JPH0427070B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vehicle body transfer device, and more particularly to a vehicle body transfer device for transferring a vehicle body suspended from an overhead conveyor via a hanger onto a floor conveyor. A pallet base is disposed horizontally movably on the upper surface of a lift mechanism for raising and lowering the pallet on which the vehicle body is placed,
On the other hand, the lift mechanism is provided with a means for positioning and holding the pallet base, and the pallet base is further provided with means for positioning and transporting pallets, thereby making it possible to transfer the vehicle body with high precision and with a simple structure. Regarding mounting equipment.

Generally, in an automobile assembly process, a vehicle body is often transferred from an overhead conveyor or the like to a floor conveyor or the like for reasons such as assembly work.
Conventionally, various transfer devices for transferring the vehicle body have been studied. For example, the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-22226 is an example of this. That is, the device is provided with a movable body that reciprocates along a conveyor mechanism such as a floor conveyor, and this movable body includes an object receiver that can be raised and lowered, a mechanism that raises and lowers the object receiver, and A locked portion that can be engaged with a locking portion provided on the conveyor mechanism is provided.

In this case, first, the object to be transferred, which is suspended on the overhead conveyor, is placed on the object to be transferred with the object receiver raised. and,
The locking part of the continuously moving conveyor mechanism comes into contact with the locked part formed on the movable body and pushes the locked part, thereby increasing the moving speed of the conveyor mechanism to move the movable body on which the object to be transferred is placed. Moves at approximately the same speed as . During this time, the transferred object receiver is gradually lowered, whereby the transferred object is transferred onto an attachment provided on the conveyor mechanism, and the locked part of the movable body is engaged with the conveyor mechanism. The engagement with the stop portion is released.

However, in the above-mentioned apparatus, there is no mechanism for positioning the transferred object in the left-right direction and the front-back direction when the transferred object is placed on the transferred object receiver from the overhead conveyor. For this reason, the disadvantage is that the object to be transferred cannot be placed at an accurate position with respect to the conveyor mechanism.

Further, as another device for transferring a vehicle body, it is possible to mention the invention “Automobile body transfer device” disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-33578.

The vehicle body transfer device is configured to receive a vehicle body suspended on an overhead conveyor with a lift table body of a table lifter, lower the lift table body, and transfer the vehicle body to the conveyor. The lift table main body includes floating means for holding both sides of the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction, and the floating means is movable in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle body. Further, the lift table main body includes a pressing means for pressing both outer sides of the vehicle body placed on the floating means from the outside to the inside, respectively, and a pressing means that is displaced under the driving action of the pressing means. A stopper means is provided for regulating the amount of displacement of the floating means.

By the way, in the vehicle body transfer device configured as described above, when a vehicle body suspended from an overhead conveyor is transferred to a floor conveyor, the lift table body of the table lifter is moved to the raised position of the table lifter. The vehicle body is placed on floating means provided on the lift table body, and the vehicle body is positioned in the vehicle width direction by a pressing means provided on the lift table main body. Therefore, although it is possible to easily position the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction, it is not possible to avoid the problem that positioning in the vehicle length direction is difficult. Furthermore, the transfer device requires means for positioning and holding the vehicle body with respect to the lifter table by pushing the vehicle body by the pressing means, and also for returning the floating means to the origin, so the entire device is The problem is that it becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, and is provided in a vehicle body transfer device for transferring a vehicle body suspended from an overhead conveyor via a hanger to a floor conveyor or the like. A pallet base for placing a pallet having positioning pins is provided on the upper surface of the lifter for lifting and lowering the pallet, and the lifter for lifting and lowering the pallet includes means for holding the pallet base so as to be movable in the horizontal direction, and a means for holding the pallet base so as to be movable in the horizontal direction; A positioning means for roughly positioning the vehicle body by engaging with the vehicle body is provided on the pallet base, and a means for positioning the pallet and a means for transporting the pallet are provided on the pallet base. A vehicle body configured to include means, thereby making it possible to accurately and reliably transfer the vehicle body from a first conveyor to a second conveyor with a simple configuration without using complicated sensors. The purpose is to provide transfer equipment.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an apparatus for transferring a vehicle body suspended from an overhead conveyor via a hanger onto a floor conveyor by placing the vehicle body on a pallet having a positioning member that engages with the vehicle body. The vehicle body transfer device includes a lifter for lifting and lowering pallets, and a pallet base placed on the lifter for lifting and lowering pallets, and the lifter for lifting and lowering pallets holds the pallet base so that it can be displaced in the horizontal direction. and a means for positioning and fixing the pallet base with respect to a lifter for lifting and lowering the pallet; swings under the driving action of a first actuator attached to the pallet base and comes into contact with the vehicle body;
The clamp member includes a first clamp member that regulates the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction, and a second clamp that is attached to a second actuator that swings together with the first clamp member to regulate the vehicle body in the vehicle length direction. , comprising means for engaging the vehicle body and positioning the vehicle body and the pallet base.

