JP6234101B2 - Coating apparatus system, needle cleaning method, and member manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a coating device system having a needle cleaning device and a needle cleaning method, characterized in that a coating agent or the like adhering to a needle tip of a coating device is cleaned by the force of air.

  Conventionally, when applying a coating agent with a needle, cleaning of the coating agent remaining at the tip of the needle has been a big problem. As an apparatus for cleaning excess liquid adhering to the needle tip, Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus shown in FIG. This apparatus has a cylindrical hole 7 for inserting the tip of the needle 2 attached to the syringe 1 on the upper surface of the container, and has a hole connected to a vacuum ejector on the side surface. In this apparatus, the excessive liquid adhering to the tip of the needle 2 is washed by inserting the tip of the needle 2 into the cylindrical hole 7 and sucking the air in the container using a vacuum ejector.

JP 2006-75754 A

  However, the adhesion force of the coating agent attached to the needle to the needle varies greatly depending on the viscosity of the coating agent. In the apparatus shown in Patent Document 1, since the suction force by the vacuum ejector is constant, coating agents having different viscosities cannot be sufficiently washed. Further, if the suction force by the vacuum ejector is adjusted, it is possible to deal with coating agents having different viscosities. However, it is very difficult to adjust the suction force. That is, if the suction force is too weak, the attached coating agent cannot be sufficiently sucked. If the suction force is too strong, the attached coating agent is sucked, and the coating agent inside the needle 1 is also sucked, which makes it difficult to control the coating amount when performing the next coating.

Coating system of the present invention, the coating having a plurality of coating apparatus for applying onto a coating member by a needle which is provided a coating agent which contains the syringe to the tip of the syringe, and a needle cleaning device for cleaning the two Doru a system, before Symbol plurality of coating apparatus has a first application device and the second application device, wherein the syringe of the first coating unit the coating agent of the first viscosity is accommodated, The syringe of the second coating device contains a coating agent having a viscosity higher than the first viscosity , and the needle cleaning device has a gap between the exhaust port for sucking the gas inside the container and the tip of the needle. a cleaning opening having insertable diameter spaced, and a control unit for controlling the position of the needle cleaning apparatus, the cleaning opening is provided at the tip of the syringe coating fabric agent is accommodated two knee The tip of the Le, can be inserted to a position where a different diameter, the diameter from the outside towards the inside of the cleaning apparatus is small, or have a tapered shape in which the diameter decreases from the inside toward the outside of the cleaning device The control unit controls the position of the tip of the needle provided at the tip of the syringe of the first coating device to be the first position that is the first diameter of the cleaning port, and The position of the tip of the needle provided at the tip of the syringe of the second coating device is controlled to be a second position that is the second diameter of the cleaning port, and the first diameter is the second diameter It is characterized by being larger than the aperture .
The member manufacturing method of the present invention is manufactured by applying a coating agent to a member to be coated using the coating apparatus system.

In the needle cleaning method of the present invention, the tip of the applicator for applying the coating agent contained in the syringe with the needle provided at the tip of the syringe is inserted into the cleaning port of the needle cleaning device, In the needle cleaning method for cleaning the coating agent adhering to the needle by sucking the air inside, the coating apparatus includes a first coating apparatus and a second coating apparatus, and the first coating apparatus The syringe of the first viscosity is accommodated in the syringe , the syringe of the second application device is accommodated with the application agent having a viscosity higher than the first viscosity, and the cleaning port is provided in the cleaning device. It has a tapered shape in which the diameter decreases from the outside toward the inside, or the diameter decreases from the inside to the outside of the cleaning device, and the tip of the syringe of the first coating device The tip of the needle provided at the tip of the syringe of the second coating device is inserted into the first position that is the first diameter of the washing port, It is inserted to the 2nd position used as a 2nd aperture, and said 1st aperture is larger than said 2nd aperture .

  The coating device system having the needle cleaning device of the present invention can clean a needle to which a coating agent having a different viscosity adheres without changing the suction pressure of the gas.

It is a simplified diagram showing the configuration of the needle cleaning device of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of the needle washing device of the present invention. It is a general-view figure of the coating system concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is the simplified diagram which showed the needle cleaning apparatus of patent document 1 regarding this invention.

  A schematic configuration of the coating apparatus system of the present invention is shown in FIG. The coating device system in the present invention has a coating device for coating a coating agent and a needle cleaning device.

