JP3356036B2 - Work holding 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 work holding device used in equipment for assembling struts used in vehicles such as automobiles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As exemplified in FIG. 8, a strut (MacPherson strut) 1 used for a suspension mechanism of an automobile or the like projects from a cylindrical strut body 2 functioning as a shock absorber and from the strut body 2. The vehicle includes a rod 3, an upper seat 4 and a mount insulator 5 provided on the rod 3, a coil spring 6 functioning as a suspension spring, and the like. The coil spring 6 is provided between the lower sheet 7 provided on the strut body 2 and the upper sheet 4 in a compressed state. The center line 6a of the coil spring 6 has an inclination angle θ so that the lower side of the coil spring 6 is eccentric to the outside of the vehicle body with respect to the center line 2a of the strut body 2 when viewed from the front of the vehicle body. A bracket 8 for attaching a hub carrier is provided below the strut body 2. Upper sheet 4
Bump rubber 9 is provided on the lower surface side of.

When assembling such a strut 1,
With the strut body 2 constrained by some holding means, the coil spring 6 is compressed to a predetermined stroke, and while maintaining that state, the upper sheet 4 and the mount insulator 5 are extrapolated to the rod 3. An operation of tightening the nut 3b to the screw portion 3a is performed. Conventionally, as a holding device for holding the strut body 2, a pair of left and right clamp claws that can be opened and closed are provided on a base member, and an actuator such as an air cylinder is mounted on the base member, and each clamp claw is opened and closed by the actuator. A clamping mechanism was employed.

As a measure for efficiently assembling the strut 1, a plurality of work holding devices are provided on a turntable which is intermittently driven to rotate at a predetermined pitch, and a device for compressing, for example, a coil spring 6 around the turntable. (Compression stage), an apparatus for assembling the upper sheet 4 (stage for assembling the upper sheet), an apparatus for assembling the mount insulator 5 (stage for assembling the insulator),
Alternatively, a device for tightening the nut 3b (nut tightening stage) or the like is arranged on the screw portion 3a, and the work of each stage proceeds almost simultaneously at each stage, so that the assembly of the plurality of struts 1 can be performed efficiently. desired.

[0005]

However, in a conventional work holding apparatus in which a clamp claw and an actuator are mounted on a base member as in a conventional work holding apparatus, if the work holding apparatus is provided on a base that moves like a turntable, for example, Since the actuator also moves together with the claw, it is not only difficult to route fluid pipes and electric cables connected to the actuator, but also the moving structure such as the base becomes large in size. Weight also increases.

Therefore, it is difficult to incorporate a work holding device equipped with an actuator into a moving base such as a turntable. For this reason, the struts must be assembled one by one using a strut holding device fixedly provided on one assembly stage, which is an obstacle to performing the strut assembly work efficiently. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a work holding device capable of disposing a drive unit including an actuator or the like separated from an apparatus main body.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a workpiece holding device for achieving the above object, in which a clamp arm provided on a base member is closed by a first urging means. By being maintained, the strut body is clamped, and the spring supporting arm is maintained in the closing direction by the second urging means, so that the coil spring is held by the bearing in a compressed state. When the strut body is opened, the clamp arms are driven by the arm driving section in the direction in which they expand, and when the compression coil spring is opened, the spring support arms are driven in the direction in which they expand by the arm driving section.

In the work holding device according to the present invention, an arm drive unit is separately and independently disposed with respect to an apparatus body including the base member, the clamp arm, the spring support arm, and the like. Activated only when unfolding (during unclamping). In other cases (during unclamping), the clamp arm and the spring support arm are independently maintained in the clamp position by the biasing means, and the strut body and the coil spring can be held.

According to the work holding device of the present invention, the arm driving section can be arranged independently of the turntable, and there is no need to provide the arm driving section on the turntable. Become

[0010]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The work holding device 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a base member 11, upper clamp arms 12 and 13 and lower clamp arms 14 and 15 provided on the base member 11, and left and right provided on the base member 11. A pair of spring support arms 16 and 17 are provided.

In this embodiment, the left wheel strut and the right wheel strut are simultaneously held, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. A work holding device 10 'for the right wheel is provided on the right side in the drawing. Although the pair of work holding devices 10 and 10 'have a structure which is symmetrical to each other, they have substantially the same configuration and operation. Therefore, one of the work holding devices 10 will be described below as a representative.

