JP3400156B2 - Robot painting equipment safety 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 safety device for a robot coating device for detecting that a paint hose connected to a coating machine attached to a weaving arm of a coating robot is pulled out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in order to paint the inside of an automobile body, a paint robot has been used recently to apply paint regardless of the operator, and automation and labor saving have been promoted. In this type of painting robot, a painting machine is attached to the end of an articulated weaving arm, and a large number of paint hoses supplying various colors of paint, various air hoses, and electric cables follow the complicated movement of the weaving arm. It is arranged along the weaving arm and connected to the coating machine with a certain length of allowance.

Therefore, the weaving arm is moved forward and backward,
Even if painting is performed by moving the coating machine in a complicated manner by moving it up and down and left and right, various hoses have a sufficient length so that they follow the movement and the movement of the coating machine is not hindered.

[0004]

However, when a coating robot is used for coating for a long time, the coating material oversprayed from the coating machine adheres to the surface of the weaving arm and various hoses, and the adhesive force of the coating hose the hose. Friction resistance increases when the weaving arms or hoses stick to each other, or rub against each other if they do not. In addition, when fixing the paint hose to the connector provided in the painting machine, the hose is tightened with the nut fitted on the paint hose, but it is tightened for a long time because the paint hose is made of synthetic resin. In the meantime, the tightening force may deform the paint hose to make it thinner, or the weaving arm may make complicated movements, so that the hoses may be intricately entangled with each other and the length thereof may be substantially shortened.

When the weaving arm makes a sudden movement to change the direction and the position in such a state, a strong pulling force acts on various hoses in a pulsed manner, and the hoses move from the coating machine. There was a risk of falling out.
In particular, if the paint hose comes out, not only will a large amount of paint flow out and you will have to dispose of the object to be coated, but also the surrounding coating equipment will be covered with paint, so the line will be stopped for a long time before restoration. The problem arises of having to do this. Therefore, the present invention has a technical object to detect the paint hose easily and surely when the paint hose comes off from the painting machine, and to minimize the damage caused by the paint hose coming off.

[0006]

In order to solve this problem, the present invention relates to a flexible pipe attached to a paint hose connected to a painting machine attached to a weaving arm of a painting robot, and to the flexible pipe. A gas supply source that supplies a gas of a predetermined pressure, and a pressure detection unit that detects a pressure change of the gas supplied from the gas supply source and outputs an electric signal, and a pipe end of the flexible pipe, It is characterized in that it is loosely joined to a pipe end closure provided integrally with the coating machine, and that the pipe end side of the flexible pipe and the pipe end side of the paint hose are integrally fixed.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a flexible pipe is attached to a paint hose for supplying paint to a coating machine, and a pipe end of the flexible pipe is loosely attached to a pipe end closure integrally provided with the coating machine. Since the flexible pipe is joined and air is supplied to the flexible pipe at a predetermined pressure from the pressure supply source, the pressure inside the flexible pipe is maintained higher than the atmospheric pressure.

When the weaving arm is moved abruptly so that a tensile force acts on the paint hose and the paint hose comes out of the painting machine, the pipe end side of the paint hose and the pipe end side of the flexible pipe are integrally fixed. The flexible hose with the paint hose comes out of the tube end closure. At this moment, the air supplied at a predetermined pressure from the pressure supply source is released from the tube end of the flexible tube to the atmosphere, so the tube internal pressure decreases, and the pressure change is detected by the pressure detection means, and an electric signal is output. Therefore, the disconnection of the paint hose can be easily and reliably detected. Therefore, by this electric signal, for example, if the supply of paint is automatically stopped, a large amount of paint is prevented from flowing out, and if an alarm sound is generated and the line is stopped at the same time, an abnormality has occurred. Will be informed and can be repaired quickly, and damage can be minimized.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. 1 is a flow sheet showing a safety device of a robot coating apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall view thereof,
FIG. 3 is a side view showing the main part of another embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a coating machine 3 as an operator does.
Is a robot coating device for freely controlling the position and the posture of the coating robot R. A coating machine 3 is attached to the tip of a weaving arm 2 of a coating robot R, and a paint hose 4,
.., various air hoses and electric cables are arranged along the weaving arm 2 and connected to the coating machine 3, and flexible pipes 5 are attached along the coating hoses 4, respectively.

One end of each flexible pipe 5 is connected to an air supply source (gas supply source) 6 for supplying air (gas) having a predetermined pressure, and the other end of the pipe end 5a is a paint hose connector of the coating machine 3. Pin attached to 7 (tube end obturator)
The pin 8 is inserted into the flexible tube 5 by a predetermined length such that the pin 8 is loosely fitted around the flexible tube 5 and the flexible tube 5 is not removed by the pressure of the air supplied from the air supply source 6. Further, the pipe end 5a side of the flexible pipe 5 and the pipe end 4a side of the paint hose 4 are integrally fixed by a fastener 9, and when the paint hose 4 comes out of the connector 7, the flexible hose 4 together with the paint hose 4 is flexible. 5 is pin 8
It is designed to come out of.

