JPH04176577A - Automatic assembling device for plural parts - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically perform the work fitting plural parts in the state of their being related each other with at least one part of a chuck being made freely drivable in the direction approaching to and separating from the other part of a chuck, by providing 1st and 2nd chucks in the state of driving them in the direction orthogonal with the rotation direction. CONSTITUTION:1st and 2nd chucks 46, 56 are subjected to posture-controlling in X direction Y direction, rotating direction and the direction orthogonal with the rotating direction. Moreover one part of the chuck 56 is controlled at its posture even in the direction approaching to and separating from the other part of the chuck 46. So that the parts held by each chucks 46, 56 can be assembled with their controlling in the state of their being related each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic assembly device for multiple parts suitable for assembling a plurality of mutually related parts.

(Prior Art) For example, in electronic devices such as printers, there are cases where a plurality of components are required to be assembled in a mutually related manner.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the case where a bar 2, which is a first part, and a lever 3, which is a second part, are assembled to the chassis 1 of a printer in a state in which they are related to each other. That is, a circular hole 4a is formed in one side wall 1a of the chassis 1, which is bent into an L-shape.
A mounting hole 4 is formed by connecting a long hole 4b and a long hole 4b, and a mounting shaft 5 is provided protruding from the vicinity of the mounting hole 4. A switching lever 7 in which an engaging portion 6a is formed is attached in advance to the side of the mounting shaft 5.

The bar 2 has a first protrusion 8 protrudingly provided in the middle thereof, which has a flange 8a that is smaller than the circular hole 4a of the mounting hole 4 and larger than the elongated hole 4b. A pin 9 is provided protruding from the side opposite to 8, and a magnet 11 is provided at the other end. Furthermore, an engagement hole 10 is formed in the middle of the bar 2 .

The lever 3 is formed with a boss portion 12 that rotatably fits onto the mounting shaft 5, and a pin 9 of the bar 2.
The hole 13 that fits into the engaging portion 6 of the switching lever 7
A second protrusion 14 that engages with a is provided in a protruding manner.

The bar 3 has the first protrusion 8 inserted into the circular hole 4a of the mounting hole 4 and held in the middle of the elongated hole 4b. Further, the lever 3 has its boss portion 12 fitted to the mounting shaft 5 up to a halfway point, and the second protrusion 14 is connected to the engaging portion 6a of the switching lever 7.
to engage. Then, the bar 2 is slid along the elongated hole 4b and rotated, so that the pin 9 protruding from one end thereof is aligned with the hole 13 of the lever 3. In this state, push the boss part 12 of the lever 3 onto the mounting shaft 5 all the way, and fit the hole part 13 into the pin 9.
chassis 1 with bar 2 and lever 3 in relation to each other;
I am trying to assemble it to.

Conventionally, when assembling a plurality of parts in such a manner that they are related to each other, the assembly work has been performed manually. That is, as described above, in order to assemble the bar 2 and the lever 3 to the chassis 1 in a mutually related state, once the first protrusion 8 of the bar 2 is inserted into the mounting hole 4, the bar 2
is held in the middle of the mounting hole 4 in the longitudinal direction, and the lever 3 is assembled into the chassis 1 in this state. And the above bar 2
The lever 3 had to be connected to the bar 2 while being positioned relative to the lever 3 in the sliding direction along the longitudinal direction of the mounting hole 4 and in the rotating direction.

Therefore, in order to assemble the bar 2 and the lever 3, which are a plurality of parts, in relation to each other as described above, it is not enough to simply grasp the parts with a robot chuck and assemble them into the chassis 1; Although it is necessary to further control the posture and position of the parts assembled into the assembly, the assembly work has become complicated and is not automated at present.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) Conventionally, the work of assembling multiple parts in a mutually related manner was not automated and was done manually, resulting in very poor workability. That happened.

