JP2745943B2 - Method and apparatus for assembling a vehicle body - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for assembling a car body, which conveys car body parts composed of panels constituting a car body and assembles them on an assembling stage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automobile body is composed of many panels, that is, body parts. For example, in a main body process of an automobile assembly line, a body side panel and the like are assembled to a floor main. The body side panel is composed of panel components such as a rear fender, a center pillar, a sill, a side roof rail, and the like, and the body side panel is assembled in a sub line provided on an upstream side of a main body process. When assembling relatively large panel components such as the floor main line, after the panel components are carried into the set stage, they are transported to the assembly stage in a loose state without temporary fixing at this stage, and this assembly is performed. At the stage, it is also possible to join the panel components to each other with a welding device. In such a system, the set stage has an advantage that it is not necessary to provide a welding device in addition to the locator.

[0003]

However, when assembling a relatively small panel component such as a sub-line, it is difficult to integrate the components in a loose state in the set stage. , It is necessary to perform temporary fixing using a welding device. In particular, in the current vehicle body production line, a plurality of types of vehicle bodies are mixed and conveyed on the same line. It is impossible to arrange welding and welding equipment because there is no space. On the other hand, by joining a large number of body parts directly into the assembly stage and joining the parts together in the assembly stage, as described above, a large number of positioning devices and welding are required for a plurality of types of body. It is necessary to arrange the devices, and interference occurs between the devices when working on a space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and has been made in consideration of the above-described problems. The purpose is to be able to carry and assemble.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of assembling a vehicle body in which a plurality of body parts are transported from a set stage for carrying in a plurality of body parts to an assembling stage by means of part transportation means and assembled. ,
A step of separately mounting each of the components at a stable support position provided in the component transporting unit, a step of transporting these components to an assembly stage in a mounted state, and a step of positioning the components in a component positioning unit of the assembly stage. A method for assembling a vehicle body, comprising: a step of re-mounting in an assembled shape; an assembling step of joining respective parts; and a step of carrying out the assembled parts to the next step by the part conveying means. Further, according to the present invention, a transport means for transporting components is provided between a set stage into which a plurality of components are loaded and an assembly stage for assembling the components, and the components loaded in the set stage are separately and stably supported. A support member mounted at a position is provided on the component transport means, and a positioning means for supporting the component in an assembled shape is provided on the assembly stage, and is transported from the set stage to the assembly stage while being mounted on the support member. An assembly device for a vehicle body, characterized in that a replacement robot for re-mounting the selected parts on the part positioning means in an assembled shape is provided on the part transport means.

[0006]

The vehicle body components are mounted at a stable support position with respect to the component conveying means in a mutually disjointed state. The mounted body parts are respectively conveyed from the set stage to the assembling stage by the part conveying means, and after being conveyed to the assembling stage, are mounted again in the final assembled shape by the replacement robot attached to the part conveying means. The re-mounted components are welded together and become integral with each other. As described above, the replacement robot provided in the component transfer means rearranges the assembly position from the stable support position to the assembly position. There is no need to arrange them. Also, since the replacement robot is provided in the component transfer means,
There is no need to temporarily weld parts at the set stage.

[0007]

Examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a part of a body side assembly line of a vehicle, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the set stage of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, a transfer bar T for transferring parts is provided between a set stage S and an assembly stage A. In this embodiment, the number of transfer bars T is two. The transfer bar T constitutes a transport unit. Each component is a component that has not been temporarily fixed, that is, a loose component, and is placed on a transfer bar T in the set stage S, and is conveyed to the assembly stage A by the transfer bar T. The position where each component is placed on the set stage S is shown in detail in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, a body side B constituting an automobile body has a center pillar 11, a sill 1
2, the front pillar 13, the side roof rail 14, and the rear fender 15. These body parts 11 to 15 are provided on the set stage S shown in FIG.
Is placed on the transfer bar T as described above. However, as shown in the figure, the body side B is not placed in an assembled shape, but placed in a stable support position where each part is in a stable state. . The sill 12 and the rear fender 15 are supported on the transfer bar T directly or via a support member.
Then, the center pillar 11 is placed on the transfer bar T in a stable posture via a support member 21 attached thereto, and the front pillar 13 and the side roof rail 14 are similarly placed on the transfer bar T with respect to the transfer bar T. It is placed in a stable posture via the support members 22 and 23 attached to the.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the support member 21 shown in FIG. 2, and a plurality of fingers 24 are vertically movable corresponding to a plurality of types of center pillars 11. Each finger 24 is driven vertically by a driving device 25. The other support members 22 and 23 have the same structure, and the number of fingers according to the type of the component to be placed, that is, the type of the sill 13 and the side roof 14 can be moved up and down, respectively. Therefore, each of the components 11 to 15 is placed at a stable support position with respect to the transfer bar T, and in this state, each of the components 11 to 15 is mounted on the transfer bar T.
Is transferred from the set stage S to the assembly stage A.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing the assembly stage A, and FIG. 5 is a right side view of FIG. For this assembly stage A, the center pillar 11, the front pillar 13, and the side roof rail 14 are each transported in a stable support state shown by a broken line by a transfer bar T, and the rear fender 15 and the sill 12 are shown by a two-dot chain line. It is conveyed in the stable support state shown, and in the assembly stage A, it is mounted again in an assembly shape as shown by a two-dot chain line and welded to each other.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the frame 30 of the assembly stage A has
There are provided a number of positioning members for positioning and holding at a position raised from the transfer bar T, and a welding device for welding the components to each other. Frame 30
Is provided with a positioning member 31 for holding the sill 12. These positioning members 31 can be moved forward and backward by a positioning device main body 31a, and can be moved up and down by moving the portion of the device main body 31a up and down. It is free.

In order to position and hold the front pillar 13, a positioning member 32 is provided at the bottom of the assembly stage A.
And a positioning member 33 is provided on the frame 30. The positioning member 33 is movable forward and backward and vertically movable by a positioning device main body 33a. In order to position and hold the center pillar 11, a positioning member 34 is provided on the bottom of the assembly stage A, and a positioning member 35 is provided on the frame 30. These positioning members 35 are movable forward and backward by a main body 35a, and It can be moved up and down freely.

Further, the rear fender 15 is held on the assembly stage A by a positioning member 36 provided on the bottom of the assembly stage A and a positioning member 37 provided on the frame.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, a replacement robot 41 is fixed on the transfer bar T via a leg 40. Since the replacement robot 41 is fixed on the transfer bar T in this manner, it performs the same movement as the transfer bar T,
It reciprocates between the set stage S and the assembly stage A together with the transfer bar T. The replacement robot 41 has a pedestal portion 42 integrated with the leg portion 40, and a first arm 44 is turned around a vertical center axis on a slide portion 43 attached to the pedestal portion 42 so as to be vertically movable. It is movably mounted. And this first arm 4
A second arm 45 is rotatably mounted on the end of the second arm 45 about a vertical axis. A plurality of clamp members 47 are provided on the robot hand 46 provided at the end of the second arm 45 in accordance with the components. Is provided. Thereby, the support member 2
The center pillar 11, the front pillar 13, and the side roof rails 14, which are supported by the transfer bar T from the set stage S to the assembly stage A and supported by the transfer bar T, are clamped on the hand 46 of the replacement robot 41. It is gripped by 47 and is replaced by the position of the assembled shape. The replaced state is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. After the parts are replaced, a number of welding robots 51 to 54 are mounted on the assembly stage A as shown in FIGS.
Is arranged. However, only a part of the welding robot is illustrated, and other welding robots are omitted.

