JP3809436B2 - Wheel arch flange processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wheel arch flange processing method and apparatus for bending a wheel arch flange constituting a vehicle body.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 11, in the wheel arch 2 of the automobile body 1, it is desired to narrow the gap with the tire 3 and secure the space of the wheel house. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 12, an operation of bending the flange portion 5 which is a welded portion of the inner panel 4a and the outer panel 4b constituting the vehicle body 1 toward the inside of the vehicle body 1 is performed. ing.

Therefore, for example, in the hem processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 13, a work W that is the body side of an automobile is conveyed along the production line 6, and Three hem dies 7a to 7f corresponding to various body sides are provided at two positions on the side portion. Between the Hemudai 7a~7c and Hemudai 7 d ~7f, die carrier robot 8 is arranged, the die carrier robot 8, select one of Hemudai 7a~7f corresponding to the workpiece W The workpiece W is hemmed.

  As shown in FIG. 14, for example, the hem die 7 a is detachably held at the tip of the wrist portion 9 of the die transfer robot 8 via a hand changer 10. The hem die 7 a includes a pair of holding brackets 11, and a work receiving portion 12 is formed on the upper side of the holding bracket 11. In the vicinity of the work receiving portion 12, a pre-bending bending tool 13 is supported so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 14 as a fulcrum. Preliminary bending is performed on the flange F of the workpiece W by the tip of the bending tool for preliminary bending 13.

  A main bending tool 15 is rotatably attached to the holding bracket 11 with a support shaft 16 as a fulcrum, and the main bending tool 15 and the preliminary bending tool 13 are connected via a connector 17. It is connected. A driving cylinder 19 is rotatably supported on the holding bracket 11 via a support shaft 18, and a main bending tool 15 is rotatable at the tip of the piston rod 19 a of the driving cylinder 19. It is supported by.

JP 2000-312935 A (FIGS. 1 and 2)

  However, in the above Patent Document 1, since the die transfer robot 8 selectively holds the hem dies 7a to 7f, the hem dies 7a to 7f need to be disposed within the movement range of the die transfer robot 8 ( (See FIG. 13). For this reason, a space for arranging the hem dies 7a to 7f is required around the die conveying robot 8, and the number of hem dies arranged corresponding to the movable range of the die conveying robot 8 is limited. There is a problem of being. Furthermore, since the hem dies 7a to 7c and the hem dies 7d to 7f are arranged on both sides of the die transfer robot 8, the degree of freedom of the work range of the die transfer robot 8 is limited.

  Moreover, each hem die 7a to 7f is provided with a driving cylinder 19 (see FIG. 14). Accordingly, it has been pointed out that the configuration of each of the hem dies 7a to 7f becomes complicated and large, and the manufacturing cost increases.

  The present invention solves this type of problem, and while simplifying and downsizing the structure, the wheel arch has a high degree of freedom in the work range, excellent versatility, and enables efficient bending. An object of the present invention is to provide a flange part processing method and apparatus.

In the flange portion processing method and apparatus of the wheel arch according to the present invention, in a state in which any special tooling to the general-purpose drive unit provided on the moving mechanism is mounted, the general-purpose driver canvas under the action of the moving mechanism It is conveyed to the processing position of the lunge section. Then, when the general-purpose drive unit is driven, the dedicated mold comes into contact with the flange portion and the flange portion is bent. Further, a processing station for bending the flange portion is included in a welding station for welding to the vehicle body, and the general-purpose drive unit provided in the moving mechanism can be replaced with a welding mechanism for welding the vehicle body. It is preferable that the welding mechanism is attached at the welding station and the general-purpose drive unit is attached at the processing station with respect to the moving mechanism.

  According to the present invention, since the moving mechanism is provided with the general-purpose driving unit, the dedicated unit can be set only to the dedicated mold, and there is no need to arrange various machining mechanisms with driving units around the moving mechanism. . For this reason, the degree of freedom of the work range is increased, and the teaching work and the maintenance work can be efficiently performed.

  In addition, since the moving mechanism is arranged on both sides of the vehicle body, it is possible to perform bending work on each flange part of each wheel arch on the left and right at the same time, and the cycle time is effectively improved compared to bending work on one side. As a result, the efficiency of the machining operation is improved.

  In addition, since the dedicated mold is detachably attached to the general-purpose drive unit, it is only necessary to replace the relatively lightweight and small dedicated mold. Is easily possible. In addition, it is only necessary to prepare a plurality of dedicated molds, and the stock space for the dedicated molds can be narrowed at once, such as being vertically stacked on a shelf, and a relatively large space is secured as a work space for replacement work. can do.

