JPH0283055A - Coating robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive the improvement of coating efficiency by arranging coating material and washings feeding tubes connected with a coating material switching valve around the peripheral surface of an arm and along the length thereof. CONSTITUTION:A coat is applied to an object by a spray gun 1 mounted to the end of an arm 5. This coating robot 2 is provided with a plurality of coating material feeding tubes 9A-9D for feeding their respective coating materials and a coating material switching valve 3 connected with a common tube 11 through which any one of a plurality of washings feeding tubes 10 for feeding a thinner as washings is selectively communicated with the spray gun 1. The tubes 9A-9D and 10 connected with this valve 3 are arranged around the peripheral surface of the arm 5 and along the length thereof, whereby, even in the case of increased number of the tubes connected with the switching device, the rotating performance of the arm can be maintained at a constant level and the coating efficiency can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a painting robot, and is particularly applicable to robots used when there are many types of objects to be painted and the type of paint supplied to a spray gun is frequently changed. This is a technology related to a suitable paint color changing device.

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, the above-mentioned painting robots are equipped with a spray gun for spraying paint at the tip of the arm, and this spray gun has a paint tube (commonly used) for supplying various paints. tube) is properly connected. This paint tube communicates with a switching device such as a color change valve, and one type of paint selected by the switching operation of the switching device is supplied to this paint tube.

In addition, the switching device is provided for several minutes depending on the type of paint, and this switching device includes one type of paint, a paint supply tube, a compressed air tube for valve switching, and a cleaning liquid (thinner) supply. Three tubes made up of tubes are externally connected.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] By the way, in the painting robot configured as described above, a large number of tubes such as a paint supply tube, a compressed air tube for valve switching, and a cleaning liquid supply tube are externally connected to the switching device. Therefore, when the arm is rotated during the painting process, these tubes swing around the arm and obstruct the smooth rotation of the arm.
The problem was that it was not possible to perform an efficient painting process.

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and even when the number of tubes connected to the switching device is increased by increasing the number of types of paint to be applied, the rotation of the arm is The objective is to provide a painting robot that maintains performance at a certain level and improves painting processing efficiency.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a painting robot that applies painting to an object with a spray gun attached to the tip of an arm. , a paint switching valve that selectively connects one of the plurality of paint supply tubes to which a plurality of types of paint are respectively supplied and the cleaning liquid supply tube to which thinner as a cleaning liquid is supplied to a common tube leading to the spray gun. A paint supply tube and a cleaning liquid supply tube connected to the paint switching valve are arranged along the entire circumferential surface of the arm and along the length of the arm.

"Function" According to the present invention, the paint supply tube and the cleaning liquid supply tube connected to the paint switching valve are arranged over the entire peripheral surface of the arm and along the length direction of the arm, so that the paint processing When the arm rotates, these tubes do not swing around the arm.

Embodiment J An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

First, FIG. 1 shows an industrial robot 2 having a spray gun 1 attached to its tip, and a paint switching valve 3 mounted on the industrial robot 2. As shown in FIG.

The industrial robot 2 is rotatably provided around an axis (a) perpendicular to the base 4, and is rotatably provided around two axes (b) and (c) that are parallel and horizontal to each other. The wrist mechanism 6 is provided at the tip of the arm 5 and has a spray gun l attached to the tip, and the axis (a) to (c) of the arm 5 is
By the combination of the rotation around , and the rotational movement of the wrist mechanism 5, the spray gun l located at its tip
The nozzle portion (not shown) can be directed in any direction.

Next, the paint switching valve 3 disposed near the rear side of the spray gun 1 will be explained.

This paint switching valve 3, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
It is composed of a fixed plate 7 fixed to the arm 5, and a rotary disk 8 rotatably provided around the arm 5 and sliding on the fixed plate 7, the rotation of the latter being rotatable. Four systems of paint supply tubes 9A for supplying different types (colors) of paint are provided at the inlet side connection end provided on the disc 8.
~9D (only 9A and 9B are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) are connected to a cleaning liquid supply tube 10 of one system for supplying thinner as a cleaning liquid, and also provided on the fixed plate 7 of the former. A common tube 11 for supplying the paint or thinner to the spray gun 1 is provided at the outlet connection end.