  In FIG. 1, the coating apparatus includes a syringe 1 that stores the coating agent and a needle 2 that is used to apply a small amount of the coating agent stored in the syringe. A plurality of coating devices are arranged in a turret shape, and each coating device can move up and down. The plurality of coating apparatuses contain at least two types of coating agents having different viscosities. As the coating agent supplied to the syringe 1, an adhesive, a pressure-sensitive adhesive, grease, or the like can be used.

  A needle cleaning device 3 placed on the base 5 is provided below the application member. The base 5 is fixed to a slider of the position adjusting mechanism 4 and can be moved in the vertical direction by the slider.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the needle cleaning device of the present invention. FIG. 2A is an external view of the needle cleaning device, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view.

  In FIG. 2, the needle cleaning device 3 is connected to a vacuum ejector (not shown) to insert an exhaust port 9 for exhausting the gas inside the needle cleaning device 3 and the tip of the needle 2 having a taper shape in the depth direction. A cleaning port 5 is provided. The cleaning port 5 has a tapered shape such that the inner diameter decreases from the outside to the inside of the needle cleaning device 3.

  The inner diameter of the cleaning port 5 and the needle cleaning power will be described. If the flow rate sucked by the vacuum ejector is constant, the larger the hole diameter of the cleaning port, the slower the flow rate of air passing through the hole, so that the force for dropping the coating agent adhering to the tip of the needle 2 becomes weaker. On the other hand, the smaller the hole diameter of the cleaning port, the faster the flow velocity, and the stronger the force to drop the coating agent adhering to the tip of the needle 2.

  In the needle cleaning device 3 of the present invention, the cleaning port 5 has a tapered shape such that the inner diameter decreases from the outside to the inside of the needle cleaning device 3. Therefore, when the flow rate of the air forcedly exhausted from the exhaust port 9 by the vacuum ejector is constant, the cleaning power is reduced when the needle 2 is washed at a position where the tapered diameter is large, and the needle 2 is located at a position where the tapered diameter is small. Cleaning power increases the cleaning power. Therefore, the needle cleaning device of the present invention can clean the needle 2 with an appropriate cleaning force by changing the cleaning force at the tip of the needle 2 only by changing the insertion amount of the needle.

  When the needle cleaning device of the present invention uses a cleaning system that uses suction of air by a vacuum ejector, the minimum diameter portion of the cleaning port 5 interferes with the outer diameter of the needle 2 when the tip of the needle 2 is inserted. It is necessary to make a gap between the needle 2 and the outer diameter. Therefore, the minimum diameter portion of the cleaning port 5 is provided larger than the outer diameter of the needle 2.

  The insertion depth of the needle 2 into the cleaning port 5 is determined as follows. It is preferable to obtain an appropriate insertion depth value for each coating agent in advance. The optimum insertion depth depends on the viscosity of the coating agent, the needle diameter, and the ease of attachment, and is preferably determined by experiment.

  Next, teaching of the insertion depth of the needle 2 is performed based on the appropriate value of the insertion depth. Here, teaching using an actual needle will be described. In FIG. 1, a syringe 1 of a coating agent for teaching is placed directly above a needle cleaning device 3. Then, the needle cleaning device 3 is raised until the appropriate insertion depth obtained in the experiment is reached. When the needle cleaning device 3 comes to an appropriate position, it is set as a teaching position and stored in the control unit of the device. The same operation is performed for the number of syringes 1. When actually cleaning the needle 2, the needle cleaning device 3 is moved to the teaching position and cleaning is performed.

  Although the method of teaching using an actual needle has been described here, the present invention is not limited to this. In particular, it is preferable in FA (Factory Artmation) that teaching is performed using a teaching needle, and the moving position of the cleaning device 3 is determined by correcting the difference in position with the teaching needle for an actual needle. .

  In addition, a mechanism for detecting the insertion depth of the needle 2 may be provided in the cleaning device 3 without teaching in advance, and the movement of the cleaning device 3 may be stopped when the proper insertion position is reached.

  The viscosity of the commonly used coating agent is 1 mPa · s or more and 4000 mPa · s or less. Therefore, the maximum diameter portion of the cleaning port 5 is 1.42 times or more and 3 times or less than the minimum diameter portion of the cleaning port 5. It is desirable to make it. Further, it is preferable to set the total length of the cleaning port 5 to be shorter than the total length of the needle 2 in order to prevent interference with the root of the needle 2.

