JP2018058045A - Apparatus for applying viscous material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an application apparatus with a simplified configuration, which improves reliability in removing fouling at a tip of a nozzle for application.SOLUTION: The application apparatus includes: a nozzle 4 for application; nozzle moving means; and a cleaning device 8 for removing fouling, made of viscous material or the like, on an outer surface of the nozzle. The cleaning device 8 includes: a pair of resilient fouling removing members 81 which are disposed opposite each other, being able to advance toward and retract from each other so as to sandwich a tip portion 4a of the nozzle for application from both lateral sides thereof, so that, upon sandwiching the tip portion 4a of the nozzle for application, both sandwiching portions are deformed in a manner that comes in conformance with an outer peripheral surface of the tip portion 4a, each sandwiching portion being able to surround the half of the periphery of the tip portion 4a; and a device 84 for moving the removing members, which can advance and retract each of the fouling removing members 81 relative to the nozzle 4 for application, at least toward an opposing partner. Relative movement of the nozzle 4 for application with respect to the pair of fouling removing members 81 removes the fouling, the movement being in a direction where the nozzle is pulled out of the pair of fouling removing members sandwiching the tip portion 4a of the nozzle for application.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a viscous material coating apparatus having a function of removing excess viscous material and the like adhering to the outer peripheral surface of a nozzle tip when, for example, a viscous material such as an adhesive is applied to a printed circuit board.

In a coating device that discharges a highly viscous liquid coating material such as adhesive (hereinafter referred to as “viscous material”) from the coating nozzle onto the surface of the coating object, the viscous material is discharged onto the surface of the coating object. In the coating process, it is known that the viscous material attached to the outer peripheral surface of the nozzle tip affects the coating quality, and in order to remove this unnecessary viscous material, a new cleaning process is provided. It was necessary to clean the deposits regularly or irregularly to finish a stable coating shape.
As a conventional example, there is one equipped with a cleaning function that matches the characteristics of the viscous material used. For example, in Patent Document 1, a method of removing dirt by filling a brush portion with a coating nozzle and moving it up and down, left and right, a method of removing a contact nozzle with a sponge soaked with a volatile solvent, and In addition, a method of removing by ultrasonic cleaning is described.

JP-A-6-252541 (first page, FIGS. 1 and 2)

  In the conventional technique as described above, there is a need for complicated operation or re-adhesion problems in the method of moving the nozzle part in the brush part by moving up and down, left and right, and in the method using a volatile solvent, the viscous material is In addition to the case where it did not melt, there were problems such as an increase in environmental measures.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and it is possible to reliably remove extraneous materials such as a sticky material adhering to the outer surface of the tip of the coating nozzle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple viscous material coating apparatus.

  A viscous material application apparatus according to the present invention includes an application nozzle provided to apply a viscous material to a predetermined position of an object to be applied, and a nozzle moving means capable of moving the application nozzle to an arbitrary position. In the viscous material coating apparatus provided with a cleaning device that removes deposits on the outer surface of the tip of the coating nozzle, the cleaning device can advance and retreat with respect to each other so as to sandwich the tip of the coating nozzle from both sides. A pair of elastic members that are arranged so as to be opposed to each other and can be deformed so as to follow the outer peripheral surface of the tip portion when the tip portion of the coating nozzle is sandwiched and surround the half circumference of the tip portion. And a removing member moving device capable of moving the pair of deposit removing members forward and backward in at least the opposing direction with respect to the application nozzle. Is obtained so as to remove deposits by relatively moving in a direction of pulling the coating nozzle to a pair of said extraneous material removal member sandwiched tip of the nozzle.

  In the present invention, when the tip portion of the coating nozzle is sandwiched from both sides, the opposing surface portion is pressed against the nozzle tip portion and deforms so as to follow the outer peripheral surface of the nozzle tip portion, thereby enclosing each half circumference of the tip portion. Using an adhering material removing member having elasticity, the adhering material is removed by moving the coating nozzle relative to the pair of adhering material removing members sandwiching the tip of the coating nozzle. Since it did so, the deposit | attachment to the front-end | tip part outer surface of the nozzle for application | coating can be removed reliably, and a structure can also be simplified.

