JP4668835B2 - Carriage guidance device and work cart - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cart guidance device and a work cart , and more particularly to a cart guidance device used when a product is divided and assembled by a plurality of manufacturing devices, and a working cart having the cart guidance device. It is.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a wiring apparatus using a conventional wiring jig (see Patent Document 1).

The wiring device 41 includes a rectangular wide substrate 42, a plurality of wiring jigs 43 erected on the substrate 42, a component shelf 44 disposed adjacent to the substrate 42, and a component shelf 44. The component case 45 is provided at least. A wiring board 46 is constituted by the substrate 42 and the plurality of wiring jigs 43. Although provided with an assembly guiding device in JP-A-9-147641, it is not shown in Figure 11.

  The wiring board 46 is supported by the leg 47 in an inclined manner. This is because the operator can easily and efficiently perform the wiring operation of the electric wire 48 on the wiring board 46 having a large depth. When the wiring board 46 is not inclined, the hand cannot reach the rear wiring jig 43 and the wiring workability is poor. In addition, about the wiring board with a narrow depth, it arrange | positions not horizontally but horizontally.

The wiring is to wire the electric wires 48 in a required shape along the wiring jigs 43 one by one. Parts such as a protective tube 49 and a protector are attached to the plurality of wired wires 48. Terminals (not shown) are crimped to the ends of the electric wires 48, the terminals are inserted into the connector housing, and the connector housing and the terminals constitute the connector 50. Furthermore, a plurality of electric wires 48 ( not shown) are converged by the vinyl tape 51 to complete the wire harness 52.
JP 2004-111128 A

  However, a manufacturing process for manufacturing a product is divided into a plurality of processes in a predetermined order, a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses are arranged corresponding to the processes, and work in each of the processes is shared by the manufacturing apparatus. Thus, even if the production amount of the product increases or decreases, the number of manufacturing apparatuses in each process cannot be increased or decreased. For this reason, when the production amount suddenly changes, the operating rate of the manufacturing apparatus varies, and the manufacturing equipment cannot be used effectively. Moreover, since the manufacturing apparatus which manufactures a product is predetermined based on a production plan, a performance record, etc., if a schedule delays, the waiting time of manufacture will become long and the operating efficiency of equipment will be reduced. There was a problem.

  Therefore, when a waiting state occurs in a manufacturing device, it may be possible for an operator or the like to change the product manufacturing to another manufacturing device. It is difficult to change the manufacturing equipment to be used, and it is difficult to make effective use of the equipment because there is a concern that the quality of the product may deteriorate due to mistakes caused by the above.

Therefore, in view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a cart guidance device and a work cart that can contribute to effective use of equipment without deteriorating the quality of products.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the cart guiding apparatus according to claim 1, which is made according to the present invention, manufactures the product with a cart on which a plurality of parts constituting the product are mounted as shown in the basic configuration diagram of FIG . 1 . A cart guidance device 20 that guides to a plurality of manufacturing devices corresponding to each of a plurality of processes in which a manufacturing process is divided to support the assembly operation of the product, wherein the plurality of products correspond to the products that guide the cart. Guidance information acquisition means 21a7 for acquiring guidance information indicating the manufacturing apparatus, and the operation status of the manufacturing apparatus indicated by the guidance information acquired by the guidance information acquisition means 21a7 in response to generation of a manufacturing instruction corresponding to the cart. The operating status information collecting means 21a3 for collecting the operating status information shown, and the operating status and the guidance information of each of the manufacturing devices indicated by the operating status information collected by the operating status information collecting means Based on, induces the guiding destination determining unit 21a4 that determines the manufacturing apparatus guiding destination from among the operating and non aforementioned production apparatus, the working carriage to the guide destination determining unit 21a4 has determined the manufacturing apparatus and guide means 21a5, have a, the guidance information has a priority data indicating the priority of the induction order to induce the carriage to the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses, and said inductive destination determining unit 21a4, the Based on the operation status information and the priority data of the guidance information, it is a means for determining, as a guidance destination, the manufacturing apparatus having a high priority among the manufacturing apparatuses that are not in operation .

According to the cart guiding apparatus of the present invention described in claim 1, when a manufacturing instruction for the cart is generated, the operating status information of the manufacturing device indicated by the guiding information acquired by the guiding information acquiring unit 21a7 is the operating status information collecting unit. Collected by 21a3. Then, based on the operating status and guidance information of each of the manufacturing devices indicated by the operating status information, a guidance destination manufacturing device is determined by the guidance destination determination means 21a4 from among the manufacturing devices that are not in operation. Then, the cart is guided by the worker or automatically to the determined manufacturing apparatus by guidance by the guidance means 21a5. In addition, based on the operating status of each of the manufacturing apparatuses indicated by the operating status information and the priority data of guidance information, the manufacturing apparatus with the higher priority of the guidance destination is determined from among the manufacturing apparatuses that are not operating. The destination of the carriage is determined by the means 21a4.

The invention of claim 2 wherein has been made to solve the above problems, as shown in the basic diagram of Fig. 1, the carriage guide device of claim 1, wherein the assembly work in each of the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses Work progress information updating means 21a8 for updating work progress information indicating whether or not the work has been completed, and the guidance destination determination means is updated by the operation status information and the work progress information update means 21a4. Based on the progress information, it is a means for determining the guide manufacturing apparatus from among the manufacturing apparatuses that have completed the assembly work and are not operating.