The reference numeral 10 informs an operator of an abnormal situation when the dropout of the paint hose 4 is detected, and the coating machine 3
A control device for stopping all the supply of paint to the flexible pipe 5 from the gas supply source 6 to the input side thereof.
Are connected to pressure detecting means 11, 11 ... Which detect a pressure change of the air sent to and output an electric signal. Further, on the output side of the control device 10, an alarm generation device 12 for notifying the operator of the abnormality itself and a line emergency stop device 1 for emergency stop of a conveyor drive device (not shown) are provided.
3, a paint supply stopping device 16 for operating the valve 14 provided in the paint hose 4 to communicate with the paint return pipe 15 and causing the paint to flow back to the paint supply source 6 to stop the supply of the paint to the paint hose 4 Are connected.

The pressure detecting means 11 is provided for each flexible pipe 5, and is provided from upstream and downstream of the orifices 17 provided in the flow paths of the respective gases supplied from the gas supply source 6 to the flexible pipes 5, respectively. Pressure is introduced to both sides of the diaphragm 20 by the pressure guiding tubes 18 and 19, and the displacement of the diaphragm 20 is detected by the linear scale 21. When the diaphragm 20 is displaced, the differential pressure is measured based on the displacement. Has been done. The linear scale 21 that takes out the pressure change of the gas in the flexible pipe 5 as an electric signal is installed outside the solvent atmosphere in order to prevent explosion.

Then, for example, while the pipe end 5a of the flexible pipe 5 is closed by the pin 8, the flexible pipe 5
Since the pressure inside the pipe is high and the pressure difference between the upstream and the downstream of the orifice 17 is small, the diaphragm 20 is positioned in a substantially neutral state, and when the pipe end 5a of the flexible pipe 5 is disengaged from the pin 8, the pipe end 5a of the flexible pipe 5 is Is released to the atmosphere to reduce the internal pressure of the pipe, and the pressure difference between the upstream side and the downstream side of the orifice 17 increases, so that the diaphragm 20 is displaced to the left side in FIG. Therefore, this displacement is measured by the linear scale 2.
If it is monitored at 1, it can be detected that the flexible tube 5 has come off the pin 8.

The above is an example of the configuration of the present invention, and its operation will be described below. First, each paint hose 4 was connected to a paint hose connector 7 that was integrally provided in the coating machine 3, and a flexible pipe 5 was attached to each paint hose 4 and its pipe end 5a was attached to each connector 7. Pin 8
Is loosely fitted and closed, and air of a predetermined pressure is fed from the gas supply source 6 into the flexible pipe 5. In this state, the paint is pressure-fed to each paint hose 4, and a paint of a desired color is selectively supplied by a color changing device (not shown) built in the paint machine 3, and the weaving arm 2 applies the paint. 3 position control and posture control are performed, and coating is performed according to a preset program.

During coating, if each paint hose 4 is normally connected to the connector 7, the pipe ends 5a of all the flexible pipes 5 are loosely fitted on the pins 8 and therefore supplied from the gas supply source 6. The generated air leaks little by little, and the internal pressure of the flexible pipe 5 is maintained at a constant pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure. At this time, since the pressure difference between the upstream and the downstream of the orifice 17 is small, the diaphragm 20 is positioned in a substantially neutral state, and since the pressure does not fluctuate, the diaphragm 20 is not displaced.

Then, for example, the paint oversprayed from the coating machine 3 adheres to the surfaces of the weaving arm 2 and the paint hose 4, and the paint hose 4 is caused by the adhesive force of the paint.
When the weaving arm 2 or the hose 4 sticks to each other and the weaving arm 2 makes a sudden movement to change the direction or the position, the paint hose 4 falls off from the connector 7.

At this time, since the pipe end 5a side of the flexible hose 4 is integrally fixed to the pipe end 4a side of the paint hose 4 via the fastener 9, the pipe end 4a of the paint hose 4 is separated from the connector 7. Simultaneously with the detachment, the flexible pipe 5 is pulled by the paint hose 4 and detached from the pin 8. Therefore, the pipe end 5a of the flexible pipe 5 is opened to the atmosphere, the pipe internal pressure decreases, and the pressure difference between the upstream side and the downstream side of the orifice 17 increases, so that the diaphragm 20 is displaced to the left side as viewed in FIG.