This invention was made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a multi-component automatic assembly device that can automatically assemble a plurality of components in a mutually related manner. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Structure of the Invention (Means and Effects for Solving the Problems) To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a head, a first driving means for driving the head in at least the X direction and the Y direction, a mounting body rotatably provided on the head; a second driving means for rotationally driving the mounting body;
a first chuck driven by a driving means; a second chuck provided on the mounting body and driven by a fourth driving means in a direction orthogonal to the rotation center axis of the mounting body; The present invention is characterized by comprising a fifth driving means for driving at least one of the first chuck and the second chuck in a direction toward and away from the other chuck.

According to such a configuration, not only can the postures of the first and second chucks be controlled in the X direction, the Y direction, the rotational direction, and the direction orthogonal to the rotational direction, but also the negative chuck can be controlled with respect to the other chuck. Since the drive can be controlled in the direction of approaching and separating, it is possible to control and assemble the parts gripped by each chuck so that they are related to each other.

(Example) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The automatic assembly device shown in FIG.
It is equipped with One end of an X-arm 22 provided horizontally is fixed to the upper end of this support 21. This X
A guide member 23 made of a member having a U-shaped cross section is fixed to the lower surface side of the arm 22 along the longitudinal direction. This guide member 23 is also made of a member having a U-shaped cross section.
A tongue piece 25 provided in the middle of the arm 24 is slidably held. A first air cylinder 26 is provided inside the guide member 23 . The rod 26a of the first air cylinder 26 is fixed to the tongue piece 25. Therefore, when the first near cylinder 26 operates, the Y arm 24 is driven along the longitudinal direction of the guide member 23. This direction is defined as the X direction.

A second air cylinder 27 is attached to the Y arm 24.
It is provided along the X direction perpendicular to the direction. A connecting member 2 is attached to the rod 27a of this second air cylinder 27.
8 are connected to each other by an L-shaped portion 28a formed at one end thereof. The outer surface of the intermediate portion of a head 29 formed by bending a band-shaped plate into a U-shape is fixed to the other end of the connecting member 28. Therefore, the head 29 is connected to the second air cylinder 2.
7 is activated, it is driven in the Y direction. That is, the head 29 is driven in the XSY direction by the first and second near cylinders 26 and 28.

A stopper 31 is provided at the front end of the Y arm 24, and the L-shaped portion 28a of the connecting member 28 comes into contact with the stopper 31, thereby regulating the forward position of the head 29 in the Y direction.

The head 29 is rotatably provided with a U-shaped mounting body 32 smaller than the head 29. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, one side of the mounting body 32 is rotatably supported on one side of the head 29 by a support shaft 33. On the other side of this mounting body 32 is the head 29.
A drive shaft 34a of a rotary actuator 34 passing through the other side is fixed. This rotary actuator 34 is attached to the other outer surface of the head 29.

Therefore, when the row reactuator 34 is operated, the mounting body 32 is rotated between the vertical state shown in FIG. 1 and the horizontal state shown in FIG. 2.

A third air cylinder 3 is installed on the inner surface of the midway part of the mounting body 32.
5 and a fourth air cylinder 36 are attached. The third air cylinder 35 has a pair of rods 3, 5a as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and these rods 35°a
A rectangular first mounting plate 35a is attached to.

A guide member 37 is provided on the first mounting plate 35a, and a first slider 38 having a substantially L-shaped planar shape is mounted on the guide member 37 in a diagonal direction of the first mounting plate 36. It is engaged and held so as to be slidable along the line.

On the first mounting plate 36, a fifth air cylinder 39 is installed on one side of the first slider 38.
8 along the sliding direction. The rod 39a of this fifth air cylinder 39 is connected to the other side of the slider 39. Therefore, when the fifth air cylinder 39 operates, the first slider 38 is driven along the guide member 37.

The first slider 38 has this first slider 38
A substantially crank-shaped rotating member 42 whose one end is rotatably connected by a support shaft 41 is provided at the other end. At the other end of this rotating member 42 is the first slider 38.
A rod 43a of a sixth air cylinder 43 provided on one side is connected via a piece 44. Therefore, when this sixth air cylinder 43 is actuated, the rotating member 43 is driven to rotate about the support shaft 41 as a fulcrum.

