JP2785881B2 - Automatic removal method of cap and automatic removal device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a case where components such as a differential case are provided inside a body, and an opening is provided.
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for automatically removing a cap of a device in which the opening is sealed with a cap to prevent dust and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automobile engine, a transmission case, a differential case and the like are sub-assembled in separate steps and assembled in an engine assembling step.

When the differential case is transferred from another process to an engine assembling process or the like,
A synthetic resin cap is attached to the opening to prevent intrusion of dust and damage to the seal portion, and to prevent leakage of the lubricant or the like contained therein.

[0004] In such a differential case, when assembling the engine, it is necessary for an operator to remove the cap with a tool such as a drawer bar, and the work of removing the thin, flexible cap press-fitted into the opening. Is difficult to remove, it is also troublesome, cumbersome, and the workability is poor.Moreover, the flange of the cap is forcibly digged with a screwdriver, etc., and the periphery of the opening may be damaged. At the time of connection, there is a possibility that the seal portion may be damaged because the seal portion is formed. Therefore, the operation of removing the cap from the differential case has been difficult as a special operation in the past, and it has been difficult to automate the operation, and the operation has to be careful and the efficiency has to be reduced.

As a prior art, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-21385 discloses a cap attaching / detaching mechanism. In this technique, a cap having a flange portion which is larger than an opening and which protrudes outward from the opening is used. It is a technique of picking and removing parts and attaching them.

[0006]

The above prior art employs a configuration in which a flange having a flange projecting outward from the opening is gripped and removed from the cap, while the opening of the differential case is adopted. The cap attached to the opening to close the part is thin and has a flange part, but the flange part is in close contact with the flat seal part around the opening part, and in the above technology, the flange part is pinched Is impossible and cannot be adopted.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide a cap which is press-fitted into an opening and whose flange does not protrude outward from the periphery of the opening. Provided is a method and apparatus for removing a cap, which can automatically and reliably remove the cap without damaging a seal portion around an opening, thereby improving workability and improving work efficiency. It is in.

[0008]

Means for solving the above-mentioned problems include a device such as a differential case of an automobile in which components are provided inside a container-like body and an opening is provided in a part of the body. Removing the hat-shaped cap press-fitted into and attached to the opening of the device, wherein a suction cup faces the outside of the cap of the device, the suction cup is brought into close contact with the outer surface of the cap, and a negative pressure is applied to the suction cup. Is supplied to the suction cup to adsorb the cap, and thereafter, the suction cup is moved to the outside to remove the cap, thereby automatically removing the cap.

[0009] Further, the components are provided inside a container-like body, and a hat-shaped cap fitted and pressed into the opening of a device such as a differential case of an automobile having an opening in a part of the body is removed. An apparatus comprising a suction cup at a tip end, an arm configured to be able to move up and down, and to move forward and backward,
A cap removal device including a negative pressure supply pipe connected to a negative pressure source that supplies a negative pressure to the suction cup.

[0010]

According to the above means, the cap attached to the opening of the differential case or the like has a suction cup which comes into close contact with the outside of the cap, the suction cup sucks the cap, and the cap is a synthetic resin having flexibility. Then, the cap is deformed by the suction action, detaches from the opening, is sucked by the suction cup, and is moved outward, whereby the cap is automatically removed from the opening.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a cap removing device, in which a differential case is set in a cap removing position, FIG. 2 is a side view in which the cap removing device is set in a cap, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing a state before setting a cap removing device in a differential case, FIG. 4 is a partial longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 5 is the same as FIG. 4 in a state where a suction cup is set in a cap. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing a state where the cap is sucked and removed.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a transfer line such as an engine assembly line. In this embodiment, the transfer line 1 is constituted by a roller conveyor 2 provided on a floor F, and a work W composed of a differential case is placed on the pallet 3 on the roller conveyor 2. Is transported through The pallet 3 has handles 4 and 4 on the front and rear,
The work is placed at the loading station on the upstream side, and is conveyed to the downstream side by the roller conveyor 2. The figure shows the cap removing station A.

The pallet 3 stops transporting at the cap removing station A and waits at this position. A cap removing device 5 is provided above the removing station A,
The apparatus 5 is supported on a substrate 8 suspended by a plurality of elevating cylinders 7 suspended from a support beam 6 disposed above the roller conveyor 2, and on the lower surface of the rear half of the substrate 8 so as to be movable back and forth. A rear support substrate 9 is provided, and a gripping / fixing mechanism for a workpiece W including a front / rear cylinder 11 fixed to a lower end portion of an arm 10 suspended from the rear and a chuck 12 attached to a rod of the front / rear cylinder 11 is provided. .

A front support substrate 13 is disposed on the front lower surface of the substrate 8 via rails 14, and supports arms 15, 16 extending downward and downward at right and left spaces apart from each other. At least, the upper end bases 15-1, 16- of the arms 15, 16
1 is supported slidably in the left-right direction via rails 17 of the support substrate 13, while cylinders 18, 18 are disposed at the center of the support substrate 13 symmetrically in the horizontal direction. Arm 18 with 18 rods 18-1 and 18-1
5 and 16 are connected to the upper end bases 15-1 and 16-1.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the arms 15, 16 can slide left and right by the operation of the cylinders 18, 18. On the other hand, a front and rear cylinder 19 is disposed between the front and rear support substrates 13 and 9, and the support substrates 13 and 9, that is, the arms 15 and 16 and the chuck 12 can be adjusted in front and rear positions by the cylinder 19. Have been.

The lower ends 15 of the arms 15 and 16
2, 16-2, as clearly shown in FIG.
The suction cups 20 and 20 face inward so as to face each other, and include a base 21 screwed to lower ends 15-2 and 16-2 of the arm, and a cup 22 at the tip. The suction cups 20 are each connected to a negative pressure source by a tube 23.

On the other hand, the differential case W is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, a mechanism W2 such as a differential gear is provided in the main body W1, and openings W3 and W3 are provided on the left and right sides. The openings are connected to an output shaft, a drive shaft, and the like in a later engine assembly process. . A hat-shaped cap C is fitted in the openings W3 and W3, and the cap C is shown to be slightly different in the left and right in the embodiment, but the basic structure is the same except for the depth dimension, and , A annular portion C2 on the inner side of one stage, a bottom portion C3 on the back, and the like. Such a cap C
Are press-fitted into the left and right openings W3 and W3, and the cap is formed of a flexible synthetic resin.

In the above, the differential case W is transported to the cap removing station A as shown in FIG.
Stop at this position. The cap removing device 5 waits upward as shown in the figure, and after the differential case W is carried in,
The substrate 8 is moved down by operating the cylinders 7... First, the chuck 12 is moved forward and backward by the cylinder 11 for positioning, and the rear end of the differential case W is gripped and fixed. This is shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.

When the substrate 8 is lowered, the suction cups 20 at the lower end portions of the arms 15 and 16 become the same height as the height of the cap C. As shown in FIG. 4, the suction cups 20, 20 are arranged at positions separated from the left and right caps C, C of the differential case W.

Next, the arms 15, 16 are moved to the cylinders 18, 1
By the operation of 8, the suction cups 20 are moved in the direction of the caps C, and finally the suction cups 20, 20 are brought into close contact with the caps C, C. The peripheral portion of each cup portion 22 of the suction cups 20 and 20 comes into close contact with the outer surface of the flange portion C1 of each cap C, and then introduces a negative pressure into the cup 22 via a tube 23. As a result, the cap C is sucked by the suction cup 20, and as shown in FIG.
6 is deformed from the inner diameter portion W4 of FIG. With the continuation of suction, the cap is finally opened W3.
Separate from the inner diameter of. The suction acts on the outside of the opening W3 in which the cap C is fitted in the axial direction, and the cap C is deformed to the outside of the fitted opening W3 of the differential case W, so that the opening W3 is easily and surely formed. Can be separated from. After that, the arms 15, 16 are moved in a direction away from the openings W3, W3, so that the suction cups 20, 20 are also separated,
The caps C, C move outward while being sucked and held by the suction cups 20, 20, that is, the cap C is removed from the opening W3. This is shown in FIG.

Thereafter, when the negative pressure of the arms 15 and 16 is released, the cap C is released from the suction cup 20, and the release is performed only by releasing the negative pressure without any special manual work. Since it is sucked and removed by the suction cup 20 and is not damaged, the removed cap C can be used as a cap in the opening of another differential case W as it is, and therefore, it can be reused repeatedly. is there. The differential case W from which the cap C has been removed is conveyed to the engine assembling step by the roller conveyor 2, and is assembled to the engine.

[0022]

As apparent from the above, according to the present invention,
First, since the hat-shaped cap is vacuum-sucked and detached from the opening, the cap is sucked in the axial direction of the opening by the suction, deformed, and can be easily and reliably removed from the opening. Because it is suction, it does not damage the periphery of the opening or the cap, which would be removed with a tool like a conventional tool, and the opening of the differential case becomes a seal, etc., when the engine is assembled. Therefore, the cap can be removed smoothly without damaging the seal portion at all.

Next, since the cap-shaped cap fitted to the opening is removed by suction, the flange of the cap-shaped cap only has to be sucked, so that the positioning accuracy of the suction cup with respect to the cap can be rough, and therefore the cap of the cap can be roughened. Automatic removal is possible, and the automatic removal mechanism can also be configured with a simple device, so that the removal of the cap can be automated with a simple configuration, and the removed cap can be suctioned and removed to its original shape after removal. Thus, the cap has many advantages such as being reusable and economical.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cap removing device, in which a differential case is set at a cap removing position.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state in which the cap removing device of FIG. 1 is set on a cap.

FIG. 3 is a view from the front side of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of a part before setting a cap removing device in a differential case, and a partial longitudinal sectional view;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state where a suction cup is set on a cap,
Enlarged front view similar to FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which a cap is sucked and removed.
Figure similar to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

14, 15: arm, 20: suction cup, 23: negative pressure supply pipe, W: differential case, W1: body,
W3: Opening, C: Cap.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] Claims 1. A component body is provided inside a container-like body,
A method of removing a hat-shaped cap that is press-fitted into an opening of a device such as a vehicle differential case having an opening in a part of a body, with a suction cup facing the outside of the cap of the device, The cap, wherein the suction cup is brought into close contact with the outer surface of the cap, a negative pressure is supplied to the suction cup to cause the suction cup to adsorb the cap, and then the suction cup is moved outward to remove the cap. Automatic removal method. 2. The cap according to claim 1, wherein the cap is made of a material such as synthetic resin having flexibility, and is deformed to the outside of the opening by the suction action of the suction cup, and is detached from the opening. 1. Automatic removal method of cap. 3. Component parts are provided inside a container-like body,
A device for removing a hat-shaped cap press-fitted into and attached to an opening of a device such as an automobile differential case having an opening in a part of a body, comprising a suction cup at a distal end, and capable of moving up and down and moving forward and backward. An automatic cap removing device comprising: a freely configured arm; and a negative pressure supply pipe connected to a negative pressure source to apply a negative pressure to the suction cup.