JPH0363479B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a welding device for automatically welding a joint between a vehicle body outer panel, particularly a roof panel and a rear fender panel.

[Conventional technology]

When assembling an automobile body, the body components are properly positioned and joined. Particularly, the outer surface of the vehicle body W, such as the joint 3 between the roof panel 1 and the rear fender panel 2 shown in FIG. 12, directly affects the appearance quality of the product.
Accurate positioning of parts and distortion-free joining are required. By the way, the roof panel 1 is spot welded and temporarily fixed to a side roof rail and a rear roof rail (not shown) respectively in a previous process, but at this time, the joint portion 3 forming the outer surface is not temporarily fixed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, the end of the outer surface of the roof panel 1 tends to partially rise above the surface of the rear fender panel 2 by about 1 mm, creating a gap C. If welded as is, the joint portion 3 will be stepped and the appearance will be impaired.

Therefore, in the past, as shown in Fig. 14, a welding jig made of a copper plate with high thermal conductivity, called a so-called caul plate, was used to weld both panels 1 and 1 in the vicinity of the panel joining area.
By pressing 2, the gap C between the panels is eliminated, and at the same time, the welding part 3, which becomes high in temperature, is cooled to prevent welding distortion of the panel. The welding jig ₄ shown in Fig.
2 whose shape is matched to the cross-sectional shape of
The two backing plates 5 and 6 are connected by a hinge part 7 so as to be openable and closable, and a pad 9 is provided which is driven by an air cylinder 8 attached to the inner backing plate 5.
The roof panel 1 and the rear fender panel 2 are sandwiched between the pad 9 and the outer cover plate 6, and the outer cover plate 6
By performing carbon dioxide arc welding on the joint portion 3 through the notched window 6a provided in the welding plate, a good joint can be achieved without creating a step in the joint portion and without welding distortion due to overheating.

Furthermore, there is also a joining jig disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-54944 in which the rear fender panel is manually clamped without using the air cylinder shown in FIG.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the case of such conventional car body outer plate welding jigs, the work efficiency is not good because all of them have to be attached near the welding part by hand by an operator. Moreover, since the backing plates 5 and 6 are shaped to match the shape of the car body, when producing multiple car models on the same line, a welding jig for each car model is required, which poses the problem of difficulty in automation. It was hot.

This invention was made by focusing on such conventional problems, and is a highly efficient method that can accurately and automatically position and securely fix the outer panel of a vehicle body to the part to be welded, regardless of the shape of the outer panel. automatic welding jig,
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems by providing an automatic welding device for car body outer panels, which is equipped with a welding robot that positions the jig and automatically welds the joints of the fixed outer panels.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention achieves the above object, and the jig frame is supported by a pair of opposing shafts at both ends of the jig frame with a distance of approximately the width of the vehicle body, and is movable between a retracted position and a presser position via a swing cylinder. 1 installed with
A piece support bracket that has a pair of slide substrates, is arranged on the surface of each of the pair of slide substrates via an X-direction traveling table and a Y-direction traveling table, and slides freely within a plane, and this piece supporting bracket. A position adjustment mechanism consisting of a brake cylinder that fixes the slide board at a predetermined position on the slide board, and a locating hole formed in the piece support bracket that slides the piece support bracket to a predetermined position is used to attach the slide board near the part to be joined on the outer panel of the automobile body. A welding jig is formed by a pair of slide devices equipped with a plurality of presser pieces that can move forward and backward to press the welding jig, and a welding robot having a locating pin disposed near the welding jig and coupled to the locating hole. , the welding robot positions the position adjustment mechanism according to the vehicle body, and moves the vicinity of the welded parts on both the left and right sides of the vehicle body carried between the pair of slide devices of the welding jig from the retracted position to the holding position. It was constructed so that the pieces were clamped and fixed by the moved pieces, and the parts to be welded were joined by a welding robot.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings.