Next, a configuration for selectively connecting one of the paint supply tubes 9A to 9D and the cleaning liquid supply tube 10 to the common tube 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

Inside the rotary disk 8, the paint supply tube 9A is provided.
Flow path 12A-12D for transporting paint sent from ~9D
(only 12A is shown in FIG. 2) are formed respectively, and a flow path 13 for transporting the thinner sent from the cleaning liquid supply tube 10 is formed. Further, the thinner flow path 13 is divided into four flow paths 13A by a branch portion 14.
- 13D (only 13A and 13B are shown in FIG. 2) are formed so as to branch respectively.

Further, on the surface of the rotating disk 8 facing the fixed plate 7, the flow channels 12A-12D and 13A-1 are provided.
Holes 12a-12d, 13a=13d, which are the 3D ends, are arranged at regular intervals from each other so as to form a circular shape as a whole, as shown in FIG.

Further, at the ends of these channels 12A to 12D and 13A to 13D, pole valves 16 to 18 (not shown for the other five pole valves) are provided, respectively, to close the holes 12a to 12d and 13a to 13d. ing.

To explain the Pall valves 16 to 18, the Pall valves 16 to 18, as shown in FIG.
Hole 12a of A, holes 13a and 13b of flow path 13A-13B
Pole-shaped valve body 16A-18A whose valve seat is the periphery of
Then, insert the valve bodies 16A-18A into the holes 12a, 13a, 13.
The valve body 16A-18A is composed of compression springs 16B-18B that press toward the b side, and the valve body 16A-18A is
When pressed in the direction of arrow (d) by the pressing member 19 provided on the side, a gap is formed between the holes 12a and 13a-13b, and the pole valves 16 to 18 are opened (see Fig. 2). (See Paul valve 17). When the pole valves 16 to 18 are opened by the pressing member 19, the flow paths 12A to 12D and 13
A-13D is the flow path 2 provided inside the pressing member 19
Connected to 0. That is, the paint supply tube 9A~
9D, the paint or thinner supplied from the cleaning liquid supply tube IO is supplied to the flow paths 12A-12D, 13A-1.
3D and the flow path 20, the wrist mechanism 6
It is designed to be fed into a spray gun l at the tip.

In FIG. 3, the reference numeral 21 is an O-ring, which is used to prevent paint or thinner from leaking when the flow paths 12A-12D, 13A to 13D are connected to the flow path 20. It has become.

Further, reference numeral 22 indicates a fixing member that prevents the paint supply tubes 9A to 9D and the cleaning liquid supply tube 10 communicating with the paint switching valve 3 from swinging due to the operation of the arm 5.

That is, the fixing member 22 allows the paint supply tubes 9A to 9D and the cleaning liquid supply tube 10 to be arranged over the entire peripheral surface of the arm 5 and along the length direction of the arm 5. Paint supply tubes 9A to 9D by rotation of 5.

Swinging of the cleaning liquid supply tube 10 is prevented.

Next, the switching operation of the paint switching valve 3 configured as described above, in particular, transfers the paint supplied by the paint supply tube 9A ('flow path 12A) to the paint supply tube 9B (12B).
The switching operation when changing to the paint supplied by the paint will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In addition, in FIG. 2, the valve body 16A of the pole valve 16 is connected to the pressing member 1.
9 and moved in the direction of arrow (d), the paint from the paint supply tube 9A flows into the flow path 12A.

A state in which the spray gun 1 is supplied through the flow path 20 and the common tube 11 in sequence is shown.

(1) From the state shown in FIG. 3 (the state in which the channels 12A and 20 are in communication), rotate the rotary disk 8 in the direction of the arrow (E) in FIG. The rotating disk 8
The flow path 20 and the common tube 11 are connected to the side flow path 13B, and the thinner supplied through this flow path 13B causes the flow path 20 and the common tube 11 to
, clean the spray gun 1.

In the process of rotating the rotary disk 8 in the direction of the arrow (E), the pressing member 19 separates from the valve body 16A of the pole valve 16, and the valve body 16A is thereby urged by the compression spring 16B to close the hole 12. After closing the pressing member 1
9 separates the valve body 18A of the next closest Pall valve 18 from the hole 13b to form a gap between the valve body 18A and the hole 13b, thereby allowing the thinner supplied through the flow path 13B to flow through the flow path. I'm trying to send it to 20.

