JPH05200638A - Assembly of small parts and device therefore - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To absorb displacement of an assembly hole at the time of assembling small parts such as a fastener to the assembly hole provided on a member to be assembled. CONSTITUTION:An end effector 2, the position of which in the directions X and Y can be adjusted, and a power sensitive sensor 3 for detecting a load in the direction Z, are provided between a robot arm 1a and a robot hand 4 of an assembly robot 1, and the end effector 2 is controlled based on the ratio of change of the load in the direction X, which is detected by the power sensitive sensor 3, to adjust the position of the robot hand 4 in the directions X and Y, and a fastener 5 can thus be inserted in to an assembly hole 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for assembling small parts, and in particular, in an automobile assembly line, a flexible small part such as a fastener, clip or wire harness made of synthetic resin is used by an industrial robot. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for assembling small parts suitable for assembling into a vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an automobile assembly line,
For example, as disclosed in JP-A-1-145284,
It is known to use an industrial robot to automatically assemble parts to a vehicle body. In that case, precise teaching is performed on the robot to prevent misalignment of the assembled parts on the assembled member. I try not to occur.

[0003]

However, no matter what precision teaching is performed on the robot, a final positional deviation occurs at the working point due to the accumulation of positioning errors and errors such as component accuracy. However, this causes a problem such as an increase in working time or inability to assemble.

Further, since the assembly process of small parts is scattered over a wide range of the assembly line, not only the investment efficiency of automation is poor, but also the assembly process and the number of assemblies are reduced due to model changes. Each time it was changed, it was necessary to change the process and remodel it.

Furthermore, when automating the insertion process for the assembly holes of small parts such as fasteners scattered over a wide range of the substrate assembly line, a visual sensor for measuring the assembly hole position is provided for each automatic process. However, in that case, there is a problem that not only a large investment is required but also the assembling time becomes longer than that before the automation. On the other hand, if an attempt was made to automate an existing line by only mechanical positioning without using a visual sensor, it was difficult to realize it because a large modification of the existing line was required.

Further, small parts such as the above fasteners have high accuracy required for alignment with the assembly holes, and even if automation is realized, they are affected by variations in vehicle body accuracy variations, etc.
There was a drawback that the operating rate decreased.

Further, in the case of a flexible and amorphous component such as a wire harness, it is difficult to automate the assembling work because the harness clip attached to the component has to be oriented in a predetermined direction.

Further, since it is difficult to handle a flexible part such as a rubber hose with a robot arm, it has been considered most difficult to automate the assembling work.

In view of the above-mentioned various problems, the first object of the present invention is to be able to absorb a positional deviation of a preset assembling position at the time of assembling a small component to an assembled member. It is intended to provide a method of assembling small parts.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an assembling method of small parts which can be automatically assembled without providing a visual sensor for each step of the automatic assembling process of small parts. To do.

A third object of the present invention is to provide an assembling apparatus capable of accurately and automatically assembling a flexible component such as a wire harness to a member to be assembled.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an assembling method capable of accurately and automatically assembling a flexible component such as a rubber hose to a member to be assembled.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for assembling small parts, wherein a force sensor detects a load applied to the small parts from a member to be assembled at the time of assembling the small parts. The assembly work is controlled by determining the assembly position fixed position and the assembly work state of the small component based on the rate of change of the load.

In the method for assembling small parts according to the second aspect of the present invention, the position measuring step of the assembling member is provided in a step prior to the automatic assembling step for assembling the small parts to the assembling member by the assembling robot. An automatic assembly position search function is added to the robot, and the assembly robot is controlled according to information from the position measuring step.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flexible component assembling apparatus comprising: a temporary holding means for the flexible component; a direction correcting means for the flexible component; and an assembling means for assembling the flexible component to a member to be assembled. It is characterized by

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of assembling a flexible component, wherein the flexible component is clamped and fixed by a pallet, the rigid component is attached to the flexible component, and then the rigid component is handled and assembled to the member to be assembled. It is characterized by attaching.