It is a perspective view which shows notionally the principal part of the coating device of the viscous material which concerns on Embodiment 1-3 of this invention. It is a side view which shows in detail the principal part structure of the cleaning apparatus shown by FIG. It is a top view explaining operation | movement of the deposit | attachment removal member of the cleaning apparatus shown by FIG. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view for explaining the operation of the cleaning device shown in FIG. 2. It is a perspective view explaining the principal part operation | movement of the coating device of the viscous material which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the control flow which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view conceptually showing a main part of a viscous material coating apparatus according to Embodiments 1 to 3 of the present invention, and shows an appearance of the coating apparatus. In the figure, a viscous material coating apparatus has a high viscosity such as a fixed table 2 placed in a direction in which a coating target portion of a coating target 1 such as a printed circuit board becomes an upper surface, and a syringe 3 filled in a syringe 3, for example. An application nozzle 4 that precisely applies a predetermined amount of a predetermined amount of viscous material by a minute amount by discharging a viscous material (not shown) from above the application object 1 by an air dispenser (not shown), and an application A monitoring camera 5 for monitoring the tip 4a of the nozzle 4, a position recognition camera 6 for recognizing the application position on the application target 1, the syringe 3, the application nozzle 4, the monitoring camera 5, and the position recognition camera 6 described above. Is moved to an arbitrary position on the object 1 to be coated with high accuracy, an X-axis drive mechanism 7X having a gantry structure, a Y-axis drive mechanism 7Y installed on the gantry, and the Y-axis drive mechanism 7Y A nozzle moving means 7 consisting of the installed Z-axis driving mechanism 7Z, includes a cleaning device 8 for removing viscous material or foreign matter adhered to the outer surface of the distal end portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4.

The cleaning device 8 is installed within a movable range of the application nozzle 4 by the nozzle moving means 7 on the side of the application target 1 on the fixed table 2.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing in detail the configuration of the main part of the cleaning device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a top view for explaining the operation of the deposit removing member of the cleaning device shown in FIG. (B) shows a state in which the tip 4a of the coating nozzle 4 is sandwiched between the deposit removal members 81. 4A and 4B are side sectional views for explaining the operation of the cleaning device shown in FIG. 2, wherein FIG. 4A is a view corresponding to FIG. 3A, and FIG. 4B is a view corresponding to FIG. Indicates a state in which the extraneous matter 9 such as an extra viscous material adhering to the outer surface of the tip of the coating nozzle is removed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning device 8 is made of an elastic material that constitutes a cleaning head that is disposed so as to face each other so as to be able to move forward and backward so as to sandwich the tip portion 4a including the discharge port of the coating nozzle 4 from both sides thereof. A gripping mechanism 82 using a pair of left and right attached matter removing members 81 and a knurled type fixing screw 82a that allows the attached matter removing members 81 to be attached / detached and fixed without a tool, and the gripping mechanism 82 respectively A Y-axis direction drive unit (not shown) that moves the pair of left and right attached matter removing members 81 forward and backward (including one that opens and closes by rotation) in the opposite direction (Y-axis direction), and attached matter removal With the member 81 sandwiching the tip portion of the coating nozzle 4 with a necessary force, the attached matter removing member 81 is moved downward along with the gripping mechanism 82 and the Y-axis direction driving portion. Composed for moving, with vertical sliding removal member moving device 84 having a Z-axis direction drive unit are not shown having upper and lower sliding mechanism base 83b which is attached via an arm 83a on.
The surveillance camera 5 shown in FIG. 1 will be described in the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the facing surface of the deposit removing member 81 disposed so as to face the cross section when viewed from the X-axis direction orthogonal to the facing surface sandwiches the tip portion 4 a of the coating nozzle 4. The upper end portion that is the side facing the base portion side (the upper side in the figure) of the nozzle forms a convex portion 81a that protrudes in the mating direction, and the nozzle that continues in the downward direction in the figure with respect to the convex portion 81a The tip part side (the lower part side in the figure) is a receding surface 81b formed so as to be inclined or recessed in the receding direction. Between the receding surfaces 81b facing each other, a void portion B is formed when the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4 is sandwiched as shown in FIG. 4B. ing. As shown in FIG. 4, the position of the convex portion 81 a of the deposit removing member 81 with respect to the coating nozzle 4 is the position where the deposit 9 such as extra viscous material or foreign matter adheres to the outer surface of the tip portion 4 a of the coating nozzle 4. It is good to arrange so as to be closer to the root part (upper part in the figure).