At the other end of the rotating member 42, a first chuck 46 consisting of a pair of fingers 46a that is opened and closed by a first opening/closing cylinder 45 is connected to the third air cylinder 35 in the opening/closing direction.
The first mounting plate 36 is provided in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the first mounting plate 36 is driven.

Furthermore, a positioning rod 47 is provided at the other end of the rotating member 42 at a position corresponding to the center of the pair of fingers 46a in the direction of separation and in parallel with the fingers 46a.

The first chuck 46 has a pair of fingers 46a
The other end of the bar 2, which is one of the above-mentioned components, provided with the magnet 11 is taken out from a first component supply section 61, which will be described later, by holding it as shown by the chain line in FIG. At this time, the tip of the positioning rod 47 engages with the engagement hole 10 formed in the middle of the bar 2,
The bar 2 is reliably prevented from shifting.

The fourth cylinder 36 has a pair of rods 36a, as shown in FIG. 6, and a rectangular second mounting plate 51 is fixedly attached to these rods 36a. A guide member 52 is provided on the second mounting plate 51 along the width direction. A second slider 53 is slidably provided on this guide member 52. In addition, the second mounting plate 5
1 is provided with a seventh air cylinder 54 on the side of the second slider 53. This seventh air cylinder 5
The No. 4 rod 54a is connected to one end of the second slider 53. Therefore, when the seventh air cylinder 54 operates, the second slider 53 is driven along the guide member 52. That is, the second slider 53 is driven in the direction toward and away from the first chuck 46, which is indicated by an arrow in FIG.

A second chuck 56 consisting of a pair of fingers 56a that is opened and closed by a second opening/closing cylinder 55 is attached to the second slider 53, and a second chuck 56 is attached to the fourth air cylinder 36 in the opening/closing direction.
The second mounting plate 51 is provided in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the second mounting plate 51 is driven.

This second chuck 56 is connected to a second component supply section 6 which will be described later.
2, the lever 3, which is one of the above-mentioned parts, is held and taken out as shown by the chain line in FIG.

Below the head 29 where the third and fourth air cylinders 35 and 36 are provided, there is a first component supply section 61 that supplies the bar 2 described above, and a second component supply section 61 that supplies the lever 3.
A component supply section 62 is arranged adjacent to the component supply section 62. The first component supply section 61 has a pair of conveyor belts 63 that are arranged in parallel and run endlessly. Each conveyor belt 63 is
It is stretched between the driving pulley 64 and the driven pulley 65. The drive pulley 64 is continuously driven to rotate by a first motor 66. A stocker 67 is erected above one end of these conveyor belts 63 . This stocker 67 holds a plurality of cases 68 in which a plurality of the bars 2 are housed in a stack. Since the bar 2 has the magnet 11, the case 68 is made of plastic, which is a non-magnetic material.

Among the cases 68 stacked on the stocker 67, the lowermost case 68 is pushed onto the pair of conveyor belts 63 by a pair of extrusion cylinders 69, and is conveyed by these conveyor belts 63. A stopper 71 for positioning the case 68 is provided on the other end side of the conveyor belt 63. This stopper 71 is rotationally driven by a stopper cylinder 72 as shown by an arrow. Above stopper 7
The case 68 positioned on the other end side of the conveyor belt 63 by the push-up cylinder 73 is lifted up from above the conveyor belt 63 by a push-up body 74 driven in the upward direction by a push-up cylinder 73. A wire rod 75 is intermittently inserted by a predetermined length into one end of the case 68 floated from the conveyor belt 63. As a result, the bars 2 housed in the case 68 are pushed out one by one from the other end of the case 68. A positioning portion 76 is provided at the other end of the positioned case 68 so as to be movable along a cam groove (not shown), and is driven by a positioning cylinder 77 .

The cam groove guides the positioning portion 76 in the rotational direction while moving it forward as shown by the arrow in FIG. Thereby, the bar 2 supplied to the positioning section 76 is positioned in a state where it can be easily gripped by the first chuck 46.

