JPH0265934A - Feed of part in assembly line - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cut the space for placing parts onto a line side and reduce the occupation area and shorten the working time by previously placing the parts necessary for preparing a product onto a pallet and shifting the pallet along an assembly line. CONSTITUTION:The parts a, b, c, d, e, and f which are previously assembled in each process and are necessary for constituting a product are placed onto a pallet 14 previously. The pallet 14 is shifted along an assembly line 10, and the parts on the pallet 14 are assembled in succession in each process 10-1 - 10-4. Therefore, the space for arranging parts on the assembly line 10 can be reduced, and the working time can be shortened, and the erroneous assembly of parts can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method of supplying parts in an assembly line.

(Prior Art) On an assembly line that produces products by assembly line operations, product assembly processes are subdivided, and these processes are arranged in order along the flow of the line.

On the line side of each process, parts to be assembled are arranged in loft units, iJ5, and one product is continuously produced by sequentially assembling these parts on the line.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, in recent markets, there is a demand for diversification of product specifications, and it is necessary to perform high-mix, low-volume production on the assembly line as described above. In high-mix, low-volume production, products with multiple specifications are produced on the same assembly line, so even in the same process, the parts that are assembled differ depending on the specifications.

For this reason, in the assembly line as described above, parts with different specifications must be placed on the line side of each process, and a huge amount of space is required on the line side. Also,
Workers in each process must select only the parts that meet the specifications from among the many different parts placed on the line side, and assemble them on the line in G-1, reducing work time. In addition to being difficult to adapt, there is a risk of incorrect assembly of parts.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the purpose of the present invention is to improve the fortune-telling of assembly lines. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for supplying parts on an assembly line, which can reduce the ILI product, shorten working time, and prevent incorrect assembly of parts.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In the method for supplying parts in an assembly line according to the present invention,
In an assembly line that produces products by sequentially assembling parts in each process, the parts that are assembled in each process and that are necessary to constitute one product are placed on pallets in advance, and Pallets are being moved along the assembly line.

(Function) According to the above configuration, since the parts necessary for constructing the product are placed on the pallet in advance, the space for arranging the parts on the assembly line can be reduced. Moreover, in each process, the parts on the pallet can be assembled as they are without having to be selected.

[Examples] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples and drawings.

FIG. 1 conceptually shows the layout of a motorcycle assembly factory to which the method of supplying parts on an assembly line according to the present invention is applied. A parts carrying line 20 is provided. These lines 10.20 are formed into respective paths 10a and 20a'SN by pasting reflective objects such as aluminum tape or stainless steel tape on the floor surface, and optical paths are provided on these paths 108.20a, respectively. Guided automatic guided vehicles 11.21 are installed.

The unmanned 1;9 transport vehicle 21 employed in the parts carrying line 20 is equipped with a 74-shaped claw 22 at the front thereof.

The fork claws 22 are similar to the claws of a normal forklift, and their tips point toward the outside of the carry-in line 20.
It is arranged so that it can freely move forward and backward in the vertical and horizontal directions on the carrier vehicle 21.

On the other hand, an automatic guided vehicle 11 employed in a motorcycle assembly line 10 is equipped with a workbench 12 above it. The workbench 12 is disposed via a plunger t13, and can move up and down and rotate relative to the carrier 11. The workbench 12 has a rectangular shape, and has a jig 12a on its upper surface for positioning and supporting the frame 100 of the motorcycle.

Further, this carrier 11 faces a pallet 14.

The pallet 14 is being towed behind the transport vehicle 11,
Along with the movement of the transport vehicle 11, the path 10 of the assembly line 10
It is moved on a. This pallet 14 has a box shape that opens upward, and the inside thereof is divided into a plurality of parts by partition plates. Note that route 1 of this pulling line 10
A plurality of the above-mentioned transport vehicles 11 are arranged at intervals on 0a, and each transport vehicle 11 moves synchronously on the route 10a.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, a parts shelf 3043 and a parts take-out robot 40 are provided between the assembly line 10 and the parts carry-in line 20. The parts shelf 30 is the assembly line 10
The path 10a and the path 20a of the carry-in line 20 are arranged parallel to each other, and these paths 1oa, 2
A plurality of mounting tables 30a, 30b...
It is equipped with Each mounting table 30a, 30b...
is divided into an upper stage and a lower stage. The parts supplied by the truck 50 or the like are transported to the parts shelf 30 by the conveyor vehicle 21 of the parts delivery line 20 along with the parts boxes 51 on the upper stage 30a.
, 30b...

At this time, the automatic guided vehicle 21 is appropriately moved on the route 2Oa based on instructions from a computer (not shown), and supplies the required parts to the corresponding mounting table of the parts shelf 30. The parts box 51 used in this embodiment has an upward opening and is equally divided into a plurality of parts, and one part is housed in each divided part.

