JP3359705B2 - Transfer equipment for assembly line - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer device for an assembly line, and more particularly to an assembly line having a plurality of lines having different line speeds, such as an assembly line for assembling an automobile engine or the like. It relates to technology for driving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An assembly line for an automobile engine is arranged, for example, in a sub-assembly line such as a level gauge assembling step and an oil sealing bolt attaching step, and in a subsequent stage.
It has a main assembly line . Each assembly line cannot form a series of assembly lines because of the difference in the required time for assembly and the need to reduce the overall length of the assembly line. For this reason,
By arranging these assembly lines at a parallel interval from each other, and arranging the rear end of the sub-assembly line and the front end of the main assembly line close to each other by setting the transport direction to the opposite direction, A part is turned back to form an assembly line.

[0003] In such an assembly line, since the production amount per unit time of the sub-assembly line and the main assembly line is different, the imbalance in the supply and demand of the assembly between the two assembly lines is absorbed. There is a need to. For this purpose, a stock section for temporarily storing sub-assemblies assembled in the sub-assembly line is provided at a rear end of the sub-assembly line, and the sub-assembly line is provided at a front end of the main assembly line. And a supply unit for supplying the sub-assemblies assembled on the other assembly lines to the main assembly line.Further, between the stock unit and the supply unit, a transport unit such as a movable trolley for transporting the sub-assemblies is provided. Provided.

[0004]

However, the sub-assemblies assembled on the sub-assembly line are used as components of the main assembly on the main assembly line by an amount obtained by subtracting a surplus due to a difference in line speed. Therefore, even for the sub-assemblies of this used quantity, they are temporarily stored in the stock section, transferred from the stock section to the mobile trolley, further transferred from the mobile trolley to the supply section, and supplied to the main assembly line. Was irrational because it required a lot of work.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has as its object to rationalize the operation of the entire assembly line, realize various operation modes, and the like.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a conveying apparatus for flowing an assembly on a plurality of assembly lines having different line speeds, the apparatus comprising a plurality of assembly lines which are arranged at parallel intervals.
Sub-assembly line and main assembly line
And Bei, on the end portion of the sub-assembly line, the stock portion is provided for temporarily stocking subassembly assembled in the sub assembly line <br/>, the end portion of the main assembly line, said Mei
A supply unit for supplying a component of a main assembly to be assembled on the assembly line , and a conveying means for conveying the sub-assembly from the stock unit to the supply unit is provided between the supply unit and the stock unit. Of the stock section of the sub-assembly line
Located upstream and downstream of the supply section of the main assembly line
The subassembly from the subassembly line to the main assembly line.
Together with connecting lines for conveying the in is provided, in the connecting portion between the connecting line and the sub-assembly line, the first-swing for distributing subassembly <br/> stock unit or connection line
And a connecting means is provided above the connecting portion of the sub-assembly line.
Defective products in the sub-assembly
When a defective product payout line is set up outside the vertical line
In both cases, branch between the defective product payout line and sub-assembly line
In the second section, the sub-assembly is sorted into non-defective products and defective products.
A transfer device for an assembly line in which sorting means is provided is proposed.

[0007]

According to an assembly line for conveying apparatus of the present invention, sub
The sub-assembly is assembled while passing through the assembly line . Some of the sub-assembly is paid out to the connecting line by actuating the first distributing means provided on the connecting portion of the sub assembly line and the connecting line, it is fed to the main assembly line through the connection line . And May
The main assembly will be assembled while passing through the assembly line . The remaining sub-assemblies that have not been paid out by the first sorting unit are stored in a stock unit provided at the rear end of the sub-assembly line . Thereby, the sub-assembly of the quantity required in the main assembly line is supplied to the main assembly line through the connection line. Also, the sub-assembly parts stored in the stock department
Is located at the front end of the main assembly line via the transport means
Transported to the supply unit where it was sent, along with various other components
To be supplied to the main assembly on the main assembly line
Become. In addition, defective products in the subassembly
Second sorting means located upstream of the line connection
Is delivered to the defective product delivery line by the
Will be discharged outside the

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an assembly line transfer apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In each of these drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a transfer device for an assembly line, 2 denotes a sub-assembly line , 3 denotes a main assembly line , and 4 denotes
Subassembly, 5 stock unit, the supply unit 6, the connection lines 7, 8 movable carriage (conveying unit), 9 connecting portion, 10
1st sorting machine (1st sorting means) , 13 is the main group
It is a standing product .

The assembly line transport device 1 of this embodiment includes a sub assembly line 2 which is arranged at parallel intervals and a main assembly.
And a vertical line 3 for each of the assembly lines 2 and 3.
Are arranged at positions where their ends (the rear end 2a of the sub-assembly line 2 and the front end 3a of the main assembly line 3) are aligned, and the rear end 2a of the sub-assembly line 2 is the stock unit 5 for temporarily storing the sub-assemblies 4 assembled by 2 provided, at the front end portion 3a of the main assembly line 3, sub said assembled in the sub assembly line 2
This is common to the conventional assembly line transfer device in that a supply unit 6 for supplying other components including the assembly 4 to the main assembly line 3 is provided. However, the assembly line transport device 1 of the present embodiment is different from the conventional example in that a connecting line 7 for connecting these assembly lines 2 and 3 is provided.