Furthermore, since the processing station is included in the welding station, for example, a robot used in as welders, it is possible to use as a processing device in the processing step. Thereby, it is only necessary to replace the welding mechanism (welding gun) and the processing mechanism, and the robot can be easily generalized and economical.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration of a production system 20 for carrying out a method for machining a flange portion of a wheel arch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The production system 20 includes a production line 22 extending in the direction of arrow A, and a work table 24 is carried on the production line 22 in the direction of arrow A with the vehicle body 1 mounted thereon. Various work stations are provided along the production line 22, for example, a processing station S2 is provided adjacent to the downstream of the welding station S1. Note that the processing station S2 can be included in a processing station that performs processing different from the flange bending process according to the present embodiment. For example, the processing station S2 can also be used as a spot welding station included in the welding station S1.

  In the welding station S1, articulated robots 26a to 26d for welding work are arranged on each side of the production line 22 in a plurality of units, for example, two units. In the articulated robots 26a to 26d, welding guns (welding mechanisms) 28a to 28d are detachably attached to the wrists 27.

  In the processing station S2, processing devices 30 and 32 according to the present embodiment are arranged on both sides of the production line 22. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the processing devices 30 and 32 include work robots, for example, multi-joint robots 34 and 36, and wrist portions 38 and 40 of the multi-joint robots 34 and 36 include a processing mechanism. 42 and 44 are detachably mounted via an automatic tool changer (ATC) (not shown).

  Hereinafter, the processing mechanism 42 will be described in detail. On the other hand, the processing mechanism 44 is configured in the same manner as the processing mechanism 42, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the processing mechanism 42 includes a base 46 attached to the wrist portion 38 of the articulated robot 34. The base 46 is provided with two rails 48 extending in the direction of arrow B, and an opening 50 and a relief hole 52 are formed between the rails 48 (see FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the first and second slide bases 54 and 56 are placed on the rail 48. A pair of rail guides 58 and 60 that engage with the pair of left and right rails 48 are fixed to the first and second slide bases 54 and 56, respectively, and brackets 62 and 64 are fixed to protrude downward.

  A first cylinder (general-purpose drive unit) 66 is attached to the bracket 64 of the second slide base 56. The rod 66 a extending from the first cylinder 66 in the direction of arrow B is inserted into the bracket 62 of the first slide base 54, and a nut 68 is screwed to the tip thereof and fixed to the bracket 62. The first cylinder 66 is accommodated in the escape hole 52 of the base 46 (see FIG. 5).

  A work guide frame 72 is attached on the first slide base 54. The work guide frame 72 is provided with a receiving portion 74 by cutting out the center, and guide posts 76 are provided on both sides of the receiving portion 74. A second cylinder (general-purpose drive unit) 78 is attached to the storage unit 74. The rod 78a extending upward (in the direction of arrow C) from the second cylinder 78 passes through the attachment member 80 and is fixed to the attachment member 80 by screwing a nut 82 to the tip thereof. A work guide 85 provided with a non-metallic pad 84 that contacts the wheel arch 2 of the vehicle body 1 is fixed to the attachment member 80.

  An opening 50 a is formed in the second slide base 56, and a work receiving frame 86 is attached on the second slide base 56. An opening 50b is formed at the bottom of the work receiving frame 86, and a pair of guide rails 90 extending in the direction of arrow C are provided on both sides of the work receiving frame 86.

  A clamp part 92 is provided on the upper part of the work receiving frame 86, and a work receiving mold (dedicated mold) 94 is attached to the clamp part 92 in a replaceable manner via, for example, a bolt (not shown). It is done. A third cylinder (general-purpose drive unit) 96 is fixed to the bottom of the work receiving frame 86. The third cylinder 96 is inserted into the openings 50, 50 a and 50 b, and a rod 96 a extending from the third cylinder 96 in the vertical direction is fixed to the workpiece bending lifting body 98.

  Guide guides 100 that engage with the pair of guide rails 90 of the workpiece receiving frame 86 are fixed to the workpiece bending lifting body 98 so as to face each other. A clamp part 102 is provided on the upper part of the workpiece bending lifting body 98, and a workpiece bending die (dedicated die) 104 is exchangeable in the clamp part 102 via, for example, a bolt (not shown). Fixed to.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a gas cushion 106 is provided on the work receiving frame 86, and a gas cushion receiver 108 that receives the gas cushion 106 is fixed to the attachment member 80.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a dedicated mold exchanging work unit 112 is provided at a position away from the processing station S2, for example, outside the fence 110 (or outside the work range of the articulated robot 34). Various dedicated molds 114 can be stocked in the dedicated mold exchanging working unit 112.

