JPH0530547Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a trolley-type conveyor suitable for use in, for example, automobile body painting and drying lines.

Prior Art and its Problems The present applicant has proposed an earlier application, U.S. Pat. This vehicle is designed to move the truck by constantly guiding the running wheels provided on the truck by a gutter-shaped guide rail. However, although this structure allows the carts to run stably, it is necessary to lay gutter-like rails along the entire transfer path along which the carts move, which complicates the overall structure of the conveyor and increases costs. There is a problem. Furthermore, for example,
When passing through a dust-free paint drying oven, the running wheels roll on trough-like rails, which generates dust and reduces the quality of the painted surface.

On the other hand, there is no member corresponding to the running wheels and gutter-like rails, and the trolley conveyor is installed directly on a carrier that moves the trolley by a drive chain.
There is an invention in No. 61-4703, but in this invention, the mounting state of the trolley to the carrier is unstable, and the object to be painted does not move horizontally even when passing through the painting booth, which must be moved in a stable state. Since the paint passes through the paint, it is not possible to coat the painted surface uniformly, resulting in poor workability.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention comprises a truck equipped with traveling wheels at four corners, a guide rail for the traveling wheels provided in a part of the transportation path of the truck, and a drive chain to move the truck on the carrier rail. a carrier for moving the truck, and a coupling mechanism for connecting the truck to the carrier in a vertically movable manner, and the guide rail has inclined portions formed downward from the guide rail at both ends in the longitudinal direction. The truck is pushed up from a low running position supported by the carrier to a high running position where the running wheels move on the guide rail by being guided by one of the inclined parts, The above-mentioned problem is solved by a trolley-type conveyor which is guided by the other side of the carriage and descends to take a low running position supported by the carrier.

Function A trolley is usually supported by a carrier and moves.

When the trolley moves to, for example, near the entrance of the painting booth, the running wheels ride on the downwardly inclined portion of the running wheel guide rail, and the trolley is pushed up and moves on the running wheel guide rail. Movement of the trolley within the painting booth is accomplished by movement of running wheels on guide rails. Therefore, the carrier does not bear any load and only transmits the driving force.

After passing through the painting booth, the trolley descends while being guided by the downward slope, and is supported by the carrier at a position lower than the position at which it is moving on the guide rail.

Therefore, when moving within the coating booth, the trolley is moved by the running wheels, and when moving in other areas, it is supported by the carrier in a lowered position.

It goes without saying that the terms "height" and "up and down" refer to the direction of the vertical line.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 8.

The trolley 10 (Fig. 1) is framed in a rectangular shape.
A lower frame 12 has a caster 11, which is an example of a running wheel, on the lower surface of the corner, and an upper part is framed in a rectangular shape and has a receiver 13 on the upper surface for supporting an object to be painted, for example, an automobile body M. a frame 14 and the upper and lower frames 14,1
It consists of a coupling fitting 16 that connects the two.

All of the free wheels 11 are of a caster type that can rotate horizontally.

As shown in FIG. 3, the coupling fitting 16 has the shape of a horizontally U-shaped channel in cross section, and has a vertical portion 16a, and an upper side 16b and a lower side 16c provided horizontally above and below the vertical portion 16a. It consists of

The transfer path 20 along which the trolley 10 moves consists of a pit 21 dug into the floor F with a rectangular cross section.

Inside the pit 21, a chain rail 22 and a carrier rail 23, which are made up of a pair of channel members each having a substantially U-shaped cross section and facing each other at an interval, are connected to support plates arranged at appropriate intervals inside the pit 21. 24
(Fig. 3) and 25 (Fig. 6).

The chain rail 22 (FIG. 1) guides a trolley 27 that moves together with the drive chain 26. The carrier rail 23 includes a drive carrier 29 which is coupled to the trolley 27 via a coupling device 28, a traction carrier 31 which is coupled to the drive carrier 29 by a coupling rod 30, a follower carrier 32 which follows the trolley 10, and a coupling rod. 33 guides a driven carrier 34 connected to the trailing carrier 32. Trolley 27, each carrier 29, 31,
32 and 34 each have a set of four rollers 27a,
29a, 31a, 32a, and 34a are provided.