  Of course, the shape of the convex portion 81a, the receding surface 81b, and the like is not limited to the illustrated shape. The convex portion 81a needs to have a shape in which the thickness of the portion in contact with the tip portion 4a is suppressed so that a necessary force is applied to the portion sandwiching the coating nozzle 4, but the entire circumference of the cleaning target portion is formed. It is only necessary to secure the amount of deformation necessary for covering, the pinching force generated when the removal surface of the deposit removing member 81 is closed by the removing member moving device 84, and the elastic force of the elastic material used as the deposit removing member 81. And a desired shape within a range determined by the relationship between the outer diameter and the shape of the tip 4a of the coating nozzle 4. The receding surface 81b is not limited to a linear shape, and may be a curved surface or a shape including both a straight line and a curved line. Further, the deposit removing member 81 shown in FIG. 2 is configured to be vertically symmetrical with respect to the center line A in the vertical direction. For example, when the function of the convex portion 81a on the upper side deteriorates, the gripping mechanism is reversed. Although the usable period can be extended by attaching to 82, it is not particularly limited to a vertically symmetrical structure.

  In addition, the deposit removing member 81 is a consumable item, and a gripping mechanism 82 that holds the deposit removing member 81 can be replaced. By using it, it has a shape and structure that can be easily and easily performed without requiring a tool such as a screwdriver and can be attached with high accuracy. Further, the removing member moving device 84 is a fixed table so that the position of the abutting surface in the advancing / retreating direction or the opening / closing direction when the gap between the adhering matter removing members 81 facing each other is closed is free to some extent. 2 is configured to be swingable with respect to 2 and configured so that the force when sandwiching the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4 acts evenly on the tip portion 4a.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the material for the deposit removing member 81 is the outer periphery of the tip portion 4a when the tip portion 4a of the application nozzle 4 is sandwiched. It is desirable to have rubber elasticity that can be deformed so as to follow the surface shape and can be surrounded so as to be in close contact with the half circumference of the tip 4a. In addition, it is not necessary to be a porous thing which has air permeability and water absorption like a sponge or a felt material, for example. Specific examples of the material that can be preferably used as the deposit removing member 81 include, for example, urethane rubber and EPDM having a hardness of about Shore A32, but are not limited thereto.

  In the first embodiment, the coating material removal member 81 is moved downward with the tip 4a of the nozzle sandwiched between the coating nozzle 4 and the coating nozzle 4 is pulled upward. In order to reliably clean the entire circumference of the cylindrical tip portion 4a of the application nozzle 4, the attachment 9 attached to the periphery of the tip portion of the application nozzle 4 is removed. When it is sandwiched between the convex portions 81a of the deposit removing member 81, it is necessary to closely contact the entire periphery of the tip portion 4a without any gap. For this purpose, it is desirable to form the adhering material removing member 81 so that the area of the protrusions 81a of the deposit removing member 81 or the area where the protrusions 81a contact the outer peripheral surface of the tip 4a is as small as possible. .

  When the contact area increases, the tightening force, which is the closing force of the driving unit in the Y-axis direction of the removal member moving device 84, is dispersed in unnecessary portions other than the contact point with the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4 having a small size. This is not preferable. Here, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the cross-sectional shape of the convex portion 81 a is a triangular corner, so that the contact area is reduced. The tip 4a can be in close contact with the entire circumference without any gap. Thus, by forming the convex part 81a, the contact area is reduced to reduce the contact area, and when the convex part 81a of the deposit removing member 81 and the tip part 4a of the coating nozzle 4 are in contact with each other, The force is concentrated, and a necessary force is applied to the convex portion 81a of the deposit removing member 81, so that a stable deformation is obtained.

  With the above configuration, the pair of attached matter removing members 81 arranged symmetrically are not subjected to external force on the convex portion 81a serving as a contact surface with the coating nozzle 4 when the opposing surfaces are open to each other. While the gap is formed in a flat shape in the X-axis direction and having a constant interval as shown in FIG. 3A, the removal member moving device 84 sandwiches the coating nozzle 4. In the closed state, the convex portion 81a is deformed by the closing force of the removing member moving device 84 so as to closely adhere to the outer periphery of the tip end portion 4a of the application nozzle 4 as shown in FIG. As shown, the nozzle tip is in close contact with the entire circumference.

