JPH038381Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a painting robot suitable for use in, for example, undercoating the underside of the floor of an automobile body.

Generally speaking, there are two main problems when applying an undercoat to the underside of the floor of an automobile body. That is, the first problem is that the degree of rust that occurs on the car body differs significantly depending on the area in which the car travels (for example, an area with salty soil or an area without salty soil). For this reason, when applying the undercoat to the underside of the floor, a heavy-duty anti-corrosion paint must be used for cars that drive in areas with heavy rust, and a general anti-rust paint should be used for cars that drive in normal areas. The problem is that if you use it, it will be enough. The second problem is that the underside of the car floor has a large number of holes and spaces because various equipment and parts are attached to it.
Therefore, there is a problem in that the coating machine must be turned on and off frequently during painting work.

Therefore, in order to solve the first problem in this type of painting robot according to the conventional technology, a robot for heavy-duty anti-corrosion paint and a robot for ordinary anti-rust paint are installed in the painting line, and it is possible to determine the type of car that should be undercoated. The robots were used differently depending on the situation, but the drawbacks were that having to install separate robots was expensive and the paint line became long. On the other hand, in order to solve the second problem, a high-pressure switching valve is provided in the middle of the paint pipe that connects the coating machine and the paint source, and the discharge of paint is controlled by the high-pressure switching valve. However, the paint used for undercoating has a very high viscosity, and because the paint is supplied under high pressure, a high-pressure switching valve must be used instead of a regular switching valve, which results in poor responsiveness. There was a drawback. Also, because the high-pressure switching valve is heavy, it cannot be installed at the end of the arm of the robot body, and since the high-pressure switching valve is installed at the base of the arm or inside the robot base, the high-pressure switching valve and the coating machine cannot be installed. The shortest length of the paint pipe between the two was about 2 m, which also had the disadvantage of poor responsiveness, making it unsuitable for the above-mentioned blank painting.

The present invention was developed by focusing on the problems and drawbacks of the conventional painting robots mentioned above.
To provide a painting robot which can selectively use heavy rust preventive paint and ordinary rust preventive paint with one robot and can improve the responsiveness of a paint machine.

In order to achieve the above object, the painting robot according to the present invention has a main body that has a paint passage inside and a nozzle at the tip for discharging paint toward the object to be painted. , two check valves provided in the main body to allow paint to flow only into the paint passage from the outside, and a valve body located between each of the check valves and the nozzle to open and close the paint passage. , has a coating machine consisting of an air-operated actuator provided on the main body to operate the valve body, the coating machine is attached to the end of the arm of the robot body, and the coating machine is connected to each of the check valves and each paint source. A switching valve is provided in the middle of the paint pipe that connects the actuator and the air source, and a switching valve is provided in the middle of the air pipe that connects the actuator and the air source to control the supply and discharge of air to the actuator. A switching valve is provided for opening and closing the valve body by performing the following steps.

By configuring as described above, it is only necessary to operate the switching valve that connects and shuts off the paint passage depending on the vehicle type, so the switching valve only needs to be switched at most once for each vehicle body, and the response is There is no need to make gender an issue. In addition, in order to perform vacuum painting, an air switching valve is used to control the supply and discharge of air, and the valve body can be opened and closed within the coating machine to control the supply of paint, increasing the responsiveness of vacuum painting. be able to. Moreover, since it does not switch paints containing thinner or the like, it is sufficient to use a small electromagnetic valve as the air switching valve, which improves responsiveness and allows the installation position to be freely selected.

The present invention will be described below along with embodiments shown in the drawings.

In FIG. 1, inside a painting booth defined by a partition wall 1, there is a robot body 2 that is to paint objects to be painted, such as automobile bodies, which are conveyed by a conveyor line (not shown). It is provided.
Here, the robot main body 2 has a traveling platform 3 that runs a predetermined distance in parallel with the conveyor line, a base 4 placed on the traveling platform 3, and a rotatable robot mounted on the base 4. A turntable 5, a support 6 rotatably erected on the turntable 5, an arm 7 provided at the tip of the support 6 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction, and an arm 7 provided at the tip of the arm 7 to be rotatable in the vertical direction. It is generally composed of a so-called elephant nose type wrist 8. A coating machine 9 is attached to the wrist 8.

The coating machine 9 has a main body 10 extending in the axial direction as shown in FIG.
The paint passage 1 extends in the axial direction from the main body 10 toward the tip.
2 is formed. A nozzle 13 is provided at the tip of the main body 10 for discharging the paint supplied from the paint passage 12 toward the object to be coated.
For example, a hydraulic atomizing nozzle having a nozzle tip that atomizes the paint by hydraulic pressure is used.

The main body 10 also has a ball valve body 14 inside so as to allow paint to flow only from the outside into the valve chamber 11.
Two check valves 14 and 15 having A and 15A are provided, respectively. A valve body 16 for opening and closing the paint passage 12 is provided in the valve chamber 11, and when the valve body 16 opens, each check valve 14,
15 through the paint passage 12 to the nozzle 1
It is now possible to supply 3.