1 to 10 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of a vehicle body outer plate welding apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 20 is a welding jig;
R is a carbon dioxide arc welding robot placed near the jig. P is a locate pin erected at the tip of the robot R. The welding jig 20 described above includes a piece 21 that can move forward and backward to press the vicinity of the welded parts 3 of the roof panel 1 and the rear fender panel 2, which are the outer panels of the automobile body _W0 , and a piece 21 that supports this piece 21. Slide devices 23, 23 each having a position adjustment mechanism 22 that slides freely within a plane and is fixed at a predetermined position, and a locating hole H for operating the movement of this position adjustment mechanism 22, are placed on the left and right sides approximately across the width of the vehicle body. They are placed opposite each other. Each slide device 2
3 are attached near the left and right ends of the jig frame 24 via swing shafts 25, respectively. 26
is a flange 27 at the left and right ends of the jig frame 24.
The slide device 23 is configured to swing between a retracted position shown by a chain line and a presser position shown by a solid line.

2 and 3 are diagrams showing details of the slide device 23. FIG. Reference numeral 28 denotes a slide substrate, on the surface of which guide grooves 29, 29 in the X direction are formed, and a slide rail SR (see FIG. 4) is fitted into each groove 29. A bearing 25a of the swing shaft 25 and a bearing 30a of the drive shaft 30 that engage with the rod 26a of the swing cylinder 26 are attached to the back side. 31 is X
It is a direction traveling table, and the back surface thereof has X-direction linear guides 32, 32 slidably engaged with slide rails SR fitted in the X-direction guide grooves 29, 29.
On the other hand, guide grooves 33, 33 in the Y direction are formed on the surface thereof, and a slide rail SR is similarly fitted into each groove 33. 34
is a Y-direction traveling platform, and the slide rail SR fitted into the Y-direction guide grooves 33, 33 is mounted on the back surface of the platform.
a Y-direction linear guide 35 slidably engaged with the
35, and a piece support bracket 36 is fixed to the surface thereof.

FIG. 4 shows the above-mentioned X-direction linear guide 32 and Y-direction linear guide 32.
Details of the directional linear guide 35 are shown. The slide rail SR fitted and fixed into the guide grooves 29 and 33 has a substantially U-shaped cross section. The linear guides 32 and 35 sliding within the slide rail SR have a so-called infinite linear motion bearing structure. i.e. orbital case
Ball incorporated in circulation groove _A2 formed in _A1
A3 fits into the raceway groove _A4 provided on both sides of the slide rail SR, and the movement of this ball causes the raceway case _A1 to slide extremely lightly within the rail SR.
_A5 is a mounting plate fixed to the track case _A1 . Note that _A6 is a stopper (see Figure 2).

In the above-mentioned X-direction linear guide 32 and Y-direction linear guide 35, the piece support bracket 36 is attached to the board 2.
Can move freely within the plane of 8. _H1 is a cylindrical body having a locating hole H used during movement, and is erected on the surface of the piece support bracket 36. Reference numeral 37 designates a pair of brake cylinders as fixing means that are fixed to the back side of both ends of the Y-direction traveling platform 34, and are equipped with spring return type pistons, and are used to supply pressurized air when fixing the Y-direction traveling platform 34. The brake plate 38 attached to the end of the piston rod 37a is strongly pressed against the surface of the slide base plate 28. The support plate 36a is provided at the end of the piece support bracket 36, which can be freely adjusted and fixed on the board in this way.
A plurality of (six in the illustrated example) piece driving cylinders 40 are fixed in parallel, and a piece 21 for pressing the outer plate is attached to each cylinder rod 40a.

Note that for the linear guides 32 and 35 in the X and Y directions of the position adjustment mechanism 22 described above, instead of the above-described configuration, for example, a linear guide 41 with a built-in bearing as shown in FIG. 5 may be used. In that case, guide rails 42 may be attached to the positions of each guide groove 29, 33.

Next, the effect will be explained.

Initially, the pair of slide devices 23, 23 of the vehicle body outer plate welding jig 20 are in the retracted position as shown in FIG. The piece support bracket 36 is at the original position on the slide board 28.

Figure 6 shows the positioning process, in which the presser foot 2
1 is moved from the origin position to the position specified by the robot R's teaching program for each vehicle type. The procedure is as follows. The cylinder body with the brake plate 38 released and the locate pin P of the robot R attached to the slide device 23
The piece 21 is inserted into the locating hole H of _H1 and moved to a predetermined position via the bracket 36 by operation of the robot R. After the movement is completed, the brake plate 38 is activated and fixed. When this positioning is completed, the robot R temporarily retreats as shown in FIG. When the automobile body W is carried directly under the welding jig 20, the rod 26 of the swing cylinder 26 of the slide device 23
a is driven forward. As a result, the slide device 2
3 and 23 swing around the swing shaft 25 to the presser position, and the presser piece 21 approaches the welding site 3 of the vehicle body outer plate W ₀ as shown in FIG. Next, the piece drive cylinder 40
When the rod moves forward, the rod advances forward and the presser piece 21 presses the outer plate _W0 (8th and 9th).
(see figure).