The position recognition camera 6 has a nozzle moving means 7 so as to move the application nozzle 4 with high accuracy with respect to an application target position in the XY coordinates and Z-axis (height) direction set in advance on the application object 1. Since this is a part where the conventional method can be appropriately selected and used, detailed description thereof will be omitted.
In addition to the above, there is provided a control device including storage means for controlling the operation of the nozzle moving means 7 of the coating device, the removal member moving device 84 of the cleaning device 8, and the like. However, illustration is abbreviate | omitted similarly.

  Next, the operation of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described. It is assumed that the pair of adhering matter removing members 81 opposed to each other in the cleaning device 8 are moved in the retracting direction by the removing member moving device 84 and opened between the opposing surfaces at a constant interval. Further, although the timing for cleaning the coating nozzle 4 is not particularly limited, in the first embodiment, coating is sequentially performed on the coating object 1 at a plurality of coating positions determined by design specifications. It is performed when the number of times of application reaches a predetermined number of times.

  When the coating nozzle 4 is cleaned, the opposing surfaces of the pair of deposit removing members 81 are opened as shown in FIG. 2, and the center of the gap between the convex portions 81a when held in the stationary state at the raised position. At the position, the cylindrical tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4 to be cleaned is placed on the gantry X-axis drive mechanism 7X and the Y-axis drive installed on the gantry of the X-axis drive mechanism 7X. It is moved by the mechanism 7Y and further lowered in the Z-axis direction by the Z-axis drive mechanism 7Z installed on the Y-axis drive mechanism 7Y as shown in FIGS. The lowering position is such that the tip (lower end portion in the figure) of the application nozzle 4 is on the lower side of the figure relative to the vertical position of the opposed convex portions 81a, and the upper end of the convex portion 81a is applied. It is set so as to face the root portion of the tip portion 4a of the nozzle 4 for use. At this time, since the deposit removing member 81 is in an open state, there is no contact between the deposit 9 attached to the outer peripheral surface of the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4 and the deposit removing member 81, and the convex portions 81a are mutually connected. The vertical position is located on the base side of the tip end portion 4a, and the attachment position of the deposit 9 is located on the lower side.

  Next, the Y-axis direction driving unit (not shown) provided in the removal member moving device 84 is operated to move the opposed deposit removal member 81 in the closing direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 3B and 4B, the tip end portion 4a of the application nozzle 4 is sandwiched between the convex portions 81a of the pair of adhering matter removing members 81 opposed to each other. By the operation of sandwiching the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4, the outer peripheral surface of the tip portion 4a is any portion where the convex portions 81a of the deposit removing member 81 made of an elastic material sandwich the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the tip portion 4a is sandwiched so as to cover the upper part of the deposit 9 of the coating nozzle 4 so as to surround the half circumference of the tip portion 4a. . At this time, the deposit 9 and the receding surface 81b of the deposit removing member 81 come into contact with each other. Since the left and right convex portions 81a are in close contact with each other, the deposit 9 does not move upward.

  Thus, by suppressing the thickness of the convex portion 81a and making the structure easy to deform, it is possible to sandwich the entire circumference of the coating nozzle 4 with the convex portion 81a of the deposit removing member 81. Further, when the position of the coating nozzle 4 is deviated from the center of the adhering matter removing member 81, the force to be sandwiched with respect to the coating nozzle 4 is not evenly applied, and a gap occurs due to a state where the nozzles are in contact with each other. However, the removal member moving device 84 is in a state where the gap between the opposing deposit removal members 81 is closed, the position in the forward / backward direction or the opening / closing direction is not regulated, and the swing is free within a certain range. Since it is a possible support structure, it is possible to apply a force equally to the right and left with respect to the coating nozzle 4, so that a gap due to a single contact does not occur. Therefore, it is possible to stably realize a state in which the convex portions 81 a of the deposit removing member 81 are evenly adhered to the coating nozzle 4.

  Next, as shown by an arrow D in FIG. 4B, while maintaining the state where the outer peripheral surface of the tip 4 a of the application nozzle 4 is closely attached by the convex portion 81 a of the deposit removing member 81. The adhering substance removing member 81 is lowered by the Z-axis direction driving unit (not shown) of the removing member moving device 84 having the vertical sliding mechanism base 83b attached via the vertical sliding arm 83a. The adhering material 9 such as a viscous material adhering to the periphery of the front end portion 4a of the nozzle 4 is removed or wiped off. In this operation, after the operation of closing the deposit removing member 81 in contact with the deposit 9 and the deposit removing member 81 shown in FIG. 4B, the application nozzle 4 is moved relative to the coating nozzle 4 while keeping the closed state. Thus, the cleaning is completed by wiping away the adhering material 9 such as a viscous material adhering to the tip end portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4. Further, since the void portion B is formed by the receding surface 81b, the wiped deposit 9 remains on the receding surface 81b and is prevented from spreading greatly along the opposing surface. After that, the opposing deposit removing members 81 are moved in the backward direction by a Y-axis direction driving unit (not shown) to open the opposing surface.

