JP2939005B2 - Aluminum casting plant - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an aluminum casting plant for casting a hollow aluminum product using a core.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, for an automobile intake manifold, it is common to cast aluminum using a core. For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-1096, a casting line is used. Alternatively, in a casting machine, the core is placed in the lower mold, the mold is clamped (the upper and lower molds are clamped), and the steps of pouring, cooling (forming), opening the mold, and removing the product are performed.

Therefore, in the aluminum casting process using a core, it is necessary to accurately place the core at a predetermined position in the mold.
As shown in the above publication, a core previously transferred near a mold is clamped by a clamp device, and then the clamp device is lifted, horizontally conveyed over the mold, and lowered into the mold. It is common to put in.

[0004]

However, since the core is fragile and has a considerable weight, there is a possibility that the core may be damaged by some kind of impact while being clamped and transported. In addition, the core must be carefully transported in order to prevent the above-mentioned impact, and it takes time to transport the core, and there is a possibility that the productivity of the plant is limited by the core handling time. In addition, there were cases where the gripping portion was damaged due to the gripping position when gripping the core or the degree of the gripping force, and the core was defective.

[0005] In view of the above problems, the present inventors dispose a core forming machine and a casting machine using the core within a hand turning range of a stationary robot for core handling.
The core taken out of the core molding machine can be loaded into the casting machine only by turning the hand, eliminating the need to hold the core several times and eliminating the need to construct a long core transfer line. It has been found that excellent effects can be achieved in saving space and preventing core breakage. Also, in such an aluminum casting plant, by making the average core molding cycle time of the core molding machine equal to the average casting cycle time of the casting machine, there is no waste or shortage of the core molding, and both are operated in synchronization. Can be efficient.

[0006] However, even in such an aluminum casting plant, the core molding machine or the casting machine may sometimes malfunction, and when the core molding is defective, the casting machine is closed once and productivity is reduced. Would. In addition, when the casting cycle of the casting machine is not performed properly, the core formed by bending is one time excess. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an aluminum casting plant capable of preventing a decrease in productivity by using an excess core generated at the time of defective casting cycle at the time of defective core molding. For that purpose.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aluminum casting plant according to the present invention comprises a non-movable multi-indirect robot having a hand operable in a three-dimensional working space having a predetermined radius around a base; A casting machine disposed in the space for casting an aluminum product with a predetermined average casting cycle time, and a core disposed in the three-dimensional working space and formed with an average core forming cycle time equal to the average casting time. A core forming machine, and a temporary placing table which is disposed in the three-dimensional working space and temporarily stores the formed core, wherein the robot casts the core taken out from the core forming machine. An aluminum casting plant for loading into a machine, wherein the robot comprises:
While temporarily storing the core molded by the core molding machine in the temporary placement table when the casting cycle of the casting machine is defective, the core of the temporary placement table when the core molding of the core molding machine is defective. The core is loaded into the casting machine.

[0008]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of an aluminum casting plant of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of the plant, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. This plant includes a first casting machine 1, a second casting machine 2, a core molding machine 4, a wire mesh feeding machine 5, a silver powder coating device 6, Taking device 7,
The temporary placing stand 8 is provided.

The robot 3 is a non-movable type in which a base, that is, a base 31 is fixed to the floor, and a tiltable post 32 is erected on the base 31. At the top of the post 32, a base of a hand 33 is supported so as to be tiltable, and at the tip of the hand 33, as shown in FIG. 3, there is provided a palm 34 which can rotate in a vertical plane. The palm 34 is provided with a core chuck device 9 for core handling as shown in FIG. These post 32 and hand 33
FIG. 2 shows the reachable range (working range) of the core chuck device 9 in the vertical plane due to the tilt of the palm 34.
Indicated by

The casting machine 1 and the casting machine 2 are commonly used, and include a table 11 capable of reciprocating in the z-direction shown in FIG. 2, a lower mold 12 placed on the table 11, and A frame 14 is provided above the table 11 for holding the upper die 13 so as to be vertically movable. The core molding machine 4 has substantially the same configuration as the casting machines 1 and 2, and includes a lower mold 42 held on a fixed bed 41 and an upper mold 4 that can move vertically on the lower mold 42.
And 3.