According to the cart guiding apparatus of the present invention described in claim 2 , the work progress information indicating whether or not the assembly work has been completed in each of the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses is updated by the work progress information updating means 21a8. Based on the work progress information and the operation status information, the guide destination determination unit 21a4 determines a guide destination manufacturing apparatus from among the manufacturing apparatuses that have completed the assembly work and are not operating. Then, the carriage is guided to the determined manufacturing apparatus by an operator or automatically by guidance by the guidance means 21a5.

Working truck according to claim 3, wherein which has been made by the present invention for solving the above problems, as shown in the basic diagram of Fig. 1, divided into a plurality of steps in a predetermined order the manufacturing process of processing the product in advance Then, a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses are arranged corresponding to the process, and the parts constituting the product correspond to the manufacturing apparatus when the manufacturing apparatus shares the work in each of the processes with the manufacturing apparatus. Assembly unit 10 arranged in a predetermined transport state, and moving means 23 for moving the assembly unit 10 to an arbitrary place, and in the order corresponding to the products by the moving means 23 A work cart that selectively moves to an arbitrary manufacturing device among a plurality of manufacturing devices arranged in each of the steps, further comprising the cart guide device according to claim 1 , and the cart guide Dress The moving means 23 is characterized in that so as to move in response to induction by the induction unit 21a5 of.

According to the work cart of the present invention described in claim 3 above, the parts constituting the product are arranged in the assembly unit 10 of the work cart in a predetermined conveying state corresponding to the manufacturing apparatus. Then, the moving means 23 is moved in accordance with the guidance to the manufacturing apparatus by the guiding means 21a5 of the cart guiding apparatus in response to the production instruction for the working carriage.

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation status information corresponding to the manufacturing apparatus indicated by the guidance information is collected according to the generation of the manufacturing instruction for the carriage, and the manufacturing apparatus is not in operation. Since the production equipment of the guidance destination is determined from and the cart is guided, the cart can be easily guided to the production equipment in operation in response to an increase in production volume or sudden production instructions. Can be surely prevented. Even if the order of the processes is changed, the waiting time for the manufacturing apparatus can be minimized, so that the operation efficiency in the facility for manufacturing the product can be improved. In addition, since priority data is provided in the guidance information and a manufacturing device with a high priority of the guidance destination is determined as the guidance destination among the manufacturing devices that are not in operation, the priority of the manufacturing device to be guided is determined. It is possible to reliably prevent the carriage from being guided to an operating manufacturing apparatus and to efficiently guide a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses, which can contribute to an improvement in productivity. Therefore, it is possible to contribute to the effective use of the equipment without deteriorating the quality of the product.

According to the invention described in claim 2 , in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 , the work progress information indicating whether or not the assembly work is completed in each of the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses is updated, and the work progress is updated. Based on the information and the operation status information, the assembly work has been completed and the guidance destination is determined from the production equipment that is not in operation, so that the carriage is guided to the production equipment that is in operation. Since it can prevent reliably, it can contribute to the effective use of the further facility.

According to the present invention described in claim 3 as described above, it will either induce the working carriage in which apparatus for producing a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses provided in each as engineering, received a manufacturing instruction In other words, since the decision is made based on the operation status of the manufacturing apparatus immediately before the guidance, only the order of the steps for guiding the work carriage is determined in order to manufacture the product. It is possible to move to another manufacturing apparatus, and the manufacturing apparatus can be freely increased or decreased according to the production amount. Further, even if the order of the steps is changed, the waiting time for the manufacturing apparatus can be minimized, so that the operation efficiency in the facility for manufacturing the product can be improved. Furthermore, even if the number of products is increased, the conveyance and processing of the products can be controlled by the work cart regardless of the product number, so that human errors can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to contribute to the effective use of the work cart and equipment without deteriorating the quality of the product.

  Embodiments of a system to which at least one of a cart guiding apparatus and a working cart according to the present invention are applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Reference example]
First, an example of a wire harness exterior mounting system to which a cart guiding apparatus and a working cart according to a reference example are applied will be described with reference to the drawings of FIGS.

Here, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the wire harness exterior mounting system, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the working cart before shaping, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the working cart after shaping. There, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a control box that corresponds to the carriage guiding apparatus, FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of a carriage induction treatment executed by a CPU of FIG.

The wire harness exterior mounting system 100 shown in FIG. 2 has various processes such as a pre-process 2, a corrugated mounting process 3, a tape winding process 4, and a finishing process 5. In addition, in this reference example , in order to simplify explanation, the case of only the above-described process will be described. However, for example, a form in which another process related to wire harness exterior mounting such as vinyl sheet mounting is added to the above-described process. Various forms can be adopted.

  The previous process 2 has a production line that consistently performs operations such as cutting of the electric wire, shielding wire processing, crimping and insertion of the terminal to the electric wire, and continuity test, and the electric wire produced in the production line is It is transferred to a work cart 1 as a cart which will be described later.

  The corrugated attachment process 3 is a process of attaching a corrugated tube or the like to the electric wire developed on the work carriage 1, and in this process, three (multiple) corrugated attachment machines 31 </ b> A corresponding to the manufacturing apparatus in the claims. , B, C are provided. Each of these corrugated attachment machines 31A, 31B, and 31C has a wireless device (not shown) that performs wireless communication with an external device, and indicates the operating status of the manufacturing apparatus in response to an output request from the outside. Output operational information.

