JPH05285752A - Bumper assembly device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a bumper assembly device which enables a bumper to be gripped and assembled regardless of an availability of a lamp insertion hole in the bumper. CONSTITUTION:The assembling device is equipped with a hand frame 6 at the tip end of a robot arm, a grip pad 28 projected out of the hand frame 6, an extension frame 32 which is extended from the hand frame 6 to the direction that the grip pad 28 is projected, and is located below a bumper B when the hand frame is advanced, a finger shaft 48 which is extended out of the extension frame 32 to the projected direction, concurrently can be freely advanced/retreated in the projected direction, and also can be freely rotated, and with a clamp finger 50 which is rotatably attached to the tip end of the finger shaft 48.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bumper mounting apparatus suitable for mounting a bumper on a vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A robot has been conventionally used for mounting a bumper on a vehicle body. That is, this robot is provided with a gripping hand for a bumper at the tip of its arm, and this gripping hand can hold the bumper by using a lamp mounting hole provided in the bumper. .. That is, the gripping hand has a clamp finger, and this clamp finger can be inserted into the hole of the reinforcement through the lamp mounting hole on the face surface of the bumper, and can be expanded after the insertion. It is possible to grip the bumper via the lean reinforcement.

Therefore, if the above-mentioned gripping hand is provided at the tip of the robot arm, after gripping the bumper with this gripping hand, the robot arm is actuated to operate.
The bumper can be supplied toward the vehicle body side, and the bumper can be attached to the front portion or the rear portion of the vehicle body.

[0004]

By the way, the above-mentioned gripping hand is applicable to a bumper having a lamp mounting hole on its face surface, but cannot be applied to a bumper having no lamp mounting hole. That is, without the lamp mounting hole, the clamp finger cannot be inserted through the lamp mounting hole. For this reason, since a gripping hand cannot be used for assembling this type of bumper to the vehicle body, it is necessary to rely on human hands, and the efficiency of the assembling work is significantly reduced.

The present invention has been made under the circumstances described above, and an object thereof is to provide a bumper assembling apparatus capable of gripping a bumper regardless of the presence or absence of a lamp mounting hole. It is in.

[0006]

The assembling apparatus of the present invention comprises:
A hand frame attached to the tip of the robot arm, a gripping pad provided so as to project from the hand frame and abutting against the face surface of the bumper when the hand frame is advanced toward the face surface of the bumper, and the hand frame Extending in the projecting direction of the grip pad from the extension frame disposed below the bumper when the hand frame is advanced, and extending from the extending frame in the projecting direction, and being movable in the projecting direction and rotatable. A finger shaft and the tip of this finger shaft,
A clamp finger is provided which is rotatable by rotation of the finger shaft between a rest position located below the bumper and an operating position located in the back surface region of the bumper.

[0007]

According to the above-described assembling apparatus, with the clamp finger in the rest position, the hand frame is advanced toward the face surface of the bumper by the robot arm, and the clamp finger on the extension frame side is located below the bumper. Position it on the back side of the bumper through. Then, by rotating the clamp finger from the rest position to the operating position and retracting the finger shaft to the hand frame side, the gripping pad and the clamp finger come into contact with the bumper face and its lean force, respectively. The bumper is gripped between the pad and the clamp finger. Therefore, after that, the gripped bumper is supplied toward the vehicle body by the operation of the robot arm, and then assembled to the vehicle body.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bumper assembly apparatus is shown. Although not shown in detail, this assembling device constitutes a part of a robot having an arm. In FIG. 1, the portion indicated by the alternate long and short dash line shows the wrist portion 2 of the robot arm, and the wrist portion 2 is capable of freely articulating around the center O.

The wrist unit 2 is provided with a gripping hand, and this gripping hand has a hand frame 6 attached to the wrist unit 2 via a support 4. The support 4 is a base block 8 connected to the wrist unit 2.
And a pair of support sleeves 10 extending in parallel from the hand frame 6 toward the base block 8 side, and a pair of support shafts 12 slidably penetrating the support sleeves 10. Each support axis 1
One end of 2 is connected to the base block 8, the other end penetrates the hand frame 6, and the other end is attached with a nut 14 for retaining.

The support 4 also includes a pneumatic cylinder 16 for connecting the base block 8 and the hand frame 6 together.
(See FIG. 1), the pneumatic cylinder 16 is
The hand frame 6 can be moved toward and away from the base block 8, that is, in the direction of arrow A1 in FIG. The hand frame 6 includes a pair of upper and lower frame plates 18 extending along a face surface F of a bumper B shown by a chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1, and these frame plates 18, 1.
It is composed of a connecting plate 20 having an I-shaped cross section for connecting 9 together.