On the other hand, 17 is an air-operated actuator provided in the main body 10, and the actuator 17 is slidably inserted into the cylinder 17A formed in the main body 10, and is inserted into the spring chamber 17.
A piston 17D defined between B and a pressure chamber 17C.
A rod 17E has one end fixed to the piston 17D and the other end fixed to the valve body 16, and the rod 17E is stretched in the spring chamber 17B and moves the valve body 16 in the valve closing direction via the piston 17D and the rod 17E. The pressure chamber 17C is connected to an air supply/discharge port 18.

Further, reference numeral 19 denotes a mounting bracket screwed onto the rear end side of the main body 10, and the coating machine 9 is mounted on the wrist 8 of the robot main body 2 by the mounting bracket 19. Note that 19A is a mounting pin.

Next, in FIG. 1, 20 is a paint pipe for heavy-duty anti-rust paint, and one end of the paint pipe 20 is connected to a heavy-duty anti-rust paint source such as a paint pump or a paint tank via a circulation pipe 21 (Fig. (not shown), and the other end is connected to the check valve 14 of the coating machine 9 described above. A paint regulator 2 is installed in the middle of the paint pipe 20 to reduce and control the paint pressure from the circulation pipe 21.
2 is provided close to the bulkhead 1, and a high-pressure switching valve 23 consisting of an air-driven spring return type 2-port 2-position switching valve is provided between the paint regulator 22 and the sprayer 9. There is. Here, since thinner is generally used as a solvent for paint, the high pressure switching valve 23 is
An air-operated switching valve is used, and the switching valve 23 is mounted at the base of the arm 7 or inside the base 4 so as not to put a burden on the operation of the arm 7 of the robot body 2.

On the other hand, 24 is a paint pipe for general anti-rust paint.
The paint pipe 24 also has one end connected to a general anti-rust paint source (not shown) such as a paint pump or paint tank via a circulation pipe 25, and the other end to a check valve 15 of the coating machine 9. It is connected.
A paint regulator 26 and a high pressure switching valve 27 similar to the paint regulator 22 and high pressure switching valve 23 described above are provided in the middle of the paint pipe 24.

Furthermore, 28 is an air pipe for supplying control air, one end of which is connected to an air source 29, and the other end connected to the air supply/discharge port 18 of the coating machine 9. In the middle of the air pipe 28, an air regulator 30 for controlling the air pressure from the air source 29 to reduce the pressure is provided close to the partition wall 1, and between the air regulator 30 and the coating machine 9, a solenoid-driven spring is installed. An air switching valve 31 consisting of a return type two-position switching valve is provided. Here, a solenoid valve is adopted as the air switching valve 31 to improve responsiveness, and the air switching valve 31 is placed as close to the coating machine 9 as possible to improve responsiveness during air supply/discharge control. Because of this, it is desirable to provide it near the wrist of the robot body 2, but it may also be provided at the base of the arm 7 or within the base 4 to reduce the burden on the arm 7.

Thus, each high pressure switching valve 23, 27 is connected to the air control circuit via a pilot air pipe (not shown). Then, it is programmed in advance to determine whether heavy rust prevention paint or general rust prevention paint is to be used, depending on the vehicle type, and the air control circuit is operated according to this program, whereby each high pressure switching valve 23 , 27. On the other hand, the air switching valve 31 also has a signal line (not shown).
It is connected to the electrical control circuit via. The parts to be blanked and painted are programmed in advance according to the vehicle type, and the air switching valve 31 is controlled via the electric control circuit according to this program.

The present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described next.

First, if the object to be coated is an automobile body that requires heavy-duty anti-corrosion paint, control air from the air control circuit is supplied to the high-pressure switching valve 23, and the switching valve 23 is placed in the open position. Switch. As a result, heavy anti-rust paint from the paint source is transferred to the circulation pipe 21, paint pipe 20, and paint regulator 2.
2. The paint is sequentially supplied to the check valve 14 of the coating machine 9 through the high-pressure switching valve 23, and the ball valve body 14A of the check valve 14 is opened by the hydraulic pressure, and the paint enters the valve chamber 11.
is filled with. At this time, since the ball valve body 15A of the other check valve 15 is pressed in the valve closing direction,
The valve will not open, and therefore heavy rust preventive paint will not flow back toward the paint pipe 24. Furthermore, since the high-pressure switching valve 23 only needs to be opened once, there is no need to worry about its responsiveness.

Next, in order to discharge the paint toward the object to be coated, the robot body 2 is first operated by the hydraulic control circuit. That is, for this purpose, the turntable 5, support 6, arm 7, wrist 8, etc. may be operated in a playback manner according to a teaching program taught in advance.

