JP3179251B2 - Immersion nozzle automatic changer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for automatically changing a dipping nozzle used for a molten metal container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a molten metal container such as a ladle or a tundish, a tapping port 3 is opened in a nozzle brick 2 at a bottom 1a of a molten metal container 1 as shown in FIG. Insert nozzle 4 is inserted and molten metal container 1
The lower part of the insert nozzle 4 is supported on the upper surface around the hole 7 of the bottom plate 6 of the slide valve device 5 mounted on the lower surface of the slide valve device 5. And supported by the immersion nozzle fixing device 10.

The slide valve device 5 is opened and closed by controlling the coincidence and non-coincidence of a hole 13 of the slide plate 11 and a hole 7 of the bottom plate 6 by sliding the slide plate 11 by a hydraulic cylinder 12. It is.

The nozzle case 9 is of a funnel shape having a flat fitting or a tapered portion matching the tapered surface of the outer periphery of the immersion nozzle 8 so that the immersion nozzle 8 is fitted and supported as closely as possible. At the symmetrical position on the diameter line on the upper outer side, mounting pins 14, 14 which are engaged with and held by the immersion nozzle fixing device 10 on the lower surface of the slide valve device 5 are protrudingly provided. As a result, the holding state is maintained and is firmly fixed.

The immersion nozzle fixing device 10 comprises a pair of left and right arms 1 receiving pins 14 of the nozzle case 9 on a rod 16 of a cylinder 15 as schematically shown in FIG.
7 and 17 and grooves 1 on the upper surface of the arms 17 and 17
The pins 14 and 14 are fitted into the pins 8 and 18, and the cylinder 15 is shortened, whereby the immersion nozzle 8 is raised and fixed. The immersion nozzle fixing device 10
May be fixed using a lever, a toggle mechanism or the like.

Conventionally, the attachment and detachment of the immersion nozzle 8 to and from the slide valve device 5 are all performed manually.

[0007]

However, manually attaching and detaching the immersion nozzle 8 to replace the immersion nozzle 8 is not an easy operation because the immersion nozzle itself is made of a brick, which increases the weight. Since the temperature around the device 5 is high, the replacement work is hot, and there is a problem in the working environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic immersion nozzle exchanging apparatus that can automatically and accurately replace an immersion nozzle in a short time using a general-purpose articulated robot. .

[0009]

As a means for solving the problems of the above prior art, the present invention provides an articulated robot having at least a distal end side of an apparatus main body detachably attached to a distal end arm by a connecting portion. A nozzle holding portion capable of suspending and supporting a nozzle case of one immersion nozzle is provided, and the robot is movably disposed between a nozzle attaching / detaching position and a nozzle supply / discharge position. A configuration in which a cleaning device, a packing set device, and a position correction device are added is claimed.

[0010]

The operation of the robot moves the device body at the tip of the tip arm to the position of the immersion nozzle mounted on the lower portion of the slide valve device, releases the fixation of the immersion nozzle, and moves the nozzle case together with the nozzle case at the tip of the device body. It is held by the nozzle holding unit. Next, transfer the main body to the position of the nozzle table, transfer the immersion nozzle onto the table, hold a new immersion nozzle in the nozzle holder, bring it to the lower part of the slide valve device, and immerse the nozzle case and slide valve device. Transfer to the nozzle mounting part and fix.

At this time, when a cleaning device is provided, the lower surface of the lower nozzle in the slide valve device is cleaned by a cleaning head. When packing is interposed, packing is supplied to the immersion nozzle by a packing set device, and then the immersion nozzle is cleaned. Perform installation. When a position correcting device is provided, the position of the immersion nozzle is attached to and detached from the device main body by image processing.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 10 by using the same reference numerals for members common to those in FIG.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of an embodiment of the present invention. An apparatus main body 22 is connected to the tip of a tip arm 21 of an articulated robot 20.