Next, preferred embodiments of the vehicle body transfer device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3, reference numeral 10 indicates a vehicle body transfer device according to the present invention, and the vehicle body transfer device 10 includes a lifter mechanism 12 disposed on a floor surface. The lifter mechanism 12 includes a lower plate 14 and a housing 16 disposed above the lower plate 14.
A pair of lifter cylinders 18a and 18b are mounted approximately at the center of the lower plate 14, respectively. The cylinder rods 20a, 20b of the lifter cylinders 18a, 18b are capable of projecting upwardly. The cylinder rods 20a, 20
The tip end of b engages with connecting members 22a and 22b attached to both side surfaces of the housing 16, respectively. Therefore, the housing 16 has lifter cylinders 18a, 18
Under the drive action of b, it is held movable in the vertical direction in FIG. 2, that is, in the Z-axis direction. A pair of support members 24 are further attached to the lower plate 14, and a relatively long rod 28a,
One end side of 28b is rotatably supported.

Therefore, the support member 24 is attached to the lower plate 14.
A pair of locking members 30 are attached at a predetermined distance from each other, and a long rod 32 is attached to the locking members 30.
One end sides of a and 32b are engaged with each other. in this case,
The locking member 30 includes a bottom plate 30a and a bottom plate 30a.
The side plates 30b, 3 are erected at a predetermined distance from above.
0c, and the rods 32a, 32b are rotatably locked by bridging the pin members 34 through long holes defined in the side plates 30b, 30c. Note that the pin member 34 is attached to the side plate 30.
It is possible to slide inside the elongated holes formed in b and 30c.

Next, the other end side of the rods 28a, 28b is
As can be easily understood from FIG. 1, the pair of locking members 30 is inclined upward toward the housing 16, and the ends thereof are attached to the housing 16 and have substantially the same shape as the locking members 30. are engaged with the locking members 36, respectively. The other ends of the rods 32a and 32b extend toward the housing 16 so as to intersect with the rods 28a and 28b, and one end thereof extends toward the housing 16.
6 and is supported via a pin member 40 by a support member 38 having substantially the same shape as the support member 24. In this case, the rods 28a and 32
a and the rods 28b and 32b intersect at approximately the center thereof. In addition, it is more preferable if the crossing parts are pivotally connected to each other by a pin member (not shown).

Inside the housing 16, a first positioning means 42,
44 are arranged. the first positioning means 42;
44, one positioning means 42 is located in the housing 1.
cylinders 50 and 52 that are mounted opposite each other via cylinder mounting plates 46 and 48 that are mounted on cylinders 6 and 6;
including. A cylinder rod 51 that is displaced as a piston (not shown) moves within the cylinder 50 projects from one end of the cylinder 50 toward the center of the housing 16, and a clamp member 54 is attached to the tip of the cylinder rod 51. It is attached. Similarly, a cylinder rod 56 projects from one end of the cylinder 52 toward the cylinder 50, and a clamp member 58 is engaged with the tip of the cylinder rod 56. A V-groove 6 is formed in the opposing surfaces of the clamp members 54 and 58.
0 and 62 are formed respectively (see FIG. 3).
It should be noted that the other positioning means 44 is also configured substantially the same as the one positioning means 42, and therefore, the reference numerals indicating the same components are appended with a,
A detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Further, a plurality of free rollers 64 are attached to the upper surface of the housing 16, and a pallet base 66 is placed on the upper surface of the free rollers 64. The pallet base 66 is movable on the free roller 64 in the horizontal direction, that is, in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. Pin members 68a and 68b are provided on the lower surface of the pallet base 66 to project toward the lifter mechanism 12. The pin members 68a, 68b are clamped by the clamp members 54, 58 and 54a, 58a that constitute the first positioning means 42, 44 disposed in the housing 16, and thereby the pallet base 66 is held in place by the lifter. It is positioned and fixed on the mechanism 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, guide means 70a to 70 for roughly guiding the vehicle body are provided near each corner of the rectangular pallet base 66.
0d is installed. In this case, the guide means 70a to 70d are constructed substantially identically to each other, and therefore, the guide means 70a to 70d are constructed in the same manner as each other.
The details of the other guide means 70b to 70d will be omitted by adding reference numerals b to d indicating the same components as the guide means 70a, and omitting the detailed explanation.

