JPH04322987A - Coating application robot system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable V a coating application robot system to automatically wash an optical detector which detects any invader into a working area. CONSTITUTION:A coating application robot 5 as working machinery performs a coating motion to a work by means of a control signal out of a controller 22. A light emitter 7 and a light receiver 8 installed in a gateway of a coating booth output their detecting signals when light is interrupted by an invader. The controller 22 counts coating frequencies, and when reaching to the setting frequency, it selects a flushing program stored in a memory 22c, so that the coating robot 5 operates so as to wash each glass 12 of the light emitter 7 and the light receiver 8. With this constitution, purging wash water is sprayed out of a coating gun, thus a coating mist stuck to the glass 12 is washed away.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a work machine system.
In particular, the present invention relates to a work machine system configured to clean an optical detector provided near a work area.

0002

[Prior Art] For example, in a painting line equipped with a painting robot system as an example of a work equipment system, a painting gun is located in a painting booth (work area) surrounded by a fence or wall. A robot (work machine) is provided. When the workpiece is transported into the coating booth by the conveyor device, the start switch is turned on, and the coating robot is controlled by the control signal from the robot control device into which the operation program is input, and the workpiece moves into the coating booth. Painting work is performed on the workpiece while it passes.

[0003] Inside the painting booth, the painting robot operates automatically according to a pre-entered program, so if other workers enter the painting booth during the painting operation, it will only hinder the painting work. Otherwise, there is a risk that the moving parts of the painting robot, such as the arm, may come into contact with the worker.

[0004] Therefore, on both sides of the entrance/exit of the painting booth, a light emitter and a light receiver made of phototubes as optical detectors are provided so as to face each other, and the light from the emitter crosses the entrance/exit and is received by the receiver. Ru. Therefore, when another worker enters the painting booth during painting work, the light from the projector is blocked, and the light receiver outputs its detection signal to the control device of the painting robot.

[0005] Then, the control device issues an alarm and lights up a patrol light to inform the operator that there is an intruder in the painting booth, and also stops the painting robot to prevent an accident from occurring.

[0006] However, since the projector and the light receiver are installed in a paint booth, they are placed in an atmosphere in which atomized paint mist is constantly floating. Therefore, as the number of times of painting increases, the amount of paint (foreign matter) that adheres to the light emitting surface of the light projector or the light receiving surface of the light receiver increases, and eventually light no longer passes through, and a detection signal is output from the light receiver. Therefore,
The control device determines that there is an intruder and stops the painting robot, causing the painting work to be interrupted.

In order to prevent interruptions in painting work due to such malfunctions, hoods are attached to the projector and receiver to prevent mist adhesion, and air is constantly blown onto the projecting and receiving surfaces.

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventionally, however, during painting work, air is constantly blown onto the emitter and light receiving surface, which consumes a large amount of air.In order to prevent paint mist from adhering to the emitter and receiver, a blower is constantly used. Must be driven.

[0009] Furthermore, paint mist may be contained in the air sucked in by the blower, and even though air is being blown, the paint mist adheres to the light emitting and light receiving surfaces, causing long-term problems. The problem is that it gradually becomes difficult for light to pass through as it is used. For this reason, conventionally, when the emitter or light-receiving surface became dirty by blowing air, the worker had to remove the hoods installed on the emitter and receiver each time to blow away the paint mist that had adhered to the emitter and light-receiving surfaces. There is a problem in that the work requires a considerable amount of time and effort.

[0010] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a working machine system that solves the above problems.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes a work area in which a work machine is provided, and an optical detector provided near the work area to detect entry into or exit from the work area. The working machine system includes a cleaning means for cleaning and removing foreign matter adhering to the light emitting surface or the light receiving surface of the optical detector.

0012

[Operation] Cleans and removes foreign matter adhering to the light emitting surface or light receiving surface of the optical detector provided near the work area. This eliminates the waste of constantly blowing air.
This eliminates the need for a worker to perform troublesome work such as blowing off the light emitting surface and light receiving surface.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 3 show a painting robot system as an embodiment of a working machine system according to the present invention.

In each figure, a coating booth 1 serving as a work area provided in a coating line is surrounded by a safety fence 2 except for a workpiece loading port 1a and a workpiece loading port 1b. A workpiece 3 as an object to be coated is conveyed in the X direction by a conveyor device 4, and the conveyor device 4 is mounted across the center of the coating booth 1.

