JPH01244990A - Method of assembling automobile body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure satisfactory joining strength even in case of assembling a car body or a car body main portion by providing heating means near a gauge portion for positioning a work, whereby works are joined to each other. CONSTITUTION:On completion of positioning and fixing a body panel, a control device 8 outputs an operation confirming signal to a main control device 13, and when receives the operation confirming signal, the main control device 13 operates a laser light emitting device 14 to emit pulse-like YAG laser light. The laser light is conducted to a light distribution lens mounted on the side portion of a designated work receiving jig through an optical fiber cable 15 to illuminate joining flanges near a portion of a body panel that is positioned and fixed by a work receiving jig 6 where a gauge portion 6a is formed and a work clamp device 7. Adhesives interposed between the joining flanges is hardened by heat transmitted from the joining flanges, thereby accomplishing adhesion of joining flanges.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a vehicle body assembly method suitable for use in an automobile body assembly line.

(Prior Art) Conventional car body assembly generally involves fixing gauge sections at multiple positions on predetermined stages of an assembly line, and mutually positioning a plurality of body panels as workpieces using the gauge sections. Then, the body panels in this position are joined together by spot welding etc. and temporarily fixed to each other to assemble the main part of the car body which almost determines the assembly accuracy of the car body. This method is performed by applying additional markings and further joining predetermined car body panels.This method also measures the assembly accuracy of the assembled car body, and based on the measurement results, workers By manually moving, scraping, welding, etc. to adjust the position, and then assembling the car body again, the gauge part is placed in the proper position by repeating the process until the car body assembly accuracy reaches the specified accuracy. was.

However, manual adjustment as described above requires a long time to adjust the position of the gauge parts, and furthermore, it takes a long time to arrange them at the proper positions.

For this reason, the present applicant previously disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 50-144595 that each gauge part is held by a drive mechanism, and the position of each gauge part is automatically adjusted based on the operation of those drive mechanisms. We have proposed a workpiece positioning device that does this.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, in the above-mentioned workpiece positioning device, each of the many gauge parts is provided with a drive mechanism that can move the gauge parts by minute distances. It is not possible to secure enough space for welding equipment such as welding robots and multi-spot welding machines to join the body panels that make up the parts, and the number of joints may be insufficient. Increasing the number of gauge parts requires decreasing the number of gauge parts.

The present invention provides an assembly method that advantageously solves these problems.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In the method for assembling an automobile body of the present invention, a plurality of gauge parts for workpiece positioning are respectively arranged by a drive mechanism, and the accuracy of assembling the automobile body or the body is mainly determined. When assembling an automobile body using a workpiece positioning device that mutually positions a plurality of workpieces constituting the main parts of the carbody, first, an adhesive before curing is interposed between the joints of the plurality of workpieces, and then , heating the adhesive between the joint parts under the positioning state of the plurality of workpieces based on the operation of the workpiece positioning device, and bonding the plurality of workpieces to each other with the adhesive hardened based on the heating. Features.

(Function) According to this method, works can be joined to each other simply by providing a heating means near the gauge part, so when assembling the car body or the main part of the car body by positioning the works using a work positioning device. However, sufficient bonding strength can be achieved.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main body part assembly stage of an automobile body assembly line used in an embodiment of the method for assembling a car body of the present invention. This figure shows a workpiece positioning device.

In this assembly line, car body panels such as the main floor, left and right side panels, rear panels, cowl top assembly, shelf panel, etc. are delivered to the main body part assembly stage, and the body panels are assembled into the workpieces at that stage. The vehicle main assembly is positioned by a positioning device 1 at a relative position that satisfies a predetermined assembly accuracy, and furthermore, on the same stage, the positioned panels are temporarily joined to each other to determine the assembly accuracy of the vehicle body. After that, the main body part 2 is transported to other stages (not shown) by the shuttle conveyor 3, and additional spot welding is performed on the main body part 2 at those stages, and the front and rear roof rails and A vehicle body is assembled by further assembling vehicle body panels such as a roof panel, and the assembly accuracy of the vehicle body is measured in a subsequent stage (not shown). In order to position each panel, the workpiece positioning device 1 includes a frame 4, a large number of robots 5 attached to the frame 4,
As the hand part, one or more workpiece holders are equipped with a jig 6 for each robot 5, and the robot 5 also has a workpiece clamping device 7 driven by an air cylinder as the hand part. equipped as.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the workpiece receiver jig 6 moves a large number of adjacent strips one by one forward and backward in the same direction using a servo motor, and the tip edges of those strips are After arranging the strips in a predetermined shape, by fixing the strips together with a fixing device, it is possible to form a gauge portion 6a as a positioning means that can position and hold the workpiece (
For details, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 59-144595 or Japanese Patent Application No. 1983.
Using this function, the workpiece positioning device l adjusts the shape of each of the numerous positions to be positioned on each body panel (2a, 2b in the figure) constituting the main body part 2. , the workpiece holder corresponding to that position matches the shape of the gauge part 6a of the jig 6, and at the same time, the operation of each robot 5 causes those workpiece holders to move the jig 6, and thus its gauge part 6a, to a predetermined position. By arranging the workpiece clamps 7, the vehicle body panels can be positioned relative to each other, and the vehicle body panels (for example, 2a, 2b) can be fixed by actuating each work clamp device 7.