The apparatus main body 22 has, at its base, a connecting portion 24 which is gripped by the chuck device 23 of the distal arm 21. The concave portions 25, 25 of the connecting portion 24 have fluid cylinders 26, 26 of the chuck device 23. The tips of the claws 27, 27 which are opened and closed by meshing with each other, are engaged with each other so that the positions thereof are determined, and they are gripped and connected in an immovable state.

A plurality of nozzle holders 2 (three for three strands in the figure) are provided at the tip of the apparatus main body 22.
8, 28, 28 are formed. This nozzle holding part 2
8 has left and right fingers 29, 29 having a width that allows the outer periphery of the narrowed lower portion of the nozzle case 9 to be fitted,
On the upper surfaces of the fingers 29, 29, grooves 31, 3 with which holding pins 30, 30 projecting from both sides below the nozzles 14, separately from the pins 14 for mounting the nozzle case 9, are engaged.
1 is formed.

A cleaning device 32 is provided on the upper surface of the base of the apparatus main body 22, and a packing set device 33 is provided on an upper portion of one side of the apparatus main body 22.

The cleaning device 32 has a motor 34 fixed vertically to the apparatus main body 22 as shown in a plan view in FIG. 4 and a side view in FIG. 5, and a receiver fixed to an output shaft 35 of the motor 34. A cleaning head 37 attached to the upper end of the output shaft 35 so as to be slidable in the axial direction and prevented from being pulled upward; and a head 37 interposed between the receiving seat 36 and the cleaning head 37. And a spring 38 for constantly urging the cutting head upward, and cutting blades 39, 39 and brushes 40, 40 are alternately mounted on the upper surface of the cleaning head 37 in a radial direction.

As shown in a plan view in FIG. 6 and a cross section in FIG. 7, the packing set device 33 is fixed to one side of the upper surface of the device main body 22 and has a packing drop hole 42 having an inside diameter through which the packing 41 can pass. The plate 43 and the fixing plate 43
Slide plate 4 having a packing supply hole 44 slidably provided along the upper surface of
5 and a plurality (three in the figure) that are located on the upper surface of the sliding plate 45 and are rotatable inside the peripheral edge 43a of the fixed plate 43 and can be aligned with the positions of the packing drop holes 42 of the fixed plate 43.
And a disk-shaped packing supply plate 47 having packing holding holes 46, 46, and 46, wherein the sliding plate 45 is
The rod 49 of the fluid cylinder 48 supported by the cylinder 3 is connected to slide over a predetermined stroke, and the packing supply plate 47 is fixed to the end of an arm 50 extending radially from the center thereof. The rod 52 of the fluid cylinder 51 supported by the plate 43 is connected, and the packing supply plate 47 is rotated by the arrangement pitch (90 ° in the figure) of the packing holding holes 46, 46, 46 by the expansion and contraction of the fluid cylinder 51. Has become.

When two (or one) replacement packings are sufficient, the configuration is such that a plane is shown in FIG. 8 and a cross section is shown in FIG. That is, the packing supply plate 47 in FIGS. 6 and 7 is removed, and two packing supply holes 44 that can selectively face the sliding plate 45 by the packing drop hole 42 of the fixed plate 43 and the reciprocating motion of the sliding plate 45. 44, and packings 41, 41 are supplied to the packing supply holes 44, 44.
1, 41 are supplied one by one from the packing drop hole 42.

The articulated robot 20 is, for example, shown in FIG.
A carriage 54 that can run on rails 53, 53 as shown in FIG.
The immersion nozzle 8 is movable between a position at which the nozzle main body 22 can perform a nozzle replacement operation and a supply / discharge position of the immersion nozzle 8.

The supply / discharge position of the immersion nozzle 8 is shown in FIG.
The immersion nozzle table 5 as shown in FIG.
5 are installed. The mounting table 55 has left and right fingers 57, 57 on one upper side of columns 56, 56 standing upright at predetermined intervals.
Grooves 58, 58 with which the mounting pins 14, 14 of the nozzle case 9 engage are formed on the upper surface of the nozzle case 9.