The bar 2 pushed out from the case 68 is attached to the temporary fixing part 7 having a temporary fixing cylinder 78 in the positioning part 76 .
9. This temporary fixing part 79 has a cylindrical shape like the case 68, and the bar 2 pushed into the case 68 is temporarily fixed in the temporary fixing part 79 by operating the temporary fixing sill 78. When the wire rod 75 is driven when the temporarily fixed state by the temporary fixing cylinder 78 is released, the bar 2 is sent to the positioning section 76. ``The wire rod 75 is driven by a feed roller 81 and a return roller 82 that are placed on one end side of the positioned case 68. The feed roller 81 is rotationally driven by a feed motor 83, and the return roller 82 is rotationally driven in the opposite direction to the feed roller 81 by a return motor 84. A first rolling contact roller 85 is arranged above the feed roller 81, and a second rolling contact roller 86 is arranged above the return roller 82. The first rolling contact roller 85 is connected to the first drive cylinder 87
The second rolling contact roller 8 is driven vertically by
6 is driven in the vertical direction by a second drive cylinder 88.

The first drive cylinder 87 operates and the first rolling contact roller 8
5 is driven in the direction of rolling contact with the feed roller 81, the wire rod 75 positioned at the standby position is held by these rollers 81, 85, and is driven in the direction of entering into the case 68.

As a result, the bars 2 in the case 68 are fed out one by one. When all the bars 2 in the case 68 are sent out, the first rolling contact roller 85 rises, and the second rolling contact roller 8
6 or down. Thereby, the wire rod 75 is driven in the direction of being pulled out from the case 68 and returned to the standby position.

Further, when ejection of the bar 2 in the positioned case 68 is completed and the wire rod 75 returns to its original position, the push-up body 7
4 is lowered, the stopper 71 rotates, and the positioning state of the case 68 is released. As a result, the case 68 falls downward from the conveyor belt 63, and
A new case 68 is sent out from the stocker 67 and positioned as described above.

The second parts supply section 62 is composed of a parts feeder 91. That is, since the lever 3 is not provided with the magnet 11 unlike the bar 2, it can be separated and aligned using the bar feeder 91. The distal end of the conveyance path 92 of the parts feeder 91 is formed into a discharge section 93 .

The lever 3 that has been conveyed to the discharge section 93 is transferred onto the positioning body 96 by the pusher 9'5 driven by the discharge cylinder 94. That is, the extruded body 95
moves horizontally when moving forward, as shown by the arrow in Figure 1.
When retracting, it retracts in a trapezoidal shape along a cam (not shown).

Thereby, the pushing body 95 sends out the lever 3 on the ejection part 93 onto the positioning body 96 when moving forward, and moves the lever 3 sent onto the ejection part 93 without returning it to the conveyance path 92 when moving backward. It has become.

The positioning body 96 is rotationally driven by a rotary actuator 97. Thereby, the lever 3 transferred to the positioning body 96 is positioned in a predetermined state. The positioning body 96 and the positioning section 76 of the first component supply section 61 are set at substantially the same height.

Note that the bar 2 supplied from the first component supply section 61
and the lever 3 supplied from the second component supply section 62.
The assembled chassis 1 is conveyed by a conveyor (not shown) in the direction shown by arrow H in FIG. The conveyance height of the chassis 1 by this conveyor is set slightly higher than the component supply positions of the first and second component supply sections 61 and 62.

Next, the operation of assembling the bar 2 and the lever 3 to the chassis 1 using the automatic assembly apparatus having the above configuration will be explained. First, in the initial state, the first
The chuck 46 is the positioning section 7 of the first component supply section 61.
It is positioned above No. 6 and is waiting. When the chassis 1 is transported to a predetermined position by the conveyor in this state and positioned, the third air cylinder 35 is activated and the first chuck 46 is driven downward.

When the first chuck 46 descends to a position corresponding to the bar 2 positioned on the positioning part 76, the first opening/closing cylinder 45 is operated to close the first chuck 46, as shown by the chain line in the figure. The tip of the positioning rod 47 is engaged with the engagement hole 10 formed in the middle of the bar 2, and the end on which the magnet 11 is provided is held.