Therefore, the guide means 70a includes a cylinder support member 72a attached to the upper surface of the pallet base 66, and a connecting member 76 formed on one end side of the cylinder 74a to the cylinder support member 72a.
The cylinder 74a is swingably supported by a pin 78a that is engaged with the pin 78a and passes through the cylinder support member 72a and the connecting member 76a. From the other end side of the cylinder 74a is a cylinder rod 80.
a protrudes, and the tip of the cylinder rod 80a is connected to a connecting member 84 which is rotatable with respect to a bracket 82a attached to the side surface of the pallet base 66.
Attach to a. In this case, rod members 86a and 88a are erected substantially parallel to each other from the upper surface of the connecting member 84a (see FIGS. 2 and 3). A first clamp member 92a is attached to the vicinity of the tip of the rod member 86a via a plate 90a directed inward in the Y-axis direction.

On the other hand, a cylinder 96a is attached to the vicinity of the tip of the rod member 88a via a holding plate 94a, and a cylinder rod 98a projects inward in the X-axis direction from one end of the cylinder 96a. A second clamp member 100a is attached to the tip of the cylinder rod 98a.

Further, a second positioning means 102 is mounted approximately at the center of the pallet base 66. That is, the second positioning means 102 includes cylinders 104a and 104b that are mounted approximately at the center of the upper surface of the pallet base 66 with a predetermined distance in the X-axis direction.
It is composed of A cylinder rod 106a that extends in the X-axis direction toward the outer edge of the pallet base 66 protrudes from the cylinder 104a, and the tip of the cylinder rod 106a rotates with the lower end of the plate member 108a that extends upward. Possibly engaged. The plate material 108a has a support member 111 erected from the pallet base 66 via a connecting member 109a at approximately the center thereof.
A clamp member 110a is attached to the upper end of the plate member 108a.

On the other hand, a cylinder rod 106b protrudes from the cylinder 104b in a direction opposite to the cylinder rod 106a, and a plate member 108b is provided at the tip end of the cylinder rod 106b, which points upward like the cylinder 104a. In this case, the plate material 108b is swingably supported by the support member 111b via the connecting member 109b at its substantially central portion, and the clamp member 111 is attached to the tip end thereof.
It goes without saying that b should be attached.

The second positioning means 102 is for positioning the pallet in the X-axis direction, which will be described later, by means of clamp members 110a and 110b constituting the second positioning means 102, and the positioning of the pallet in the Y-axis direction is performed by positioning the pallet on both sides of the pallet base 66. This is done by a plurality of guide rods 112a to 112r installed upright in the section. That is, the pallet base 6
A pallet is disposed between the guide rods 112a to 112i, which are arranged in series at a predetermined distance in the X-axis direction on one side of 6, and the guide rods 112j to 112r, which are arranged in series on the other side. It performs positioning as well as a guiding function.