  In addition, as an example of this operation information, it has the operation status data which shows an equipment addition status, an equipment reservation status, etc., the identification data which can identify corrugated attachment machine 31A, B, C, etc. Moreover, about the number of corrugated attachment machines 31A, B, and C, it changes according to a production amount, the number of product numbers, etc.

  The tape winding step 4 is a step of winding a tape around the electric wire developed on the working carriage 1, and in this step, three (a plurality) tape winding machines 41A, B, and C corresponding to the manufacturing apparatus are provided. ing. Each of these tape winding machines 41A, B, and C also has a wireless device (not shown) that performs wireless communication with an external device, similarly to the corrugated attachment machines 31A, B, and C. In response to the output request, operation information indicating the operation status of the manufacturing apparatus is output.

  The finishing process 5 is a process in which an exterior inspection, an appearance inspection, a continuity inspection, and the like of the wire harness conveyed by the work carriage 1 are performed. And in this finishing process 5, if the product which passed various inspections is removed from a trolley | bogie, it will be packaged and shipped. Further, the cart from which the product has been removed is forwarded toward the previous process 2.

  The harness exterior mounting system 100 detects that the work cart 1 is stopped in the stop areas 61 and 62 where the work cart 1 is stopped by an infrared sensor. Between the stop areas 61 and 62, guide tapes 51a to 51c such as light reflecting tapes are affixed on the floor surface in order to define the travel route of the work carriage 1. And by interposing the corrugated attachment machines 31A, B, C described above in the middle of the guide tapes 51a to 51c, the work carriage 1 is guided to each attachment machine, and the installation work of the gate tube there is completed. Accordingly, the work carriage 1 is guided to the stop area 62.

  Similarly, guide tapes 61a to 61c such as light reflecting tape are stuck on the floor surface between the stop area 62 and the predetermined area of the finishing step 5. And by interposing the tape winding machines 41A, B, and C described above in the middle of the guide tapes 52a to 52c, the working carriage 1 is guided to each tape winding machine, and the tape winding work or the like is ended there. Accordingly, the work carriage 1 is guided to the finishing process 5. Further, a guide tape 53 for guiding the work carriage 1 from the finishing process 5 to the previous process 2 is provided.

Next, the working cart 1 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has a plurality of assembly jigs 11 for fixing the electric wires (components) constituting the wire harness (product) at predetermined positions corresponding to the products. Built-in assembly unit 10 that is fixed to rails 12 that are fixed to each other and a plurality of rails 12 are arranged at predetermined intervals, and automatic travel unit (travel vehicle) 23 that moves assembly unit 10 by the driving force of a drive source A control box 20.

  The assembly unit 10 further includes a frame 13 that movably locks each of the rails 12 and a guide 14 that is provided along the double arrow X direction in which the rails 12 move. The frame 13 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape by a metal member or the like. Each rail 12 is provided with two pipes (not shown) that are movably fitted to each of the two guides 14.

A pair of guide motors are provided at both ends of the guide 14 to move the wire partially fixed to the pipe, and the rail 12 is moved to a predetermined arbitrary position by driving the guide motor. It is the structure which can be made to do. In FIGS. 3 and 4 , only two guides 14 corresponding to one rail 12 are shown for clarity, but in the case of this reference example , twelve rails 12 are shown. Therefore, there are 24 guides 14.

  Further, the assembly jig 11 is configured to be slidable in the double arrow Y direction on the rail 12 by a slide pack or the like. A wire extends from the assembly jig 11, and an end of the wire is attached to the output shaft of the rail motor, and the rotation of the output shaft is transmitted to the assembly unit 11. Thus, the assembly jig 11 is configured to move in one direction in the double arrow Y direction.

  Next, the shaping example of the electric wire (component) which comprises the wire harness (product) in the assembly unit 10 mentioned above is demonstrated.

First, as shown in FIG. 3 , in a state where the rails 12 are bundled on the left side of the frame 13, an electric wire or the like is fixed to an assembly jig 11 predetermined according to the product. When all the electric wires are attached, each of the rails 12 is moved to a predetermined position by driving the guide motor and the roller motor according to an instruction from the control box 20 to be described later. assembly jig 11 by being moved to a predetermined height, is deployed in the assembly unit 10 in a state where the wire is shaped as shown in FIG.

Next, an example of a schematic configuration of the control box 20 will be described. The control box 20 shown in FIG. 5 includes a microprocessor (MPU) 21, a memory 22, an automatic traveling unit 23, a sensor 24, a communication unit 25, and an assembly jig driving unit 26. Operated by built-in battery. The MPU 21 is connected with a memory 22, an automatic traveling unit 23, a sensor 24, a communication unit 25, an assembly jig driving unit 26, and the like via an interface.

  As is well known, the MPU 21 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 21a that performs various processes and controls according to a predetermined program, a ROM 21b that is a read-only memory storing a program for the CPU 21a, and the like. A RAM 21c, which is a readable / writable memory having an area necessary for processing operations of the CPU 21a and storing data, is provided.

The ROM 21b, particular means as engineering, process equipment information extracting means, operating state information collecting means, guide destination determining means, and, and stores various programs such as a truck inducing a program that causes a CPU21a as various means, such as inductive means Yes. The program of the ROM 21b divides the manufacturing process for manufacturing the wire harness (product) into a plurality of processes in a predetermined order, arranges a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses corresponding to the processes, and performs the work in each of the processes. In manufacturing the product by sharing with the manufacturing apparatus, the work cart 1 in which the parts constituting the product are arranged in a predetermined conveying state corresponding to the manufacturing apparatus is arranged in an order corresponding to the product. The CPU 21a is caused to function as a cart guiding device that guides to the manufacturing device arranged in each of the steps.