As shown in FIG. 1, a base end of a side finger 22 is rotatably attached to one end of the hand frame 6, and a tip of the side finger 22 has a pair of vacuum suction pads. 24 is attached.
Further, one end of the hand frame 6 and the side finger 22 are connected via an air cylinder 26, and the opening and closing of the side finger 22 can be controlled by expanding and contracting the air cylinder 26.

A grip pad 28 is provided on the hand frame 6 between one end of the hand frame 6 and the support 4. The grip pad 28 is made of a rubber member, and is attached to the front surface of the hand frame 6 facing the face surface F of the bumper B via a fitting 30. Although not shown in FIG. 1, it goes without saying that the vacuum suction pad and the gripping pad 28 described above are similarly attached to the other end side of the hand frame 6 as well.

Further, an extension frame 32 is provided at the center of the hand frame 6. This extension frame 32
As is apparent from FIG. 2, the pair of support plates 34 extends obliquely downward from the lower frame plate 18 of the hand frame 6 and extends forward, and a cross plate 36 that connects the lower ends of these support plates 34. Has been done. As shown in FIG. 3, an advancing / retreating cylinder 40, which is an air cylinder, is attached to the lower surface of the cross plate 36 via a bracket 38. The piston rod 42 of the advancing / retreating cylinder 40 is located on the hand frame 6 side. It extends and is connected to the advancing / retreating block 44.

A pair of guide sleeves 46 are attached to the lower surface of the cross plate 36 so as to be more apparent with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, and these guide sleeves 46 are provided on both sides of the advancing / retreating cylinder 40. They are located parallel to each other. Each guide sleeve 46 has
The finger shafts 48 are rotatably and slidably penetrated, and the rear ends of the finger shafts 48 are further moved forward and backward.
4 is rotatably penetrated to support the advancing / retreating block 44.

A clamp finger 50 is attached to the tip of each finger shaft 48. These clamp fingers 50 extend in a direction perpendicular to the finger shaft 48, and positioning pins 52 facing the hand frame 6 side are attached to the tips thereof, respectively. Each positioning pin 52 can be fitted into a hole formed in the lean reinforcement R of the bumper B as is apparent from FIG. The reinforcement R is a reinforcing material for the bumper B.

On the other hand, the rear end of each finger shaft 48 is connected to a drive mechanism 54 which is schematically shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and details of the drive mechanism 54 are shown in FIG.
That is, the drive mechanism 54 includes a torque plate 56 attached to the rear end of one finger shaft 48 and a torque plate 58 attached to the rear end of the other finger shaft 48. 58 are interconnected via a telescopic rod 60. Telescopic rod 6
The both ends of 0 are eccentrically attached to the rotation centers of the torque plates 56 and 58, respectively, and are rotatably attached, so that when one of the torque plates is rotated in one direction,
The other torque plate is adapted to be rotated in the opposite direction.

A rotary cylinder 62, which is a pneumatic cylinder, is attached to the advancing / retreating block 44, and the rotary cylinder 62 is in a posture intersecting with the finger shaft 48. Piston rod 64 of rotating cylinder 62
Is attached to the torque plate 58 so as to be eccentric from the center of rotation and to be rotatable. Therefore, from the state shown in FIG.
Is contracted, the torque arms 56, 58, that is, both finger shafts 48 are rotated in opposite directions, and as a result, both clamp fingers 50 are rotated in opposite directions in the direction of the broken line in FIG. , Takes a rotation posture along the hand frame 6, that is, a rest position. On the contrary, from the rest position to the rotating cylinder 64
When the piston rod 64 of No. 2 is extended, both clamp fingers 50 are rotated in the opposite directions to each other in the direction of the solid line arrow in FIG. 4, and take the operating position shown in FIGS.

Although not shown, each of the cylinders described above can be connected to an air pressure source via a hose, and the vacuum suction pad described above can be connected to a vacuum source via a hose. .. Next, with reference to FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, the operation of the assembly device for the bumper B described above will be described.

First, the assembling apparatus is constructed by using both clamp fingers 5
0 is positioned at the rest position, and the forward / backward movement cylinder 40 has its piston rod 42 contracted. Therefore, the advancing / retreating block 44 is advanced so as to be spaced apart from the hand frame 6 in the forward direction, and as a result, both clamp fingers 50 are also positioned in the advanced position via the respective finger shafts 48.