Further, a pallet conveying means 114 is mounted on the upper surface of the pallet base 66. The pallet conveying means 114 includes a first roller group 116a and a second roller group 116b, which are arranged on the pallet base 66 at a predetermined distance apart and extending in the X-axis direction.
including. The plurality of rollers 118 constituting the first roller group 116a are rotatably supported by a roller mounting bracket 119, and
A sprocket 120 is attached to each of the rotating shafts, and a chain 122 is suspended from the plurality of sprockets 120. Similarly, a plurality of rollers 1 constituting the second roller group 116b
24 is rotatably supported by a roller mounting bracket 125, and a sprocket 126 is pivotally attached to the rotating shaft of the roller mounting bracket 125.
A chain 128 is suspended from 26. The first roller group 116a and the second roller group 116b are connected by a connecting rod 130 at one end thereof. On the other hand, a motor 134 is disposed near the other end of the first roller group 116a via an angle member 132 attached to the pallet base 66. Rotation drive shaft 136 of the motor 134
passes through a hole (not shown) formed in the angle member 132 and projects toward the first roller group 116a. A sprocket 138 is engaged with the tip of the rotational drive shaft 136 of the motor 134, and the sprocket 138 and the sprocket 120 attached to the roller 118 located on the other end side of the first roller group 116a are connected to the first roller group 116a. As shown by dotted lines in the figure, they are connected by a chain 140. Therefore, it is easily understood that by driving the motor 134, the rollers 118 and 124 forming the first roller group 116a and the second roller group 116b rotate at the same number of rotations.

Furthermore, a pallet 142 is supplied to the upper part of the pallet conveying means 114. The palette 1
Locating pins 144a and 144b are attached to the upper surface of one end side of 42 with a predetermined spacing between them, and the locating pins 144a and 144b engage with drain holes formed in the vehicle body A, respectively, to position the vehicle body A. I do.

The vehicle body transfer device according to the present invention is basically constructed as described above, and its operation and effects will be explained next.

First, in FIG. 1, a pallet 142 is supplied to the vehicle body transfer device 10 from a pallet input station 150. In this case, the pallet 14
2 are conveyed above the pallet conveying means 114 while being guided by guide rods 112a to 112r.

Next, the vehicle body A, which is suspended on an overhead conveyor (not shown) via the hanger B, is transported above the vehicle body transfer device 10 and stopped, as shown in FIG. At this time, the guide means 70a to 70d for the vehicle body urge the cylinders 74a to 74d to rotate in the direction shown by arrow C in FIG. 2.
At the same time, the first positioning means 42 and 44 are set in a released state, that is, the pallet base 66 is set in a state where it can be displaced in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. That is, by driving the cylinders 50, 52 and 50a, 52a constituting the first positioning means 42, 44, the cylinder rods 51, 56 and 51a, 56a are moved.
The clamp members 54, 58 and 54a, 58a attached to the distal ends of are displaced in the direction of separating them from each other. In this state, the guide means 70a to 70d are returned to the state shown in FIG. 2, and the pallet base 66 is roughly positioned with respect to the vehicle body A. In this case, the first clamp members 91a to 92d are moved in the direction opposite to the arrow C under the driving action of the cylinders 74a to 74d constituting the guide means 70a to 70d.
Positioning is performed in the Y-axis direction by cylinders 96a to 92d, and the second cylinder is driven by cylinders 96a to 96d.
The clamp members 100a to 100d are brought into contact with the vehicle body A to perform positioning in the X-axis direction.

Next, the lifter cylinder 18 of the lifter mechanism 12
a and 18b are driven to raise the pallet base 66 and pallet 142 placed on the upper part of the lifter mechanism 12. As a result, the locate pins 144a provided on the pallet 142,
The tip end of 144b is fitted into, for example, a water drainage hole in the vehicle body A. At this time, the guide means 70a to 70d are again separated from the vehicle body A, and the pallet 142 is moved under the driving action of the lifter mechanism 12.
to rise. As a result of the above operations, the locating pins 144a and 144b formed on the pallet 142 are completely fitted into the drain holes of the vehicle body A, and the vehicle body A is positioned and fixed with respect to the pallet 142.