  Further, in FIG. 2, the tapered shape is such that the diameter decreases from the outside to the inside of the needle cleaning device 3, but conversely, the tapered shape may increase the diameter from the outside to the inside.

  Next, a method of applying the coating agent and a method of cleaning the coating agent adhering to the needle 1 by the coating apparatus system will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a state in which a coating agent is applied by the coating apparatus system of the present invention. The same members as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  In FIG. 3, the tip of the articulated robot 12 holds the member to be coated 10. A plurality of coating devices are arranged on the rotary table 8. The articulated robot 12 grips the member to be coated 10 and carries the coating by bringing the member to be coated 10 near the tip of the needle 2 provided in the syringe 1 installed on the rotary table 8.

  Next, a method for cleaning the coating agent adhering to the needle 1 by the coating apparatus system will be described. After the application, the rotary table 8 rotates, and the needle 2 that has been applied just before is moved over the needle cleaning device 3. When the movement is completed, the vacuum ejector connected to the needle cleaning device 3 is activated to forcibly exhaust the air inside the cleaning container. When the activation of the vacuum ejector is confirmed, the needle cleaning device 3 is raised by the position adjustment mechanism 4 and stopped when the position of the tip of the needle 2 reaches a predetermined position with respect to the cleaning port 5.

  The position of the tip of the needle is obtained in advance before washing by the method described above. At this time, the amount of insertion is determined in consideration of the viscosity of each coating agent before cleaning.

  The vacuum ejector is continuously activated for the set needle tip cleaning time after the tip of the needle 2 reaches a predetermined position, and the vacuum ejector is stopped when the set needle tip cleaning time has elapsed. When the stop is confirmed, the needle cleaning device 3 is lowered by the vertical movement and position adjustment mechanism 4, and the needle tip cleaning in the coating system of FIG. 4 is completed. In the coating apparatus system of FIG. 3, the cleaning position of the needle 2 can be set for each syringe 1 installed on the rotary table 8.

(Example)
In this embodiment, the syringe 1 has a permeable syringe PSY-50E-M (Musashi Engineering Co., Ltd.) made of polypropylene, and the needle 2 has a metal needle SNA series made of SUS304 (Musashi Engineering Co., Ltd.). ) Was used. One syringe 1 installed on the turntable 8 was filled with 15 ml of ThreeBond 3042C (manufactured by ThreeBond Co., Ltd.), which is an adhesive, as an application agent. Another syringe 1 was filled with 30 ml of olivine SI-30 (dilution concentration 30%) (manufactured by Canon Kasei Co., Ltd.), which is an adhesive, as a coating agent. Hereinafter, the syringe 1 filled with ThreeBond 3042C is referred to as a syringe 1A, and the syringe 1 filled with olivevine SI-30 (dilution concentration 30%) is referred to as a syringe 1B.

  The ThreeBond 3042C coating agent used in this example has a higher viscosity than the other coating agent Oliveine SI-30 (dilution concentration 30%), and is a transparent coating having hardness like a chickenpox. It is an agent. Moreover, olivine SI-30 (dilution concentration 30%) is a yellow and permeable liquid close to the hardness of water. The outer diameter of the tip of the needle 2 in this example was Φ0.9 mm. The needle 2 having a total length of 15.0 mm was used. In the needle cleaning device of the present embodiment, the minimum diameter side of the cleaning port 5 of the needle cleaning device 3 shown in FIG. 5 is Φ3.0 mm, the maximum diameter side is Φ8.3 mm, and the total length of the tapered portion is 10.0 mm. Designed.

  Further, a vacuum generator MEDT14 manufactured by Koganei Co., Ltd. was used as the vacuum ejector, and the pressure of the supplied compressed air was adjusted with a regulator so that the needle tip was washed.

  The cleaning position of the needle is 10.0 mm from the upper surface of the cleaning port (the diameter of the cleaning port 5 is 3.0 mm) and 6.5 mm from the upper surface of the cleaning port (the diameter of the cleaning port 5 is 4.9 mm). The measurement was performed at a position 0.0 mm from the upper surface of the mouth (the diameter of the cleaning mouth 5 was 8.3 mm).