Therefore, the workpiece 3 enters the coating booth 1 through the workpiece carry-in port 1a, passes through the central portion of the coating booth 1, and exits through the workpiece carry-in port 1b.

A pair of painting robots 5 and 6 as working machines are installed in the painting booth 1 so as to face each other on both sides of the conveyor device 4. When the workpiece 3 is transported into the coating booth 1, the painting robots 5 and 6 execute the painting work taught in advance, and simultaneously paint the front and rear surfaces of the workpiece 3 from both sides.

Further, on both sides of the workpiece entrance 1a of the coating booth 1, a light projector 7 and a light receiver 8, each made of a phototube as an optical detector, are installed so as to face each other. That is, the light emitted from the light projector 7 passes through the workpiece entrance 1a and reaches the light receiver 8.

The light receiver 8 outputs a detection signal depending on the presence or absence of light from the light emitter 7, and is used to detect, for example, the painting robot 5,
If there is an intruder from the workpiece entrance 1a during the operation of step 6, the light from the projector 7 is blocked and a detection signal thereof is output.

4(A), (B) and FIG. 5(A), (B)
), the emitter 7 and the receiver 8 have ribs 9 on all four sides, and a box-shaped hood 10 is attached to the tip of the emitter 7 and the receiver 8 so as to fit into the ribs 9. .

Therefore, the lenses 11 provided at the tips of the projector 7 and the receiver 8 are protected by the hood 10, and paint mist is prevented from adhering to them. A transparent glass 12 for transmitting light is held at the end of the hood 10 by a cap 13.

The glass 12 can be taken in and out through a slit 13a provided on the side of the cap 13, so that the glass 12 can be replaced.

Further, the above-mentioned light projector 7 and light receiver 8 are provided on both sides of the workpiece exit 1b of the coating booth 1 so as to face each other. When the intruder from the workpiece exit 1b blocks the light from the light projector 7, the light receiver 8 outputs a detection signal.

The light projector 7 and the light receiver 8 are provided at a lower position than the workpiece 3 which is suspended from the conveyor device 4 and transported. Therefore, even if the workpiece 3 passes through the workpiece inlet 1a and the workpiece outlet 1b, the light from the projector 7 is not blocked by the workpiece 3. Therefore,
The light projector 7 and the light receiver 8 detect only the presence or absence of an intruder into the painting booth 1.

Note that the conveyor device 4 may be a floor conveyor instead of a hanging type. When the workpiece 3 is transported by the floor conveyor, the workpiece 3 and the intruder may be detected at the same height. In that case, the workpiece 3 is the projector 7
When the intruder passes between the intruder and the light receiver 8, the detection signal from the light receiver 8 is ignored, and the circuits of the light emitter 7 and the light receiver 8 are programmed to detect the intruder after the work 3 passes. This makes it easier to respond.

Furthermore, although the projector 7 and the receiver 8 are provided on both sides of the workpiece loading port 1a and the workpiece loading port 1b, which are away from the workpiece 3, the paint sprayed toward the workpiece 3 is inside the coating booth 1. Because the mist is floating, as the painting work is repeated, the light emitting surfaces of the emitter 7 and receiver 8,
Paint mist as a foreign substance adheres to the surface of the glass 12 as a light receiving surface.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the glass 12 is automatically cleaned using the painting robots 5 and 6, as will be described later.

Next, the configuration of the painting robot 5 will be explained. Note that since the painting robot 6 has the same configuration as the painting robot 5, a description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the painting robot 5
A turning table 15 is rotatably provided on the base 14 of the present invention, and a column 17 supported by a bracket 16 is swingably provided on the turning table 15. 18
An arm is rotatably supported at the upper end of the support column 17 in the direction of arrow A, and has a wrist mechanism 19 at its tip.

A coating gun 20 is attached to the end of the wrist mechanism 19.

The paint gun 20 includes a paint tube 2 which will be described later.
8 and air tube 30 are connected. Then, the paint gun 20 atomizes the paint supplied through the paint tube 28 with air from the air tube 30, and sprays the paint onto the workpiece 3.
Spray on.

The painting robot 5 configured as described above is installed in front of the conveyor device 4, and performs predetermined operations in response to control signals from the control device 22. Further, a start switch 24 is connected to the control device 22 for detecting that the workpiece 3 transported by the conveyor device 4 has arrived at the coating booth 1. The start switch 24 may be either a contact type switch that closes by contacting a hanger (not shown) on which the workpiece 3 is suspended, or a non-contact type sensor such as an ultrasonic sensor.