The connection line 7 is arranged so as to connect the sub-assembly line 2 upstream of the stock section 5 and the main assembly line 3 downstream of the supply section 6.
Subassembly 4 assembled in the stock unit 5
Is supplied to the latter part of the supply section 6 of the main assembly line 3 and has the same function as the movable carriage 8 that can reciprocate between the stock section 5 and the supply section 6. In the connecting portion 9 between the connecting line 7 and the sub-assembly line 2, the sub-assembly 4 flowing through the sub-assembly line 2 can be selectively supplied to the stock section 5 as it is or to be discharged to the connecting line 7. A first sorting machine 10 is provided. First distribution device 10, for example, subassembly
Count the number of standing articles 4 and connect the line 7
Or payout at regular time intervals.

Further, the connecting device 9 for connecting the sub-assembly line 2 to the connection line 7
Another branch is provided in front of. This branch is the defective product payout line 11 and the first sorting
Sorting machine similar to the machine 10 (second sorting means) 1
2 is disposed at the branch point. And the second swing
The defective sub-assembly 4 is discharged from the sub-assembly line 2 by the separator 12.

The mode of use of the assembly line transport device 1 configured as described above will be described below.

First, the application example of FIG. 1 shows a case where only the sub-assembly 4 is manufactured and stored while the main assembly line 3 is stopped. In this case, sub-assembly line 2
The subassembly 4 assembled in the above is classified into a non-defective product and a defective product by the second sorting machine 12 of the defective product discharge line 11, and the defective product is discharged to the outside of the line through the defective product discharge line 11, and the non-defective product is It is stored in the stock section 5 at the rear end of the sub-assembly line 2. In the drawing, solid arrows indicate the flow of the subassembly 4.

Next, an application example of FIG. 2 will be described. This application example is assembled on the sub-assembly line 2.
A main assembly 13 to be assembled shows a case of the same model in the sub-assembly 4 and the main assembly line 3. In this case, as for the subassembly 4 assembled on the subassembly line 2, only the non-defective products from which the defective products have been removed on the defective product payout line 11 proceed along the subassembly line 2 as in the application example of FIG. . The sub-assembly 4 passing through the connecting portion 9 with the connecting line 7 is
That quantity by the first distributing device 10 is counting, for example, the first distributing device 10 is paid out to the connecting line 7 is operated at a rate of one to three. As a result, only non-defective products are stored in the stock unit 5. In addition, since the remaining sub-assemblies 4 excluding the stored components are supplied to the main assembly line 3, the imbalance in supply and demand based on the difference in line speed between the sub-assembly line 2 and the main assembly line 3 is corrected. Will be. In the figure, dashed arrows, Mei
4 shows the flow of the component assembly 13.

The application example of FIG. 3 shows a case where the supply of the sub-assembly 4 from the sub-assembly line 2 suddenly stops in the application example of FIG. ing. In this case, the first swing of the connecting line 7
A timer (not shown) for counting the non-passage time of the sub-assembly 4 is provided in the sorting machine 10, and when there is no passage during a predetermined time, the supply unit 6 of the main assembly line 2 is provided.
, The stored subassembly 4 is supplied. Thereby, production stoppage of the main assembly 13 can be avoided.

Application of [0016] Figure 4, service a defect occurs in the sub-assembly line 2, when stopping production of subassembly 4, detects the stop the sub assembly line 2, have been stored
Supply the assembly 4. Thereby, the main assembly 13
Production stoppage can be avoided.

Application of [0017] Figure 5 includes a main assembly 13 to be assembled with the sub-assemblies 4 and the main assembly line 3 to be assembled with the sub-assembly line 2, shows the case of a completely different type. In this case, sub-assembly to connection line 7
By stopping the delivery of goods 4, both lines 2.3
Of the subassembly 4 assembled in the subassembly line 2, only non-defective products are stored in the stock section 5, and the subassembly 4 is externally supplied in the main assembly line 3 by the supply section 6.
Will be distributed.

Application of FIG. 6 includes a main assembly 13 to be assembled with the sub-assemblies 4 and the main assembly line 3 to be assembled with the sub-assembly line 2, a portion same model, shows a case part is heterogeneous ing. In this case, the first sorting machine 10 is operated in accordance with the timing of the main assembly 13 of the same model that can be distributed through the main assembly line 3,
This can be dealt with by paying out the subassembly 4 to the connection line 7. In the figure, the arrow of the chain line shows the flow of other models.

FIG. 7 shows an application example in which the assemblies 4 and 13 are distributed to the sub-assembly line 2 and the main assembly line 3.
2 shows a case where a plurality of different models are mixed by a fixed amount. In this case, it is stored in the stock unit 5,
The sub-assemblies 4 supplied to the supply unit 6 are stored and supplied by classifying the sub-assemblies 4 by model, and the first sorting machine 10 is operated for each lot or according to the model so that mixed sub- models can be mixed. All assembly can be performed.