The wire mesh feeder 5 includes lower molds 12 of the casting machines 1 and 2.
A wire mesh for a filter is placed on a sprue 15 (see FIG. 2) provided in a wire mesh roll 51 as shown in FIG.
After gripping the leading end of the wire mesh 50 which is fed by a predetermined amount from a wire mesh chuck device described later, the cutter 52 cuts the leading end by a required amount. The silver powder application device 6 applies an aluminum powder for promoting heat conduction (cooling) to a part of the surface of the core 100, and is a schematic plan view of FIG. 13, a schematic front view of FIG. 14, and a schematic side view of FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, a liquid tank 61 having an upper end opening, a deceleration motor 62 provided outside the right side wall of the liquid tank 61, and a deceleration motor 62 rotatably supported on the left and right side walls of the liquid tank 61. Drive shaft 63 connected to rotating shaft
And a pair of rotary brushes 64 attached to the drive shaft 63 at a predetermined interval from each other. The liquid tank 61 is filled with an alcohol solution in which aluminum powder is dispersed to a predetermined level.

As shown in the plan view of FIG. 11, the temporary placing table 8 has a sand receiving portion formed of a rectangular frame portion 81 and an inclined plate portion 83 inclined in a funnel shape from the frame portion 81 toward the bottom portion 82. A tank 80 and four core placement portions 84 supported by the frame portion 81 and fixed horizontally are provided. In FIG. 11, 2
The core 100 is mounted on the core mounting portions 84. The deburring device 7 includes a plan view of the temporary placing table 8 of FIG.
As shown in a partial front view of FIG. 2, two bars (burring bars) 70 erected on the temporary placing stand 8 at predetermined intervals are provided. The lower end of the rod 70 is welded to the bottom outer surface of the downwardly facing cup 71, and inside the cup 71, a spring 7 is provided.
2 are accommodated. The lower end of the spring 72 is fixed to a horizontal projecting plate 73 fixed to the frame portion 81 of the temporary placing table 8, so that the bar 70 is elastically supported by the temporary placing table 8 so as to swing. The short rod 74 erected from the horizontally extending plate 73 into the cup 71 is for inhibiting the rod 70 from inclining at a predetermined angle or more.

Next, the core 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 9 which is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 10 which is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. The core 100 is for forming a hollow portion of an intake manifold for a vehicle, and includes an intake manifold portion 101 and a baseboard attached to an entrance portion and an exit portion of the intake manifold portion 101. Part 10
2, 103. The baseboard 102 has a circular hole 104 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the intake manifold 101.
Are provided, and semicircular holes 105 are provided in both ends of the baseboard portion 103 in the same direction.

A burr is formed in the horizontal direction around the core 100 (see FIG. 10). The burrs are formed at a so-called parting portion, which is a boundary between the lower die 42 and the upper die 43 of the core molding machine 4. What is particularly important in this embodiment is that the parting-off portion of the mold is designed so that burrs occur at the most laterally protruding positions in the horizontal projection state of the core 100. In this way, when the core 100 is moved in a horizontal plane while removing the burrs while being in contact with the deburring rod 70 erected in the vertical direction, the core 100 itself comes into contact with the rod 70 to remove the burrs. It does not disturb picking.

Next, the details of the core chuck device 34 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. FIG. Incidentally, FIG. 3 is a side view of the core chuck device 9, FIG. 5 is a front view thereof, FIG. 6 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 7 is a side view of a claw (core attachment / detachment claw) 96 of the core chuck device 9, FIG. 8 is a front view of the claw 96, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the claw 96 grips the core 100.

The core chuck device 9 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, a support plate 90 which is fixed to the tip of the palm 34 and extends from the axis of the palm 34 to both sides in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the palm 34, and at both ends of the support plate 90 It consists of a pair of fixed robot chucks 91. Each of the robot chucks 91 is made of CKA-60CN manufactured by CKD, and drives the chuck portion 92 at the tip of the robot chuck 91 in the radial direction around the axis M using pneumatic pressure. Both chuck parts 9
2, the base of three fingers 93, 94, 95 is 12
The fingers 93, 94,
The bases 93a, 94a, and 95a of the
And is driven in the radial direction.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the finger 93 linearly extends from the base 93a in the radial direction from the axis M, and the claw 96 hangs down from the tip in a direction parallel to the axis M. I have. The fingers 94, 95 are at an angle of about 70-8 from each other from their bases 94a, 95a as shown in FIGS.
It extends so as to be in a range of 0 degrees, and a claw 96 hangs in a direction parallel to the axis M from each end thereof. here,
The joint part 99 of each finger is for adjusting the length of each finger according to the design change of the core 100.

The claw 96 has a cylindrical shape as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and has a lower end portion 96a and an upper portion 96b of the claw 96.
The central portion 96c excluding the above has a concave portion 96d and a substantially semicircular cross section (more precisely, a cross sectional shape defined by two large and small circles as shown by hatching in FIG. 9). The lower end 96a of the claw 96 is for placing the core 100 thereon, and the large circle portion 97 of the center 96c of the claw 96 is provided.
Is a circular hole 1 provided in the core 100 as shown in FIG.
It is formed in order to reduce the surface pressure at the time of gripping by contacting a large area with the hole 04 or the semicircular hole 105. By doing so, the core 100 does not slip down even if the gripping force is weak.

Further, in this embodiment, since the gripping portion of the core 100 is provided on the baseboard portions 102 and 103, even if the gripping portion of the core 100 is scratched to the extent that it does not hinder the gripping at the time of gripping. The child 100 does not become defective. Next, the wire mesh chuck device 200 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the wire mesh chuck device 200 includes a pair of support plates extending in a direction opposite to the hand 33 from the support plate 90 of the core chuck device 9 fixed to the tip of the palm 34 in parallel with the hand 33. Pair 201 and a wire mesh chuck 2 provided at the tip of a long T-shaped support plate 201.
02. The tip of the support plate 201 is bent as shown in FIG. 3 to hold the wire mesh chuck 202 in an oblique direction. Like the robot chuck 91, the wire mesh chuck 202 uses pneumatic pressure to drive the chuck portion (wire mesh attaching / detaching claw) 203 at the tip thereof in the radial direction with its axis centered.

The operation of the casting plant will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, the power of the robot 3, the first casting machine 1, the second casting machine 2, the core molding machine 4, and the wire mesh feeder 5 is turned on, and the deceleration motor 62 of the silver powder coating device 6 is rotated. Next, the wire mesh chuck device 200 of the hand 33 is moved to the wire mesh receiving point (100), and it is checked whether the wire mesh can be supplied, and it is checked whether the wire mesh can be received (102). Incidentally, whether or not the wire mesh can be supplied is determined by checking with an optical sensor whether or not the wire mesh chuck device 200 is holding the wire mesh piece. Whether or not the wire mesh can be received is determined based on whether or not the tip of the wire mesh 50 of the wire mesh feeder 5 shown in FIG. 1 has been extended to a predetermined position. If the end of the wire mesh 50 is extended to this predetermined position, the wire mesh cutting machine 52 cuts the wire mesh 50, so that the wire mesh piece 202 having a predetermined length can be held by the wire mesh chuck 202 of the wire mesh chuck device 200.

If the wire mesh can be supplied and the wire mesh can be received, the tip of the wire mesh is gripped by the wire mesh chuck 202 (104), and the wire mesh cutting machine 52 is started to cut the wire mesh piece (106). The gripped hand 33 is moved to the core receiving point near the core forming machine 4 (108).
After cutting the wire mesh, the wire mesh feeder 5 prepares the wire mesh 50 next.
Is extended by a predetermined length.

Next, a signal from the core molding machine 4 to the controller of the robot 3 is read, and it is confirmed whether the core molding is completed and the upper die 43 is opened (110).
If so, the core 100 is gripped by the claws 96 of the core chuck device 9 and lifted (112), and heads for the temporary placing table 8. A plurality of light transmission type optical sensors are provided on the temporary placing table 8, and it is checked whether or not the dimensions of the core 100 are a specified value by using these optical sensors (114).
If the shape is normal, the core molding machine 3 is then started for core molding (116), and sequentially moved to the deburring position and the silver powder application position to perform the deburring and silver powder application work. (118).

The deburring is performed as follows. With the core chuck device 9 holding the core 100 horizontally (see FIG. 5), the hand 33 circulates horizontally along a predetermined route to remove the burrs from the bar 70 of the deburring device 7 (FIG. 11). , See FIG. 12). As a result, the burrs are broken between the core 100 and the rod 70 and fall on the temporary placing table 8.

The silver powder is applied as follows. The hand 3 is placed on the silver powder coating device 6 (see FIGS. 13, 14, and 15).
3 and, as shown in FIG.
The portion 10 is held in contact with the upper end of the rotating brush 64. By doing so, silver powder is applied to the crotch 110 of the core 100 by the rotation of the rotating brush 64.
The reason why silver powder is applied to the portion of the crotch 110 is to prevent poor cooling of the intake manifold at the portion of the crotch 110 and to prevent so-called shrinkage cavities from occurring.