The control device 22 includes a CPU 22A and a memory 2.
2C, a motor drive circuit 22D, an alarm 22E, etc. are provided. The CPU 22A is connected to a memory 22C, a motor drive circuit 22D, an alarm 22E, and a start switch 24.

The memory 22C also stores programs A to D created in accordance with the work corresponding to each workpiece shape.

The memory 22C also includes the above-mentioned light projector 7.
, a cleaning program for operating the painting robot 5 to clean the glass 12 of the light receiver 8 is registered.

A patrol light 23 is also connected to the alarm 22E.

25 is a conveyor control device, and the control device 22
is connected to the CPU 22A. Therefore, CPU2
2A receives a synchronization signal from the conveyor control device 25, and operates the painting robot 5 based on this synchronization signal.

Further, when the CPU 22A is supplied with a detection signal from the aforementioned light receiver 8, it outputs a line stop request to the conveyor control device 25. Therefore, when there is an intruder in the coating booth 1, the conveyor control device 25 stops the conveyor device 4. Note that while the painting robot 5 is cleaning the projector 7 and receiver 8, the conveyor device 4
There is no need to stop the cleaning operation, and the detection signal from the light receiver 8 is programmed to be ignored only while the cleaning operation is being performed.

A paint supply unit 26 supplies paint to the paint gun 20 during painting operation. This paint supply unit 2
6 indicates multiple types of paint supply pipes (
(not shown) and a switching mechanism (not shown) for selectively connecting the paint supply line to the paint tube 28 from the paint gun 20 during color changes.

A purge unit 27 pumps cleaning liquid such as thinner into the paint tube 28 in order to purge paint remaining in the paint gun 20 and paint tube 28 during color change.

The dirt on the glass 12 of the hood 10 attached to the projector 7 and light receiver 8 becomes worse in proportion to the number of times the painting robots 5 and 6 paint. Therefore, the timing of cleaning is determined depending on the painting situation by the painting robots 5 and 6 and the surrounding environment. Therefore, the memory 22c of the control device 22 stores in advance how many times the painting operation should be performed before cleaning.

In this embodiment, if the painting program is executed 10 times, the cleaning operation is set to be executed.

Therefore, the control device 22 adds up the number of times of painting each time the painting program is executed, and when the number of times of painting reaches 10, it executes the cleaning program stored in the memory 22c and cleans the emitter 7 and receiver 8. A glass 12 provided in a hood 10 is cleaned.

When executing the above-mentioned cleaning program, the cleaning liquid sprayed from the coating gun 20 is sprayed onto the glass 12 of the projector 7 and the receiver 8 to remove paint mist adhering to the surface of the glass 12.

Here, the process executed by the CPU 22A of the control device 22 when the workpiece 3 is conveyed by the conveyor device 4 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

[0045] The CPU 22A performs step S1 shown in FIG.
(steps are omitted below), when the robot start OK switch (not shown) as a power switch is turned on, the host computer (not shown) or the manual (automatic) work setting board (not shown) The instructions for the program are input.

In the next S2, the detection signal from the light receiver 8 is checked, and if there is no intruder into the coating booth 1, it is determined that the work can be continued, and the process moves to S3.

In S3, the program stored in the memory 22c is read and the specified program is selected (
S4).

Here, when the workpiece 3 is conveyed to the conveyor device 4 and arrives at the coating booth 1, the start switch 2 is turned on.
4 is turned on and detects work 3 (S5). When the start switch 24 is turned on, the painting robots 5 and 6
executes the painting operation of the selected program, and atomizes the paint supplied from the paint supply unit 26 with the paint gun 20 and sprays it onto the workpiece 3.

In the next step S7, the number of times of painting is counted by executing the program, and it is checked whether the number of times of painting is a preset number of ten times or more (S8).

If the number of times of coating is 10 or less in S8, the process returns to S2 and the processes of S2 to S8 are repeated again.

However, when the number of coatings reaches 10 in S8, the cleaning program stored in the memory 22c is selected (S9). Note that the cleaning program is programmed to be processed within the time from when the workpiece 3 passes until the next workpiece 3 arrives.

Then, the painting robots 5 and 6 are controlled to perform a cleaning operation according to a cleaning program (S10).

