JPH0569919A - Conveyor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the constitution for conveying article loading units through along stroke at the conveyance starting end or the conveyance terminating end. CONSTITUTION:This is a conveyor device which is provided with a conveying body 1 equipped with plural detachable engagingly-locking tools 7 for holding plural article-loading units P at suitable intervals in the conveying direction and supported so that it can freely reciprocate in the conveying direction, and a conveying mechanism 2 for reciprocating the conveying body 1 through a set stroke. Further, an auxiliary conveying mechanism 4 for reciprocating in the conveying direction, an auxiliary conveying, body 3 which is equipped with an engaging-locking tool 9 positioned in the starting end or the terminating end in the conveying direction and supported so that it can freely reciprocate along the conveying direction, is provided in the conveying body 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises a plurality of engageable and disengageable retainers for holding a plurality of article mounting portions at appropriate intervals in the carrying direction and being capable of reciprocating movement along the carrying direction. The present invention relates to a conveyor device provided with a supported carrier and a carrier mechanism that reciprocates the carrier with a set stroke.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conveyor device of this type is used, for example, in an automobile assembly line to carry out a so-called tact transfer, in which a plurality of jig pallets as an article loading section are simultaneously conveyed in set strokes. .. By the way, at the time of unloading the article placement unit to another transport device at the end of the conveyor device, or when loading the article placement unit from another transport device at the start end of the conveyor device, the end in the transport direction or There is a case where it is desired to carry out and carry in by carrying out the reciprocating movement of the locking tool located at the starting end with a stroke larger than the moving stroke of other locking tools, that is, the setting stroke of the carrier. As a means for this, an auxiliary carrier is provided which is provided at a start end or a terminal end in the carrying direction and is supported so as to be reciprocally movable in the carrying direction, and the auxiliary carrier is reciprocally moved in the carrying direction. It is conceivable to provide an auxiliary transport mechanism on the ground such as on the floor.

[0003]

When the auxiliary transport mechanism is provided on the ground side, the stroke required to reciprocate the auxiliary transport body required for the auxiliary transport mechanism reciprocates the transport body required for the transport mechanism. Since the stroke is larger than the stroke for moving the auxiliary transport mechanism, the auxiliary transport mechanism becomes large, and as a result, the entire apparatus becomes large and expensive. For example, when the auxiliary transfer mechanism is configured by using an air cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder, a large cylinder having a large stroke is used. An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks.

[0004]

In order to achieve this object, a characteristic structure of a conveyor device according to the present invention is provided with a locking device which is located at a start end or a terminal end in the carrying direction, and reciprocates along the carrying direction. An auxiliary transport mechanism for transporting the freely supported auxiliary transport body in the transport direction is provided in the transport body.

[0005]

The auxiliary transport mechanism provided on the transport body reciprocates the set stroke together with the transport body. Therefore, the auxiliary transport mechanism can be moved by the stroke obtained by subtracting the set stroke from the stroke required for the auxiliary transport body. It will be good.

[0006]

Therefore, since the stroke required for the auxiliary carrier to reciprocate the auxiliary carrier is reduced, the auxiliary carrier can be downsized, and the overall size and cost of the apparatus can be reduced. I was able to do it.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example in which a conveyor device according to the present invention is used in an automobile assembly line will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 7, the automobile assembly line includes a main line L1 used for a pretreatment process such as painting of the vehicle body B and an inspection process at the final stage of assembly, and a subline for assembling the engine and the underbody parts to the vehicle body B. L2, a relay line L3 for relaying the main line L1 and the sub line L2, and the like. The main line L1 is provided with a so-called overhead type conveyor device for mounting and transporting the vehicle body B on a hanger frame H movably suspended along a predetermined path. To transport. In the sub-line L2, a jig pallet P as an article placement portion movably placed along a predetermined path is conveyed to the assembly station ST in the order of work steps, and the engine and the underbody parts are sequentially positioned and placed. A stationary conveyer device is provided, and the vehicle body B is conveyed onto the jig pallet P by the overhead type conveyer device, and after positioning the vehicle body B and the jig pallet P, the engine, suspension parts, etc. are placed on the vehicle body B. Assemble. After that, the vehicle body B is conveyed again to the main line L1 via the relay line L3, and enters the final inspection step of assembling.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the conveyor device provided in the sub-line L2 assembles the conveyor frame F in the transport direction along the arrangement direction of the assembling stations ST, and on the upper part of the conveyor frame F, A plurality of vertical and horizontal idle rollers R1 and R2 for guiding the jig pallet P in the carrying direction are arranged, and a plurality of jig pallets P are held inside the conveyor frame F at appropriate intervals in the carrying direction. 1 is provided with a detachable locking member 7 and is supported so as to be reciprocally movable in the transport direction.
A transport mechanism 2 for intermittently reciprocating the transport body 1 with a set stroke is provided. Further, an auxiliary carrier 3 having a locking member 9 positioned at the end in the carrying direction and supported so as to be reciprocally movable in the carrying direction is provided, and an auxiliary carrying mechanism 4 for carrying it in the carrying direction is provided. , Provided on the carrier 1.

