JPH0657528B2 - Posture control device for transported objects on overhead conveyor - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention A. Object of the Invention (1) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a posture control device for an object to be conveyed in an overhead conveyor.

(2) Conventional technology Conventionally, for example, when a vehicle body as an object to be transported is conveyed by an overhead conveyor in a vehicle assembly process, the vehicle body is tilted on a hanger in order to facilitate the assembly work of the bottom surface of the vehicle body. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.
It is known from Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-5971.

(3) Problem to be Solved by the Invention In the above-mentioned conventional device, a lifting device for lifting the vehicle body is arranged at a position where the vehicle body should be tilted. Therefore, even if the vehicle body is tilted, the lifting device is present below the vehicle body, and not only the lifting device interferes with the work of assembling the bottom surface of the vehicle body, but also the lifting device is placed at the position where the vehicle body should be tilted. It becomes necessary and costly.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, in an overhead conveyor configured to control the posture of the transported object with a simple configuration while avoiding the existence of obstacles below the transported object. An object of the present invention is to provide an attitude control device for a transported object.

B. Structure of the Invention (1) Means for Solving the Problems According to the first feature of the present invention, a longitudinal movement of a pair of vertically extending left and right lift arms is provided to a traveling carriage that can travel on a traveling rail. Guide members for guiding are provided, and hangers capable of mounting an object to be conveyed are fixed to the lower ends of the lift arms, and a pair of hangers continuously arranged along the extending direction of the traveling rail is provided. A cam roller rolling along the cam rail is pivotally supported on the upper end of each lift arm.

According to the second feature of the present invention, the guide member is a guide cylinder through which the lift arms are movably inserted, and the guide cylinders have a plurality of guide rollers slidably contacting the outer periphery of the lift arm. Are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction.

(2) Operation According to the configuration of the first feature described above, by changing the relative height positions of the pair of cam rails, the lower end positions of both lift arms, that is, the height positions of both hangers are made different from each other, and the transferred object is moved. Can be inclined, and the height position of both hangers, that is, the height position of the transported object can be changed by changing the height position of the pair of cam rails vertically while changing the height position of the pair of cam rails the same. be able to.
Moreover, the cam rails are continuously arranged along the running direction of the traveling rail, and by gradually changing the height position of the cam rail, the driving of the traveling carriage can be performed without temporarily stopping the traveling of the traveling carriage. It is possible to change the posture of the transported object without providing any means.

Further, according to the configuration of the above-mentioned second feature, it is possible to smoothly guide the vertical movement of the lift arm while avoiding center runout.

(3) Example Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, in a vehicle assembly plant, a vehicle body B as an object to be conveyed is conveyed by an overhead conveyor 1, and the overhead conveyor 1 is mounted on a pair of traveling rails 2, 2. A pair of left and right hangers 4 and 4 for mounting the vehicle body B are supported by the traveling carriage 3 so that they can be independently moved up and down.

A pair of traveling rails 2, 2 extending along the transport direction 5 of the vehicle body B are fixed to the lower ends of vertically extending support arms 7, 7, ... In the transport direction 5, these support arms 7, 7 ,. Above the traveling rails 2 and 2 at positions spaced apart from each other, they are respectively suspended from a plurality of support beams 6 that extend in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction 5 and are fixedly arranged.

The traveling carriage 3 is formed in a rectangular shape, and a pair of traveling drive rollers 8, 8 rolling on traveling rails 2, 2 are rotatably provided at a rear portion of the traveling carriage 3 along the transport direction 5. Supported. That is, on the lower surface of the rear portion of the traveling vehicle 3, there is a rotary shaft 9 having a horizontal axis line orthogonal to the transport direction 5.
Is rotatably supported, and the drive rollers 8 are fixed to the ends of the rotary shaft 9 which project from the traveling carriage 3 to both sides. Moreover, a driven sprocket 10 is fixedly installed in the middle of the rotary shaft 9, and a drive sprocket 12 and the driven sprocket 10 fixed to the output shaft of a traveling motor 11 fixedly mounted on the traveling carriage 3. An endless power transmission chain 13 is hung over. Further, at the front part of the traveling carriage 3 along the transport direction 5, the traveling rails 2,
A pair of driven follower rollers 14 capable of rolling on 2 are supported. Further, two pairs of steering rollers 15, 15 ... Which can roll along the inner surfaces of the traveling rails 2, 2 are rotatably supported at the front and rear portions of the traveling carriage 3 along the conveying direction 5. It

