JPH01184062A - Viscous material painting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To paint corners without rotation of a painting gun main body, by providing a ring sensor to annularly detect painting conditions with a prescribed radius with a painting nozzle centered, in a painting gun main body having the painting nozzle. CONSTITUTION:A viscous material is painted by a prescribed amount on a predetermine position from the periphery of a panel by a painting nozzle 2 attached on an arm 1 of a robot. A ring sensor 22 to annularly detect the painting conditions with a prescribed radius from the end of a painting nozzle 2 is equipped in a painting gun main body 3 having the painting nozzle 2. As a result, without need to rotate a painting gun main body and without changing the posture of the main body, painting is carried out even when painting is transferring from a straight line area to a corner area and the teaching work for the robot becomes easy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a viscous material application device that automatically applies a viscous material such as a sealer to a predetermined position on a panel using an industrial robot. The teaching work for controlling the robot can be easily performed.

(Conventional technology) Door panels, hood panels, and
For panel materials composed of an inner panel and an outer panel, such as trunk lid panels, etc., after the inner panel and outer panel are butted together, the end of the outer panel is connected to the end of the inner panel. Both panels are assembled together by folding them toward the outer surface. - A structural adhesive made of a viscous material, generally called a sealer, is applied to the contact surfaces of the ends of both panels to maintain the adhesion between the panels at a predetermined value. There is.

In addition, in recent years there has been a desire to improve the rust prevention quality of automobiles, and by preventing moisture from entering the hollow part called the bag-shaped part formed between the inner panel and the outer panel, it is possible to improve the rust prevention quality of automobiles. In order to prevent rust from corrosion and the like, the above-mentioned structural adhesive is also commonly used as a sealing material for the purpose of rust prevention and is applied.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the procedure for assembling the panel material consisting of the inner panel P1 and the outer panel P2 as described above. As shown in FIG. After the flange portion F is formed by bending at a right angle, a sealer material S is applied to the inner surface of the outer panel P2 at a predetermined distance from the outer surface of the flange portion F. FIG. 5(B) shows the outer panel P2 in a roughly rectangular shape among a panel material such as a door panel consisting of an inner panel P1 and an outer panel P2, and a sealer material S Shows the state in which it has been applied.

After the inner panel P1 is butted against the inner surface of the outer panel P2 coated with the sealer material S, the flange portion F is bent, that is, hemmed, as shown in FIG. 5(C). As a result, the sealer S is brought into close contact with the contact area between the outer panel P2 and the inner panel P1, and water is prevented from entering into the bag-shaped portion G formed by both panels.

Conventionally, a viscous material applicator as shown in FIG. 6 has been used to apply the sealant S for this purpose to a predetermined position from the edge of the panel P2. As shown in FIG. 6, a coating gun body 3 having a coating nozzle 2 is attached to the arm 1 of the industrial robot, and the coating gun body 3 is movable in the direction shown by the arrow. A resilient force directed to the left is biased by the spring member 4. The coating nozzle 2 is provided with a roller 5 that comes into contact with a flange portion F formed in advance on the panel material P2. Therefore, when applying the viscous material to the panel material P2 from the application nozzle, the roller 5 comes into contact with the flange part F, so that the viscous material is applied at a position a predetermined distance from the flange part F. There is.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional viscous material coating device, if the device is used for a long period of time, the roller 5 will wear out, making it difficult to accurately position the coating nozzle 2. Not only will it not be possible to apply the viscous material at a predetermined position, but also the roller 5 will come off the flange F in areas where the flange F is not high enough, resulting in the inability to apply the viscous material to a predetermined position. was there.

The reason why the coating gun main body 3 can be moved in this way is that the movement locus of the coating nozzle 2 is taught in advance in the control device of the industrial robot, but if there is a machining error in the panel material P2, This is because even if the application nozzle 2 is moved as taught, the viscous material cannot be applied to a predetermined position.

Therefore, today, as shown in Fig. 3, the dispensing gun body 2 is
A technology is being developed in which a one-dimensional sensor 7, also called a line sensor, is provided to detect the state of the applied sealer material S.

FIG. 4(A) is a diagram showing an example of the above-mentioned sensor 7, in which laser slit light is projected from the laser generator 10 onto the panel P2, and the slit light is reflected from the panel P2. Light diffuses through screen 1
1, the light is focused by a lens 12 and reaches a photoelectric sensor such as a laser photodiode, that is, a line sensor main body 13.

The image signal waveform of the panel P2 obtained using such a sensor 7 is shown in FIG. The distance from the center of the material S and the width d of the sealer material S are determined.

Therefore, based on the information obtained from the sensor 7,
It is detected whether or not the sealer material S is applied to the panel P2 at a predetermined distance from the edge thereof, and whether the sealer material S is applied with a predetermined width d, and these values, d
If it is not within a predetermined error range, the sealer S is applied to that part again, or the operator is informed that the sealant S has not been applied properly.

However, when the -dimensional sensor 7 is attached to the coating gun body 3 in this way, the -dimensional sensor 7 must detect the sealer material S after coating is completed, so it is necessary to control the posture of the arm 1. It was not easy to teach robots how to operate them. This is because after applying the sealer material S to the straight line part of the panel P2 in FIG. In order to be able to detect the sealer material S after completion, it is necessary to rotate the applicator gun body 3 by 90 degrees, and it is necessary to teach the robot so that the arm 1 can operate in this manner. . In FIG. 3, reference numeral 8 indicates a motor for rotating the coating gun body 3.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the technologies developed so far, and it is possible to apply a viscous material to a part of the corner of a panel without rotating the coating gun body at the corner of the panel. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to perform coating and to easily perform teaching work to a robot.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention to achieve the above object applies a viscous material to a predetermined position from the edge of the panel to the panel from a coating nozzle attached to the arm of the robot. In the viscous material coating device, the coating gun body having the coating nozzle is provided with a ring sensor that detects the coating state in a ring shape at a position at a predetermined radius from the center around the tip of the coating nozzle. This is a viscous material coating device.