[0017]

According to the invention of claim 1, since it is possible to automatically search the mounting position based on the rate of change of the load detected by the force sensor, the preset mounting position and the actual mounting position can be determined. The positional deviation from the assembly position can be absorbed at the time of assembly, and the completion of assembly can also be detected. Further, a common criterion can be applied to various assembled parts.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since it is not necessary to use a visual sensor for each automatic assembly process, it is possible to reduce equipment investment and improve the robot operating rate.

According to the third aspect of the invention, it becomes possible to automatically assemble a flexible component such as a wire harness to the member to be assembled.

According to the invention of claim 4, a flexible part such as a rubber hose can be accurately assembled to the member to be assembled.

[0021]

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

FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram of an automatic small parts assembling apparatus to which the small parts assembling method according to the present invention is applied. This small parts automatic assembly device is installed in an automobile assembly line.

At the tip of the arm 1a of the assembling robot 1, a robot hand 4 for holding small parts is provided with a position correcting device (hereinafter referred to as "end effector") 2 and a force sensor 3.
The robot hand 4 is attached through the robot hand 4 and is a small component having flexibility such as a fastener 5 made of synthetic resin.
And is inserted into the assembly hole 7 of the assembly target member 6. The force sensor 3 detects the load in the Z-axis direction that the fastener 5 receives from the assembled member 6 when the fastener 5 is inserted into the assembly hole 7 of the assembled member 6 by the robot arm 1a, and this force is detected. The sense information is output to the end effector controller 8. The end effector controller 8 calculates the rate of change of the load from the force information, controls the end effector 2 based on the rate of change of the load, and causes the position correction operation in the X and Y directions to be performed to assemble the mounting hole. 7
While searching for
An assembly start signal and an assembly completion signal are output. The robot controller 9 instructs the robot to push in the fastener 5 based on the assembly start signal and the assembly completion signal.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a conceptual structure of the end effector 2, which performs a positioning operation for moving the robot hand 4 in the X and Y directions and is floated by air or a spring in the Z direction. .

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a change pattern of the load (repulsive force) received by the fastener 5 when the fastener 5 gripped by the robot hand 4 contacts the member 6 to be assembled. When the holes 7 coincide with each other and can be inserted, as shown in Fig. 3 (a), the troughs once appear and then the limit value is reached. Whether or not the insertion has been completed can be detected by confirming the possibility by reaching the limit value without the valley appearing.

FIG. 4 is a system block diagram of the small parts automatic assembly apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation flow thereof. As shown in FIG. 5, small parts such as the fastener 5 are supplied based on the production instruction information, and the small parts are gripped by the robot hand 4 and moved to the assembling position according to the body position information. Then, a hole search operation and an insertion force detection (completion confirmation) operation are performed.

The details of the hole searching operation are shown in FIG. 6, and the fastener 5 is inserted into the mounting hole 7 at the rate of change of the repulsive force detected by the force sensor 3 when the fastener 5 is moved in the Z direction. It is judged whether or not it has been done. By thus determining whether or not the insertion is possible based on the rate of change in force rather than the level of force, it is possible to apply a common determination standard to various insertion parts. When the force sensor 3 detects a change in force in the Z direction, the force change pattern is shown in FIG.
When there is a valley as shown in, it is determined that the fastener 5 has been inserted into the assembly hole 7, and the fastener 5 is moved to the next insertion position and the same insertion force detection operation is performed. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3B, when there is no valley, it is determined that it is out of the assembly hole 7, and the end effector 2 holds the robot hand 4 while maintaining a constant pressing force in the Z direction. X,
The assembly hole 7 is moved to search in the Y direction, and the above determination is repeated. By applying a constant pressing force in the Z direction in this way, it becomes possible to absorb minute steps and inclinations existing on the assembly surface of the assembly target member 6. In this case, the cycle time can be shortened by making the movement pattern in the X and Y directions for the hole search, for example, a star shape drawn by one stroke.