  The memory 22 uses an EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable ROM) or the like that can retain various stored data even when power supply is cut off. The identification data allocated to the work carriage 1 and the work Various data such as process data indicating the process of guiding the carriage 1 are stored.

  Similar to the well-known automatic guided vehicle 23, the automatic traveling unit 23 includes a drive motor (not shown) for reducing driving, and a drive control unit (not shown) for controlling the drive motor according to an instruction from the CPU 21a. And two drive wheels 23a and 23b linked to the drive shaft of the drive motor. The drive motor has two independent motors and is driven by receiving power supplied from the battery, whereby the drive wheels 23a and 23b are driven and rotated to automatically travel. Further, the steering of the automatic traveling unit 23 is performed by the two motors independently performing ON / OFF control.

  The sensor 24 is an optical sensor or the like, and is fixed forward in the traveling direction of the work carriage 1 so that the above-described guide tapes 51a to 51c and 52a to 52c can be detected. And the sensor 24 detects the position of the induction | guidance | derivation tapes 51a-c and 52a-c, and outputs a detection signal to CPU21a. Then, the CPU 21a controls the two motors of the drive motor unit according to the detection signal, and the automatic travel unit 23 so that the work cart 1 travels along any one of the induction tapes 51a to 51c and 52a to 52c. To give instructions.

  The communication unit 25 uses, for example, a wireless device and has a configuration capable of transmitting / receiving information to / from a wireless base station. Then, the communication unit 25 transmits information input from the MPU 21 to a management device or the like via a radio base station, an intranet, or the like, and outputs information received via the radio base station to the MPU 21.

The assembly jig driving unit 26 includes the above-described guide motor and rail motor, and controls driving of each motor in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 21a. For example, when identification data corresponding to a product is input from the CPU 21a, a table corresponding to the identification data is selected from the table information indicating the development position of each rail 12 and its assembly jig 11 predetermined for each product. By extracting the information and driving the guide motor and the rail motor based on the table information, the assembly unit 10 is expanded so as to be in a transport state corresponding to the product as shown in FIG .

In this reference example , the wire harness exterior mounting system 100 includes a working carriage 1 used in the equipment, corrugated mounting machines 31A, B, C and tape winding machines 41A, B, C, etc. provided in each process (process). A management device 70 for managing The management device 20 uses a personal computer and is configured to be capable of wireless / wired communication with the work cart 1, the corrugated attachments 31A, B, C, the tape winding machines 41A, B, C, and the like. Yes.

  Various information such as a processing facility information database 71, a product information database 72, and a route information database 73 is stored in the hard disk device of the management device 20. Then, the management device 20 extracts information designated for reference from the external device from each database, and provides the information to the external device.

  The processing facility information database 71 includes various data indicating the configuration of the device in each process of the wire harness exterior mounting system 100, the access method when accessing the device, the operation status of each device, the operation schedule, and the like. ing. The operation status, operation schedule, and the like are updated at a predetermined timing such as completion of work and every predetermined time.

  The product information database 72 includes various data indicating the component configuration corresponding to each of a plurality of products, the transport state of the assembly unit 10 of the work cart 1, work contents for the work cart 1, or the storage locations thereof. It has various data indicating the link destination to.

  The path information database 73 includes various data indicating a plurality of processes (processes) obtained by dividing the manufacturing process for manufacturing the above-described product in a predetermined order. And the order of the process of guide | inducing the work trolley | bogie 1 can be specified by referring the route information database 73 based on the identification data which show a product.

In this reference example , the control box 20 extracts processing facility information corresponding to each of the processes indicated by the route information corresponding to the product from the processing facility information database 71, and the processing facility information is stored in the memory 22 as the process facility information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the hard disk device of the management device 70 functions as the process facility information storage unit. It can be made into various different forms, for example.

Next, an example of the cart guidance process according to the reference example executed by the CPU 21a of the control box 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG .

When the cart guidance program is executed, it is determined in step S11 shown in FIG. 6 whether or not a manufacturing instruction has been received from the management device 70 based on the received data received by the communication unit 25. If it is determined that the manufacturing instruction has not been received (N in S11), the determination process is repeated to wait for the reception of the manufacturing instruction. On the other hand, if it is determined that a manufacturing instruction has been received (Y in S11), the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S12, product information and route information related to the product instructed from the management device 70 are extracted from each database and stored in the memory 22, and the processing facility information extracted from the processing facility information database 71 is processed into the process facility information. And then the process proceeds to step S13.

  In step S13 (process specifying means), the work cart 1 is guided in response to the production instruction corresponding to the work cart 1 based on the route information stored in the memory 22 and the process data in the memory 22. A process is specified, and the process data in the memory 22 is updated to indicate this process, and then the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S14 (process facility information extracting means), process facility information corresponding to the process specified in step S13 is extracted from the memory 22 and stored in the RAM 21c, and then the process proceeds to step S15. When the process facility information storage means is the hard disk device of the management device 70, the process facility information is extracted by communication with the management device 70 and is taken into the RAM 21c.

  In step S15 (operation status information collecting means), an output request for requesting output of the operation status information and the operation reservation status information is transmitted to each of the manufacturing apparatuses indicated by the process facility information in the RAM 21c via the communication unit 25. The operating status information and the operating reservation status information received in response to the output request are collected and stored in the RAM 21c, and then the process proceeds to step S16.