As described above, the adhering substance 9 and the adhering substance removing member 81 come into contact with each other, so that the adhering substance 9 such as a foreign object can be reliably removed by one operation. Reattachment of the viscous material to the application nozzle 4 can also be prevented. In addition, after the operation of closing the deposit removing member 81 with respect to the coating nozzle 4, the sticking material 9 such as a viscous material adhered to the periphery of the tip portion 4 a of the coating nozzle 4 by a simple operation of the descent operation once. Therefore, the time required for cleaning is shortened.
When removing the deposit 9 attached to the coating nozzle 4, the deposit removing member 81 is lowered by the removing member moving device 84. Instead, the coating nozzle 4 is moved to the nozzle moving means 7. It can be lifted up by. In that case, the configuration of the removal member moving device 84 can be simplified.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the adhering material 9 such as a viscous material adhering to the outer surface of the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4 can be easily and reliably removed, and the configuration is simplified. Can do. In addition, the cleaning process basically includes only two operations, that is, an operation of sandwiching the nozzle tip portion and an operation of pulling out the nozzle tip portion while the nozzle tip portion is sandwiched, so that the time required for cleaning can be shortened. Further, since the wiping of the deposit 9 is completed in one operation in one direction, it is possible to avoid reattachment of the deposit once removed to the nozzle tip, and the required time can be shortened, so that the efficiency as a viscous material coating apparatus can be reduced. Can be increased.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining the main operation of the viscous material applying apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the deposit 9 around the tip of the coating nozzle 4 is removed by operating in the direction of pulling out the tip of the coating nozzle 4 with the deposit removing member 81 interposed therebetween. The adhered matter wiped off sometimes remains from the lower part of the convex part 81a of the adhered substance removing member 81 to the upper part of the receding surface 81b. In the continuous operation during the automatic operation, when the cleaning operation is performed at the same position of the convex portion 81a, the adhered matter that has been removed in the past and adhered to the adhered matter removing member 81 reappears around the tip portion of the coating nozzle 4. There is a risk of sticking, or the sticky material wiped off on the deposit removing member 81 accumulates and the residual amount increases or hardens, whereby the convex portion 81a cannot be deformed normally, and the entire circumference of the tip portion of the coating nozzle 4 There is a possibility that normal cleaning cannot be obtained.

  In the second embodiment, the occurrence of such a problem is eliminated, and the general configuration of the coating apparatus itself is substantially the same as that shown in FIGS. The description will be made with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 as necessary, focusing on the dimension of the deposit removing member 81 in the depth direction (X-axis direction in FIG. 2) and the control operation of the controller not shown. FIG. 5 conceptually shows a plurality of cleaning execution positions in a perspective view in a state in which the opposing surfaces of the opposed pair of attached matter removing members 81 are closed. In FIG. 5, the deposit removing member 81 is formed in a structure having a depth in which the dimension in the X-axis direction is increased, and the control operation by the control device not shown is performed by the nozzle moving means 7 shown in FIG. 1. The lowering position of the coating nozzle 4 is performed so that the contact position E sequentially shifts in the X-axis direction as E1 → E2 → E3 every time the cleaning operation is performed. That is, a plurality of contact positions E with the tip portion 4a of the application nozzle 4 at the time of cleaning are provided on the deposit removing member 81. The operation of sequentially shifting the contact position E can also be performed by adding an X-axis direction moving mechanism to the removal member moving device 84 of the cleaning device 8.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, the pair of adhered matter removing members 81 opposed to each other have a depth in the X-axis direction orthogonal to the facing surface, and the coating nozzle 4 is formed by the pair of adhered matter removing members 81. The contact position E of the coating nozzle 4 with respect to the deposit removing member 81 when the sheet is sandwiched is sequentially shifted in the X-axis direction, so that the deposit removing member 81 is re-applied to the coating nozzle 4 during the cleaning operation. Contamination can be eliminated, and it is possible to automatically and reliably perform cleaning in a clean area where the removed viscous material from the previous cleaning operation has not adhered, and stable automatic cleaning operations can be performed multiple times. It becomes possible. Accordingly, since no manpower is required during that time, it is possible to obtain an effect that it is possible to extend the continuous unmanned operation for a long time.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
If a viscous material or the like adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4, the fine viscous material precisely discharged by the dispenser remains around the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4 and the coating amount becomes insufficient. What is left in the application nozzle 4 at the time of the previous application is combined and applied to the application object 1 to increase the application amount, resulting in a variation in the application amount, or a viscous material discharged from the tip 4a. There is a problem in that, for example, the application position is shifted due to being unable to discharge straightly in a form that is pulled by the foreign matter adhering to the outer surface of the distal end portion 4a. Therefore, in order to realize stable micro-coating, it is necessary to always keep the periphery of the tip of the coating nozzle 4 in a clean state free from adhesion of foreign substances such as viscous materials.