That is, the painting robots 5 and 6 rotate the arm 18 to the left and right as shown by the dashed line in FIG.
, to wash off paint mist as foreign matter adhering to the glass 12 by spraying it onto the glass 12 of the hood 10 attached to the projector 7 and receiver 8 provided at the workpiece exit 1b. The coating gun 20 sprays the cleaning liquid onto the projector 7 and the receiver 8, and then blows air supplied from the air supply unit 29 to remove the cleaning liquid from the surface of the glass 12.

Since the paint mist adhering to the glass 12 of the projector 7 and light receiver 8 cannot be sufficiently washed away by one cleaning, the above cleaning operation is performed twice (S11).

When the second cleaning operation is completed, the count of the number of coatings is reset to zero (S12), the conveyor device 4 is started (S13), and the process returns to S2 to start the coating operation (S2).
-S8) are executed again.

However, in S2, the workpiece conveyance entrance 1a
Alternatively, if there is an intruder in the coating booth 1 through the workpiece exit 1b, the light from the projector 7 is blocked and the light is detected by the receiver 8, then the process moves to S14, where the coating robots 5 and 6 are stopped and an alarm is issued. An alarm is issued from the device 22E, and the patrol light 23 is turned on to notify the worker.

As described above, since the painting robots 5 and 6 regularly clean the emitter 7 and the receiver 8, paint mist adheres to the glass 12 and causes false detection, which interrupts the painting work and reduces work efficiency. It is possible to prevent inconveniences such as a decrease in Furthermore, since the cleaning liquid used is the cleaning liquid used for purging when changing colors, the purge unit 27 can also be used for cleaning.

In the above embodiment, the cleaning operation is executed by counting the number of times of coating, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the above-mentioned cleaning operation can be executed when the coating time continues for a certain period of time. Alternatively, the cleaning operation may be performed when the painting work has finished or during breaks.

Further, in the above embodiment, a pair of painting robots 5 and 6 were installed on both sides of the conveyor device 4, but the present invention can also be applied when one painting robot is installed in the painting booth 1. Can be applied. In that case, one painting robot may be taught to clean each of the light emitters 7 and light receivers 8 at the workpiece inlet 1a and the workpiece outlet 1b.

Further, in the above embodiment, the cleaning liquid was injected twice by executing the cleaning program, but it is of course possible to repeat the injection of the cleaning liquid two or more times.

Although the above embodiment has been explained using a painting robot system as an example of a working equipment system, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to other robot systems or systems using devices other than robots. Of course.

In that case, what is cleaned is not the paint mist, but foreign matter such as dust that has adhered to the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface in the working environment.

Further, in the above embodiment, the painting robot performs the cleaning operation, or another cleaning member may be provided to clean the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface.

Further, in the above embodiment, a light emitting surface and a light receiving surface are used as optical detectors, but the present invention can be applied even if only a light emitter or only a light receiver is provided, and other light detectors may be used. The present invention can also be applied to a sensor, for example, a reflective optical sensor that has a light emitting part and a light receiving part and detects reflected light from an object, or an optical sensor that detects changes in ambient brightness.

[0065]

Effects of the Invention As described above, the working machine system of the present invention can remove foreign matter adhering to the light emitting surface or the light receiving surface of the optical detector by cleaning, which eliminates the troublesome work conventionally done by workers. Eliminates the need for wiping. Therefore, by cleaning the light emitting surface or light receiving surface of the optical detector, it is possible to prevent false detection due to adhesion of foreign matter, prevent work interruption of the work equipment due to false detection, and prevent a decrease in work efficiency. It has the following features.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view for explaining a painting robot system as an embodiment of a working machine system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a painting robot system.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the painting robot.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a light emitter and a light receiver.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a hood attached to a light projector and a light receiver.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU of the control device.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing processing operations of a control device that controls a painting robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Painting booth 2 Safety fence 3 Work 4 Conveyor device 5, 6 Painting robot 7 Floodlight 8 Photo receiver 10 Food 12 Glass 20 Paint gun 22 Control device 24 Start switch 25 Conveyor control device 26 Paint supply unit 27 Purge unit 29 Air supply unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A work machine system comprising a work area in which a work machine is provided, and an optical detector provided near the work area to detect entry into or exit from the work area, wherein the optical detector 1. A working machine system comprising a cleaning means for cleaning and removing foreign matter adhering to a light emitting surface or a light receiving surface of a target detector.