Next, the hanger B is released from the vehicle body A and moved for the next stage of work, and the first positioning means 42 and 44 are driven to move the pallet base 66.
positioning. That is, among the first positioning means 42, 44, the clamp member 5 is attached to the tip of the cylinder 50, 52 that constitutes one of the positioning means 42 by driving the cylinder 50, 52.
4 and 58 in the direction toward each other. A pin member 68 attached to the lower surface of the pallet base 66 is clamped by the V-grooves 60 and 62 defined in the clamp members 54 and 58. Similarly, the other positioning means 44 also holds a pin member 68b attached to the pallet base 66 between clamp members 54a and 58a. The pallet base 66 is now fixed at a predetermined position. Therefore, the pallet 142 on the pallet base 66
After positioning, the vehicle body A waits for a predetermined work. That is, the second positioning means 102
The cylinders 104a and 104b constituting the cylinder are driven to displace the cylinder rods 106a and 106b toward the outer edges, respectively. As a result, the plate material 10
Clamp member 110 by swinging 8a and 108b.
a, 110b abut against both ends of the pallet 142, and the pallet 142 is positioned so as to be held between the second positioning means 102. As a result, the vehicle body A can be easily positioned and held via the pallet 142 that is positioned and held on the pallet base 66. In this state, after lowering the lifter mechanism 12 and performing a predetermined work, the motor 134 of the pallet conveying means 114 is driven to move the pallet 142 and the vehicle body A placed on the pallet 142 along the arrow shown in FIG. Transport in the X ₁ direction,
It is transferred to a station 152 indicated by a two-dot chain line in the figure. In this case, at the station where the vehicle body transfer device 10 is installed, it is possible to perform work such as installing doors or painting.

As described above, the present invention is a vehicle body transfer device for transferring a vehicle body suspended from an overhead conveyor to a floor conveyor, and in particular, a pallet base is placed on the upper surface of a lifter for lifting and lowering pallets. . The pallet base is configured to be horizontally movable on the upper surface of the lifter, and the lifter is provided with means for positioning the pallet base with respect to the lifter. On the other hand, the pallet base includes first and second clamp members that engage with the vehicle body to roughly position the vehicle body;
A pallet positioning means and a pallet conveying means disposed on the pallet base are mounted on the pallet base. For this purpose, the pallet base is horizontally moved to position the car body to be positioned and placed on the pallet, and then the pallet base is positioned relative to the lifter to accurately and reliably move the car body from the overhead conveyor to the floor conveyor. It becomes possible to transfer. Furthermore, as can be easily understood from the above-mentioned embodiments, the transfer device is simplified without using complicated sensors or mechanisms, so it also has the advantage of reducing manufacturing costs. It will be done.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to this invention, and various improvements and design changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a vehicle body transfer device according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the vehicle body transfer device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the vehicle body transfer device according to the present invention. 10...Vehicle body transfer device, 12...Lifter mechanism, 18
a, 18b... Lifter cylinder, 42, 44... Positioning means, 64... Free roller, 66... Pallet base, 70a-70d... Guide means, 102...
Positioning means, 114... Pallet conveying means, 11
6a, 116b...Roller group.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A device for placing a vehicle body suspended on an overhead conveyor via a hanger on a pallet having a positioning member that engages with the vehicle body and transferring the vehicle body onto a floor conveyor, the device comprising: The vehicle body transfer device includes: a lifter for lifting and lowering pallets; and a pallet base placed on the lifter for lifting and lowering pallets; means for positioning and fixing the pallet base with respect to a lifter for raising and lowering the pallet, and the pallet base includes a means for conveying the pallet placed on the pallet base, a means for positioning the pallet, and a means attached to the pallet base. swings under the driving action of the first actuator and comes into contact with the vehicle body,
Consisting of a first clamp member that regulates the vehicle body in the vehicle width direction, and a second clamp member that is attached to a second actuator that swings together with the first clamp member to regulate the vehicle body in the vehicle length direction. A vehicle body transfer device comprising means for engaging a vehicle body and positioning the vehicle body and a pallet base. 2. In the device according to claim 1,
The means for holding the pallet base movably in the horizontal direction is a vehicle body transfer device comprising a plurality of free rollers disposed on the upper surface of a lifter for raising and lowering the pallet. 3. In the apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, the means for positioning and fixing the pallet base with respect to the lifter for raising and lowering the pallet includes a clamp member that clamps a pin member attached to the pallet base, and these clamp members. A vehicle body transfer device consisting of multiple actuators that energize. 4. In the apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the conveying means provided on the pallet base includes a pair of roller groups disposed substantially parallel on the pallet base, and a roller group for driving the roller group. A vehicle body transfer device consisting of a motor that 5. In the apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the means for positioning the pallet with respect to the pallet base includes a guide member that abuts both side surfaces of the pallet, and a guide member that abuts both end surfaces of the pallet. A vehicle body transfer device consisting of an actuator that biases a clamp member that comes into contact with it.