As shown in FIG. 10, the molten metal container 1 or the slide valve device 5 has a reference point 6 for position correction.
0 and 60 are provided, and an accurate position is detected by monitoring the reference points 60 and 60 and performing image processing by a position correcting camera 61 installed on the robot 20 side. .

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

When the immersion nozzle 8 is replaced, the molten metal container 1 is moved to the immersion nozzle replacement place after the casting, and the carriage 54 is moved forward to stop the immersion nozzle 8 at a replaceable position.

Thereafter, the cylinder 15 of the immersion nozzle fixing device 10 on the lower surface of the slide valve device 5 is extended to release the fixed state of the immersion nozzle 8, and the position correcting camera 61
Then, the tip arm 21 of the robot 20 is actuated to fit the nozzle holding portion 28 of the device body 22 at the tip thereof into the nozzle case 9 of the immersion nozzle 8, and the outer periphery of the nozzle is held down. The immersion nozzle 8 is removed from the immersion nozzle fixing device 10 by engaging the grooves 31, 31 of the fingers 29, 29 with the holding pins 30, 30 on the side, and slightly raising and then moving the fingers to the side.

After the immersion nozzle 8 is removed, the apparatus main body 22
The upper cleaning device 32 is moved toward the lower surface of the nozzle joining portion facing the inside of the slide valve device 5, and the cleaning head 37 at the upper end thereof is pressed against the lower surface of the nozzle joining portion to drive the motor 34, and the cutting blade The metal and the packing adhered in 39 are cut, and chips and the like are removed by a brush 40 and smoothed so as not to hinder the joining of the new immersion nozzle 8. This operation is performed for each strand.

The immersion nozzle 8 thus removed is brought to the position of the nozzle table 55 by turning the tip arm 21 of the robot 20, and the fingers 57, 57 of the table 55 are moved.
The pins 14 and 14 of the nozzle case 9 are engaged with the grooves 58 and 58 of the fingers 57 and 57, respectively.

Thereafter, a new immersion nozzle 8 is inserted into the apparatus main body 2.
2 is held by the nozzle holding portion 28 of the slide valve device 5
, And set by immersion nozzle fixing device 10 and fixed by immersion nozzle fixing device 10. In this case, when the packing 41 is interposed, the packing 41 is supplied by the packing setting device 33 and set on the upper surface of the immersion nozzle before setting by the immersion nozzle specifying device 10 after setting. The packing 41 is supplied into the packing holding holes 46, 46, 46 of the packing supply plate 47 in advance.
And the sliding plate 45 is advanced by operating the fluid cylinder 48, the packing supply hole 44 is positioned immediately below the packing holding hole 46, and one packing 41 is passed through the supply hole 44. It is dropped on the upper surface of the immersion nozzle 8 through the packing drop hole 42 immediately below. Next packing 4
To supply 1, the packing cylinder 47 is rotated by a predetermined angle (90 °) by operating the liquid cylinder 51 to move the packing holding hole 46 to the supply position, and the supply is performed in the same manner as described above. The packing 4 is thus placed on the upper surface of the three immersion nozzles 8.
Supply 1

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the fluid cylinder 48 is actuated to push the sliding plate 45, and the packing supply hole 44 and the packing drop hole 42 of the fixing plate 43 are directly opposed to each other. 41 can be dropped on the upper surface of the immersion nozzle 8 through the packing drop hole 42, and the other packing 41 is pulled by pulling the sliding plate 45 so that the other packing supply hole 44 and the packing drop hole 42 of the fixing plate 43 face each other. It can be dropped from the packing drop hole 42 to the upper surface of another immersion nozzle.

After the new immersion nozzle 8 is completely fixed to the slide valve device 5, the carriage 54 moves backward, returns the molten metal container 1 to a predetermined position, and the replacement is completed.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the replacement of the immersion nozzle can be carried out automatically without any manual operation, so that the conventional manual labor can be eliminated and labor can be saved. Can be. In particular, since a general-purpose articulated robot can be used, the working speed is high, the cycle time of the replacement work can be significantly reduced, and the positional accuracy can be sufficiently obtained. At this time, claim 2
By providing the holding pins separately from the mounting pins on the outer surface of the nozzle case as described above, delivery of the immersion nozzle can be performed smoothly.

If the cleaning device is attached to the apparatus main body as in claim 3, the joining surface can be easily smoothed when the immersion nozzle is replaced, so that the joining can be correctly performed and fixed. In addition, if a packing set device is attached as in claim 4 or 5, the setting of the packing can be automatically performed together.
If a position compensator is attached as described above, there is no need to consider the displacement of the stop position of the treadle and the stop of the bogie, and more accurate positioning can be performed. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of the same.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state where the immersion nozzle is held.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the cleaning device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the packing set device.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the packing set device.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of setting a reference point of the position correction device.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of an immersion nozzle table.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 13 is a partial cross-sectional view of the slide valve device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 molten metal container 5 slide valve device 6 bottom plate 8 immersion nozzle 9 nozzle case 10 immersion nozzle fixing device 11 slide plate 14 mounting pin 20 articulated robot 21 tip arm 22 device main body 23 chuck device 24 connecting portion 27 claw 28 nozzle Holder 30 Holding pin 32 Cleaning device 33 Packing set device 37 Cleaning head 39 Cutting blade 40 Brush 41 Packing 43 Fixed plate 45 Sliding plate 47 Packing supply plate 54 Cartridge 55 Immersion nozzle holder 60 Position correction reference point 61 Position correction For camera

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-71959 (JP, A) JP-A-4-28475 (JP, A) JP-A-6-79416 (JP, A) JP-A-2-280959 (JP, A) JP-A-3-52760 (JP, A) JP-A-4-66268 (JP, A) JP-A-5-69114 (JP, A) JP-A-2-280950 (JP, A) 5-69100 (JP, A) JP-A-6-292955 (JP, A) JP-A 1-60755 (JP, U) JP-A 3-4345 (JP, U) (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B22D 41/56 B22D 11/10 330 B22D 11/10 320 B22D 11/10 340 F27D 3/14

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one device is attached to a distal end of an apparatus body detachably attached to a distal arm of the articulated robot by a connecting portion.
An automatic immersion nozzle changing device, comprising: a nozzle holding portion capable of suspending and supporting a nozzle case of each of the immersion nozzles; and the robot being movably disposed between a nozzle attaching / detaching position and a nozzle supply / discharge position. 2. In addition to a pair of mounting pins for mounting an immersion nozzle provided at a symmetrical position on a diameter line of an outer surface of a nozzle case which is externally fitted to the immersion nozzle and holds the nozzle, a pair of lower mounting pins are provided below the pin. The automatic immersion nozzle changing device according to claim 1, further comprising a pin. 3. A cleaning head having a cutting blade and a cleaning brush on an upper surface of the apparatus main body, a motor for rotating the head, and a cleaning head interposed between a driving shaft of the motor and the cleaning head. 3. A cleaning device comprising a spring means for resiliently pressing the head against the lower surface of the lower nozzle on the molten metal container side.
Automatic immersion nozzle changer as described. 4. An apparatus body comprising: a fixing plate having a packing drop hole; and a sliding plate slidably provided on the fixing plate and having a packing supply hole that matches or does not match the packing drop hole. 4. The packing set device according to claim 1, further comprising a packing set device for supplying the packing supplied into the packing supply hole by sliding of the sliding plate from the packing drop hole of the fixing plate to the upper surface of the immersion nozzle. Immersion nozzle automatic changer. 5. The automatic immersion nozzle changing device according to claim 4, further comprising a rotatable packing supply plate on the sliding plate, in which a packing holding hole capable of directly facing a packing drop hole of the fixed plate is annularly arranged for packing supply. . 6. A position correction reference point is provided in a molten metal container or a slide valve device, and a position correction camera for performing position correction by image processing is installed on the robot side. Automatic immersion nozzle changer according to the item.