  In step S16 (guidance destination determination means), based on the operation status information and operation reservation status information collected in the RAM 21c and the guidance destination determination conditions stored in advance in the ROM 21b, for example, the operation rate is low in the process and the reservation is made. A manufacturing apparatus or the like in which the situation is not crowded is determined as a guidance destination, and then the process proceeds to step S18.

In this reference example, there will be described a case of determining the guiding destination on the basis of the operating conditions of step identified in step S13, to determine the destination in light also operating situation of the person to the subsequent process steps By doing so, it is possible to prevent the waiting time for the manufacturing apparatus from becoming longer and the operating efficiency of the manufacturing facility from being lowered after the next step after the work in the guided manufacturing apparatus is completed.

  In step S17 (guidance means, movement means), guidance information indicating guidance tapes 51a-c, 52a-c and the like for guiding the work carriage 1 to the manufacturing apparatus determined as the guidance destination is generated in the RAM 21c, and the guidance information is generated. And the input from the sensor 24, the traveling control of the automatic traveling unit 23 is performed so that the working carriage 1 moves on the corresponding guide tapes 51a to 51c and 52a to 52c, and the manufacturing apparatus arrives. Accordingly, the process proceeds to step S18.

  In step S18, based on the received data received from the management device 70 by the communication unit 25, it is determined whether or not the work in the manufacturing apparatus has been completed. If it is determined that the work has not been completed (N in S18), this determination process is repeated to wait for the end of the work. On the other hand, if it is determined that the work has been completed (Y in S18), the process proceeds to step S19.

  In step S19, based on the path information stored in the memory 22 and the process data in the memory 22, it is determined whether or not the operations of all the processes have been completed. When it is determined that the work of all the processes is not completed (N in S19), the process returns to step S13, and a series of processes for the next process is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that all the processes have been completed (Y in S19), the process proceeds to step S20.

  In step S <b> 20, it is determined whether or not the wire harness (product) has been removed from the assembly unit 10 of the work cart 1 based on the reception data received from the management device 70 by the communication unit 25. It should be noted that the removal detection method can take various forms such as allowing the operator to input the completion, or automatically detecting the removal.

  If it is determined in step S20 that the wire harness has not been removed (N in S20), the operator waits for the wire harness to be removed from the assembly unit 10 by, for example, warning the operator of the removal. On the other hand, if it is determined that it has been removed (Y in S20), the process proceeds to step S21.

  In step S 21, guidance information indicating the guidance tape 53 and the like to be guided to the previous step 2 that is predetermined as a forwarding place is generated in the RAM 21 c. Based on the guidance information and the input from the sensor 24, the work cart 1 When the traveling control of the automatic traveling unit 23 is performed so as to move on the corresponding guide tape 53 and the work carriage 1 is forwarded to the previous step 2, the processing is ended.

Next, an example of the operation (action) of the work cart 1 according to this reference example having the above-described configuration will be described below.

  In the previous step 2, when an electric wire constituting a product to be manufactured in the assembly unit 10 of the work cart 1 is attached to the assembly jig 11 by an operator or the like and the work cart 1 enters a predetermined conveyance state, the operation is stopped. It moves to the area 61 and enters a standby state.

  When receiving the manufacturing instruction from the management device 70, the control box 20 specifies a process for guiding the work cart 1, and extracts process facility information corresponding to the process from the memory 22. Then, operation status information corresponding to the corrugated attachment machines 31A, B, and C in the corrugation installation process 3 indicated by the process facility information is collected from the management device 70, and the guidance destination is based on the operation status indicated by the operation status information. The corrugated attachment machines 31A, 31B, and 31C that satisfy the determination conditions are determined as guidance destinations. And if corrugated attachment machine 31A is determined as a guidance destination, work cart 1 will arrive at corrugated attachment machine 31A by moving on guidance tape 51a by guidance of control box 20. When the work is completed, the work moves on the guide tape 51a to the stop area 62 and waits for the next manufacturing instruction.

  Similarly, in the stop area 62, when the control box 20 receives a manufacturing instruction from the management device 70, the control box 20 specifies a process for guiding the work cart 1, and stores process facility information corresponding to the process in the memory 22. Extract from Then, operation status information corresponding to the tape winding machines 41A, B, and C in the tape winding process 4 indicated by the process facility information is collected from the management device 70, and the guidance destination is based on the operation status indicated by the operation status information. The tape winding machines 41A, B, and C that satisfy the determination conditions are determined as guide destinations. When the tape winding machine 41C is determined as the guidance destination, the work cart 1 reaches the tape winding machine 41C by moving on the guidance tape 52c by the guidance of the control box 20. When the work is completed, the work moves on the guide tape 52c and moves to the finishing step 5.

  In the finishing process 5, the exterior inspection, the appearance inspection, the continuity inspection, and the like of the wire harness manufactured and conveyed by the work cart 1 are performed, and the products that pass the inspection are removed from the assembly unit 10 of the work cart 1. When the control box 20 detects this, the work cart 1 is guided to the previous step 2 and moved.

