JPH057826A - Method for mounting masking material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically and exactly mount a masking material to a masking point. CONSTITUTION:Elastic energizing force is acted forward on a suction cup 15 and pressing force is relieved and uniformized by the cushion effect thereof at the time of mounting the masking material 11 by sucking the masking material 11 with suction cup 15 and pressing the masking material to the masking point. Then, the sure mounting of the masking material 11 to the masking point is possible and the automation is easily attained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of attaching a masking material used for surface treatment or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the surface treatment, when there is a portion (masking portion) which should not be subjected to the surface treatment on the surface of a member to be treated, a masking material is attached to the portion. Then, after the surface treatment, the masking material is peeled off from the portion. For example, there are more than 100 masking points in floor coating of automobiles, etc. It is very laborious and time-consuming to manually apply and remove the masking material to these points, and a large amount is required. If such a process is included in the continuous production line, it will cause serious trouble. Therefore, recently, a method of automatically attaching and detaching a masking material by a robot has been proposed. In the automatic attachment / detachment method, there has been proposed a method in which a suction cup connected to a vacuum path is attached to a robot and a masking material is adsorbed by the suction cup (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-8473).

In the above method, as shown in FIG. 12, the vacuum path (7) connects the upper surface of the masking material (1) provided with the adhesive layer (4) on the mounting surface (3) of the plate-like body (2). A suction cup (5) attached to the tip of the pipe (6) suctions and conveys the masking material (1) to the masking portion (8A) of the member to be treated (8).

In order to automate the above method, the pipe (6) of the suction cup (5) is attached to the robot as described above, and the robot sucks the suction cup (5) through the pipe (6) by the masking material (1). The masking material (1) is moved to the suction position, and the masking material (1) is sucked by the suction cup (5) and then conveyed to a predetermined position, and the masking material (1) is pressed to the masking location (8A) of the member to be treated (8), The masking material (1) is applied to the masking site (8A) via the adhesive layer (4).

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, the pressing force of the robot directly acts on the mounting surface (3) of the masking material (1), and the pressing force is evenly applied to the mounting surface (3). There is a problem in that the masking material (1) is difficult to attach reliably because it is difficult and the pressing force is concentrated on the attachment surface (3).

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] As a means for solving the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention is a suction cup (15) that is connected to vacuum blow paths (17, 27) and is elastically biased forward. ,
The present invention provides a method for attaching a masking material by suctioning and transporting the masking material (11, 31) by means of (25) and attaching it to a predetermined portion (18A, 28A) of a member to be processed (18, 28).

[0007]

[Function] At the suction position of the masking material (11), a vacuum is applied to the suction cup (15) by the vacuum blower path (17), and the suction cup is sucked.
The masking material (11) is adsorbed to (15) and conveyed to a predetermined position, and the masking material (11) is pressed against the masking location (18A) of the member to be processed (18). At this time, since the masking material (11) is elastically biased forward, the pressing force acting on the mounting surface (13) of the masking material (11) is due to the cushioning action of the elastic biasing means. Will be alleviated.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 7. In the masking material adsorbing device (20) shown in FIG. 1, a pipe (16) connected to a vacuum blower path (17). ) Has a suction cup (15) attached to it, and the pipe (16) is slidably inserted into a cylinder (21) attached to a robot (not shown). Between the (23) and the root end flange (16A) of the pipe (16), the spring (2
2) has been handed over. A guide groove (16B) is also formed on the peripheral surface of the pipe (16) as shown in FIG.
(16B) has a pin (2
4) is slidably fitted, and the pipe (1
The rotation around the axis of 6) is prevented, and the pipe (16) is prevented from slipping out of the cylinder (21). The suction cup (15) is made of rubber or soft plastic, and ribs (15C) are radially formed inside the suction cup (15) from a central hole (15B) as shown in FIG.

In the adsorption device (20), as shown in FIG. 4, the suction cup (1) is introduced from the vacuum blow path (17) through the pipe (16).
A vacuum is applied to 5) and the upper surface of the masking material (11) is adsorbed to the suction cup (15) at the adsorption position of the masking material (11). At this time, since the rib (15C) is formed on the suction cup (15), the suction cup (15) is prevented from being crushed by the suction force. When the suction cup (15) is crushed by the suction force, the vacuum blow path (1
7) will be blocked, and it will be difficult to surely adsorb the masking material (11) to the suction cup (15).