A control panel 16 for controlling the operation of the traveling motor 11 and a current collecting base 17 are arranged on the traveling carriage 3, and a current collecting brush arranged at the upper end of the current collecting base 17. 18 is extended along the transport direction 5 while supporting beam 6
It is slidably contacted with the power feeding rail 19 supported by. Moreover, a pair of lateral shake preventing rollers 21 and 21 are rotatably supported at the upper end of the current collecting base 17 so as to roll along both sides of the guide rail 20 supported by the support beam 6 in parallel with the power feeding rail 19. And these lateral shake preventing rollers 21 and 21
The guide rail 20 serves to prevent the collecting brush 18 from separating from the side surface of the power feeding rail 19 when the traveling carriage 3 travels.

In the traveling carriage 3, the electric power supplied to the current collecting base 17 is controlled by the control panel 16 and is supplied to the traveling motor 11, and the traveling drive rollers 8 and 8 corresponding to the operation of the traveling motor 11 are driven. By the rotation operation and the accompanying rotation operation of the driven roller 14 for traveling, the traveling carriage 3 moves the traveling rails 2, 2
You will be driving over. Moreover, even if the traveling rails 2 and 2 are curved, the steering rollers 15 are slidingly in contact with the inner surfaces of the traveling rails 2 and 2, so that the traveling carriage 3 is smoothly moved along the traveling rails 2 and 2. Can be run.

With reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 together, upper ends of guide cylinders 22, 22 as a pair of vertically extending guide members are fixed to the traveling carriage 3 on both sides along the transport direction 5.
Each of the guide cylinders 22 has a rectangular cross-section having a quadrangular cross section, and the traveling carriage 3 is provided with guide holes 23 continuous with the upper ends of the guide cylinders 22. Moreover, each guide tube 2
A plurality of reinforcing members 24 are provided between the upper ends of the guide rails 22 and 22 and the lower surface of the traveling carriage 3 in order to increase the strength of connection between the guide tubes 22 and 22 to the traveling carriage 3.

A vertically extending lift arm 25 is inserted into each of the guide cylinders 22 and the guide holes 23 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction. These lift arms 25,
Reference numeral 25 denotes a cylinder having a quadrangular transverse cross section, and four guide rollers 2 are provided at each of the two guide cylinders 22, 22 which are spaced apart in the vertical direction.
The vertical movement in the guide cylinder 22 and the guide hole 23 is guided by 6, 26, .... That is, two openings 27 are formed by notching the corners of the guide tube 22 having a quadrangular cross section at two positions spaced apart from each other above and below the guide tubes 22, 22. Guide rollers 26 that partially project from the portions 27 into the guide cylinder 22 are rotatably supported on the outer surfaces of the respective guide cylinders 22, and the guide rollers 26 are formed on the four corner outer surfaces of the lift arms 25. Slide on. Thus, these guide rollers 26 ...
The lift arm 25 is smoothly guided in the up-down direction while avoiding runout.

The hangers 4 are arranged at the lower ends of the lift arms 25, 25, respectively. The hanger 4 extends horizontally along the carrying direction 5, and a portion near the front end along the carrying direction 5 is fixed to the lower end of the lift arm 25.
And a pair of hanger arms 4c, 4c extending inward while being connected to the front and rear ends of the side arm 4a along the carrying direction 5 via support pins 4b. Thus, the support pins 4b, 4b have a vertical axis, whereby the hanger arms 4c, 4c are formed.
Can be rotated between a position extending inward from the side arm 4a at a right angle to support the vehicle body B and a position extending parallel to the transport direction 5 for loading and unloading the vehicle body B. .