  In this third embodiment, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is possible to remove deposits more reliably in a short time even if deposits are generated on the side surface of the nozzle at an unexpected timing. Therefore, in the apparatus configuration of the first embodiment, the monitoring camera 5 shown in FIG. 1 is used so that the occurrence of the deposit 9 on the tip portion 4a of the coating nozzle 4 can be detected at all times. Others are the same as those in the first and second embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, and thus the description of the external device configuration is omitted. The monitoring camera 5 shown in FIG. 1 is a nozzle moving means that moves integrally with the coating nozzle 4 or together with the coating nozzle 4 so that the tip 4a of the coating nozzle 4 can be always imaged. 7 is installed.

  In the third embodiment, the control device (not shown) has a function of recognizing the tip portion 4a of the application nozzle 4 by image processing based on image information obtained by the monitoring camera 5, and the presence (attachment) of the deposit 9 on the tip portion 4a. Detection of presence / absence of the kimono 9 and the size or amount of the deposit 9 can be detected from comparison with imaging data in which the tip 4a recorded in the past and recorded in the storage unit is clean, and information thereof And a function of operating the cleaning device 8 according to the determination result.

  Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be described. During the coating process, a control device (not shown) always monitors the tip of the coating nozzle 4 with the monitoring camera 5 to monitor the coating state, and each time the coating operation on the coating object 1 is completed. Then, the tip of the coating nozzle 4 is imaged. For the purpose of detecting adhesion of foreign substances suddenly attached during normal application operation, the amount of adhesion 9 such as a viscous material that affects the application quality and the position where it adheres are detected from the captured image and automatically determined. Two-dimensional image processing is performed.

  The realization of this function cannot be performed with a fixed camera because the application execution position on the application object 1 changes every time. In the third embodiment, an X-axis drive mechanism 7X having a gantry structure, a Y-axis drive mechanism 7Y installed on the gantry, and a Z-axis drive mechanism 7Z installed on the Y-axis drive mechanism 7Y are moved and arbitrarily moved. The positional relationship between the application nozzle 4 and the monitoring camera 5 does not change so that the same imaging state can be obtained even if the position is the position No. regardless of the application completion position by installing the monitoring camera 5 on the Z-axis drive mechanism 7Z. Stable imaging of the tip portion of the coating nozzle 4 is possible.

  When an adhering substance 9 such as a viscous material is detected at the tip of the coating nozzle 4 from the image processing result of the imaging information by the monitoring camera 5, the cleaning operation is normally performed at the timing when the coating operation is completed a set number of times. However, in the third embodiment, the cleaning instruction for the coating nozzle 4 can be promptly performed even if the set number of cleaning intervals has not been reached. More specifically, for example, the level of the adhering material 9 when performing the cleaning operation is obtained in advance by experiments or the like, and set as a threshold value at the time of determination, so that the outer surface of the tip portion 4a of the adhering material 9 such as a viscous material. The cleaning operation is configured to be performed promptly when necessary, for example, when the amount stored in the memory increases suddenly.

  The longer the remaining time of the viscous material attached to the coating nozzle 4 is, the more the sticking proceeds and the cleaning becomes difficult. However, when the amount of the attached material 9 is a small amount that does not reach the above-described threshold, The timer is activated when the first small amount of deposit 9 is detected after the first time or after cleaning, and after that, if the threshold is not reached until a predetermined time elapses, the cleaning operation is performed at the timing when the set time elapses. By doing so, it is possible to eliminate the problem of the adhering viscous material solidifying.