The masking material (11) adsorbed by the adsorption device (20) is conveyed to a predetermined position by a robot,
The masking material (11) is pressed against the masking portion (18A) of the member to be processed (18) as shown in FIG. At this time, the pressing force resists the urging force of the spring (22) to pull the pipe (16) backward, and the cushioning action of the spring (22) alleviates the pressing force. Therefore, the mounting surface of the masking material (11) is
The pressing force is not concentrated on (13) and is uniformized. In this way, the masking material (11) is treated with the adhesive layer (14) through the member to be treated.
It is applied to the masking part (18A) of (18). After that, the masking material (11) is separated from the suction cup (15) by blowing air from the vacuum blowing path (17) of the suction device (20).

After applying the masking material (11) to the masking portion (18A) of the member to be treated (18) as described above, coating,
Surface treatment such as plating, metal vapor deposition, and phosphoric acid treatment is applied to the member to be treated (18) to form a surface treated film (19). After the surface treatment of the member to be treated (18) in this manner, the masking material (1
1) is peeled from the masking part (18A),
In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the suction cup (15) of the suction device (20) is pressed against the upper surface of the masking material (11).

At this time, the pressing force is relaxed and made uniform by the cushioning action of the spring (22), and the masking material (11) is surely adsorbed to the suction cup (15). In addition, the suction cup (15) is a rib (15
As described above, the surface treatment film (19) adhering to the upper surface of the masking material (11) is sucked into the pipe (16) from the suction cup (15) because it is difficult to be crushed by the suction force. The vacuum blower path (17) is not blocked by being clogged in the suction cup (15).

In this way, the masking material (11) is adsorbed on the suction cup (15) of the adsorption device (20) and peeled off from the masking part (18A), and then conveyed to a predetermined disposal site, and then the adsorption device Air is blown from the vacuum ventilation path (17) of (20) and masking material
(11) is separated from the suction cup (15), and at the same time, the surface treatment film (19) accumulated in the pipe (16) is blown off.

8 to 11 show another embodiment of the present invention. The masking material (31) of the present embodiment is a flange portion (31
The adsorption device (30) of the present embodiment has a bellows portion (32) at the tip of the pipe (26) that communicates with the vacuum blow path (27). A suction cup (25) having the same is attached, the suction cup (25) is made of rubber or soft plastic as in the previous embodiment, and the inside of the suction cup (25) is centered as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. A reinforcing layer (25A) having radial communication holes (25C) communicating with the holes (25B) is provided, and the pipe (26) is attached to a robot (not shown).

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the masking material (31) adsorbed on the suction cup (25) of the adsorption device (30) is
It is inserted into the hole (28A) of the member to be processed (28), and the pressing force from the robot at this time is relaxed and made uniform by elastic contraction of the bellows portion (32) of the suction cup (25). After the surface treatment film (29) is formed by the surface treatment, as shown in FIG. 11, the masking material (31) is adsorbed to the suction cup (25) of the adsorption device (30) and the masking material is admitted from the hole (28A). Remove the material (31). Also in this case, the pressing force is alleviated by the bellows portion (32) of the suction cup (25). The suction cup (25) is reinforced by the reinforcing layer (25A), and it is prevented that the suction cup (25) is crushed by the suction force and the vacuum blower path (27) is closed.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the adsorption device is used also when removing the masking material from the masking portion,
A hand key or the like may be used instead of the adsorption device. In addition, a hard material such as metal or hard plastic may be used for the suction cup, and in this case, it is not crushed by the suction force even without the rib or the reinforcing layer.

[0017]

Therefore, in the present invention, since the pressing force at the time of attaching the masking material is relaxed and uniformed, the masking material can be surely attached to the masking portion, and automation can be facilitated.

[0018]

[Brief description of drawings]

 1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 Side view of adsorption device

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

[Figure 3] Bottom view of the suction cup

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a masking material adsorbed state.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a masking material deposition state.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a state before the masking material is peeled off.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a state after the masking material is peeled off FIGS. 8 to 11
Shows another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a state where the masking material is attached.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the suction cup side

[Figure 10] Bottom view of the suction cup

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a state where the masking material is removed.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of a conventional masking material deposition state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11,31 Masking material 20,30 Adsorption device 15,25 Sucker 16,26 Pipe 17,27 Vacuum ventilation path 18,28 Processed material 18A, 28A Masking area 22 Spring 32 Bellows part

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A masking material is adsorbed and conveyed by a suction cup which is connected to a vacuum air blowing path and is elastically biased forward, and is attached to a predetermined portion of a member to be treated. How to attach masking material