When the first chuck 46 clamps the bar 2, the third air cylinder 35 drives the first chuck 46 in the upward direction opposite to the previous direction.

Next, the first air cylinder 26 provided on the X arm 22 operates to drive the head 29 in the X direction, and the second chuck 56 provided on the head 29 is transferred to the second component supply section 62. It is positioned above the positioning body 96. Second
When the chuck 56 is positioned, the fourth air cylinder 36 is operated to lower the second chuck 56. When the second chuck 56 descends to a position corresponding to the lever 3 positioned on the positioning body 96, the second chuck 56
The opening/closing cylinder 55 operates to close the second chuck 56 and clamp the lever 3. Then, the fourth air cylinder 36 is operated in the opposite direction to drive the second chuck 56 in the upward direction.

In this way, when the first chuck 46 has clamped the bar 2 and the second chuck 56 has finished clamping the lever 3, the rotary actuator 34 provided on the head 29 is actuated, and until then the position shown in FIG. The mounting body 32, which is held in a substantially vertical position on the head 29 as shown, is rotated to a substantially horizontal position as shown in FIG. Thereby, the mounting body 32
The first and second chucks 46.5 and 6 provided at the front end face forward in the Y direction from a downwardly facing state.

When the postures of the first and second chucks 46, 56 are changed, the second air cylinder 27 is activated and the head 29 moves forward. That is, the head 29 is driven and positioned in the direction of the chassis 1 that has been conveyed and positioned by the conveyor. When the head 29 is positioned close to the L-shaped side wall 1a of the chassis 1, the third air cylinder 35 is activated and the first chuck 46 is advanced. As a result, the first protrusion 8 formed on the bar 2 is connected to the mounting hole 4 formed in one side wall 1a of the chassis 1.
is inserted into the circular hole 4a. Then, the fifth air cylinder 39 is activated to move the first chuck 46 onto the first mounting plate 36.
Slide it diagonally downward. The diagonal direction of the first mounting plate 36 and the inclination angle of the mounting hole 4 substantially match. Therefore, the first protrusion 8 of the bar 2 inserted into the circular hole 4a of the mounting hole 4 slides along the lower part of the elongated hole 4-b, and is positioned and held in the middle of the elongated hole 4-b.

Once the bar 2 is positioned along the length of the elongated hole 4b by the fifth air cylinder 39, the sixth air cylinder 39 is then activated to rotate the first chuck 46. As a result, bar 2 also rotates,
A pin 9 protruding from one end thereof is positioned in the rotational direction.

Next, the seventh air cylinder 54 is operated to drive and position the second chuck 56 in a direction approaching the first chuck 46. In other words, the seventh air cylinder 54 is
The second chuck 56 is driven so that the hole 13 of the lever 3 held by the second chuck 56 faces the pin 9 of the bar 2 which is positioned and held on the chassis 1 by the first chuck 46 .

When the second chuck 56 is driven and the lever 3 is positioned relative to the bar 2, the fourth air cylinder 36
is activated to drive the second chuck 56 in the forward direction.

As a result, after the boss portion 12 of the lever 3 is fitted to the mounting shaft 5 of the chassis 1, the hole portion 13 is fitted to the pin 9 of the bar 2, and the second protrusion 14 is engaged with the switching lever 7. It engages with the portion 6a. Thereby, bar 2 and lever 3
are assembled into the chassis 1 in a mutually related manner.

When the bar 2 and the lever 3 are assembled to the chassis 1 in this way, the first chuck 46 has a pair of fingers 46
After opening the bar 2 and releasing the holding state of the bar 2, the bar 2 is driven in the backward direction, and the pair of fingers 56g of the second chuck 56 are also opened to release the lever 3 and driven in the backward direction. Next, the rotary actuator 34 operates to drive the horizontal mounting body 32 to a vertical position, and the first cylinder 26 and second cylinder 27 operate to return the head 29 to its initial position. ,1
The cycle is complete. Then, when a new chassis 1 is transported by a conveyor (not shown), the above-described cycle is repeated.