  As described above, in the third embodiment, during the coating process, the vicinity of the tip 4a of the coating nozzle 4 is constantly monitored by the monitoring camera 5, and the outer surface of the tip 4a of the coating nozzle 4 is obtained by two-dimensional image processing. The presence or absence and the amount (size) of the adhering substance 9 are observed. The cleaning operation is performed not only when the amount of deposit 9 accumulated on the outer surface of the tip 4a suddenly increases by setting the amount of deposit 9 determined in advance by experiments or the like as a threshold value for determination. The cleaning process can be performed promptly and reliably when necessary, and the effect that the surface of the tip of the coating nozzle can be kept free from contamination can be obtained.

  As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the determination is performed in the following order, but the coating operation is performed only when all the determinations are satisfactory. First, a determination is made of the passage of time that is difficult to remove due to sticking, and cleaning is performed if the set time has passed. If the set time has not elapsed, the application request is confirmed, and if there is no request, the process returns to the top of the flowchart. If there is an application request, it is checked whether the number of applications after the final cleaning has reached the set number. If it has reached, clean it. Even if it has not reached, if it is determined from the nozzle tip image immediately before application that there is an adhering substance, cleaning is performed, and only when it is determined that there is no adhering substance, the application operation is performed.

  It should be noted that within the scope of the present invention, a part or all of each embodiment can be freely combined, or each embodiment can be appropriately modified or omitted.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Application object, 2 Fixed table, 3 Syringe, 4 Application nozzle, 4a Tip part, 5 Monitoring camera, 6 Position recognition camera, 7 Nozzle moving means, 7X X axis drive mechanism, 7Y Y axis drive mechanism, 7Z Z axis Drive mechanism, 8 cleaning device, 81 deposit removal member, 81a convex portion, 81b retracted surface, 82 gripping mechanism, 82a fixing screw, 83a vertical sliding arm, 83b vertical sliding mechanism base, 84 removal member moving device, 9 attached Kimono, A center line, B void, E (E1, E2, E3) Contact position.

Claims (5)

An application nozzle provided so as to apply a viscous material to a predetermined position of the application object, a nozzle moving means that can move the application nozzle to an arbitrary position, and an attachment to the outer surface of the tip of the application nozzle. In the applicator for the viscous material provided with the cleaning device for removing the kimono,
The cleaning device is arranged to face each other so as to be able to advance and retreat so as to sandwich the tip of the coating nozzle from both sides thereof,
When the tip part of the application nozzle is sandwiched, a pair of adhering material removal members having elasticity capable of deforming so as to follow the outer peripheral surface of the tip part so as to surround the half circumference of the tip part. When,
A removal member moving device capable of advancing and retreating the pair of adhering matter removing members with respect to the application nozzle in at least the opposing direction,
An apparatus for applying a viscous material, wherein the deposit is removed by moving the nozzle for application relative to a pair of the deposit removing members sandwiching the tip of the coating nozzle.   The cross-sectional shape in a side view from the direction orthogonal to the opposing surfaces of the adhering matter removing members forms a convex portion in which an end portion on the side facing the base portion side of the application nozzle protrudes in the opposite direction, The side facing the tip of the coating nozzle connected to the convex part forms a receding surface formed to be inclined or recessed in the receding direction, and when the tip part of the coating nozzle is sandwiched, the convex part is 2. The viscous material coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a half circumference of the tip portion is surrounded.   3. The viscous material coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the deposit removing member is made of a rubber material.   The contact position between the deposit removing member and the coating nozzle when the coating nozzle is sandwiched between the pair of deposit removing members is sequentially shifted in a direction perpendicular to the advancing / retreating direction of the deposit removing member. The viscous material coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the viscous material coating apparatus is provided.   A monitoring camera provided in the nozzle moving means so as to move together with the coating nozzle or so as to move together with the coating nozzle so that the tip of the coating nozzle can be imaged, and imaging data of the monitoring camera From the image information when the tip of the coating nozzle is clean and the image information of the tip of the coating nozzle after the application of the viscous material is attached to the tip of the coating nozzle And a control unit that functions to detect adhesion of the viscous material and operate the cleaning device based on the detection result. Viscous material coating device.

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