(Function) While applying the viscous material to the panel from the application nozzle, a ring sensor detects an annular portion of the upper surface of the panel with a predetermined radius around the portion corresponding to the tip of the application nozzle. Therefore, when the coating position of the viscous material moves from a straight line to a part of a corner, the robot arm can be operated so that the coating nozzle moves along a predetermined trajectory without rotating the coating gun body. good. This has made it easier to teach the robot to control the arm movement.

<Example> Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on an illustrative example. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a viscous material coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a coating gun body 3 having a coating nozzle 2 at its tip is attached to an arm 1 of an industrial robot. A coating control motor 9 for discharging the sealer material S from the coating nozzle 2 is attached to the coating gun body 3. Further, the coating gun main body 3 is provided with a ring sensor 20 for detecting the coating state in a ring shape at a position at a predetermined radius from the tip of the coating nozzle 2 as a center.

This ring sensor 20 consists of a laser generator that projects an annular laser slit light, and an annular sensor main body that includes a photodiode or the like that receives the light reflected by the laser slit light from the panel P2.

FIG. 2(A) shows a state in which the sealer material S is applied to the panel P2 using the viscous material application device of the present invention, and the surface of the panel P2 has a portion corresponding to the tip of the application nozzle. An annular laser beam having an average radius R with the position O as the center will be irradiated. In Figure 2 (A>), the dotted part of the annular irradiation light indicates the part where the laser light is reflected on the surface of panel P2, and the blacked out part indicates the part where the laser light is not reflected. show.

The image waveform signal U detected by the sensor body that receives the laser reflected light is shown in FIG. 2(B). This image waveform signal U is transmitted to the coating gun main body 3 as shown in FIG.
), for example, the image waveform signal U is shown expanded 360° with respect to point T in FIG. 2(A).

In Figure 2 (B), the threshold level is sign ■
By comparing with this level, brightness and darkness are distinguished, and the portion of the irradiated laser light that has left the panel P2, the portion of the sealer material S, and the other portions are determined. Then, from this image waveform signal U, a second
As shown in Figure (B), the distance between the position where the sealer material S is applied and the edge of the panel P2 is calculated, and the width d of the sealer material S is also calculated.

Therefore, in the viscous material applicator of the present invention, when moving from a state in which coating a straight section to a corner section to a corner section, the applicator as shown in FIG. It is necessary to rotate the coating gun 3 by 90 degrees, but without rotating the coating gun body 3, apply the sealer material and S to a part of the corner with the coating gun body 3 in the same position, and after passing this corner part. Sealer material S to other straight parts
It becomes possible to perform the coating. This simplifies the operation for teaching the operation of the robot.

A robot control unit 21 for controlling the operation of the robot is connected to the robot as shown in FIG. 1, and the robot operates based on information taught and stored therein. This robot control section 21
A signal is sent from the input/output port 24 to the calculation unit 23 in the viscous material application control unit 22.
A signal from the calculation section 23 is sent to the coating control motor via the coating control section 25.

The signal from the ring sensor 20 is sent to the sensor control section 26, from which the signal is sent to the calculation section 23 via the input/output port 27. The viscous material application control unit 21 configured as described above calculates whether or not the values of the above dimensions and d are predetermined values, and the above dimensions, that is, the sealant S is moved from the edge of the panel P2 to a predetermined value. Not coated in distance,
If there is a significant deviation from the standard L dimension,
After the position is memorized and the application work for one panel is completed, the application nozzle is moved to that position again and the sealer material S is applied to that part. Further, when the amount of deviation is within the allowable error range, the amount of deviation is fed back so as to correct the application position of the sealer material S to the next panel material. However, if the width d of the sealer material S is not the predetermined width, the position can be memorized and the application nozzle can be moved to that position again after the application work for one panel is completed. Apply sealer material S.

Furthermore, if the above-described viscous material coating device is used, since it has the ring sensor 20, when the coating nozzle 2 moves to a part of the corner of the panel P2, the ring sensor 20 detects the state. can do.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the ring sensor □ detects an annular portion that has reached a predetermined distance from the coating nozzle, so that the viscous material applied from the coating nozzle is straight. Even when moving from a shaped part to a corner part, the application can be performed in the same position without rotating the application gun main body.゛Therefore, there is no need to teach the robot control unit the operation to rotate the coating gun body according to the position of the robot arm.
It becomes possible to perform teaching work easily.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a viscous material applicator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 (A) is a plan view showing laser light irradiated by a ring sensor, and FIG. A graph showing the image waveform signal obtained by the sensor, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a viscous material application device, and FIG.
A) is a schematic structural diagram showing a conventionally used line sensor, Figure 4 (B) is a graph showing the image signal waveform obtained by the sensor, and Figures 5 (A) to (C) are graphs showing the viscous material applied FIG. 6 is a front view showing a conventional viscous material coating device. 1... Robot arm, 2... Application nozzle, 3...
・・Coating gun body, 20 ・Ring sensor, P2・
... Panel, S... Viscous material (sealer material). Patent applicant Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. agent Patent attorney 8 1) Mikio (and 1 other person) Figure 2 (A) Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a viscous material coating device that applies a viscous material to a predetermined position from an edge of a panel to a panel from a coating nozzle attached to an arm of a robot, the coating gun body having the coating nozzle is provided with the coating gun body having the coating nozzle. A viscous material coating device that is provided with a ring sensor that detects the coating state at a predetermined radius from the center around the tip of a coating nozzle in an annular manner.