On the other hand, the parts take-out robot 40 is arranged at the end of the parts shelf 30 on the assembly line 10 side. The robot 40 is an articulated robot having a gripping device 41 at its tip, and its base end is movably supported by a beam 42 suspended horizontally on the parts shelf 30. This robot 40 is driven based on instructions from a computer (not shown), and each mounting table 30a, 30b on the parts shelf 30...
Select only the parts necessary for the configuration of the motorcycle with the specifications to be produced from the parts boxes 51, 51..., and move them to the assembly line 10.
Place it on the upper pallet 14.

Note that the reference numeral 10b in FIG. 1 is a bypass route, which is a place where troublesome items and the like are repaired during work. Also,
In the assembly line 10, large parts such as the wheels 60 and the front four-quarter assembly 61 are supplied to the line side of each process.

FIG. 2 shows the assembly line 10 and parts loading line 2.
2 is a schematic diagram schematically showing each flow of 0. FIG. In addition, in this schematic diagram, the assembly process of the assembly line 10 is 10
It is assumed that the pallet 14 is divided into four processes from -1 to 10-4, and the inside of the pallet 14 is divided into four parts. Further, symbols a to f in the figure indicate parts having different elements, respectively.

In this assembly line 10, the transport vehicle 11 first moves to the parts shelf 30.
When the pallet 1 is stopped at a predetermined position on the side of the
At the same time, the parts are supplied to the jig 1 on the workbench 12.
A frame 100 is positioned and supported by 2a. The parts necessary for the configuration of the motorcycle with the specifications that are currently being produced are c.
e, f, the parts take-out robot 40 is driven based on instructions from a computer (not shown), and the parts shelf 3 is
Parts o glass, c, e, and f are taken out. At this time, the parts extraction robot 40 picks up the parts.

Hold e and f in the assembly type and place them on the pallet 14 in the order of upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right.

When all the necessary parts are placed on the pallet 14, the transport vehicle 11 is moved along the path 10a together with the pallet 14 based on instructions from a computer (not shown), and the parts s, c, e, f on the pallet 14 are moved. They are sequentially assembled onto the frame 100 on the workbench 12 by a worker or an assembly robot. At this time, the transport vehicle 11 is stopped at a predetermined position in each process, and when the assembly work is completed, it is transported to the next process.

In addition, at that time, the workers of each process or the assembly robot 1-4
, the division corresponding to the process on the pallet 14 is the internal parts, for example, in process 10-1, the parts placed on the upper left of the pallet 14, in process 10-4, the parts placed on the pallet 1
4. At the bottom right of [ffi parts f, frame 1
It is sufficient to assemble it to 00.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 1, when assembling the parts using an assembly robot 70, it is preferable that the workbench 12 be positioned using a jig 71 or the like.

In all steps 10-1 to 10-4, parts c,
When e and f are assembled, the frame 100 is placed on the workbench 12.
The vehicle is extracted from the route 10a of the line 10 and transported to a completed vehicle yard or the like.

On the other hand, the empty transport vehicle 11 and pallet 14 are again transported to the side of the parts shelf 30, where they are supplied with frames and parts according to the specifications to be produced next.

During this time, required parts are being supplied to the parts shelf 30 in the parts carrying line 20 based on instructions from a computer (not shown). In addition, the empty parts box 51 is stored on the parts shelf 30.
The robot is transferred to the lower stage of the vehicle and recovered by the automatic guided vehicle 21.

Note that in the above embodiment, the assembly line 10 employing the automatic guided vehicle 11 is exemplified, so that the route of the line can be easily changed, but in the present invention, a normal conveyor is employed. It may also be applied to an assembly line. Further, although the pallet 14 is pulled by a transporter 111 and moved on the path 10a of the assembly line 10, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as in the scooter assembly line 110 of FIG.
A pallet transport line 120 may be provided along the route 110a of the assembly line 110, and a transport vehicle 122 carrying a pallet 121 may be caused to follow the transport vehicle 111 in the vicinity of the transport vehicle 111 moving on the path 110a of the assembly line 110.

Furthermore, although the conveyance vehicle 11 is stopped at each step r'', the conveyance vehicle 11 does not lie flat even if it is continuously driven.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the inside of the pallet 14 is divided into a plurality of sections, and the parts are sequentially placed in the sectioned sections, thereby further shortening the working time. Although the present invention is not limited to these, the automation of the 111-phrase work can be promoted.

Roughly speaking, in the above embodiment, the motorcycle assembly line 10
However, it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to assembly lines for other products.

(Effect of explanation) As described above, according to the method for supplying parts to an assembly line in J3 according to the present invention, the parts necessary for configuring the product are placed on the pallet in advance, so the line side The space required for placing parts can be reduced, and the area occupied can be reduced. Moreover, in each process, the parts on the pallet can be assembled one after the other, reducing work time and increasing the number of sets of parts.
It is impossible to prevent this.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view conceptually showing an assembly line to which the parts supply method according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the flow of FIG. 10.110... Assembly line, 14.121... Pallet, a, b, c, d, e, f... Parts. Applicant Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an assembly line that produces products by sequentially assembling parts in each process, the parts that are assembled in each process and necessary to constitute one product are placed on pallets in advance. A method for supplying parts on an assembly line, comprising moving the pallet along the assembly line.