A dustproof cover 40 is provided to cover the upper surface of the pit 21 (FIG. 3) in a portion corresponding to a painting booth (not shown). A passage groove 41 is provided in the horizontal upper part of the dustproof cover 40, through which the vertical portion 16a of the coupling fitting 16 passes, so that a portion lower than the upper surface of the lower frame 12 of the truck 10 can move within the dustproof cover 40.
is formed. An elastic sheet 42 is disposed above the passage groove 41 and elastically contacts the vertical portion 16a of the coupling fitting 16 to prevent dust from entering the dustproof cover 40.
is provided. Furthermore, two gutter-like rails 43, which are an example of guide rails for the free wheel 11, are arranged in parallel at the upper end of the support plate 24 in the dustproof cover 40. This gutter-like rail 43 is installed only inside the dustproof cover 40, and has downwardly inclined portions 43a (FIG. 1) formed at its front and rear ends. At the tip of the downwardly inclined portion 43a, as shown in FIG. 8, there is a diverging portion 43 that corrects the direction of the free wheel 11 when the free wheel 11 enters the trough-like rail 43.
b is formed.

Furthermore, inside the horizontal upper surface of the dustproof cover 40,
A channel member 45 is disposed on the upper surface of the lower frame 12 to engage with a guide roller 44 provided with a rotation axis perpendicular to the upper surface of the lower frame 12 to accurately position the cart 10 laterally. Such a guide mechanism is used for the free wheel 1
1 to enable highly accurate position regulation.

The support plate 24 can be provided with a further carriage transfer device 46 . This is done in order to maintain high precision in the transfer position, stop position, etc. of the trolley 10 when using the painting robot in the painting booth 40, and to facilitate the teaching work of the robot, or to temporarily stop the trolley 10 and move the robot. It is an alternative to the drive chain 26 since it often performs operations.

A coupling mechanism 50 is provided between the traction carrier 31 and the follower carrier 32 and the lower frame 12 of the truck 10 to connect the truck 10 to the traction carrier 31 and the follower carrier 32.

Since the connecting mechanisms 50 provided at the front and rear of the truck 10 both have the same structure, only the connecting mechanism provided at the front (left side in FIG. 1) of the truck will be explained based on FIGS. 3 to 5.

A pair of brackets 51 are provided on the front surface of the lower frame 12 and project vertically and parallel to each other.
A connecting member 53 is rotatably provided between the pair of brackets 51 by a rotating shaft 52 that projects horizontally on both sides. A connecting hole 54 is bored through the connecting member 53 in the vertical direction. A tow pin 55, which is vertically installed on the main body 31b of the traction carrier 31, passes through the connection hole 54 without play. The tow pin 55 is attached to the main body 31b by a pin 56.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, when the trolley 10 is in a position outside the dustproof cover 40 where the gutter-like rail 43 is not laid, as shown in FIGS. 2, 6, and 7, The truck 10 is not supported by the flexible wheels 11, and the connecting member 53 of the connecting mechanism 50 is connected to the main body 31 of the carriers 31, 32.
b, 32b and supported by carriers 31, 32. In this state, drive the drive chain 26,
Trolley 27, engagement device 28, drive carrier 2
9. When the traction carrier 31 is moved on the carrier rail 23 via the connecting rod 30, the truck 10 moves on the carrier rail 23 while being supported by the traction carrier 31 and the follower carrier 32.

When the trolley 10 moves close to the entrance of the dustproof cover 40, the direction of the free wheel 11 is corrected by the widened part 43b of the trough-like rail 43, and then rides on the tip of the downwardly inclined part 43a, and the drive chain 26 With the movement of the cart 10 on the gutter-like rail 43
push up. On the other hand, the carriers 31 and 32 move horizontally on the carrier rail 23. At this time, as the truck 10 moves upward, the connecting member 53 of the connecting mechanism 50 moves as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.
Tow pin 5 away from carrier bodies 31b, 32b
Since the carriage 10 moves upwardly while being guided by the carriage 5, the upward movement of the carriage 10 is performed smoothly. Therefore, the truck 10, which until now was supported by carriers 31 and 32 and moved horizontally, is now supported by the free wheels 11 and moved by the carrier 3.
After moving upward to move away from 1 and 32, it moves horizontally. At the same time, the vertical portion 16a of the coupling fitting 16 passes through the passage groove 41 of the dustproof cover 40.

