator;
The arithmetic unit instructs the control unit to drive the other manipulator to correct the shape of the pipe so that the end face position of the actual pipe becomes the designed end face position. The piping shape correcting device according to claim 1, wherein   The pipe shape correcting device according to claim 1, wherein a pipe assembly jig is provided at a tip portion of the manipulator.

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