After the deburring and silver powder application work are completed,
Whether the core 100 can be set in the first casting machine 1, that is, whether the table 11 on which the lower mold 12 is placed is pulled out to the core receiving position, and It is checked whether or not 100 is set (120). If the setting is possible, the core 100 and the wire mesh 5 are checked.
9 (see FIG. 4) are set at predetermined positions of the lower mold 12 (122). Here, the core chuck device 9 and the wire mesh chuck device 200 are arranged in advance in accordance with the interval between the core receiving position of the lower die 12 and the wire mesh mounting position. By the core 100
And the wire mesh piece 59 are set at the same time, so that useless time can be reduced.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the wire mesh piece 59 is set. After placing one end of the wire mesh piece 59 on the inclined upper surface of the gate 15 of the lower mold 12, the wire mesh chuck device 200 causes the wire mesh piece 59 to move.
Is released, the wire mesh piece 59 is placed so as to cover the gate 15 of the lower mold 12. Thereafter, the flag A for designating the casting machine in which the core 100 is to be set next time is inverted (124), and the casting machine (here, the casting machine 1) in which the core 100 has been set is activated (126), and Return to 100 and execute the next cycle.

Therefore, in the second routine 120, it is checked whether or not the setting of the core 100 with respect to the second casting machine 2 is possible. The activated casting machine 1
The table 11 on which the lower mold 12 is placed is returned to the casting position, the upper mold 13 is lowered, poured, cooled, and the upper mold 13 is cooled.
Is raised, the molded intake manifold is removed, and the step of moving the lower mold 12 to the core receiving position again is automatically performed.

If the core molding machine 4 has not yet molded the core 100 in step 110, the core molding machine 4 waits for a predetermined time (160) as shown in FIG. Is checked again (ie, whether the core molding machine 4 has output a core molding completion signal) (162). If the core molding is completed, step 1 is executed.
Returning to 12, if the core molding is not completed, it is remembered whether or not the core 100 is present on the temporary placing table 8 (164).
If it is temporarily placed, the core 100 is taken to get the core 100 (166). If it is not temporarily placed, the variable M indicating the number of chuck failures of the core 100 is set to M + 1 (16
8) Check whether this M has reached 3 times (17)
0) If it has not reached 3 times, return to 110 and 3
If the number has been reached, the process proceeds to step 146.

In the core inspection at step 114, core 1
If 00 is not good, the hand 33 moves to the temporary placing table 8 to release the core 100, and the core 100 slides on the temporary placing table 8 and is discharged from the bottom thereof (140). Next, a variable N for counting the number of discards is set to N + 1 (N is initially 0) (142), and it is checked whether the number of discards N has become three (144). 4 is started (150), and the process returns to step 110. If the number of times is three, it is determined that the core molding machine 4 is abnormal (14).
6), and outputs a core molding machine abnormality alarm (148).

If the core 100 cannot be set in the casting machine 1 in step 120, that is,
If the core 100 remains set even if the table 11 of the casting machine 1 has not come out, or if it has come out, step 15
The program proceeds to step 2 to check whether the temporary placing table 8 is full with the core 100.
Is set (154), and the process returns to step 110.

On the other hand, if the temporary placing table 8 is full of the core 100, as shown in FIG.
0), it is checked again whether or not the core 100 can be set in the casting machine to be set (182).
If it is not possible, a variable L indicating the number of failures of the core set to the casting machine is set to L + 1 (184), and this L becomes 3
It is checked whether the number of times has reached the number of times (186). If the number of times has not reached three times, the routine returns to 120. If the number of times has reached three times, it is determined that the casting machine is abnormal (188), and a casting machine abnormality signal is output. (190). (Embodiment 2) Another embodiment of the aluminum casting plant of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 20 is a plan layout view of the plant. The casting plant includes a first casting machine 1, a second casting machine 2, a first core molding machine 4a, and a first core molding machine 4b within a turning range r of the hand around the robot 3. ,
A wire mesh feeder 5, a silver powder coating device 6, a deburring device 7, and a temporary placing table 8 are provided. Further, in this embodiment, the first casting machine 1, the second casting machine 2, the first core molding machine 4a, the first core molding machine 4b, the silver powder coating device 6, the deburring device 7, the temporary placement The table 8 is arranged on the turning trajectory of the radius r1 of the hand 33, and only the wire mesh feeder 5 is arranged inside. Each device is the same as in the first embodiment.

The reason for this arrangement will be described below. The radius r is a reference turning range of the core 100, and along this circle, the first casting machine 1, the second casting machine 2, the first core molding machine 4
a, the radial movement of the hand 33 is minimized by arranging the first core molding machine 4b, the silver powder coating device 6, and the deburring device 7. To be more precise, since the height of the core gripping position or the core release position of each of these devices is different, the core chuck device 9 moves the core chuck device 9 with the post 32 of the robot 3 standing upright. Each device is arranged so as to be at the child gripping position or the core release position. In this manner, the movement of the hand 33 in the radial direction, that is, the tilt of the post 32 in this embodiment can be minimized.