While the lower frame 12 is moving through the dustproof cover 40, the truck 10 is moved by the traction carrier 31.
(or another transfer device 46 mentioned above), the trough-like rails 43 guide the free wheels 11 and bear the load of the entire truck.

The trolley 10 that has passed through the dustproof cover 40 is moved to the free wheel 1 by the downwardly inclined portion 43a of the gutter-like rail 43.
It gradually descends according to the descending guide No. 1. At that time, the connecting member 53 is connected to the tow pin 5 together with the truck 10.
5 as a guide to descend. When the free wheel 11 comes off the gutter-like rail 43, the coupling mechanism 5
The connecting member 53 of 0 is connected to the main body 3 of the carriers 31 and 32.
1b and 32b, and the trolley 10 is mounted on the carrier 3.
1 and 32 and moves on the carrier rail 23.

In addition, in moving the trolley 10, when the trolley 10 is going to ascend, descend, or horizontally turn, the connecting member 53 must be able to move vertically and horizontally with respect to the tow pin 55, and the connecting member 53 must be able to move vertically and horizontally with respect to the tow pin 55.
This can be achieved by being able to rotate around a horizontal axis. Furthermore, even if the truck 10 tries to tilt in the left-right direction, the tow pin 55 is fitted into the connecting hole 54 of the connecting member 53 without play, and the carrier roller (3
1a, etc.) is held down by the upper flange of the carrier rail, so if this rail is sufficiently strong, there is no risk of it falling over.

According to the above embodiment, when the lower frame 12 moves inside the dustproof cover 40 of the painting booth,
Since the trolley 10 is guided by the trough-like rails 43 and moved by the flexible wheels 11, it is possible to run stably without wobbling sideways, and high-quality painting can be performed.

Further, since the gutter-like rail 43 is not laid outside the dustproof cover 40, the structure is simplified, and the movement of the trolley 10 in this part is performed by the carriers 31 and 32 in a lowered state. So,
The center of gravity is lower, allowing stable movement without sideways movement.

Furthermore, since the flexible wheels 11 do not rotate when passing through an oven (not shown) for drying the paint, no dust is generated and deterioration of the quality of the painted surface can be prevented.

Moreover, the connecting member 53 of the connecting mechanism 50 and the toe pin 5
5 is disengaged, the carriage 10 is moved to the carrier 31,
32 and can be used freely regardless of the transfer path 20. Swivel wheels are conveniently used in such cases.

In addition, in the above description, the case where stable running of the trolley is required is described using running inside a painting booth as an example, but it goes without saying that this is just an example and does not limit the present invention.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a cart-type conveyor that has a simplified structure and can move the cart only at necessary locations in a more stable state than in a normal running state.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and Figures 1 and 2 are schematic side views of the whole, Figure 1 is a side view of the trolley passing through the dustproof cover of the painting booth,
The figure is a side view of the trolley moving outside the painting booth, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow 3-3 in Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a side view of the cart moving outside the painting booth.
The figure is a partially enlarged view of the connection mechanism in Figure 3, and Figure 5.
The figure is a side view of Fig. 4, Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in Fig. 2, Fig. 7 is a side view of Fig. 6 showing only the main parts, and Fig. 8 is a gutter-shaped rail. It is an enlarged perspective view of a tip part. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10...Bolly, 11...Traveling wheel, 12...Lower frame, 14...Upper frame, 16...Joining metal fittings, 23...Carrier rail, 26...Drive chain, 31...Traction carrier (carrier), 32...Following carrier (carrier) ), 40...dustproof cover, 4
3... Traveling wheel guide rail, 43a... Downward slope, 50... Connection mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A bogie with running wheels at four corners, a guide rail for the running wheels provided in a part of the transportation path of the bogie, and a drive chain that moves on the carrier rail. a carrier that moves the truck by moving the truck; and a coupling mechanism that connects the truck to the carrier in a vertically movable manner, and the guide rail includes inclined portions formed downward from the guide rail at both ends in the longitudinal direction. , the bogie is pushed up from a low running position where it is supported by the carrier to a high running position where the running wheels move on the guide rail by being guided by one of the inclined parts; A trolley-type conveyor, characterized in that it takes a low running position supported by the carrier by being guided by the other and descending. (2) The trolley type conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the running wheels are adjustable wheels.