  As a result of the experiment, the tip of the needle 2 of the syringe 1B filled with the coating agent having the lowest viscosity was washed at a position 10.0 mm from the upper surface of the washing port. In this case, olivine SI-30 (dilution concentration 30%) filled from the tip of the needle 2 was pulled out, and cleaning of the tip of the needle 2 could not be completed. Further, when the tip of the needle 2 was washed at a position of 6.5 mm from the upper surface of the washing port, an ideal state was obtained as the state of the tip of the needle 2 after washing the needle tip. Further, when the tip of the needle 2 is washed at a position of 0.0 mm from the upper surface of the washing port, a slight amount of excess olivine SI-30 (dilution concentration 30%) attached to the tip of the needle 2 remains, and the tip of the needle 2 Cleaning was not completed.

  Moreover, when the tip of the needle 2 of the syringe 1A filled with the coating agent having the highest viscosity is washed at a position 10.0 mm from the upper surface of the washing port, it is ideal as the state of the tip of the needle 2 after washing the needle tip. It became a state. Further, when the tip of the needle 2 was washed at a position of 6.5 mm from the upper surface of the washing port, a slight amount of excess ThreeBond 3042C adhered to the tip of the needle 2 remained, and washing of the needle tip could not be completed. Further, when the tip of the needle 2 was washed at a position of 0.0 mm from the upper surface of the washing port, a slight amount of excess ThreeBond 3042C adhered to the tip of the needle 2 remained, and washing of the needle tip could not be completed. From the above, in this embodiment, the insertion amount of the tip of the needle 2 of the syringe A is 10.0 mm from the upper surface of the cleaning port, and the insertion amount of the needle 2 of the syringe B is 4.9 mm from the upper surface of the cleaning port. As a result, it was confirmed that the optimum needle tip cleaning can be performed only by changing the insertion amount of the needle tip for all coating agents having different viscosities.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Syringe 2 Needle 3 Needle washing apparatus 4 Position adjustment mechanism 5 Cleaning port 6 Base 7 Cylindrical hole which inserts a needle tip 8 Rotary table 9 Exhaust port 10 To-be-coated member 11 Filled coating agent 12 Articulated robot

Claims (5)

Applicator apparatus system comprising a plurality of coating apparatus for applying onto a coating member by a needle which is provided a coating agent which contains the syringe to the tip of the syringe, and a needle cleaning device for cleaning the two Doru,
Before SL plurality of coating apparatus has a first application device and the second application device, wherein the syringe of the first coating apparatus is housed coating agent of the first viscosity, the second coating device The syringe contains a coating agent having a viscosity higher than the first viscosity ,
The needle cleaning device includes:
An exhaust port for sucking the gas inside the container;
A cleaning port having a diameter capable of inserting the tip of the needle with a gap;
A controller for controlling the position of the needle cleaning device ,
The cleaning port, the distal end of the two needles provided at the tip of the syringe coating fabric material is accommodated, can be inserted to a position where a different diameter, the diameter from the outside towards the inside of the cleaning device smaller or have a tapered shape in which the diameter decreases from the inside toward the outside of the cleaning device,
The control unit controls the position of the tip of the needle provided at the tip of the syringe of the first application device to be the first position that is the first diameter of the cleaning port;
Controlling the position of the tip of the needle provided at the tip of the syringe of the second coating device to be the second position to be the second diameter of the cleaning port;
The coating apparatus system , wherein the first aperture is larger than the second aperture .   2. The coating apparatus system according to claim 1, wherein the tapered cleaning port has a largest diameter of 1.42 times or more and 3 times or less of a smallest diameter. Wherein the tips of the two needles, for insertion to a position where a different diameter, the adjusting mechanism for adjusting the position of the needle cleaning device in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises further Coating equipment system. The tip of the applicator for applying the coating agent contained in the syringe with the needle provided at the tip of the syringe is inserted into the cleaning port of the needle cleaning device, and the air inside the needle cleaning device is sucked In the needle cleaning method for cleaning the coating agent adhering to the needle,
The applicator has a first applicator and a second applicator, the syringe of the first applicator contains a first viscosity applicator, and the syringe of the second applicator Contains a coating agent having a viscosity higher than the first viscosity,
The cleaning port has a tapered shape in which the diameter decreases from the outside to the inside of the cleaning device, or the diameter decreases from the inside to the outside of the cleaning device,
Insert the tip of the needle provided at the tip of the syringe of the first application device to a first position that becomes the first diameter of the cleaning port,
Insert the tip of the needle provided at the tip of the syringe of the second application device to a second position that becomes the second diameter of the cleaning port ,
The needle cleaning method , wherein the first aperture is larger than the second aperture . A member manufacturing method, wherein the member is manufactured by applying a coating agent to a member to be coated using the coating apparatus system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .

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