  The work cart 1 described above stores process facility information indicating a plurality of manufacturing devices provided in each of a plurality of processes divided into manufacturing processes, and the cart guidance device responds to the generation of a manufacturing instruction. The process of guiding the work cart 1 is specified, the operation status information of the manufacturing apparatus indicated by the process facility information extracted corresponding to the process is collected, and the work is performed based on the operation status indicated by the operation status information. When the manufacturing apparatus to which the carriage 1 is to be guided is determined and guided, the automatic traveling unit (moving means) 23 moves the assembly unit 10 to the manufacturing apparatus in accordance with the guidance. Which manufacturing device among the plurality of manufacturing devices to which the work cart 1 is guided is determined when a manufacturing instruction is received, that is, based on the operating status of the manufacturing device immediately before the guidance, so that the product is manufactured. Hit Therefore, it is possible to move the work cart to the optimum manufacturing device in each process only by determining the order of the steps for guiding the work cart 1, and increase or decrease the manufacturing device according to the production amount. Can be done freely. Further, even if the order of the steps is changed, the waiting time for the manufacturing apparatus can be minimized, so that the operation efficiency in the facility for manufacturing the product can be improved. Furthermore, even if the number of products is increased, the conveyance and processing of the products can be controlled by the work cart 1 regardless of the product number, so that human errors can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to contribute to the effective use of the work cart 1 and the equipment without deteriorating the quality of the product.

In the present reference example described above, there has been described a case where automatically moved by automatic driving unit 23 in response to the induction of the control box (carriage guiding device) 20, a guidance information indicating a route or the like to the induction destination Various forms such as displaying on a display device or the like and moving the work carriage 1 to the worker can be adopted.

[Example]
Then, the carriage guide device of the present invention with reference to the work guidance system, an embodiment of a case of inducing the dolly operator, below with reference to the drawings in FIGS. 7 to 10.

Here, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a work guidance system having a cart guidance apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of the cart guidance device of FIG. 7 , and FIG . FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the cart guidance process according to the present invention executed by the CPU 8 and FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the work guidance system.

In FIG. 7 , a work guidance system 101 is provided in a production facility for a wire harness, a production line, or the like. The work guidance system 101 includes a carriage 1, a plurality of assembly jigs 11 for fixing electric wires (components) constituting a wire harness (product), a guidance support device 20, a management device 6, and a plurality (in FIG. 7 ) . 4) manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D. The management apparatus 6 and the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 7 </ b> A to 7 </ b> D are connected via a communication line 8 so that various types of information can be communicated.

  The guidance support device 20 is mounted on the carriage 1 so that the display device can be visually recognized by an operator. A well-known personal computer (personal computer) is used, and it has a central processing unit (CPU) 21a for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus according to a predetermined program. The CPU 21a is a readable / writable memory having a ROM 21b, which is a read-only memory storing a program for the CPU 21a, etc. via the bus B, and a work area for storing various data necessary for processing operations of the CPU 21a. A certain RAM 21c is connected.

  A storage device 21d is connected to the CPU 21a via a bus B, and a hard disk device, a memory, or the like is used as the storage device 21d. The storage device 21d stores various program files such as a guidance support program for causing the computer to function as the guidance support device 20, and various files.

  The guidance support program is executed by the CPU 21a so that the CPU 21a functions as various means such as guidance information acquisition means, operation status information collection means, guidance destination determination means, guidance means, and work progress information update means in the claims. I have a program.

  A communication device 25, an input device 27, a display device 28, and the like are connected to the CPU 21a via a bus B. The communication device 25 uses a communication device such as a LAN card and a cellular phone modem. And the communication apparatus 25 outputs the information received from the management apparatus 6 etc. via the communication line 8 to CPU21a, and transmits the information input from CPU21a to the designated transmission destination.

  The input device 27 has a keyboard 27a and a scanner 27b. Between the keyboard 11a and scanner 11b and the bus B, an interface unit (not shown) is interposed. The keyboard 27a outputs input data corresponding to the input operation to the CPU 21a. The scanner 27b outputs read data obtained by reading a barcode or the like attached to the bag 11 to the CPU 21a.

  In addition, the collar 11 has the plurality of clamps 11a described above arranged in parallel on a rail-shaped carrier. And if an electric wire is temporarily hold | maintained at the clamp 11a, the electric wire temporarily hold | maintained at the clamp 11a will be moved to manufacturing apparatus 7A-7D by an operator, and an assembly | attachment operation | work etc. will be performed.

As the display device 28, various display devices such as a known liquid crystal display and CRT are used. The display device 28 displays various information under the control of the CPU 21a. That is, in this embodiment , a guidance screen for guiding the carriage 1 is displayed on the display device 28, and the operator is guided to the carriage 1.

  The management device 6 uses a computer in the same manner as the guidance support device 20, communicates with each of the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D, and manages the operating states of the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D. . Then, in response to a request from the guidance support device 20, information indicating the operation status is transmitted to the guidance support device 20.

  Further, the management device 6 manages guidance information indicating a plurality of manufacturing devices 7A to 7D that guide the carriage 1 corresponding to the product. The guidance information is stored in a storage device that can be read by the management device 6 so as to correspond to each product. For example, the guidance information includes device identification data indicating the manufacturing devices 7A to 7D associated with the guidance order of the guidance route, and priority data indicating the priority of the guidance order to guide the manufacturing devices 7A to 7D. ing.

  As the manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D, for example, a crimping apparatus, a cutting apparatus, a joint apparatus, or the like is used. Each of the manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D is provided so as to correspond to each of a plurality of processes into which a manufacturing process for manufacturing a product is divided. Each of the manufacturing apparatuses 7 </ b> A to 7 </ b> D transmits operation status information indicating whether or not the manufacturing apparatuses 7 </ b> A to 7 </ b> D are operating in response to a request from the management apparatus 6 to the management apparatus 6.