  The operation of the production system 20 configured as described above will be described below in relation to the flange portion processing method according to the present embodiment.

  First, the vehicle body 1 that is a white body is attached to the work table 24, and the work table 24 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A (see FIG. 1), so that the vehicle body 1 is disposed at the welding station S1. The In the welding station S1, spot welding processing is performed on the vehicle body 1 via welding guns 28a to 28d attached to the multi-joint robots 26a to 26d.

  The vehicle body 1 after the spot welding process is carried into the processing station S2 via the work table 24, and stops at a predetermined position of the processing station S2.

  In the processing station S2, the processing devices 30 and 32 are driven and controlled. Only the operation of the processing device 30 will be described below.

  The articulated robot 34 constituting the processing apparatus 30 is driven and controlled based on a teaching operation that matches the position of the flange portion 5. Therefore, the machining mechanism 42 attached to the wrist 38 moves toward the wheel arch 2 on one side of the vehicle body 1, and the machining mechanism 42 is positioned corresponding to the machining position of the wheel arch 2. It is stopped (see FIG. 6). At that time, in the wheel arch 2, the inner panel 4 a and the outer panel 4 b are joined by spot welding, and the inner side (the inner panel 4 a side) of the flange portion 5 is supported by the workpiece receiving die 94.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the second cylinder 78 is driven and the rod 78a is displaced upward. Accordingly, the work guide 85 including the non-metallic pad 84 is disposed at a predetermined height integrally with the attachment member 80 fixed to the rod 78a.

  Therefore, the first cylinder 66 is driven to displace the rod 66a inward. For this reason, the first and second slide bases 54 and 56 are displaced toward each other, and the work guide 85 and the work bending die 104 are centered, and the work guide 85 is disposed outside the wheel arch 2 (on the outer panel 4b side). (See FIG. 8). Thereby, the flange portion 5 of the wheel arch 2 is held by the work guide 85 and the work receiving die 94.

  Next, when the third cylinder 96 is driven and the rod 96a moves upward, the workpiece bending lifting body 98 fixed to the rod 96a rises under the action of the guide rail 90 and the guide guide 100. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the workpiece bending die 104 attached to the workpiece bending lifting body 98 abuts on the flange portion 5 and bends the flange portion 5 upward.

  After the bending of the flange portion 5 is performed as described above, the second and third cylinders 78 and 96 are driven to lower the work guide 85 and the work bending die 104 (see FIG. 10). Further, the first cylinder 66 is driven, the rod 66a protrudes outward, the first and second slide bases 54 and 56 are separated from each other, and the work guide 85 and the work bending die 104 are separated from each other. Then, when the articulated robot 34 is driven and controlled, the machining mechanism 42 is detached from the wheel arch 2 of the vehicle body 1.

  By the way, when the shape of the vehicle body 1 carried into the production line 22 is different, the exchanging operation of the dedicated portion constituting the processing mechanism 42, that is, the workpiece bending die 104 is performed manually, and if necessary. The work for exchanging the work receiving die 94 and the work guide 85 is performed manually.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the articulated robot 34 constituting the processing apparatus 30 transfers the processing mechanism 42 from the processing station S2 to the dedicated mold exchanging working unit 112 (in FIG. 1, a two-dot chain line). reference). The dedicated mold exchanging work part 112 is provided outside the fence 110, and the operator P loosens tightening means such as a bolt fixing the work bending mold 104 to the clamp part 102, and The workpiece bending mold 104 is replaced with a new workpiece bending mold 104. Similarly, the work of replacing the work guide 85 and / or the work receiving mold 94 with a new work guide 85 and / or a work receiving mold 94 is performed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the first to third cylinders 66, 78, and 96 constituting the machining mechanism 42 are mounted on the articulated robot 34 as general-purpose driving units, and the dedicated unit that needs to be replaced is a workpiece. Only the bending mold 104, the work receiving mold 94, and the work guide 85 can be set. Therefore, unlike the case where the entire machining mechanism 42 is attached to and detached from the articulated robot 34 as a dedicated portion, there is no need to arrange a plurality of machining mechanisms 42 around the articulated robot 34.

  Thereby, while the freedom degree of the processing apparatus 30 becomes large, the effect that a teaching operation and a maintenance operation | work can be performed efficiently will be acquired. In addition, there is no large equipment around the articulated robot 34, and there is an advantage that work efficiency is effectively improved.