On the other hand, the force sensor 3 has sensitivity in the X, Y, Z directions, and the force sensor 3 allows the X, Y, Z to be detected.
When a change in the directional force is detected, it is determined that the fastener 5 is suspended around the periphery of the assembly hole 7. In such a case, the so-called guiding function can be used to absorb the shift in centering. Compliance control is good. Then, if a slight movement is made in the X and Y directions, the forces in the X and Y directions are changed, so that the hole alignment can be confirmed and the insertion force detection operation shown in FIG. 7 is performed.

The insertion force detection operation is shown in FIG. 7, and the insertion completion can be confirmed by the change rate and the limit value of the force when the fastener 5 is moved in the Z direction. That is, FIG.
As shown in (a), when the change pattern of force reaches the limit value after trough, insertion completion can be confirmed, and FIG.
As shown in, if the limit value is reached without finding a valley,
It can be confirmed that it cannot be inserted.

8 to 10 are views showing a concrete structure of the end effector 2. FIG. 8 is a front sectional view, FIG. 9 is a side sectional view, and FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. Is. The end effector 2 includes a flange 11 fixed to the robot arm 1a, a base plate 12, and a base plate.
And a side housing 13 fixed to 12. At the lower end of the side housing 13, the first table plate 14
Is attached so as to be movable in the X direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 8 and the horizontal direction of FIG. 9), and the second table plate 15 is attached to the lower surface of the first table plate 14.
Are mounted so as to be movable in the Y direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 9 and the horizontal direction of FIG. 8).

A first stepping motor 16 is fixed to the base plate 12 with its output shaft 16a oriented in the Y direction, and a pinion 17 fixed to the output shaft 16a is fixed on the first table plate 14 in the X direction. It is engaged with the rack 18 which is extended and fixed, and the first table plate 14 is driven in the X direction by the first stepping motor 16. As shown in FIG. 9, a second stepping motor 19 is fixed to the first table plate 14 with its output shaft 19a facing downward.
The pinion 20 fixed to the second table plate 15 is meshed with the rack 21 fixed on the second table plate 15 by extending in the Y direction, and the second table plate 15 is the second stepping motor.
It is designed to be driven in the Y direction by 19. In addition,
Since the first and second stepping motors 16 and 19 are arranged in the above relationship, the height of the end effector 2 can be reduced.

The use of the end effector 2 having the above-mentioned structure brings about various advantages as described below.

(1) Versatility: Since the control of the end effector 2 is performed independently of the control of the robot 1,
It can be applied to various robot arms.

(2) Interference avoidance: Since the end effector 2 basically operates only in the XY directions, no interference occurs due to the interpolation operation of the robot 1.

(3) Reducing teaching man-hours ... Precision is not required for position teaching during robot teaching.
The number of teaching steps can be reduced.

(4) Shortening of operating time: The two-axis control of the end effector 2 requires a shorter operating time than the six-axis control of the robot 1.

(5) Expansion of working range: It becomes possible to perform hole alignment in the blind portion which cannot be detected by the visual sensor.

(6) Ease of operation: It is easy to inspect and correct the hole position for the robot 1 or correct the teaching point by feeding back the hole position search amount.

Next, a large number of the assembling robots 1 having the above-mentioned hole position automatic searching function are arranged in the automobile assembly line,
An automatic small parts assembly system for assembling small parts will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 15.

As is clear from FIG. 11, the feature of this system is that the body position measuring process by the visual sensor is integrated into the process before the automatic assembling process, and the body position information obtained in this body position measuring process is used. It is configured to control the robot in the automatic assembly process.