Next, an example of the cart guidance process according to the second embodiment executed by the CPU 21a of the cart guidance device 20 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG .

When the cart guidance program is executed, it is determined in step S31 shown in FIG. 9 whether or not a manufacturing instruction has been received from the management device 6 based on the received data received by the communication device 25. If it is determined that the manufacturing instruction has not been received (N in S31), the determination process is repeated to wait for the reception of the manufacturing instruction. On the other hand, if it is determined that a manufacturing instruction has been received (Y in S31), the process proceeds to step S32.

  In step S32 (guidance information acquisition means), transmission of the guidance information corresponding to the bag 11 instructed from the management device 6 is transmitted to the management device 6, and the guidance information received in response to the request is obtained and the storage device 20d. The work progress information indicating whether or not the assembly work is completed in each of the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D corresponding to the guidance information is generated and stored in the RAM 21c, and then the process proceeds to step S33. .

  In step S33 (operation status information collecting means), the transmission of the operation status information of the manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D indicated by the device identification data of the obtained guidance information is transmitted to the management device 6 and received in response to the request. Are collected and stored in the storage device 20d, and then the process proceeds to step S34. It should be noted that the operation status information is not necessarily collected for all the manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D to be guided, and only different manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D are collected. Can do.

  In step S34 (guidance destination determination means), based on the operational status of each of the manufacturing devices 7A to 7D indicated by the collected operational status information and the priority data of the guidance information, the manufacturing devices 7A to 7D that are not in operation , The guide manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D are determined, and then the process proceeds to step S35.

  In step S35, guide screen information for guiding the determined guide destination manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D is generated in the RAM 21c based on the guide information. In step S36, the guide screen information is displayed on the display device 28. The guidance screen information is displayed on the display device 28, and then the process proceeds to step S37. Thus, in Example 2, since the cart 1 is guided to the worker by displaying the guidance screen information, steps S35 to S36 function as guidance means.

  In step S37, based on the received data received from the management device 6 by the communication device 25, it is determined whether or not the work in the manufacturing devices 7A to 7D that guided the carriage 1 is completed. If it is determined that the work has not been completed (N in S37), this determination process is repeated to wait for the end of the work. On the other hand, if it is determined that the work is completed (Y in S37), the process proceeds to step S38.

  In step S38 (work progress information updating means), the work progress information in the RAM 21c is updated so that the work of the manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D that guided the carriage 1 is completed, and then the process proceeds to step S39.

  In step S39, based on the path information in the storage device 21d and the work progress information in the RAM 21c, it is determined whether or not the work in all steps has been completed. If it is determined that the work of all the processes is not completed (N in S39), the process returns to step S33, and a series of processes for the next process is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the work of all steps has been completed (Y in S39), the process is terminated.

Next, an example of operation (action) of the present invention by working guidance system 101 having the above structure, below with reference to the drawings of FIG. 10.

In FIG. 10 , trolleys 1 </ b> A and 1 </ b> B are the trolleys 1 described above, and are each equipped with a trolley guiding device 20. The carts 1A and 1B are equipped with a bag 11 for assembling products of the same product number, and the guidance information is guided in the guidance order of the manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D.

  First, when the cart guidance device 20 of the cart 1A receives a manufacturing instruction, the guidance information H is acquired from the management device 6, and the operation status information of the manufacturing devices 7A to 7D indicated by the guidance information H is collected. As a result, since the manufacturing apparatus 7A that is the first guide destination is not in operation, the manufacturing apparatus 7A is determined as the guide destination, and guidance screen information for guiding the cart 1A to the manufacturing apparatus 7A is generated. The guidance screen information is displayed on the display device 28. As a result, the worker refers to the guidance screen information and moves the carriage 1A to the manufacturing apparatus 7A to perform a predetermined work.

  Thereafter, when the cart guidance device 20 of the cart 1B receives a manufacturing instruction, the guidance information H is acquired from the management device 6, and the operation status information of the manufacturing devices 7A to 7D indicated by the guidance information H is collected. As a result, since the manufacturing apparatus 7A which is the first guidance destination is operating, the manufacturing apparatus 7B having the second priority and not operating is determined as the guidance destination, and the cart 1B is guided to the manufacturing apparatus 7B. Guidance screen information is generated, and the guidance screen information is displayed on the display device 28. As a result, the worker refers to the guidance screen information and moves the carriage 1B to the manufacturing apparatus 7B to perform a predetermined work.

  Thereafter, when the operation of the cart 1A is completed while the manufacturing apparatus 7B is in operation, the cart guiding apparatus 20 of the cart 1A has a priority of 3 because the manufacturing apparatus 7B that is the next guiding destination is operated by the cart 1B. The second and non-operating manufacturing apparatus 7C is determined as a guidance destination, guidance screen information for guiding the cart 1A to the manufacturing apparatus 7C is generated, and the guidance screen information is displayed on the display device 28. As a result, the worker refers to the guidance screen information and moves the carriage 1A to the manufacturing apparatus 7C to perform a predetermined work. Note that when the work of the cart 1A is completed in a state where the manufacturing apparatus 7B is not operating, the next guidance destination is determined as the manufacturing apparatus 7C.