That is, according to the automatic assembly device having the above configuration, not only can the first and second chucks 46 and 56 be driven in the X and Y directions, the rotational direction, and the direction perpendicular to the rotational direction, but also the first and second chucks 46 and 56 can be driven in the The chuck 46 can be further driven in the horizontal direction and the rotational direction, and the second chuck 5
6 can be driven toward and away from the first chuck 46.

Therefore, as described above, the bar 2 and the lever 3 are attached to the chassis 1 by the first and second chucks 46 and 56.
can be assembled in relation to each other. That is, assembly work that was conventionally performed manually can be performed automatically.

Note that this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be modified in various ways. For example, in the above embodiment, the first chuck 46 is driven in the horizontal direction by the fifth air cylinder 39, and is driven in the rotational direction by the sixth air cylinder 43. However, the first part held by the first chuck 46 does not need to be positioned vertically and rotationally with respect to the second part held by the second chuck 56; If it is sufficient to assemble the second part in a related state in which parts of these parts overlap, the first chuck 46 is not driven by the fifth air cylinder 39 and the sixth air cylinder 43, The configuration may be such that the second chuck 56 can be driven toward and away from the first chuck 46 by the seventh air cylinder 54. That is, the fifth and sixth air cylinders 39, 43 are no longer necessary.

Further, in the above embodiment, only the second chuck 56 is connected to the first chuck 56.
Although the configuration is such that the first chuck 46 can be driven in the direction toward and away from the second chuck 56, there is no problem in the configuration in which the first chuck 46 can also be driven in the direction toward and away from the second chuck 56. Any configuration is sufficient as long as one chuck can be driven in a direction toward and away from the other chuck.

In addition, if there is a large difference in height between the parts supply position of the first and second parts supply parts 61.61 and the conveyor that conveys the chassis, for example, if a Z cylinder driven in the Z direction is attached to the support 21, By installing the rod so that it is driven in the Z direction and connecting the X arm to the rod of the Z cylinder, it is possible to drive the head 29 not only in the XY direction but also in the Z direction.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention provides a mounting body that is rotatably driven on a head that is driven in the XY directions, and a first
The second chuck is provided in such a manner that it can be driven in a direction perpendicular to the rotational direction, and at least one of the chucks can be driven in a direction toward and away from the other chuck.

Therefore, according to such a configuration, the first part held by the first chuck and the second part held by the second chuck are partially related to each other. It becomes possible to assemble. That is, according to the present invention, the work of assembling a plurality of parts in relation to each other, which was conventionally done manually, can be done automatically.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view with a portion of the head section omitted, Figure 3 is a plane view of the first chuck, Figure 4 is a side view, Figure 5 is a side view of the bar gripped, and Figure 6 is a side view of the first chuck. A plan view of the second chuck, FIG. 7 is a side view, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the chassis and the bar and lever assembled to this chassis, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing how the bar and lever are related to each other on the chassis. FIG. 3 is a side view of the assembled state. 26... first air cylinder (first driving means), 2
7... Second air cylinder (first driving means), 29
...Head, 32... Mounting body, 34... Rotary actuator (second drive means), 35... Third air cylinder (third drive means), 36... Fourth Air cylinder (fourth driving means), 46... first chuck, 54... seventh air cylinder (fifth driving means), 56... second chuck. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 2 [-- L, ---

Claims (1)

[Claims] a head, a first driving means for driving the head in at least the X direction and the Y direction, a mounting body rotatably provided on the head, and a second driving means for rotationally driving the mounting body; a first chuck provided on the mounting body and driven by a third driving means in a direction perpendicular to the rotation center axis of the mounting body; a second chuck driven by a fourth driving means in a direction perpendicular to the first chuck; and a second chuck driven by a fourth driving means to move at least one of the first chuck and the second chuck toward and away from the other chuck. 5. An automatic assembly device for multiple parts, characterized in that it is equipped with a drive means according to item 5.