From the above state, when the hand frame 6 is moved toward the face surface F of the bumper B by the operation of the robot arm, as shown in FIG. 5, the pair of gripping pads of the hand frame 6 are held. 28 contacts the face surface F of the bumper B. At this time, both clamp fingers 50 in the rest position pass under the bamba B as is apparent from FIG. 6, and are positioned on the back surface side of the bumper B.

From this state, when the rotating cylinder 62 of the drive mechanism 54 is driven and the piston rod 56 thereof is contracted, as shown in FIG. 7, both clamp fingers 5 are moved.
0 is rotated by a predetermined rotation angle to be positioned at the above-mentioned operating position. After that, the piston rod 42 of the advance / retreat cylinder 40 is extended, and both clamp fingers 50 are retracted to the hand frame 6 side via the advance / retreat block 44 and the finger shaft 48. As shown in FIG. 8, it is fitted into the hole of the lean reinforcement R in the bumper B.

As a result, the bumper B is gripped between the pair of grip pads 28 and the pair of clamp fingers 50 described above. At this time, by extending the piston rod of the air cylinder 16 described above, the gripping force of the bumper B can be increased by further pressing both gripping pads 28 against the face surface F of the bumper B via the hand frame 6. It is possible. At this time, the side fingers 22 on both ends of the hand frame 6 are rotated toward the side surface of the bumper B, and the vacuum suction pads 24 are sucked onto the side surface of the bumper B, whereby the bumper B is moved to the side fingers. It is also held by 22.

When the bumper B is gripped as described above, the bumper B is supplied toward the vehicle body side, for example, the rear portion of the vehicle body by the operation of the robot arm, and is assembled to the rear portion of the vehicle body. When the bumper B is assembled, the positioning pins 52 of both clamp fingers 50 are attached to the finger shaft 4 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
By moving 8 forward, it is possible to get out of the hole of the reinforcement R in the bumper B. Then, when both clamp fingers 50 are rotated and positioned at the rest position again, the hand frame 6 can escape from the rear portion of the vehicle body, that is, the assembled bumper B through the operation of the robot arm. In FIG. 2, S indicates the rear end surface of the vehicle body.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example, in one embodiment, the grip pad 28 is fixedly provided on the hand frame 6, but the position of the grip pad 28 may be variable according to the shape of the face surface F of the bumper B. .. Also, in one embodiment, the gripping pad 2
8 and the clamp fingers 50 are provided in pairs, respectively, but the number of these may be three or more.

Further, the drive mechanism 54 for rotating the clamp finger 50 is not limited to that of the embodiment, and various mechanisms can be adopted.

[0026]

As described above, according to the assembling apparatus of the present invention, the gripping pad and the clamp finger are pressed against the face surface of the bumper and the lean force thereof to grip the bumper. Therefore, the bumper can be gripped regardless of the presence or absence of the lamp mounting hole on the face surface of the bumper, and as a result, the bumper can be assembled to the vehicle body, which is an excellent effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a part of an assembling apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an assembling device.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an advance / retreat cylinder of the assembling apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a rear view showing a finger shaft drive mechanism in the assembling apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the assembling apparatus with the hand frame advanced with respect to the bumper.

6 is a side view of the assembling apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the assembling apparatus from the state of FIG. 6 with the clamp finger positioned at the rotation position.

8 is a side view of the assembling apparatus with the clamp fingers retracted from the state of FIG. 7. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Wrist part 6 Hand frame 28 Gripping pad 32 Extension frame 40 Advance / retract cylinder 44 Advance / retract block 38 Finger shaft 50 Clamp finger 52 Positioning pin 54 Drive mechanism 56, 58 Torque plate 60 Telescopic rod 62 Rotating cylinder B Bumper F Face surface R Lean fort Ment

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hand frame attached to the tip of a robot arm, and a grip provided so as to project from the hand frame and abutting against the face surface of the bumper when the hand frame is advanced toward the face surface of the bumper. The pad, the extension frame extending from the hand frame in the projecting direction of the grip pad, and the extension frame disposed below the bumper when the hand frame is advanced, and the extension frame extending in the projecting direction from the extension frame and advancing and retracting in the projecting direction. And a rotatable finger shaft, which is provided at the tip of the finger shaft and is rotatable by rotation of the finger shaft between a rest position below the bumper and an operating position located in the back surface region of the bumper. A clamp finger, with the clamp finger in the rest position, the hand frame facing the bumper. Then, after rotating the clamp finger to the operating position, by retracting the finger shaft toward the hand frame side, the grip pad and the clamp finger are brought into contact with the face and the lean force of the bumper to move the bumper. A bumper assembling apparatus, characterized in that the bumper is gripped, and then the gripped pan bar is supplied to the vehicle body for the operation of the robot arm to perform the assembly.