  When the operation of the carriage 1B is completed while the manufacturing apparatus 7C is in operation, the carriage guidance apparatus 20 of the carriage 1B has a priority of 1 because the manufacturing apparatus 7C, which is the next guidance destination, is operated by the carriage 1A. The second and non-operating manufacturing apparatus 7A is determined as a guidance destination, guidance screen information for guiding the cart 1B to the manufacturing apparatus 7A is generated, and the guidance screen information is displayed on the display device 28. As a result, the worker refers to the guidance screen information and moves the carriage 1B to the manufacturing apparatus 7A to perform a predetermined work. Note that when the operation of the carriage 1B is completed while the manufacturing apparatus 1A is operating and the manufacturing apparatus 1C is not operating, the next guidance destination is determined as the manufacturing apparatus 7C.

  According to the cart guidance device 20 described above, operation status information corresponding to the production devices 7A to 7D indicated by the guidance information is collected in response to the production instruction for the cart 1, and the production devices 7A to 7D that are not in operation are collected. Since the production equipment 7A to 7D as guidance destinations is determined from the inside and the cart 1 is guided, the production during operation can easily cope with an increase in the production amount, the occurrence of a sudden production instruction, etc. It is possible to reliably prevent the carriage 1 from being guided to the devices 7A to 7D. Even if the order of the processes is changed, the waiting time for the manufacturing apparatus can be minimized, so that the operation efficiency in the facility for manufacturing the product can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to contribute to the effective use of the equipment without deteriorating the quality of the product.

In addition, the work progress information indicating whether or not the assembly work is completed in each of the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D is updated, and the assembly work is completed based on the work progress information and the operation status information. Since the guidance destination is determined from the production apparatuses 7A to 7D that are not in operation, it is possible to reliably prevent the carriage 1 from being guided to the production apparatus that is in operation, so that the equipment can be used more effectively. Can contribute.

  Furthermore, priority data (guidance order) is provided for the guidance information, and the manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D with high guidance destination priority are determined as the guidance destination among the manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D that are not in operation. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the carriage 1 from being guided to the manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D that are in operation and to efficiently and efficiently manufacture the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 7A to 7D. Since 7D can be induced, it can contribute to the improvement of productivity.

  In the second embodiment described above, guidance screen information is displayed on the display device 25 for guidance, that is, a case where the operator moves the carriage 1 is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It can also be set as embodiment which provides a moving means etc. to the trolley | bogie 1 and carries out automatic guidance like Example 1 mentioned above.

It is a block diagram which shows the basic composition of the trolley | bogie guidance apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a wire harness exterior mounting system. It is a perspective view which shows before shaping of a working trolley. It is a perspective view which shows after shaping of the work trolley | bogie. It is a block diagram which shows an example of schematic structure of the control box corresponded to a trolley | bogie guidance apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the trolley | bogie guidance process which CPU of FIG. 5 performs. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the work guidance system which has the trolley | bogie guidance apparatus of this invention. Is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the carriage guiding device of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the trolley | bogie guidance process which concerns on this invention which CPU of FIG. 8 performs. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of operation | movement of a work guidance system. It is a figure which shows one form of the wiring apparatus using the conventional wiring jig.

10 Assembly unit 20 Carriage guidance device (control box, personal computer)
20d Process facility information storage means (memory)
21a1 Process identification means (CPU)
21a2 Process facility information extraction means (CPU)
21a3 Operating status information collecting means (CPU)
21a4 Guide destination determining means (CPU)
21a5 Guiding means (CPU)
21a6 Removal detection means (CPU)
21a7 Guidance information acquisition means (CPU)
21a8 Work progress information update means (CPU)
23 Moving means (automatic traveling unit)

Claims (3)

Carriage guidance for supporting the assembly work of the product by guiding the cart mounting a plurality of parts constituting the product to a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses corresponding to each of a plurality of processes in which the manufacturing process for manufacturing the product is divided. A device,
Guidance information acquisition means for acquiring guidance information indicating the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses corresponding to the product for guiding the carriage;
An operation status information collecting unit that collects operating status information indicating an operating status of the manufacturing apparatus indicated by the guidance information acquired by the guidance information acquiring unit in response to the generation of a manufacturing instruction corresponding to the cart;
Based on the operation status of each of the manufacturing apparatuses indicated by the operation status information collected by the operation status information collecting means and the guidance information, the manufacturing apparatus of the guidance destination is determined from the manufacturing apparatuses that are not operating. A destination determination means;
Have a, and guide means for guiding the working carriage to said guiding destination determining means has determined the production apparatus,
The guidance information includes priority data indicating a priority of a guidance order for guiding the cart to the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses; and
The guidance destination determination means is means for determining, based on the operation status information and priority data of the guidance information, the manufacturing apparatus having a high priority among the manufacturing apparatuses that are not operating as a guidance destination. There is a cart guidance device characterized by being. Work progress information update means for updating work progress information indicating whether or not the assembly work has been completed in each of the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses, and
The guidance destination determination means guides from the manufacturing apparatus that has completed the assembly work and is not operating based on the operation status information and the work progress information updated by the work progress information update means. The cart guiding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cart is a means for determining the manufacturing apparatus. A manufacturing process for processing a product is divided into a plurality of processes in a predetermined order, a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses are arranged corresponding to the processes, and work in each of the processes is shared by the manufacturing apparatus. An assembly unit in which parts constituting the product are arranged in a predetermined conveying state corresponding to the manufacturing apparatus, and a moving means for moving the assembly unit to an arbitrary place. And a working carriage that selectively moves to any manufacturing apparatus among a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses arranged in each of the steps in the order corresponding to the product by the moving means,
3. A working carriage further comprising the carriage guiding apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the moving means moves in accordance with guidance by the guiding means of the carriage guiding apparatus.

Images