The wire mesh feeder 5 is arranged at a position where the wire mesh chuck device 200 at the tip of the hand 33 can grip the wire mesh with the post 32 of the hand 33 standing upright. By doing so, the handling time of the hand 33 can be reduced. Another feature of this embodiment is that two core forming machines 4a and 4b are provided. In this manner, the 2 cores formed by the respective core forming machines 4a and 4b are formed.
Each type of core can be set in each of the casting machines 1 and 2. The core produced by the first core molding machine 4a is set in the first casting machine 1, and the second core molding machine 4b
By setting the core molded in the second casting machine 2, it is possible to simultaneously cast two types of products.

Further, even when one of the core molding machines breaks down or the mold is replaced, the production can be executed by using another core molding machine. Naturally, even when one casting machine breaks down or its mold is replaced as in the first embodiment,
Production can be performed using other casting machines. Further, another feature of this embodiment that is superior to the first embodiment is that all the devices are oriented in the centripetal direction of the robot 3. In this manner, the movement of the tip of the hand when the core chuck device 9 grips or releases the core 100, that is, the posture control of the core chuck device 9, is simplified, and the time consumed for handling the robot 3 is reduced. it can.

[0036]

In the aluminum casting plant of the present invention, a non-movable multi-indirect robot having a hand capable of working in a three-dimensional working space having a predetermined radius releases a core taken out of a core forming machine. The casting machine is loaded by rotating the hand as it is. Therefore, in this aluminum casting plant, the average casting cycle time and the average core forming cycle time are equal. With this configuration, the removal of the core from the core molding machine, the transfer of the core, and the loading of the mold of the casting machine into a predetermined position can be continuously performed by one robot hand. The core transfer path and the core transfer time can be reduced, and the possibility of core breakage during core transfer can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, when the casting cycle of the casting machine is defective, that is, when the core loaded in the casting machine is not effectively used, the core formed by the core molding machine is temporarily put on the temporary placing table. The core of the temporary placing table is loaded into the casting machine when the core molding of the core molding machine is defective. In this way, even if the core molding machine cannot execute the core molding or the molded core is defective, the casting machine can be operated, thereby avoiding a decrease in productivity. Becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a casting plant of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a core chuck device and a wire mesh chuck device;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a wire mesh installation state of the wire mesh chuck device;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a core chuck device,

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a core chuck device,

FIG. 7 is a side view of a claw of a core chuck device,

FIG. 8 is a front view of claws of the core chuck device,

FIG. 9 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a core chuck state by a claw of a core chuck device;

10 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a temporary placing table with a deburring device,

FIG. 12 is a front view of the deburring device,

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a silver powder coating device,

FIG. 14 is a front view of a silver powder coating device,

FIG. 15 is a side view of a silver powder coating device,

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation of the casting plant of this embodiment,

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of the casting plant of this embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the casting plant of this embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation of the casting plant of this embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the casting plant of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a first casting machine, 2 is a second casting machine, 3 is a robot,
4 is a core molding machine, 5 is a wire mesh feeder, 6 is a silver powder coating device,
7 is a deburring device, 8 is a temporary placing table, 9 is a core chuck device, 200 is a wire mesh chuck device, 33 is a hand, 100
Is a core.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI B22D 9/00 B22D 9/00 D 21/04 21/04 A 46/00 46/00 B25J 15/10 B25J 15/10 (72 ) Inventor Takashi Moyama 1st Tenno, Takaokashinmachi, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Aisin Takaoka Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-4-135722 (JP, A) JP-A-3-268863 (JP, A) JP 62-6770 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B22D 47/02 B22C 9/10 B22C 25/00 B22D 46/00 B25J 15/10 B22C 19/04 B22D 9 / 00 B22D 21/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A non-movable multi-indirect robot having a hand operable in a three-dimensional work space having a predetermined radius around a base, and a predetermined average casting cycle time provided in the three-dimensional work space. A casting machine for casting an aluminum product in the core, a core forming machine disposed in the three-dimensional working space, and forming a core with an average core forming cycle time equal to the average casting time; and And a temporary placing table for temporarily storing the molded core, the robot is an aluminum casting plant for loading the core taken out of the core molding machine into the casting machine, The robot temporarily stores the core formed by the core molding machine in the temporary placing table when the casting cycle of the casting machine is defective, and the temporary placement when the core molding is defective in the core molding machine. The said core Aluminum casting plant, characterized in that is to loaded into the casting machine.