In FIG. 11, the position of the automobile body 24 conveyed by the tact conveyer is first measured in the body position measuring step as shown in FIG. In this body position measurement step, a hanger 25 suspending an automobile body 24 having reference holes (not shown) at the front and rear bottoms is fixed in place by a clamp 26, and the reference at that time is fixed. The positions of the holes in the X and Y directions are optically measured by the XY position measuring devices 27 and 27. Each XY
The position measuring device 27, as shown in FIG.
Two cameras 29 with different fields of view provided on the top,
Equipped with 30. One camera 29 has a field of view of, for example, 50 mm × 50 mm, and the other camera 30 has a field of view of, for example, 200 mm × 200 mm. While switching between these two types of fields, the reference holes in the front and rear of the vehicle body 24 in the XY directions. The position is measured. Further, the positions (heights) of the front and rear floors of the vehicle body 24 in the Z direction are measured by the Z position measuring devices 31, 31.

The position information of the automobile body 24 measured by these position measuring devices 27 and 31 is sent to the controller 32 that controls a large number of robots 1 provided in the automatic assembly process.

In the process of automatically assembling small parts, a number of assembling robots 1 having an automatic function of assembling parts as shown in FIG. 1 are arranged, and the arms 1a of these assembling robots 1 are arranged. The end effector 2 attached to the tip of each arm 1a is controlled by the controller 32. Then, as shown in FIG. 14, also in the assembling step, as in the body position measuring step, the hanger 25 suspending the automobile body 24 is fixed at a fixed position by the clamp 26, and in that state as shown in FIG. Assembly robot 1
As a result, the parts are assembled to the automobile body 24.

As described above, in this embodiment, each assembling robot 1 is provided with the end effector 2 and the force sensor 3 and has the function of automatically searching the assembling position of the parts, so that the body position measuring process of the first process is performed. Even if there is an error between the position of the part assembly hole that is indexed from the body position obtained in step 1 and the actual position of the assembly hole in the automatic assembly process, this error can be absorbed by the end effector 2. With this, various effects as described below can be obtained.

(1) Since the body position measuring process by the visual sensor is provided only in the initial process and it is not necessary to provide the visual sensor in each assembling process, the equipment investment can be reduced and the efficiency of the assembling robot 1 can be improved. ..

(2) Assembly is possible even if there is some positional deviation in the assembly holes.

(3) Regarding teaching of the assembly robot,
Off-line teaching is possible by computer simulation, and the final adjustment on site is not required, so the man-hours and period can be shortened.

(4) When changing the vehicle structure due to a model change or the like, it becomes unnecessary to drastically change the assembling order and the assembling process.

(5) The operating rate of the assembly robot is improved.

Next, an embodiment of an assembling apparatus for assembling a flexible part such as a wire harness to an automobile body will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a state in which, for example, a wire harness 36 that is automatically attached to a rear floor panel 35 of an automobile body is placed on the rear floor panel 35. The first and second robots 37, 38 are provided on both sides of the rear floor panel 35.
Is installed and the first robot 37 has its arm 37a.
A visual sensor 39 such as a camera and a robot hand 40 as shown in FIG. 17 are provided at the tip of the robot, and although not shown, between the arm 37a and the hand 40, the end effector and And a force sensor. Second
Only the visual sensor 41 is provided at the tip of the arm 38a of the robot 38.

The wire harness 36 is provided with a harness clip 42 as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 at a required position, and a tip portion 42a of the harness clip 42 is attached to a rear floor panel 35.
The wire harness 36 is inserted into the assembly hole 47 provided in
Can be attached to the rear floor panel 35.

As shown in FIG. 17, the robot hand 40 provided at the tip of the arm 37a of the first robot 37 has four pairs of gripping parts 43, 43, 44, 44, 45, 45, 46, which face each other. 46
And grips 43, 43 and 4 located at both ends.
The reference numerals 6 and 46 are movably opposed to each other in a direction toward and away from each other (horizontal direction in FIG. 17), and have a function of temporarily holding the wire harness 36 rotatably around its axis.