  Further, only the relatively lightweight workpiece bending die 104, workpiece receiving die 94, and workpiece guide 85 are detachable, and the exchanging operation of the dedicated portion can be easily simplified, and the workability can be easily improved.

  In addition, a large number of dedicated molds 114 can be stocked in the dedicated mold exchanging working unit 112, and the stock space of the dedicated mold 114 is narrowed at a time, and the work space for performing the exchanging work is relatively small. A wide space can be secured. Thereby, effective utilization of the space in the production system 20 is easily achieved.

  Further, processing devices 30 and 32 are disposed on both sides of the production line 22. Therefore, it becomes possible to simultaneously perform the bending process on the flange portions 5 of the left and right wheel arches 2 of the vehicle body 1, and the cycle time can be effectively improved as compared with the case where the bending process is performed one side by side, thereby improving the efficiency of the machining operation. .

  Furthermore, the processing station S2 is provided adjacent to the welding station S1. Thereby, for example, the articulated robot 34 used for welding work can be used as the processing apparatus 30. Specifically, it is only necessary to exchange the welding gun 28a and the like with the machining mechanism 42 via an automatic tool changer (not shown) for the wrist portion 38 of the articulated robot 34. Can be easily achieved and is economical.

It is schematic structure explanatory drawing of the production system for enforcing the flange part processing method of the wheel arch which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the processing apparatus which comprises the said production system. It is a perspective explanatory view of the processing mechanism which constitutes the processing device. It is a disassembled perspective explanatory view of the processing mechanism. It is a partial cross section explanatory view of the processing mechanism. It is explanatory drawing when the said process mechanism is arrange | positioned corresponding to a wheel arch. It is explanatory drawing when the work guide which comprises the said processing apparatus raises. It is explanatory drawing of the centering of the said work guide and a workpiece bending metal mold | die. It is explanatory drawing at the time of bending a flange part with the said workpiece | work bending die. It is explanatory drawing when the said work guide and the said workpiece bending metal mold | die descend | fall after completion | finish of a bending process. It is an isometric view explanatory drawing of the wheel arch of a vehicle body. It is explanatory drawing of the flange part of the said wheel arch. It is plane explanatory drawing of the hem processing apparatus of patent document 1. FIG. It is a front view of the hem die which comprises the said hem processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle body 2 ... Wheel arch 4a ... Inner panel 4b ... Outer panel 5 ... Flange part 20 ... Production system 22 ... Production line 26a-26d, 34, 36 ... Articulated robot 30, 32 ... Processing apparatus 38, 40 ... Wrist part 42 44 ... Processing mechanism 46 ... Base 54, 56 ... Slide base 66,78,96 ... Cylinder 72 ... Work guide frame 84 ... Non-metal pad 85 ... Work guide 86 ... Work receiving frame 94 ... Work receiving mold 98 ... Work Bending / lowering body 104 ... work bending mold 110 ... fence 112 ... dedicated die replacement working part 114 ... dedicated die S1 ... welding station S2 ... processing station

Claims (2)

A wheel arch flange processing method for bending a wheel arch flange portion constituting a vehicle body,
A step of transporting the general-purpose drive unit to the processing position of the flange portion under the action of the movement mechanism in a state where an arbitrary dedicated mold is attached to the general-purpose drive unit provided in the movement mechanism;
Driving the general-purpose drive section to bring the dedicated mold into contact with the flange section, and bending the flange section through the dedicated mold; and
Have a, with processing stations for performing bending of the flange portion is included in the welding station for performing welding on the vehicle body,
The general-purpose drive unit provided in the moving mechanism can be replaced with a welding mechanism for welding the vehicle body,
The relative movement mechanism, attaching the welding mechanism in the welding station, the flange portion machining method of the wheel arch characterized by installing an additional the generic driver in the processing station. A wheel arch flange processing apparatus for bending a wheel arch flange constituting a vehicle body,
A general-purpose drive unit is provided, and a moving mechanism that conveys the general-purpose drive unit to the processing position of the flange portion;
A dedicated mold that is replaceably attached to the general-purpose drive unit, and that bends the flange portion under the action of the general-purpose drive unit,
A processing station for bending the flange portion is included in the welding station for welding to the vehicle body,
The general-purpose drive unit provided in the moving mechanism can be replaced with a welding mechanism for welding the vehicle body,
The relative movement mechanism, the mounting of the welding mechanism in the welding station, the processing station flange processing device of the wheel arch characterized by installing an additional the generic driver is.

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