When the displacement of the diaphragm 20 is detected by the linear scale 21, the controller 10 causes the alarm device 12, the line emergency stop device 13, and the paint supply stop device 1.
A switch signal is output to 5, and an alarm sound is emitted thereby to notify the operator of the occurrence of an abnormal situation. At the same time, the conveyor is stopped, the supply of paint to the paint hose 4 is stopped, and a large amount of paint is leaked. It is automatically prevented and the damage can be minimized.

As described above, by simply monitoring the pressure of the gas supplied to the flexible pipe 5, whether or not the paint hose 4 has come off the coating machine 3 can be detected easily and reliably. Moreover, since the flexible pipe 5 is loosely fitted on the pin 8, there is no malfunction such that only the paint hose 4 comes off while the flexible pipe 5 is still fitted on the pin 8. Even if the pulling force acts only on the flexible pipe 5 when the pulling force does not act on the paint hose 4, the pipe end 5a side of the flexible pipe 5 is integrally fixed to the pipe end 4a side of the paint hose 4. Since the paint hose 4 is connected to the connector 7,
It does not cause a malfunction that only the flexible tube 5 is pulled out.

In addition, the pipe end obturator has a pin 8 attached to the connector 7.
The shape of the flexible pipe 5 is not limited to the above, and the shape thereof is arbitrary. For example, when the rod is projected from the coating machine 3 in the axial direction parallel to the connector 7, or as shown in FIG. Socket 2 for inserting the specified length
2 may be attached integrally with the coating machine 3. Further, as the pressure detecting means 11, the diaphragm 2
Although the case of detecting the displacement of 0 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and any means can be adopted as long as it finally outputs an electric signal, and the type of sensor used is also arbitrary. Is.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the paint hose is detached from the painting machine, the flexible pipe attached to the paint hose is also detached from the pipe end obturator, and a predetermined amount is provided in the flexible pipe. Since the air supplied by pressure is released to the atmosphere and the pipe internal pressure decreases, by monitoring this pressure change with the pressure detection means, it is possible to easily and reliably detect that the paint hose has come off, Based on the electrical signal output from the pressure sensor, for example, the supply of paint can be automatically stopped to prevent a large amount of paint from flowing out, or an alarm can be sounded to notify the operator of the occurrence of an abnormal situation. In addition, it has an excellent effect that damage caused by disconnection of the paint hose can be minimized. Further, since the pressure change of the gas in the flexible pipe is detected, as an explosion-proof measure, it is only necessary to install an electric detection device outside the solvent atmosphere, and there is an effect that the safety is very high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a safety device of a robot coating device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a main part of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Robot coating device R: Painting robot 2 ... Weaving arm 3 ... ・ Coating machine 4 ... Paint hose 4a ... tube end 5 ... ・ Flexible tube 5a ... Pipe end 6 ... Air supply source (gas supply source) 7 ... Paint hose connector 8 ・ ・ Pin (closed tube end) 9 ... ・ Fastening device 11 ... Pressure detection means 17 ... Orifice 18, 19 ... Pressure guide tube 20 ... Diaphragm 22 ... ・ Socket

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-60-54758 (JP, A) JP-A-61-278373 (JP, A) Actual development S62-10064 (JP, U) Actual public 48-19602 (JP , Y1) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B05B 12/00-13/06 B25J 19/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A flexible pipe (5) attached to a paint hose (4) connected to a coating machine (3) attached to a weaving arm (2) of a coating robot (R), and the flexible pipe (5). ), A gas supply source (6) for supplying a gas of a predetermined pressure, and a pressure detection means (11) for detecting a pressure change of the gas supplied from the gas supply source (6) and outputting an electric signal. The flexible pipe (5) has a pipe end (5a) loosely joined to a pipe end blocker (8, 22) integrally provided with the coating machine (3), and the flexible pipe A safety device for a robot coating apparatus, wherein the pipe end (5a) side of (5) and the pipe end (4a) side of the paint hose (4) are integrally fixed. 2. The robot according to claim 1, wherein the pipe end blocker is formed of a pin (8) or a rod inserted into the pipe from the pipe end (5a) of the flexible pipe (5) by a predetermined length. Safety device for coating equipment. 3. The safety device for a robot coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pipe end blocker is formed of a socket (22) into which the pipe end (5a) of the flexible pipe (5) is inserted by a predetermined length. 4. The pressure detecting means (11) is provided respectively from upstream and downstream of an orifice (17) provided in a flow path of gas fed from the gas supply source (6) to the flexible pipe (5). The safety device for a robot coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure converter (18, 19) guides pressure to both sides of the diaphragm (20) and measures the differential pressure based on the displacement of the diaphragm (20). .