The next grips 44, 44 are parallel to each other in a direction approaching and separating from each other (horizontal direction in FIG. 17), a direction perpendicular to this direction (vertical direction in FIG. 17), and a direction opposite to each other. After being engaged with the wire harness 36 that is movably provided and rotatably loosely gripped by the gripping portions 43, 43 and 46, 46, the wire harness 36 is rotated by parallel movements in opposite directions. Then, as shown in FIG.
It has a function of directing the tip portion 42a of the harness clip 42 to the assembly hole 47.

These grips 43, 43, 44, 44 and 46, 46
Is a member of the robot hand 40 provided with the grips 45, 45.
It is provided on a member 40b which is movable in the vertical direction (in FIG. 17) with respect to 40a.

The gripping portions 45, 45 provided on the member 45a of the robot hand 40 grip the harness clip 42 with the tip portion 42a directed to the assembly hole 47 from both sides as shown in FIG. 18B. It has a function of inserting the harness clip 42 into the assembly hole 47. In this case, the wire harness 36
When gripped by 45, 45, the other grips 43, 4
3, 44, 44, 46, 46 are separated from the wire harness 36, and the member 40b moves upward with respect to the member 40a, so that the grip portion
The insertion operation of the harness clip 42 into the assembly hole 47 by the 45, 45 is not hindered.

Next, the wire harness 36 is assembled to the rear floor panel 35 using the first robot 37 having the robot hand 40 and the visual sensor 39 and the second robot 38 having only the visual sensor 41. The method will be described below.

(1) First, the visual sensor 41 of the second robot 38 captures the entire image of the wire harness 36, and finds the work site from the positions of the harness clip 42 and the coupler, the branch position of the wire harness 36, and the like.

(2) The visual sensor 39 of the first robot 37 measures the position and orientation of the harness clip 42 at the work site by triangulation using a plurality of images.

(3) The position of the assembly hole 47 of the rear floor panel 35 is measured by the visual sensor 39 of the first robot 37.

(4) The coordinate conversion is performed according to the measurement of (2) above, and the gripping portions 43, 43 and 43 of the hand 40 of the first robot 37 and
The wire harness 36 is gripped by 46 and 46.

(5) The wire harness 36 is rotated by the grips 44, 44 of the hand 40, and the harness clip 42 is rotated by the grips 45, 45.
To hold.

(6) The harness clip 42 is assembled in the assembly hole 47 using the grips 45, 45. When assembling this, first
The assembly hole 47 is searched by the end effector and the force sensor included in the robot 37, and the completion of the work is confirmed by the insertion force change pattern as shown in FIG.

When the harness clip 42 is grasped by the grasping portions 45 of the robot hand 40,
If 42 has a slippery material, it may be difficult to hold. Further, it is difficult to recognize the image of the gripped portion of the harness clip 42.

In such a case, as shown in FIG. 19, a slit 42b or a protrusion is provided on the side surface of the harness clip 42, and a means for engaging with the slit 42b is correspondingly provided with a gripping portion 45 of the robot hand 40. It may be provided on the grip surface of 45.

When the harness clip 42 is provided with the slit 42b or the protrusion, not only the harness clip 42 can be reliably grasped but also the position can be recognized by the shadow of the slit 42b or the protrusion when the image of the grasped portion is recognized.
There is an advantage that the direction of the tip portion 42a of the harness clip 42 can be easily recognized.

20 to 22 are views showing a configuration of a wire harness gripping robot hand 50 of a different type from the robot hand 40 shown in FIG. 17, FIG. 20 being a front view and FIG. 22 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 21, and the right half of FIG. 22 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG.