The following technology can be employed in the assembly line transfer device 1 of the present invention. Although the sub-assembly line 2 and the main assembly line 3 are arranged one by one, an arbitrary number of assembly lines may be arranged in parallel. Although the sub-assembly line 2 and the main assembly line 3 are arranged with a parallel space therebetween, they are arranged so as to have an arbitrary angle. The stock unit 5 of the sub-assembly line 2 and the supply unit 6 of the main assembly line 3 are connected by the movable carriage 8, but instead of this,
Connecting by other transportation means, for example, a robot.

[0021]

As described above in detail, the assembly line for conveying device according to the present invention, there is provided a conveying apparatus for flowing the assembly into a plurality of assembly lines with different line speed, parallel spacing
Sub-assembly line and main assembly line
Comprising the door, the end of the sub-assembly line, the sub-assembly
A stock section for temporarily stocking sub-assemblies assembled on the line is provided, and at an end of the main assembly line ,
A supply unit for supplying a component of a main assembly to be assembled on the main assembly line ; and a conveying means for conveying a sub-assembly from the stock unit to the supply unit is provided between the supply unit and the stock unit. On the upstream side of the stock section of the sub-assembly line and on the downstream side of the supply section of the main assembly line.
Position the subassembly from the subassembly line to the main assembly
A connecting line for transporting to the vertical line is provided,
The connecting portion between the connecting line and the sub-assembly line, the sub-set
First shake to distribute standing goods to stock section or connection line
Separating means is provided, and is connected to the connecting portion of the sub-assembly line.
Located upstream of the sub-assembly
A defective product payout line is provided outside the assembly line.
Between the defective product payout line and the subassembly line.
In the branch, the sub-assembly is divided into good and defective products.
Since the two distribution means are provided , the following effects can be obtained. By actuating the first distributing means in accordance with the difference of the line speed, service required by the main assembly line
It is possible to put into the main assembly line only Bed assembly via the connecting line, the storage of the stock portion, conveyed by the conveying means, Save time of the input, such as to the supply unit, the operation of the entire assembly line Can be streamlined. sub
There are two ways to supply sub-assemblies from the assembly line to the main assembly line . Therefore, even if a stop occurs due to a trouble in the sub-assembly line , the main assembly line is prevented from being stopped and the main assembly is produced. Stoppage can be prevented. Also, sub-assemblies assembled on the sub-assembly line
Is stored in the stock section, and the main assembly line is
By distributing other products carried into the supply unit,
Standing line and main assembly line as independent lines
Can be used. By arbitrarily operating the first distributing means , various assembling operations such as assembly of the same model, assembly of multiple models, and backup operation can be realized. In particular, for main assembly products flowing through the main assembly line
Activate the first sorting means in accordance with the timing, and
The same model can be obtained by paying out
Or it can carry out assembly of some different models, and
Sub-assemblies stored in the stock unit and supplied to the supply unit
Are stored and supplied separately for each model.
The first allocation hands together for each Lock the door, or to the model
Activating the stage allows all sets of mixed heterogeneous models
Can be implemented. Defective in subassembly
Product is located upstream of the subassembly line connection.
2 Dispensed to defective product payout line by sorting means
Is discharged outside the sub-assembly line,
Stores only good products and can use storage space effectively.
You. Detect defective products before storing subassemblies
To improve the yield in the event that defective products appear one after another.
I can do it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a first application example of an assembly line transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a second application example of the assembly line transfer device of FIG. 2;

3 is a schematic view showing a third application example of the assembly line transfer device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a fourth application example of the assembly line transfer device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a fifth application example of the assembly line transport device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a sixth application example of the assembly line transfer device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a seventh application example of the assembly line transfer device of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyor for assembly line 2 Sub-assembly line 3 Main assembly line 4 Sub-assembly 5 Stock part 6 Supply part 7 Connecting line 8 Moving trolley (conveying means) 9 Connecting part 10 1st sorting machine (1st sorting means) 11 Non Good product delivery line 12 Second sorting machine (second sorting means) 13 Main assembly

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conveying device for flowing an assembly to a plurality of assembly lines having different line speeds, comprising: a sub-assembly line arranged at parallel intervals;
; And a standing line, an end portion of the sub-assembly line, the stock portion is provided for temporarily stocking subassembly assembled in the sub assembly line, the end portion of the main assembly line, the main assembly line supply unit for supplying the components of the main assembly to be assembled is provided with, between said supply unit and the stock unit, conveying means for conveying the subassembly from the stock unit to the supply unit is arranged, the sub The upstream side of the stock section of the assembly line and the main assembly
Located downstream of the supply section of the vertical line ,
A connection line is provided for conveying the sub-assembly line to the main assembly line , and the connection line and the sub-assembly line are provided.
The connecting portion between in-first distributing means is arranged to distribute the sub-assembly to the stock unit or connecting lines located upstream of the connecting portion of the sub-assembly line, the
Dispatch of defective sub-assemblies out of sub-assembly line
A defective product payout line
Sub-assembly is required at the branch between the exit line and sub-assembly line.
A second sorting means for sorting between good and defective products is provided.
A transfer device for an assembly line, comprising: