JPH04175578A - Mounting device for ring-shaped seal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically and stably fit a ring-shaped seal into a sealing groove in dried state through mechanical works by retaining the periphery of the seal resiliently on a cylindrical guide surface of a guide cylinder, pressing the seal with a ring-shaped pressing surface of an intrusion jig, and thereupon performing fitting into the sealing groove. CONSTITUTION:The arm 6 of a working robot sinks, and a locational jig 2 is inserted into the opening formed at the end face of a fluid passage 52, and an O-ring 51 is located relative to a sealing groove 53. With sinking of a mounting device 1, the bottom end face 4b of a guide cylinder 4 comes in contact with the plane joining surface of an engine body 50, and thereafter only an intrusion jig 3 sinks, and its ring-shaped pressing surface 19 moves the O-ring 51 held resiliently on the cylindrical guide surface 24 downward as creeping over it so as to cause insertion in the sealing groove 53. Then the intrusion jig 3 is reciprocatively rotated round the axis, and the O-ring 51 is retained in the sealing groove 53 stably.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to a mounting device for an annular seal such as an O-ring,
More specifically, the present invention relates to an annular seal attachment device for automatically and mechanically attaching an annular sole to a seal groove provided in a flat joint surface of an industrial component.

[Conventional technology]

In industrial parts such as the engine body of an automobile engine, annular rings such as O-rings are installed at required points such as fluid passages to prevent oil and water leakage at the joint surfaces (flat joint surfaces) with other parts. A seal is attached. In other words, an annular seal groove is provided surrounding the opening of the fluid passage or the like in the joint surface, and when the annular seal is fitted into the seal groove, it is not connected to other parts. Assembly takes place.

By the way, in the conventional annular seal installation work, as shown in FIG. The commonly used method was to do so. e is a portion that requires leakage prevention, such as a fluid passage.

Attempts have also been made to mechanically attach the annular seal. For example, as shown in Figure 6, an O-ring d is placed on the seal groove C coated with oil, and a cloth-like tip is inserted from above. A method has been used in which the insertion device is pushed in using a pushing device g equipped with f. The purpose of applying oil to the seal groove C is to improve the slippage between the seal groove C and the O-ring 6, thereby facilitating the insertion operation of the O-ring d.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in any of these installation operations, there are problems as described below, and improvements have been desired.

That is, the former manual attachment method cannot save labor in the work process, and there is a risk that the continuous flow of work will be disrupted in an automated, mechanized mass production process. Furthermore, if the O-ring d is simply pushed in manually, there is a problem in that the O-ring d, which has been inserted into the seal groove C, comes out as the finger is removed. This protrusion phenomenon is caused by the fact that the O-ring d itself has residual elastic restoring force such as torsion resistance in order to forcibly insert the O-ring d into the seal c.

In addition, in the latter installation method by mechanical work, the seal groove C
Since oil adheres to the surface, it is necessary to manage the working environment to prevent oil from staining the working area, and cloth waste from the cloth-like tip f contaminates the working environment, and industrial parts after assembly This has caused problems such as a decrease in the sealing effect of the seal. Furthermore, even with this method, it was not possible to completely solve the problem of the O-ring d floating up.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and its purpose is to automatically and mechanically install annular seals in a dry state without the need for oil to adhere to the seal grooves. To provide an annular seal mounting device M1 that can be stably mounted.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the annular seal mounting device of the present invention includes a guide cylinder having a cylindrical guide surface with an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the annular seal, and a cylindrical guide surface of the guide cylinder. a pushing jig that is relatively movable on the same axis along the same axis and has an annular pressing surface for pressing the annular seal;
a positioning jig that is positioned coaxially inside the pushing jig and that can be inserted into an end face opening of a fluid passage or the like to be sealed by the annular seal;
It is characterized by comprising a drive means for projecting and retracting in the axial direction and for rotationally driving.

[Effect]

In the annular seal mounting device according to the present invention, first,
The outer diameter part of an annular seal such as an O-ring is elastically held on the cylindrical guide surface of the guide cylinder, and while being held in this state, it is moved to a position above the end face opening of the fluid passage or the like to be sealed. .

Next, the mounting device is lowered by the drive means, and the positioning jig is inserted into the end face opening that opens to the joint surface of the industrial component, and the positioning of the annular seal with respect to the seal groove is completed.

Further, when the mounting device is lowered and the lower end surface of the guide cylinder comes into contact with the joining surface, only the pushing jig will then be lowered. The annular seal is pressed downward by the annular pressing surface of the pushing jig, moves downward along the cylindrical guide surface of the guide cylinder, and is inserted into the seal groove.

Subsequently, or at the same time as this insertion operation, the pushing jig is rotationally driven by the driving means, whereby the contact friction force between the annular seal and the seal groove is released, and the elastic spring remaining in the annular seal is released. death.

resistance is reduced.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The annular seal mounting device according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
As shown in the figure, the mounting device 1 is specifically for mounting an O-ring 51 on an engine body 50 of an automobile engine, and includes a positioning jig 2, a pushing jig 3, a guide cylinder 4 and a drive (driving means) as the main part. In the illustrated example, three attachment devices 1.1. ...is installed.

The arm section 6 of the working robot is movable in vertical and horizontal directions by a drive means (not shown), and constitutes a part of the drive section of the mounting device 1. Further, a fluid passage 52 is opened in the flat upper surface, that is, a joint surface 50a of the engine body 50, and a seal groove 55 is formed surrounding the fluid passage 52.
3 is recessed.

The device main body 7 of the mounting device 1 is provided vertically downward from above with respect to the mounting hole 6a provided in the arm 6, and inside the device body 7, a pressing cylinder (not shown) is installed facing downward. has been done.

The positioning jig 2 is connected to the seal groove 5 of the engine body 50.
This is for positioning the O-ring 51 with respect to 3.
It is provided on the support body 8 of the device main body 7 via a connecting shaft 9 so as to be vertically downward and suspended.

The positioning jig 2 is cylindrical and has mounting bolts 10.
is coaxially attached to the lower end of the connecting shaft 9. The cylindrical outer peripheral surface 2a of the positioning jig 2 has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the fluid passage 52. Further, the distal end portion 2b of the positioning jig 2 has a tapered shape to allow smooth insertion into the fluid passage 52.

The above-mentioned connecting shaft 9 has a hanging portion 1) having a downward truncated conical shape at its upper end, and its outer circumferential surface, that is, a supporting surface 1) a, is a downwardly tapered surface. On the other hand, the support body 8 that supports the hanging portion 1) is attached to the cylindrical lower end portion 7a of the device main body 7 with a cap nut 12. The support body 8 has an insertion hole 9a through which the connection shaft 9 is inserted.
is provided, and a tapered support surface 8b corresponding to the support surface 1)a is provided. Due to the supporting action of these supporting surfaces 8b and 1)a, the connecting shaft 9 is suspended and supported relative to the device main body 7 in a floating state in which it can swing back and forth and left and right. 13 is a pressing flange.

In addition, a pressure receiving napft 14 is attached to the hanging portion 1) of the connecting shaft 9.
is attached, and the tip hemispherical portion 15a of the cylinder rod 15 of the pressing cylinder is in contact with this upper surface 14a. As a result, the centripetal movement of the positioning jig 2, which will be described later, is performed.

The pushing jig 3 is inserted into the seal groove 53 of the engine body 50.
This is for inserting the O-ring 5 into the positioning jig 2, and is provided coaxially and rotatably around the axis of the positioning jig 2 on the outer periphery of the positioning jig 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pushing jig 3 has the shape of a vertically downward cap that covers the outer periphery of the positioning jig 2. The upper part 16 of the pushing jig 3 has a bearing metal 17
It is rotatably supported by the lower end portion 9a of the connecting shaft 9 via.

The lower part 18 of the pushing jig 3 is cylindrical, and its lower end surface 1
9 is an annular pressing surface for pressing the O-ring 51. The annular pressing surface 19 is located above the lower end surface 2C of the positioning jig 2. Further, the outer edge 19a of the annular pressing surface 19 is a tapered surface that widens downward, and has a shape that allows the O-ring 51 to be easily inserted into the seal groove 53.

A support flange 20 is provided on the upper part 16 of the pushing jig 3, and this is linked via a link mechanism 21 to a rotation cylinder 22, which is a rotation means. The link mechanism 21, as shown in FIG. 22a and one swing arm 21b attached to the swing arm 22a. The connection bracket 21a is provided with a U-shaped connection recess 23a, into which the connection protrusion 23b of the swinging arm 21b is engaged in a projecting manner, so that the connection bracket 21a and the swinging arm 21b are engaged with each other. are interconnected. Then, due to the protruding and retracting movement of the rotary cylinder 22, the link mechanism 2
1, the pushing jig 3 is reciprocated around its axis.

The guide cylinder 4 serves to hold the O-ring 51 during transportation and guide it during insertion, and is provided on the outer periphery of the pushing jig 3. The guide cylinder 4 is
The inner diameter surface 24 is a cylindrical guide surface, and the inner diameter of the cylindrical guide surface 24 is set to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the O-ring 51. Further, the guide cylinder 4 has a collet shape with a plurality of vertical slits (not shown), and is expandable and contractible in the radial direction. Reference numeral 26 denotes a chuck ring made of an elastic body, which is fitted into the annular groove 27 of the guide cylinder 4, and elastically biases the guide cylinder 4 in the diameter-reducing direction.

The cylindrical guide surface 24 of the guide cylinder 4 is capable of vertically sliding on the outer circumferential surface 18a of the lower part 18 of the pushing jig 3, and is always elastically pushed downward by the elastic spring 28. Forced. The resilient spring 28 is interposed between the upper end shoulder portion 4a of the guide cylinder 4 and the support flange 20 of the pushing jig 3.

Further, an engagement flange 29 is provided at the upper end of the guide cylinder 4, and this engagement flange 29 is slidably engaged with the cylindrical guide surface 30 of the pushing jig 3 in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the vertical stroke of the guide cylinder 4 with respect to the pushing jig 3 is defined. In other words, the engagement flange 29
When the guide cylinder 4 is in the maximum rising value W (retracted position) when it comes into contact with the upper end shoulder 30a of the cylindrical guide surface 30, and when it comes into contact with the lower end shoulder 30b of the cylindrical guide surface 30, The guide cylinder 4 is at the maximum lowered position (extended position).

In the normal state, the guide cylinder 4 is in the protruding position, and in this state, the lower end surface 4b of the guide cylinder 4 is lower than the annular pressing surface 19 of the pushing jig 3, as shown in FIG. It is positioned to protrude downward, and the inside of the cylindrical guide surface 24 of this protruding portion forms a holding space for the O-ring 51.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a locking bottle, which is attached to the lower part 1 of the pushing jig 3.
8 protrudes outward in the radial direction and is engaged in a protruding manner into a vertically elongated hole 32 provided in the guide cylinder 4 . As a result, relative rotational movement between the pushing jig 3 and the guide cylinder 4 is prevented, and only relative axial movement is permitted.

The drive unit of the mounting device 1 is a drive unit of the work robot (
(not shown), the pushing cylinder, the rotating cylinder 22, etc., and their operations are controlled by a control section (not shown) such as a microcomputer.

Next, a description will be given of the installation work of the O-ring 51 using the installation device 1 configured as described above. In the illustrated example, three mounting devices 1 are driven and controlled synchronously by the control section, but since the operation of each mounting device 1 is the same, the following explanation will be given for only one.

1. O-ring function: (See Figure 3) ■
By the movement of the arm 6 of the working robot, the mounting device 1 is moved onto the O-ring supply station, and the guide cylinder 4 is set in a predetermined supply section 60 (see FIG. 3).

(2) In this state, the supply cylinder 61 of the supply section 60 moves upward. Then, the O-ring 51 placed on the supply cylinder 62 is supplied into the holding space of the guide cylinder 4, and its outer diameter portion is elastically contracted against the cylindrical guide surface 24. (See the two-dot chain line in Figure 3).

- The arm section 6 of the working robot is moved again, and the mounting device 1 is attached to the engine body 50, which has been set in a predetermined position, while holding the O-ring 51 on the guide cylinder 4 (see Fig. 4). Moving upward, the guide cylinder 4 is set in a position above the end opening of the fluid passage 52 to be sealed.

n, O-ring installation work: (See Figure 2) ■ The arm 6 of the work robot is lowered, the positioning jig 2 is inserted into the end face opening of the fluid passage 52, and the O-ring 51 is installed.
is positioned with respect to the seal groove 53. At this time, since the connecting shaft 9 is in a floating state so as to be able to swing back and forth and left and right with respect to the device main body 7, the above-mentioned positioning is performed accurately.

In other words, even if the positioning jig 2 is not coaxial with the fluid passage 52 and is slightly shifted from the fluid passage 52 when the guide cylinder 4 is set above the end opening of the fluid passage 52, the positioning The jig 2 is reliably inserted into the fluid passage 52 by the guiding action of its tip 2b. In this inserted state, the connecting shaft 9 is slightly inclined from the vertical.

After inserting the positioning jig, the cylinder rod 15 of the cylinder protrudes and the upper surface 14a of the pressure receiving nut of the connecting shaft 9 is pressed downward.

Then, the support surfaces 8b and l of both the support body 8 and the connection shaft 9
Due to the centripetal action (centering action) of la, the inclination of the positioning jig 2 attached to the connecting shaft 9 is corrected, and an accurate vertical position is obtained, whereby the O-ring 51 is aligned with the seal groove 53. This will ensure accurate positioning.

■ Furthermore, as the mounting device 1 descends, the lower end surface 4b of the guide cylinder 4
After that, only the pushing jig 3 descends. In other words, the guide cylinder 4 has the elastic spring 28
It begins to move upward relative to the pushing jig 3 against the elastic force of.

With this operation, the annular pressing surface 19 of the pushing jig 3
O-ring 5 elastically held on cylindrical guide surface 24
1 downward along the cylindrical guide surface 24,
It is inserted into the seal 7a53. At this time, due to the radially inward pressing action of the outer edge (Taber surface) 19a of the annular pressing surface 19, the O-ring 51 is further reduced in diameter to the inner diameter side and is smoothly inserted into the seal groove 53. .

(2) Subsequently, or simultaneously with the operation (2) above, the rotation cylinder 22 moves to protrude and retract, causing the pushing jig 3 to reciprocate and rotate around the axis. Then, the O-ring 51 is forcibly reciprocated in the circumferential direction within the seal groove 53, and the contact friction force with the seal groove 53 is released, thereby removing the elastic torsion remaining inside the O-ring 51. resistance is reduced,
The O-ring 51 is stably held within the seal groove 53.

■ The arm part 6 of the above working robot rises, and again 1,■
Perform the following operations.

In addition, above 1. The series of operations (2) and (2) are performed continuously and automatically.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the present invention, various excellent effects as listed below can be obtained.

+1) Since it is equipped with a positioning jig, a pushing jig, a guide cylinder, and a driving means, the annular seal installation work can be performed mechanically in a series of operations, and it is possible to save labor in the work process. At the same time, assembly work in mechanical mass production processes can also be carried out smoothly.

(2) Since the pushing jig applies pressing force and reciprocating rotational force continuously or simultaneously to the annular seal inserted into a predetermined seal groove, the elastic force remaining inside the annular seal Elastic return forces such as torsion resistance are released,
The state of insertion of the annular seal into the seal groove is stable, and the conventional problem of the annular seal protruding after installation is completely eliminated.