The base member 11 is a strut body 2.
Has a strut mounting portion 20 for mounting the lower end of the strut. The strut mounting portion 20 includes a positioning portion 21 that holds the bracket 8 at the lower portion of the strut body 2 so as to face a predetermined direction around the axis of the strut body 2. A coil spring 6 before compression is mounted on a lower sheet 7 of the strut body 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the base member 11 is mounted on a turntable 25 as an example of a base on the moving side. The turntable 25 is intermittently driven to rotate at a predetermined pitch in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. A roller 26 is provided on the lower surface side of the base member 11.
The cam member 27 faces the roller 26. When the cam member 27 moves in the direction of the arrow F1, the roller 26 rides on the cam member 27, so that the base member 11 is slightly tilted about the support shaft 30 so that the center line 6a of the coil spring 6 moves relative to the turntable 25. And a vertical posture.

The base member 11 has a vertical wall 31 extending in a direction perpendicular to the turntable 25. On this vertical wall 31, a pair of upper and lower guide rails 32, 33 functioning as guide means are horizontally arranged. Extending. A pair of left and right shafts 36 and 3 extending in the vertical direction along the vertical wall 31.
7 are provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the shafts 36 and 37 are provided on support portions 3 provided on the upper and lower portions of the vertical wall 31.
8,39.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, bearing portions 12a, 1
3a is provided. Each bearing part 12a, 13a
Are slidably fitted on the upper guide rail 32. Bearing portions 14a, 15a are also provided at the bases of the lower clamp arms 14, 15, and each of the bearing portions 14a, 15a is slidably fitted to the lower guide rail 33.

Therefore, the clamp arms 12, 13,
14 and 15 can move smoothly in the horizontal direction (left and right directions in FIG. 2) along the guide rails 32 and 33. A holding portion 40 having a shape (for example, a V shape) capable of sandwiching the strut body 2 in the radial direction is provided on the mutually facing surfaces of the upper clamp arms 12 and 13 and the mutually facing surfaces of the lower clamp arms 14 and 15. Is formed.

The upper clamp arms 12 and 13 and the lower clamp arms 14 and 15 are closed by compression coil springs 42 and 43 functioning as first biasing means, ie, in a direction sandwiching the strut body 2. Being energized.

As shown in FIG. 4, racks 46, 4 extending in the horizontal direction are provided at the bases of the upper clamp arms 12, 13.
7 are provided. The racks 46, 47 mesh with a pair of left and right arm drive gears 48, 49, and the arm drive gears 48, 49 mesh with each other.
For this reason, the clamp arms 12 and 13 can move in the direction of approaching or separating from each other (the direction of approaching and separating). The arm drive gears 48, 49 are rotatably mounted on the shafts 36, 37. One arm drive gear 4
9 、 Cam follower functioning as a connection (cam follower)
50 are provided.

A rack 56 extending horizontally also at the base of the lower clamp arms 14, 15 (only one is shown in FIG. 3)
Is provided. These racks 56 mesh with a pair of left and right arm drive gears 58 (only one is shown) having the same number of teeth, and the arm drive gears 58 mesh with each other. For this reason, the lower clamp arms 14 and 15 can also move in the direction in which they come into contact with and separate from each other. These arm drive gears 58 are also provided on the shaft 3 respectively.
6, 37 are rotatably mounted. One arm drive gear 58 has a cam follower 6 functioning as a connecting portion.
0 is provided. The base member 11 described above, the clamp arms 12 to 15, the spring support arms 16, 17,
The gears 48, 49, 58 and the like are members that constitute the apparatus main body.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the clamp arm driving section 65 is located near the cam followers 50 and 60.
Is provided. The clamp arm drive unit 65 is
Drive member 6 having cam 66 functioning as a drive member for
And an actuator 70 such as an air cylinder for driving the driving member 68.

One end of the driving member 68 is supported on a base plate 76 by a support shaft 75, so that the drive member 68 can rotate in a horizontal plane about the support shaft 75. The other end of the driving member 68 is connected to a rod output end 78 of the actuator 70 by a connecting pin 77.

The cam 66 can be moved toward and away from the upper cam follower 50 and the lower cam follower 60. When the rod output end 78 of the actuator 70 advances to the position shown in FIG. , 60 in the direction of arrow F2, thereby simultaneously rotating the upper arm driving gear 49 and the lower arm driving gear 58 to the position shown in FIG.
2 and 13 move away from each other, and the lower clamp arms 14 and 15 also move away from each other. The other work holding device 10 ′ located on the right side in FIG. 4 is also driven by the actuator 70 in the same manner as the left work holding device 10.

On the other hand, a pair of left and right spring support arms 16, 1
Reference numeral 7 extends in the vertical direction, that is, the direction along the strut body 2 to be held. The lower ends 16a and 17a of the spring support arms 16 and 17 are connected to a shaft 8 serving as a pivoting means.
1, 82 pivotally supported by the base member 11,
The spring support arms 16 and 17 can be moved in directions in which the spring support arms 16 and 17 open and close with respect to each other. At the upper ends of the spring support arms 16 and 17, on the sides facing each other,
A spring hook 8 functioning as a bearing having a shape capable of hooking the end turn 6b of the coil spring 6 of the strut 1
3, 84 are provided.

The spring support arms 16 and 1 having such a configuration are described.
7, the repulsive load of the coil spring 6 is
And the spring hooks (supports) 83, 84, and the repulsive load acts in the longitudinal direction of the arms 16, 17, so that the repulsive load of the coil spring 6 in the compressed state is as large as several hundred kgf. Can sufficiently withstand the repulsive load.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, etc., the spring supporting arms 16 and 17 are moved toward and away from each other (opening and closing directions) by a pair of levers 90 and 91 which rotate about the shafts 36 and 37. It can be moved to. That is, the contacts 92, 93 provided at the ends of the levers 90, 91 are connected to the spring support arms 16, 1.
7, it is in contact with receiving seats 94 and 95 provided inside 7 so as to be able to be pressed from the inside of arms 16 and 17. The spring support arms 16 and 17 are urged in the closing direction by a tension coil spring 96 functioning as a second urging means.

The levers 90 and 91 are mounted on lever drive gears 100 and 101 having the same number of teeth.
The lever drive gears 100 and 101 are in mesh with each other.
Therefore, when the lever driving gears 100 and 101 rotate in the opposite directions in synchronization with each other, the spring support arm 1 is rotated.
6 and 17 can move simultaneously in the direction in which they open and close with each other. The lever driving gears 100 and 101 are
7 is rotatably mounted. One lever 91
Is provided with a cam follower 102 functioning as a connection portion. These levers 90, 91 and gears 100, 1
01 and the like also constitute a part of the apparatus main body.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, a spring support arm drive unit 110 is provided near the cam follower 102. The spring support arm drive unit 110 is provided with the second
A driving member 112 provided with a cam 111 functioning as a driving member, and an actuator 113 such as an air cylinder for driving the driving member 112.

As shown in FIG.
Is supported on the base plate 76 by a support shaft 115 so that the drive member 112 can rotate in a horizontal plane about the support shaft 115. Driving member 112
Is connected to the actuator 1 by a connecting pin 116.
Thirteen rod output terminals 117 are connected.

The cam 111 can be moved toward and away from the cam follower 102, and when the rod output end 117 of the actuator 113 advances to the position shown in FIG.
When the cam pusher 102 pushes the cam follower 102 in the direction of arrow F3, the lever drive gears 100 and 101 rotate in synchronization with each other to the position shown in FIG. 6, thereby moving the pair of left and right spring support arms 16 and 17 away from each other. It is supposed to. The other work holding device 10 'located on the right side in FIG.
Is driven by the actuator 113 in the same manner as described above.

Next, the operation of the work holding device 10 having the above configuration will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, when the rod output end 78 of the actuator 70 protrudes to the extension side, the cam 66 pushes the cam followers 50, 60 in the direction of arrow F2, so that the upper clamp arms 12, 13 and the lower clamp The arms 14 and 15 are both in an open state (unclamp position).

At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the rod output end 117 of the actuator 113 also protrudes toward the extension side, and the cam 111 pushes the cam follower 102 in the direction of arrow F3. (Unclamped position).

When the clamp arms 12 to 15 and the spring support arms 16 and 17 are at the unclamping position as described above, the strut body 2 is manually or manually operated.
Are set on the strut mounting portion 20 of the base member 11 in a substantially vertical posture.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, when the rod output end 78 of the actuator 70 of the clamp arm driving section 65 moves to the contraction side, the cam 66 does not push the cam followers 50, 60. Therefore, the clamp arms 12 to 15 move in the closing direction (clamp position) by the elastic restoring force of the springs 42 and 43. In this way, the strut body 2 is moved to the upper clamp arms 12 and 13.
And clamp arms 14 and 15 on the lower side.

When the cam member 27 (shown in FIG. 3) provided on the lower surface of the turntable 25 advances in the direction of arrow F1, the center line 6a of the coil spring 6 is perpendicular to the turntable 25. The base member 11 is tilted up to the angle described below. In this state, the pressurizing jig 120 (partially shown in FIG. 2) is lowered from above the coil spring 6 by an air cylinder or the like, so that the coil spring 6 is compressed by a predetermined amount. Then, in this state, as shown in FIG.
7 moves to the contraction side.

As a result, the cam 111 moves the cam follower 1
Stop pressing 02. For this reason, the spring support arm 16,
The springs 17 are displaced in a direction to close each other by the elastic restoring force of the spring 96. Thereafter, when the pressing jig 120 is raised, the end hook portion 6b of the coil spring 6 is supported by the spring hook portions 83 and 84 as support portions of the spring support arms 16 and 17, The coil spring 6 is held in a compressed state. When the turntable 25 rotates a predetermined pitch, the strut body 2 is transferred to the next step (for example, a stage where the upper sheet 4 is assembled).

In practicing the present invention, a base member, a clamp arm, a spring support arm, a biasing means,
It goes without saying that each element constituting the present invention including the arm driving section can be variously modified and implemented.

[0037]

According to the work holding apparatus of the present invention, the strut body can be securely held by the clamp arm and the urging means provided on the base member, and the strut coil in a compressed state. The spring can be held by a spring support arm. The arm drive unit can be provided separately and independently from the apparatus main body.

According to the work holding device of the present invention, the arm driving section can be arranged independently of the turntable on the inner peripheral side of the turntable or the like, and there is no need to provide the arm driving section on the turntable. Therefore, the turntable side can be made compact and lightweight, and the arm drive unit can be easily arranged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a work holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the work holding device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the work holding device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an operation mode of the clamp arm shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an operation mode of the spring support arm shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a strut.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Strut 2 ... Strut main body 6 ... Coil spring 10 ... Work holding device 11 ... Base member 12, 13, 14, 15 ... Clamp arm 16, 17 ... Spring support arm 40 ... Holding part 42, 43 ... Spring (first) Urging means) 65: clamp arm driving section (arm driving section) 68 ... first driving member 70 ... actuator 81, 82 ... shaft (pivot support means) 83, 84 ... spring hook section 96 ... spring (second mounting section) Urging means) 110: spring supporting arm driving section (arm driving section) 112: second driving member 113: actuator

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-141375 (JP, A) JP-A-7-227030 (JP, A) JP-A-3-245935 (JP, A) JP-A-5-205 293726 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 62-189968 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 57-159275 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B23P 21/00 B62D 65 / 12

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A turntable, a base member mounted on the turntable, on which a strut body provided with a coil spring is mounted, and a holding portion provided on the base member and capable of holding the strut body. A pair of clamp arms which can be opened and closed with each other;
A pair of spring supporting arms provided on the base member and capable of holding the coil spring in a compressed state and capable of opening and closing each other; and a direction in which the spring supporting arms are closed with each other. The second to urge
Biasing means, and an actuator for driving each of the clamp arm and the spring support arm in the opening direction, and
The arm drive unit, which is disposed independently of the turntable, and the pair of clamp arms are slidably supported by each other.
Guide means for sliding the clamp arm by the guide means
An arm driving gear interlocked with the arm driving gear, the arm driving gear being provided so as to be able to contact and separate from the arm driving gear, and
The clamp arm is driven by an actuator
A first driving member and a pivot supporting the pair of spring supporting arms rotatably;
A step and each spring support provided near the pair of spring support arms.
A pair of levers operable in a direction to open the arm, a lever driving gear provided on each of the levers, and a
Driving the spring support arm by an actuator
And a second drive member .