The control device 8 of the workpiece positioning device 1 includes, as shown in FIG. 2, a calculation section 9 consisting of a normal CPU;
A memory IO used for storing and arithmetic processing of operation instruction signals, etc., a work receiver, an interface 11 for inputting operation instruction signals including position data of the gauge portion 6a of the jig, and outputting operation confirmation signals, and each of the robot 5. The servo motor and workpiece holder provided for each joint are connected to a servo controller 12 that controls the operation of the servomotor for driving the strips of the jig 6, and these workpiece holders are connected to the strip fixing device of the jig 6 and each workpiece clamp device. Each robot 5, the workpiece holder is equipped with a controller (not shown) that controls the operation of the robot 5, the jig 6, It controls the operation of the work clamp device 7, and outputs an operation confirmation signal when the operation is completed.

The main body part assembly stage is also provided with a laser heating device 17.
As shown in FIG. 1, the laser light emitted by the laser light emitting device 14 having a YAG laser light source, which is disposed outside the frame 4 of the workpiece positioning device l, is transmitted through an optical fiber cable as shown in FIG. 15, the workpiece receiver of each robot 5 is guided to a light distribution lens 16 provided as required on the side of the jig 6, and the light distribution lens 16 distributes the light to an appropriate size to illuminate the vehicle body. Panels 2a and 2b,
The work receiver irradiates the joint flange near the part that is positioned and fixed by the jig 6 and the work clamp device 7, and its laser light emitting device 14 is connected to the main controller 13 as shown in FIG. and its operation is controlled.

Using such an assembly line, the method of this embodiment assembles a vehicle body in the following steps.

Here, first, CAD data designed by a computer-aided design (CAD) system as design data of the vehicle body to be assembled is inputted to the main control device 13, and the gauge section on the vehicle body panel constituting the main body section 2 is inputted. The positioning position using 6a is set manually. As a result, the main controller 13 follows a predetermined program.
Gauge part 6a at the vehicle body main part assembly stage that satisfies the relative relationship of those positioning positions on CAD data
In addition, each workpiece holder calculates the initial movement amount of the jig 6 from its original position in order to position the jig 6 so that each gauge part 6a is located at the position. At the same time, each strip of the jig 6 is arranged in each workpiece holder in accordance with the shape of the vehicle body panel at each positioning position, and the initial movement amount of each strip from the original position to form the gauge part 6a is determined. seek.

The main controller 13 outputs these initial movement amounts to the control device 8 of the workpiece positioning device 1 in an operation instruction signal, and based on this operation instruction signal, the control device 8 operates each robot 5 to achieve the above-mentioned initial movement amount. Based on this, a jig 6 is arranged in each workpiece receiver, and the gauge portion 6a is formed on the jig 6 in each workpiece receiver.

On the other hand, here, an amount of adhesive that can provide a predetermined bonding strength is applied to the joining flanges of the respective vehicle body panels constituting the main body part 2, for example, by a robot equipped with an adhesive application gun. The adhesive here may be a thermoplastic resin type or a thermosetting resin type adhesive, and in this example, a urethane type thermosetting adhesive before curing is used.

Next, each vehicle body panel after applying adhesive is carried into the workpiece positioning device 1 and placed at the predetermined positioning position as each gauge part 6a of the workpiece positioning device 1 is placed at a predetermined positioning position. Each gauge part 6a
In this state, the control device 8 operates the work clamping device 7 to fix the vehicle body panels.

Upon completion of positioning and fixing of this vehicle body panel, the control device 8
outputs an operation confirmation signal to the main controller 13, and upon receiving the operation confirmation signal, the main controller 13 operates the laser light emitting device 14 to emit pulsed YAG laser light. This laser beam is then guided to a predetermined workpiece receiver by the light distribution lens 16 on the side of the jig via the optical fiber cable 15 as described above, and is directed to the workpiece receiver on the vehicle body panel as shown in FIG. The irradiation is applied to the joining flange near the part that has been positioned and fixed by the jig 6 and the workpiece clamping device 7, heating it, and the adhesive 18 sandwiched between the joining flanges is heated by the heat transmitted from the joining flange. This causes the joining flanges to bond together.

According to the above-mentioned process, each gauge part 6a is automatically arranged based on CAD data, and the vehicle body panel to which adhesive has been applied in advance is positioned and fixed by the gauge parts 6a, and the adhesive is applied in that state for one day. The main part 2 of the vehicle body can be assembled by heating and curing with laser light and adhesively bonding the vehicle body panels to each other.