The robot hand 50 is provided with a pair of grips 52, 52 below the main body 51 thereof, which is movable between the open state shown in FIG. 20 and the closed state shown in FIG. Each gripping part 52 includes a drive pulley 53 having a relatively small diameter and the pulley 53.
It has a gripping belt 55 suspended between a large number of pulleys 54 having a much smaller diameter. Drive pulley 53 above
A pulley 57 having a relatively large diameter is fixed to the rotary shaft 56 to which the rotary shaft 58 of the ultrasonic motor 58 is fixed.
Since the power transmission belt 60 is suspended between the relatively small diameter pulley 59 fixed to a, the gripping belt
The ultrasonic motor 58 is driven by the ultrasonic motor 58 via a speed reduction mechanism.

Further, each grip 52 has a grip 52, 52.
A detection plate 63 for detecting the direction of the harness clip 62 (see FIGS. 23 and 24) of the wire harness 61 that is gripped as will be described later is provided. The detection plate 63 is biased in the closing direction by a spring 64, and when the tip of the harness clip 62 abuts, the detection plate 63 is biased outward against the biasing force of the spring 64.

A cylinder 65 is provided on the side of the main body 51 of the robot hand 50, and a harness clip insertion pressing member 66 driven by the cylinder 65 is provided on both grips 52, 52.
It is arranged in the central position between.

The robot hand 50 having such a configuration
23 (a)-(c) and FIG. 24 (d)-
(F).

First, FIG. 23A shows the state before the wire harness 61 is gripped, and the wire harness 61 is placed on the floor.

Next, as shown in FIG. 23B, the grips 52, 52
Is closed, and the wire harness 61 is sandwiched near the pulley 54 at the tip end while preventing interference with the floor.

Next, as shown in FIG. 23C, the rotary shafts 58a of the left and right motors 58, 58 are rotated in reverse to each other, so that the right pulley 53 is clockwise and the left pulley 53 is counterclockwise. The wire harness 61 is floated above the floor by rotating the wire harness 61 and the wire harness 61 is gripped between the upper and lower pulleys 54, 54. At this time, the motors 58, 58 are stopped by the timer.

Next, as shown in FIG. 24D, the rotary shafts 58a of the left and right motors 58, 58 are rotated in the same direction to move the pulley 5
By rotating 3, 53 in the same direction, the wire harness 61 is rotated counterclockwise. By this rotation,
Left and right detection plates 63, 63 with the tip of harness clip 62
The detection plate 63 is displaced by abutting against either one of them, but the displacement amount of the detection member 63 is maximized when the tip of the harness clip 62 is oriented in the horizontal direction. .. Therefore, when the wire harness 61 is rotated counterclockwise, if the right detection plate 63 is initially displaced, it is rotated 90 ° in the opposite direction (clockwise) from the maximum displacement point. Harness clip 62
The tip of will point directly below, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the first deviation occurs in the left detection plate 63 when the wire harness 61 is rotated counterclockwise, the same deviation (counterclockwise) from the maximum deviation point is assumed.
The harness clip 62
The tip of will point directly below. The deviation amount of the detection plate 63 is detected by a photoelectric sensor (not shown).

Next, the rotary shafts 58a, 58a of the motors 58, 58 are locked and the robot hand 50 is moved to position the harness clip 62 on the assembly hole 68 of the assembly member 67, and the robot hand 50 is installed. It is lowered and the tip of the harness clip 62 is inserted into the assembly hole 68 as shown in FIG.

Next, as shown in FIG. 24 (f), the grips 52,
52 is opened slightly, the wire harness 61 is supported only by the tension of the belt 55, and the cylinder 65 is driven to press the pressing member.
The wire harness 61 is pressed downward by 66 and the harness clip 62 is inserted into the assembly hole 68.

Finally, FIGS. 25 to 27 show an embodiment of a method for assembling a flexible component such as a rubber hose which is difficult to assemble automatically. The feature of the present embodiment is that the shape of the flexible part is regulated from the outside, and after the rigid part is assembled to the flexible part in that state, the rigid part is handled so that the automobile body or the engine body, etc. It is designed to be attached to.