At this time, depending on the car model, some pieces may hit or miss, but the pressing force per piece is 4.
Since it is small at around Kg, no scratches or distortions will occur.
The pressure applied to the entire piece on one side is over 20 kg, and the pressure is applied from both sides of the vehicle body, completely preventing the panel from floating. With the panel fixed in place, the joint 3 is arc welded by the robot R (FIG. 10). When the welding is completed, the slide device 23 is moved to the retracted position in the reverse order to the above, and the vehicle body W is carried out.

Each time the vehicle type changes, the above-mentioned alignment process is carried out, and by moving the piece support bracket 36 to an appropriate position on the board 28 by the robot R in the slide device 23, the presser piece 21 is accurately aligned with the car body W. Adjust the position so that you can press the specified location.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment.

This embodiment differs from the above-mentioned embodiments in that a cooling water passage 43 is provided inside the presser piece 21 and each presser piece 21 is connected by a cooling pipe 44 so that water cooling can be performed.

By removing the heat during arc welding by forced cooling, the effect of preventing thermal distortion of the welded part is remarkable.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to this invention,
A car body outer plate welding device comprising an automatic welding jig equipped with a presser piece whose position can be adjusted to clamp and fix the vicinity of the welded part of the car body outer plate from the left and right, and a welding robot,
In addition, since the position adjustment is performed using a welding robot based on a teaching program stored in advance, it is possible to immediately respond to changes in vehicle models, and it is possible to weld the outer skin of the vehicle body with extremely high efficiency and high quality.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the main parts, and FIG.
The figure is a view in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 A and B are views showing one example of parts for the position adjustment mechanism, FIG. 10 are diagrams explaining the operation of the device shown in FIG.
The figure is a front view showing the alignment process of the slide device.
Fig. 7 is a front view of the welded part being swung to the holding position, Fig. 8 is a front view of the welded part being clamped, Fig. 9 is a plan view showing one aspect of the welded part being held down, and Fig. 10 is of the welded part during welding. 11 is a plan view of essential parts of another embodiment, FIG. 12 is a partial perspective view showing a welded part of an automobile body, FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 12, and FIG. 14 is a front view showing the state. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional vehicle body outer plate welding jig. W ₀ ...Vehicle body outer plate, 3...Part to be welded, 20...
Welding jig, 21... (presser) piece, 22... position adjustment mechanism, 23... slide device, R... welding robot, P... locating pin, H... locating hole,
W... Vehicle body, 24... Jig frame, 26... Rocking cylinder, 28... Slide board, 31... X
Direction traveling base, 34... Y direction traveling base, 36... Piece support bracket, 37... Brake cylinder.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 At both ends of the jig frame, approximately the width of the vehicle body, 1
It has a pair of slide substrates that are pivoted to face each other and are attached via a swing cylinder so as to be movable between a retracted position and a presser position.
A piece support bracket is arranged on each surface of the pair of slide boards via an X-direction traveling table and a Y-direction traveling table and slides freely within a plane, and this piece supporting bracket is fixed at a predetermined position on the slide board. A position adjustment mechanism consisting of a brake cylinder and a locating hole formed in the piece support bracket to slide the piece support bracket to a predetermined position includes a plurality of presser pieces that can move forward and backward to press the vicinity of the part to be joined of the outer panel of the automobile body. A welding jig is formed by a pair of slide devices attached with a welding device, and a welding robot is provided near the welding jig and has a locating pin that connects with the locating hole, and the welding robot adjusts the position adjustment mechanism. In addition to positioning the welding jig according to the vehicle body, the parts to be welded on both the left and right sides of the vehicle body carried between the pair of slide devices of the welding jig are clamped and fixed with the pieces moved from the retracted position to the holding position. A vehicle body outer plate welding device characterized in that the welding robot joins the parts to be welded.