Therefore, when assembling industrial parts, there is no risk that the annular seal will protrude from the seal groove and get caught between the joint surfaces, and reliable and stable sealing against oil and the like can be ensured after assembly. This effect is particularly noticeable in industrial parts such as automobile parts where oil leakage is a serious defect.

(3) Since the annular seal can be stably inserted into the seal groove, it can be inserted in a dry state without any oil adhesion to the seal groove.

Therefore, there is no need for environmental management to prevent oil from contaminating the work area, which was essential and difficult in the conventional mechanical installation method.

(4) Since a series of operations are performed mechanically, automation is easy.

(5) Since there is no need for conventional cloth-like tip tools, there is no need to worry about contamination of the working environment with cloth waste or the like, or deterioration of the sealing effect of industrial parts after assembly.

(6) The support surface of the support provided on the device body and the support surface of the connecting shaft are tapered downward, and the upper surface of the upper end of the connecting shaft is pressed against the cylinder of the cylinder. Since the rod tip is in contact with the structure, even if the positioning jig is not coaxial with the fluid passage, but is slightly misaligned, the above pressing will still be possible due to the centripetal action of the cylinder and both supporting surfaces. The tool can be inserted and positioned accurately.

(7) Since the outer edge of the annular pressing surface of the pushing jig is a tapered surface that widens downward, the annular seal is smoothly inserted into the seal groove while being contracted inward. Ru.

(8) The guide cylinder has a collet shape that can be expanded and contracted in the radial direction, and a chuck ring made of an elastic body is attached to the outer periphery of the guide cylinder, so that it can be easily used during transportation from supplying the annular seal to installing it. A stable holding state can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an O-ring mounting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing an enlarged main part of the mounting device, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are A vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the mounting device, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views for explaining a conventional O-ring mounting method, respectively.

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A guide cylinder having a cylindrical guide surface with an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the annular seal; and a guide cylinder that is relatively movable coaxially along the cylindrical guide surface of the guide cylinder, and A pushing jig having an annular pressing surface for pressing an annular seal, and a positioning jig located coaxially inside the pushing jig and insertable into an end face opening of a fluid passage or the like to be sealed by the annular seal. A mounting device for an annular seal, comprising: a tool; and a driving means for projecting and retracting the pushing jig in the axial direction thereof and rotating the pushing jig. (2) A device main body is attached to an arm of a working robot that can move vertically and horizontally, a positioning jig is provided vertically downward on the device body, and the outer circumferential surface of the positioning jig is sealed by an annular seal. The positioning jig has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface that can be inserted into a fluid passage or the like to be sealed, and a cylindrical pushing jig is provided vertically downward on the outer periphery of the positioning jig, and the pushing jig is rotated by a rotating means. The pushing jig is capable of reciprocating rotation around an axis, and the lower end surface of the pushing jig is an annular pressing surface for pressing an annular seal and is located above the lower end surface of the positioning jig. A guide cylinder is provided on the outer periphery of the tool so as to be movable in the vertical direction along the outer peripheral surface of the pushing jig, and the guide cylinder is always resiliently biased downward by an elastic spring. has an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the annular seal, and the lower end of the guide cylinder is normally positioned to protrude below the annular pressing surface of the pushing jig. An annular seal mounting device featuring: (3) The positioning jig is provided on a support provided in the apparatus main body in a hanging manner and vertically downward via a connecting shaft, and the supporting surface of the connecting shaft and the supporting surface of the supporting body are 3. The annular seal mounting device according to claim 2, wherein the annular seal has a tapered surface that tapers downward, and a cylinder rod tip of the pressing cylinder is brought into downward contact with the upper surface of the upper end of the connecting shaft. (4) The annular seal mounting device according to claim 2, wherein the outer edge of the annular pressing surface of the pushing jig is a tapered surface that widens downward. (5) The annular seal mounting device according to claim 2, wherein the guide cylinder has a collet shape that can be expanded and contracted in the radial direction, and a chuck ring made of an elastic body is attached to the outer periphery of the guide cylinder. .