Next, the operation order will be described. In the set stage S, the components 11 to 15 are mounted on the transfer bar T. That is, the center pillar 11, the front pillar 13, and the side roof rail 14 are respectively supported by the support members 2
1, 22 and 23, sill 12 and rear fender 1
5 is mounted at the position of the assembled shape, and each part is held on the transfer bar T in a stable state. The mounting of these components is performed by a robot (not shown), but may be performed by an operator or a replacement robot 41.

After all the parts to be conveyed are placed, the parts are conveyed by moving the transfer bar T. At this time, the replacement robot 41 fixed on the transfer bar T also moves from the set stage S to the assembly stage A together with the components. The component immediately after being conveyed to the assembly stage A is in a state where it is still mounted at the conveyance position as shown in FIG. The rear fender 15 and the sill 12 do not need to be replaced because the mounting position and the assembling position are the same. However, the components of the center pillar 11, the roof rail 14, and the front pillar 13 have different mounting positions and assembling positions.
Need to be replaced. So, transfer bar T
The part is replaced from the mounting position to the assembling position by the replacing robot 41 fixed to the position. Since the shape of each component is different, a predetermined clamp material corresponding to the component is selected to grip the component. In this way, the replacement robot 21 can use the clamp material 4 suitable for each part.
While selecting 7, the parts are sequentially replaced from the transport position to the assembly position. After the replacement is completed, the parts are joined to each other by the welding robots 51 to 54. When all parts have been replaced, the transfer bar T
After descending to the lower limit position, the support members 21 to 23 and the replacement robot 21 are moved to the set stage S. This returns to the state of receiving components again, and a new component is mounted and the component is conveyed to the assembly stage A. During this transfer operation,
The joined body side B is sequentially conveyed toward the next additional driving stage.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the components are placed at the stable support position with respect to the component transfer means, and the components are re-mounted on the assembly stage. Since the components can be welded on the assembly stage without being carried in, the layout of the assembly stage including many positioning devices and welding devices can be simplified, and interference between the devices can be prevented. In addition, since the replacement robot is mounted on the component transport means, the mounting position is not restricted by the relative positional relationship in the assembly shape of the components,
The parts can be stably and reliably conveyed by the parts conveying means. Further, since welding is performed after the components are mounted again in the assembly stage, it is insoluble to dispose the welding device on the set stage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a positional relationship between a transfer bar for transferring components from a set stage to an assembly stage and each stage;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the set stage shown in FIG. 1, and a plan view showing a mounting position of each component on a transfer bar;

3 is an arrow view along line 3-3 in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an assembling stage immediately after each part is conveyed in an assembling process;

5 is a right side view of FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a replacement robot fixed on a transfer bar,

FIG. 7 is a plan view of FIG. 6,

8 is a view taken in the direction of arrows along line 8-8 in FIG. 6,

9 is an arrow view along line 9-9 in FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

A: Assembly stage S: Set stage T:
Transfer bar 11 ... Center pillar 12 ... Sill 13
... front pillar 14 ... roof rail 15 ... rear fender 21
23 to support members 31 to 37 positioning members 41
Replacement robots 51 to 53 ... welding robots.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method of assembling a vehicle body in which a plurality of body parts are carried from a set stage for carrying in the body parts to the assembly stage by means of a part carrying means, and wherein the parts are provided on the part carrying means. A step of separately mounting the parts at the support position, a step of transporting these parts to the assembly stage in a mounted state, a step of re-mounting the parts in an assembly shape on the part positioning means of the assembly stage, and joining each part. And an assembling step, and a step of carrying out the assembled part to the next step by the part conveying means. 2. A transport means for transporting components is provided between a set stage into which a plurality of components are loaded and an assembly stage for mounting the components, and the components loaded in the set stage are separately and stably supported. A support member mounted at a position is provided on the component transfer means, a positioning means for supporting the component in an assembled shape is provided on the assembly stage, and is transported from the set stage to the assembly stage while being mounted on the support member An assembly apparatus for a vehicle body, wherein a replacement robot that re-places the selected component on the component positioning means in an assembled shape is provided on the component transport means.