On the other hand, in order to discharge heavy anti-rust paint, the air switching valve 3 is operated based on the control signal output from the electric control circuit.
Open valve 1. Thereby, air from the air source 29 is supplied to the pressure chamber 17C of the actuator 17 from the air supply/discharge port 18 via the air pipe 28, air regulator 30, and air switching valve 31 in this order.
As a result, the piston 17D is displaced to the left in the cylinder 17A against the spring 17F, and the valve element 16 in the valve chamber 11 is opened via the robot 17E. As a result, the heavy-duty anti-rust paint in the valve chamber 11 is supplied from the paint passage 12 to the nozzle 13, where it is atomized by hydraulic pressure and discharged toward the object to be coated. Furthermore, if the output of the control signal is stopped when painting is no longer necessary, the air switching valve 31 is closed, and the control air in the pressure chamber 17C is supplied to the air switching valve 31.
The piston 17D is displaced to the right in the figure by the spring force of the spring 17F, and the robot 17E
The valve body 16 is closed via the valve 16, and the discharge of paint is stopped.

However, as mentioned above, when the object to be coated is the underside of the floor of an automobile body, it is necessary to perform blank painting, so the valve body 16 is opened and closed frequently, for example, at intervals of 1 to 2 seconds, and is operated with good responsiveness. Must-have. However, in the present invention, the valve body 16 is provided directly in the sprayer 9 to open and close the paint passage 12, so the distance between the nozzle 13 and the nozzle 13 can be made extremely short, and responsiveness can be improved. I can do it. Furthermore, when using the air-driven actuator 17 to operate the valve body 16, a solenoid valve can be used as the air switching valve 31 for driving the actuator 17, so that it can be connected to the control circuit outside the painting booth. It can be connected to the air switching valve 31 by a signal line, and the responsiveness of the air switching valve can be improved. On the other hand, since the solenoid valve may be small, its installation position can be freely selected and it can be installed close to the coating machine 9. Furthermore, unlike conventional technology, high-pressure switching valves are used to frequently connect the paint pipe directly.
There is no need to shut off, control the high-pressure, high-viscosity paint, and it is only necessary to control the supply and discharge of air as a pilot signal to operate the actuator 17, so that accurate drawing and painting can be performed.

Next, when the painting work with the heavy-duty anti-corrosion paint is finished and the next object to be coated is a car model that requires the application of ordinary anti-rust paint, the high-pressure switching valve 23 is closed and the other high-pressure switching valves are closed. 27 is opened. This allows the normal anti-corrosion paint from the paint source to be removed from the circulation pipe 2.
5, paint pipe 24, paint regulator 2
6. It is supplied to the check valve 15 via the high pressure switching valve 27. At this time, the other check valves 14 do not open because the ball valve body 14A is pressed in the valve closing direction.

In this state, the air switching valve 31
By opening and closing the valve body 16 and controlling the supply and discharge of air to the actuator 17, the nozzle 13 is opened and closed.
Simply spray a normal anti-corrosion paint onto the object to be coated, and then perform the punch-painting process. At this time, when the painting work starts, heavy anti-corrosion paint used in the previous painting work remains in the valve chamber 11, paint passage 12, etc., but it will be discharged during the first few times the paint is discharged. , there will be no hindrance.

In addition, in the above-mentioned example, a case was described in which a heavy anti-rust paint and a normal anti-rust paint were used for the undercoat, but the invention is not limited to this, and any paint that can dispense two types of paint may be used. It's good. Further, the coating area is not limited to the lower surface of the floor of the automobile body, but may be other areas such as the engine room, or may be other than the automobile body. Furthermore, although the robot body has been described as being mounted on a traveling carriage and traveling within the painting booth, it goes without saying that it may be fixedly mounted by being directly installed on the ground.

Since the painting robot according to the present invention has been described in detail above, one robot can be used even when dispensing different types of paint for each object to be coated. Even when painting is performed while repeating this frequently, since the paint sprayer is equipped with a valve body operated by an air-driven actuator, responsiveness can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a coating robot according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the coating machine. 2...Robot body, 9...Painting machine, 10...
Main body, 12...Paint passage, 13...Nozzle, 1
4, 15... Check valve, 16... Valve body, 17... Actuator, 20, 24... Paint pipe, 2
3, 27...High pressure switching valve, 28...Air pipe,
29...Air source, 31...Air switching valve.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A main body having a paint passage inside and a nozzle at the tip for discharging paint toward the object to be coated, and two parts provided on the main body to allow paint to flow only into the paint passage from the outside. check valves, a valve body located between each check valve and the nozzle to open and close the paint passage, and an air-operated actuator provided in the main body to operate the valve body. The coating machine is attached to the end of the arm of the robot body, and there are switches in the middle of the paint pipes connecting each check valve and each paint source to connect and cut off the paint pipes. A coating comprising a valve and an air switching valve provided in the middle of an air pipe connecting between the actuator and the air source to open and close the valve body by controlling the supply and discharge of air to the actuator. Robots for use.