Thereafter, each workpiece receiver returns the jig 6 to its original position to release the main body part 2, and the main body part 2 is transported from the main body part assembly stage to several subsequent stages by the shuttle conveyor 3. Then, at these stages, the spot welding is reinforced to increase the joint strength of the main body part 2, and body panels such as front and rear roof rails and roof panels are further assembled to the main part 2 of the car body, and the car body is assembled. , the assembled car body is transported to the subsequent stage, and the assembly accuracy of the car body is measured there.

Furthermore, based on the above-mentioned assembly accuracy measurement results, each workpiece receiver determined from the CAD data corrects the initial movement amount of the jig 6 and its strips, and from the next time onwards the vehicle body is assembled. Each gauge part 6a is adjusted according to the corrected movement amount.
At the same time, the gauge part 6a is formed to assemble the main body part 2, and from the measurement results of the assembly accuracy of the car body assembled from the main part 2, the work receiver further calculates the amount of movement of the jig 6 and its small pieces. Repeat the correction process.

Therefore, according to the method of this example, it is possible to assemble the main body part 2 and eventually the car body by automatically arranging each gauge part 6a at the initial stage based on CAD data, and by repeating the car body assembly, each gauge part 6a can be automatically initially arranged. By adjusting the position of the gauge portion 6a, the accuracy of assembling the vehicle body can be increased to a predetermined level.

Moreover, according to this method, the optical fiber cable 15 is arranged between the workpiece holder, the jig 6 and the robot 5, and the laser beam emitting device 14 provided outside the frame 4 of the workpiece positioning device 1 and the workpiece holder are arranged between the workpiece holder and the jig 6. Light distribution lens 1 provided on fixture 6
6 are connected by the optical fiber cable 15, and the adhesive is heated and cured for one day using a laser heating device 17, thereby making it possible to bond the vehicle body panels to each other, so that almost no operating space is required for the bonding equipment. A predetermined bonding strength can be obtained.

FIG. 4 shows another example of the apparatus used for carrying out the present invention. In this example, the workpiece support supported and moved by the robot 6 is used as a jig, and the workpiece supporter, in which the gauge portion 19a does not deform, is used as a normal workpiece supporter. A through hole 19c that opens at a position facing the clamp arm 7a of the work clamping device 7 is provided in the gauge post 19b which is the jig 19 and has the gauge portion 19a formed therein, and a light distributing lens 16 is provided in the through hole 19c. The laser heating device 17 is constructed by arranging the end edge of the optical fiber cable 15 and further covering the opening of the through hole 19c with a heat diffusion plate 20 made of, for example, copper with high thermal conductivity.

When assembling a car body using such a device in the same manner as in the previous example, a laser beam is guided to the fixed and positioned portion of the joint flange of the car body panel (2a, 2b in the figure).
Since it is possible to heat a wide range through the heat diffusion plate 20, in addition to the effects of the previous example, it is possible to easily improve the accuracy of assembling the vehicle body and to increase the bonding strength.

Although the invention has been described above based on the illustrated examples, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned examples. For example, a hot air generator and a blower duct may be used as means for heating the adhesive, or a heat pipe may be used. You may also use Furthermore, as a method for interposing the adhesive between the joining flanges, holes or notches are provided in one of the joining flanges facing each other, and the joining is performed from those holes or notches while the vehicle body panel is positioned by the workpiece positioning device. A method of injecting adhesive between the flanges can also be used.

The method of the present invention can be applied not only to the main parts of the vehicle body but also to the assembly of the vehicle body using the workpiece positioning device.

(Effects of the Invention) Thus, according to the method of the present invention, works can be joined to each other simply by providing a heating means near the gauge part. Sufficient bonding strength can be ensured even when assembling.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a perspective view showing a part of a car body assembly line used in an embodiment of the automobile body assembly method of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of equipment arranged on the car body assembly line shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the above-mentioned apparatus, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged view, partially in cross section, of another example of the apparatus used for carrying out the present invention. l... Work positioning device 2... Car body main parts 2a, 2b... Car body panel 5... Robot 6, 19... Workpiece holders are jigs 6a, 19a... Gauge part 7... Work clamp device 8...control device 13...
・Main control device 14... Laser light emitting device 15... Optical fiber cable 16... Light distribution lens 17... Laser heating device 18... Adhesive Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of gauge parts for positioning workpieces are respectively arranged by a drive mechanism, and a plurality of workpieces constituting an automobile body or a main part of the car body that mainly determines the assembly accuracy of the car body are mutually arranged. When assembling an automobile body using a workpiece positioning device for positioning, first, a pre-hardened adhesive is interposed between the joints of the plurality of works, and then, the plurality of workpieces are assembled based on the operation of the workpiece positioning device. A method for assembling an automobile body, characterized in that the adhesive between the joint parts is heated while the workpieces are being positioned, and the plurality of workpieces are bonded to each other by the adhesive that is cured by the heating.