The conveyor frame F mainly comprises a left and right vertical frame F1, a horizontal frame F2 hung between the vertical frames F1, and a transport frame F3 provided at the upper ends of the left and right vertical frames F1. The transport frame F3 is provided with the two types of idle rollers R1 and R2. A pair of guide rails 6 are arranged opposite to each other on a guide support frame 5 provided upright in the center of the horizontal frame F2, and the carrier 1 and the auxiliary carrier 3 are reciprocally mounted on the guide rails 6. .. That is, a pair of upper and lower rollers R3 and R4 contacting the upper and lower surfaces of the guide rail 6 and a roller R5 contacting the inner side surface of the guide rail 6 are provided on the left and right sides of the carrier 1 and the auxiliary carrier 3 in the appropriate conveying direction. It is provided at intervals. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the carrier 1 is composed of a first carrier 1A having a rack gear G1 at the bottom and a second carrier 1B connected to the first carrier 1A. The locking tool 7 is attached to the upper part of the carrier 1 and the auxiliary carrier mechanism 4 is provided at the tip of the first carrier 1A. Below the carrier 1, a pinion gear G2 that meshes with the rack gear G1 to reciprocate the carrier 1 and an electric motor M that drives the pinion gear G2 are provided to configure the carrier mechanism 2. .. As shown in FIG. 6, one of the locking tools 7 that is located at the middle portion in the transport direction is a locking claw 7A that locks from inside the locking projections P1 attached to the front and rear of the bottom of the jig pallet P. And the locking claw 7A is raised to raise the locking projection P.
The lifting mechanism is capable of switching between a locked state in which it is locked to 1 and a disengaged state in which the locking claw 7A is lowered and separated from the locking projection P1. The lifting mechanism has an operation plate 8 having a cam surface that abuts the operation shaft 7B of the locking claw 7A.
And an air cylinder C1 that reciprocally drives the operation plate 8 along the transport direction. By driving the operation plate 8 forward, the locking claw 7A is lowered along the cam surface, and the backward drive is performed. Similarly, the locking claw 7A is raised. Figure 4
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the auxiliary transfer mechanism 4 is configured by an air cylinder C2 in which a cylinder tube is connected to the first transfer body 1A and a piston rod is connected to the auxiliary transfer body 3. The auxiliary carrier 3 has a pair of locking claws 9A for locking the locking projections P1 at the rear of the bottom of the jig pallet P from the front and the back, and a locking state and a disengaged state by raising and lowering the locking claws 9A. The locking member 9 including the air cylinder C3 that is switched to is provided. The locking tool 7 provided at the transport start end of the carrier 1 is the locking tool 9 provided at the auxiliary carrier 3.
It is constructed in the same model as.

As shown in FIG. 1, the receiving portion R for loading the jig pallet P into the assembling stations at the front and rear ends of the conveyor frame F, that is, the conveying start end, and the jig pallet P from the final assembling station. An elevating device 10 for relaying the jig pallet P to another process is provided in the sending-out section S for carrying out. The distance between the sending-out section S and the assembly station at the end of conveyance is larger than the distance between the other assembling stations, but the auxiliary conveyance mechanism 4 operates so that predetermined conveyance can be performed.

Next, the transport operation will be described. Figure 1
As shown in (a), the elevating device 10 is in a state in which the carrier 1 is located at the most upstream position which is closest to the receiving portion R.
The front locking projection P1 of the upper jig pallet P and the front and rear locking projections P1 of the jig pallet P at each assembly station are locked by the locking tool 7 provided on the carrier 1. In a state where the locking protrusion P1 at the rear of the jig pallet P at the final assembly station is locked by the locking tool 9 provided on the auxiliary transport body 3, the transport mechanism 2 assembles the transport body 1 to the assembly station ST. The jig pallet P is carried to the next step by carrying only the interval.
As shown in FIG. 1B, at this time, the auxiliary transport mechanism 4 is driven to push the auxiliary transport body 3 forward of the transport body 1 to transport the auxiliary transport body 3 to the delivery section S. Transport to. Further, at that time, a new jig pallet P is carried into the lifting device 10 of the receiving section R.
After that, all the stoppers 7 and 9 are released, the carrier 1 is returned to the most upstream initial position, and the auxiliary carrier 3 is pulled back to the carrier 1. The conveyor device sequentially conveys the jig pallet P to the assembly station ST by repeating the above operation.

Another embodiment will be described below. Various configurations of the locking tools 7 and 9 can be changed according to the article placing portion P. The specific configurations of the transport mechanism 2 and the auxiliary transport mechanism 4, and the specific configurations of the transport body 1 and the auxiliary transport body 3 can be variously changed according to the use target.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a conveyor device.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the conveyor device.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway front view of the conveyor device.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a main part.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main part

FIG. 6 is a front view of the main part

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of an assembly line.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transport body 2 Transport mechanism 3 Auxiliary transport body 4 Auxiliary transport mechanism 7 Locking tool 9 Locking tool P Article placement part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of engageable and disengageable locking members (7) for holding a plurality of article placement parts (P) at appropriate intervals in the carrying direction and being reciprocally movable along the carrying direction. A conveyor device provided with a supported carrier (1) and a carrier mechanism (2) that reciprocates the carrier (1) with a set stroke, and is positioned at a start end or a terminal end in the carrying direction. Locking tool (9)
And a conveyor provided with an auxiliary conveyance mechanism (4) for reciprocating the auxiliary conveyance body (3) supported in a reciprocating direction along the conveyance direction in the conveyance direction. apparatus.