First, as shown in FIG. 25, a pair of pallets 71 having a concave portion 71a for accommodating the rubber hose 70 on the opposite surfaces,
The rubber hose 70 is sandwiched from both sides using 71, and the state shown in the left side of FIG. 27 is obtained. In this case, considering expansion of the outer diameter of the rubber hose 70 when the rigid body part 72 is inserted into the rubber hose 70, as shown in FIG.
A predetermined clearance 73 is provided between the pallet 71 and the pallet 71, and a suitable ridge 74 is formed on the inner surface of the recess 71a of the pallet 71.
The rubber hose 70 is prevented from falling and bending, and the insertion depth of the rigid part 72 is managed.

Next, after positioning the rubber hose 70 at a predetermined position by using the reference hole 75 of the one pallet 71, the robot 76
A rigid part 72 such as a pipe is inserted into the rubber hose 70 by using. Then, the rubber hose 70 is taken out from the pallets 71, 71, and as shown in the right side of FIG. 27, by handling the rigid part 72 assembled to the rubber hose 70, automation with high operation rate can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a small parts automatic assembly apparatus to which a small article assembly method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual configuration diagram of an end effector.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a change in load which the fastener receives when the fastener is assembled.

FIG. 4 is a system block diagram of an automatic assembly system for small parts.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the small parts automatic assembly device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of a hole search operation.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of an insertion force detection operation.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a specific configuration of an end effector.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the end effector.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a process diagram of an automobile assembly line

FIG. 12 is a detailed diagram of a position measurement process.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a position measuring device.

FIG. 14 is a detailed diagram of an automatic assembly process for small parts.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of a robot for assembling parts.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a wire harness assembling method.

FIG. 17 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a robot hand.

18 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the robot hand of FIG.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a harness clip attached to a wire harness.

FIG. 20 is a front view showing the configuration of another embodiment of the robot hand.

FIG. 21 is a side view in which a part of the robot hand of FIG.

22 is a sectional view taken along the line AA and the line BB in FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is an operation explanatory diagram of the robot hand of FIG. 20.

FIG. 24 is an operation explanatory diagram of the robot hand of FIG. 20.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view illustrating a method of fixing a rubber hose to a pallet.

FIG. 26 is a sectional view of essential parts showing a state where a rubber hose is fixed to a pallet.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing a state where a rigid part is inserted into a rubber hose and the rigid part is handled.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Robot 2 End effector 3 Force sensor 4 Robot hand 5 Fastener 6 Assembled member 7 Assembly hole 14, 15 Table plate 16, 19 Stepping motor 17, 20 Pinion 18, 21 Rack 24 Car body 25 Hanger 26 Clamp 27 XY Position measuring device 31 Z position measuring device 36, 61 Wire harness 37, 38 Robot 39, 41 Visual sensor 40, 50 Robot hand 42, 62 Harness clip 43 to 46, 52 Grip part 55 Grip belt 58 Ultrasonic motor 70 Rubber hose 71 Pallet 72 rigid body parts

Continued front page (72) Inventor Masamichi Kochi, 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshiyo Mukai, 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Corporation

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. When assembling a small component, a force received by the small component from a member to be assembled is detected by using a force sensor, and a fixed position for assembling the small component is determined based on a change rate of the load. A method for assembling small parts, characterized by determining the assembling work state and controlling the assembling work. 2. A position measuring step of an assembling member is provided in a step preceding an automatic assembling step of assembling a small part to the assembling member by the assembling robot, and an assembling position automatic searching function is provided to the assembling robot. And the assembly robot is controlled based on the information from the position measuring step. 3. An assembly of a flexible part, comprising provisional gripping means for the flexible part, means for correcting the orientation of the flexible part, and assembly means for assembling the flexible part to an assembly member. apparatus. 4. A method of assembling a flexible component, which comprises mounting a rigid component to the flexible component while sandwiching and fixing the flexible component with a pallet, and then handling the rigid component and assembling it to a member to be assembled. ..