(2) After cleaning the flow path 20, the common tube 11, and the spray gun l, further rotate the rotary disk 8 in the direction of the arrow (E) in FIG. is communicated with the flow path 12B on the rotating disk 8 side. by this,
The thinner supplied to the spray gun L is changed to the next type (color) of paint.

In this case, the operation of the ball valve 18 when the rotating disk rotates eight times is the same as the operation described in (1), and the explanation thereof will be simplified.

By rotating the rotary disk 8 relative to the fixed plate 7 in this manner, the type of paint can be efficiently and sequentially changed with a cleaning process in between.

In addition, when increasing the types of paint to be supplied to the spray gun l, it is sufficient to simply add paint supply tubes (9A to 9D) according to the type of paint to the rotary disk 8 of the paint switching valve 3. As a result, even if many types of paint can be supplied to the paint switching valve, there is no need for multiple tubes (cleaning liquid supply tube, paint supply tube) as in the past. 5 is prevented from deteriorating in its swinging performance, and its durability is improved. In this embodiment, there are a maximum of four types of paint, but the internal flow paths (12A-12D)
-13A to 13D) is used, naturally it is possible to supply many types of paints while changing them one after another.

Furthermore, as described above, there is no need to sequentially add switching devices as in the past, each time the type of paint supplied to the spray gun 1 is increased.
The weight of the paint switching valve 3 can be reduced, and in this respect as well, the slow movement performance of the arm 5 can be improved.

Furthermore, since the paint switching valve 3 is arranged near the tip of the arm 5 at the rear of the spray gun l, the length of the common tube 11 connecting the paint switching valve 3 and the spray gun l can be shortened. As a result, when the type of paint is changed, the cleaning time for the common tube can be reduced, and the amount of thinner used as a cleaning liquid can be reduced.

Further, since the rotary disk 8 constituting the paint switching valve 3 is provided around the arm 5, it is well balanced, and as a result, there is no need to provide a balancing device such as a counterbalance spring. do not have.

Also, a paint supply tube 9A connected to the paint switching valve 3
Since the paint supply tubes 9A and 9D and the cleaning liquid supply tubes io are arranged on the entire peripheral surface of the arm 5 and along the length direction of the arm 5, when the arm 5 rotates during painting, these paint supply tubes 9A ~9D and the cleaning liquid supply tube 10 are prevented from swinging around the arm 5, and this prevents the cleaning liquid supply tube 10 from swinging around the arm 5, even when the number of types of paint to be applied is increased and the number of tubes connected to the switching device is increased. too,
The rotational performance of the arm 5 can be maintained at a constant level.

In this embodiment, the tubes 9A to 9D-10 between the rotary disk 8 and the fixed member 22 are provided in a straight line as shown in FIG. In order to prevent these tubes from being pulled by rotation (reciprocating movement within a certain range), it is preferable to arrange the tubes in a coiled form or with a certain degree of flexure. Further, it is preferable that the rotation of the rotating disk 8 is automatically performed by a driving means such as an air motor.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained in detail above, according to the present invention, the paint supply tube and the cleaning liquid supply tube connected to the paint switching valve are provided on the entire circumferential surface of the arm, and in the longitudinal direction of the arm. Since these tubes are arranged along the , the tubes are prevented from swinging around the arm when the arm rotates during painting, thereby increasing the variety of paints to be applied and making it easier to Even when the number of connected tubes is increased, the rotational performance of the arm can be maintained at a constant level, and the painting efficiency can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 3 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a side view showing the positional relationship between the industrial robot and the paint switching valve, and Figure 2 is the inside of the paint switching valve. 1st showing the configuration
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 1...Spray gun, 2...Industrial robot, 3...Paint switching valve, 5...Arm, 9A to 9D... Paint supply tube, lO
...Cleaning liquid supply tube, 11...Common tube.

Claims (1)

[Claims] By means of a spray gun attached to the tip of the arm,
In a painting robot that performs a painting process on an object to be painted, one of the plurality of paint supply tubes to which multiple types of paint are supplied, and one of the cleaning liquid supply tubes to which thinner as a cleaning liquid is supplied. a paint switching valve that selectively connects the paint switching valve to a common tube leading to the spray gun, and the paint supply tube and the cleaning liquid supply tube connected to the paint switching valve extend over the entire circumferential surface of the arm, and
A painting robot characterized by being arranged along the length of the arm.