In each of the above hangers 4 and 4, both hanger arms 4c and 4
In c, the receiving members 28, 28 that receive the lower ends on both sides of the vehicle body B, that is, the side sills, are allowed to tilt leftward and rightward in the transport direction 5 while being biased by springs in a direction that maintains a horizontal posture, and are limited. It is arranged so as to be able to move to the left and right in the above range.

Referring also to FIGS. 5 and 6, the hanger arms 4c corresponding to each other at the front and rear of the hangers 4 and 4 along the transport direction 5 have guide rails 29 extending in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction 5. Are fixedly arranged. That is, on the hanger arm 4c, a pair of support plates 30 and 31 spaced from each other in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction 5 are erected, and the guide rail 29 is laid across the support plates 30 and 31. .

A movable table 32 is movably fitted to each of the guide rails 29 via a plurality of bearings 33. Moreover, a column 34 is erected on each movable table 32, and the receiving member 28 is swingably supported on the upper end of the column 34 via a support shaft 35 having an axis parallel to the transport direction 5. It That is, the receiving member 28 can be tilted leftward and rightward in the transport direction 5 and is supported on the upper ends of the columns 34. Moreover, a coil spring 36 surrounding the support column 34 is interposed between the movable table 32 and the receiving member 28, and the spring force of the coil spring 36 causes the receiving member 28 to move.
Will be urged to maintain its horizontal position. Further, on each receiving member 28, V-shaped grooves 37 for positioning and fitting the lower ends on both sides of the vehicle body B are provided.

Referring also to FIG. 7, at the upper position of the traveling carriage 3,
A pair of cam rails 38, 38 for guiding the upper ends of the lift arms 25, 25 are continuously and fixedly arranged along the transport direction 5. That is, each cam rail 38,
38 are fixed to the lower ends of the support arms 40 and 40 that are hung from the support beam 6 at positions spaced apart along the transport direction 5. These cam rails 38, 38 basically consist of square tubes having a rectangular cross section, but a single slit 39 extending along the transport direction 5 is provided at the center of the lower portion thereof.

On the other hand, a support member 41 that is loosely inserted into the cam rails 38, 38 from the slit 39 is fixed to the upper ends of the lift arms 25, 25, and the cam rail 38 is attached to the upper ends of the support members 41. , 38 are rotatably supported by a pair of cam rollers 42, 42 that roll on the lower inner surfaces of the rollers. Therefore, when the traveling carriage 3 travels along the traveling rails 2 and 2, the cam rollers 42 and 42 roll inside the cam rail 38.
The upper end positions of the lift arms 25, 25 are determined according to the height position of 38, and therefore the lower end positions of the lift arms 25, 25, that is, the height positions of the hangers 4, 4 are determined.

Moreover, one of the two cam rails 38, 38 is arranged at a height position different from that of the other, as shown in the right side of FIG. 1 and FIG. 7, at a position where the vehicle body B should be inclined in the middle of the conveyance direction 5. The hangers 4 and 4 are lifted to a position higher than the other. Further, at a position where the height of the vehicle body B in a horizontal posture should be changed in the middle of the carrying direction 5, it is possible to change the height of both cam rails 38, 38 at the same height position up and down.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the vehicle body B should be tilted to the left or the right while the vehicle is traveling along, for example, for mounting parts on the bottom surface of the vehicle body B, as shown in FIG.
The height position of one is set differently from the other. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the height positions of the hangers 4 and 4 become different from each other, the vehicle body B inclines accordingly, and it is easy to attach parts to the bottom surface of the vehicle body B. You can

Moreover, since the device for inclining the vehicle body B does not exist below the vehicle body B, the work is not supported, and when the vehicle body B is inclined, the hangers 4 and 4 protrude outward. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a dead space on the side of the overhead conveyor 1.

Further, as described above, when one of the hangers 4 and 4 is raised to a position higher than the other, when the vehicle body B is tilted, the receiving members 28 and 28 on which the lower ends of both sides of the vehicle body B are placed at mutually corresponding positions. Can be tilted in accordance with the inclination of the vehicle body B, and can be moved to the left or right as the horizontal distance between the lower ends of both sides of the vehicle body B changes due to the inclination. Accordingly, no unreasonable force acts on the vehicle body B.

C. As described above, according to the present invention, the traveling carriage that can travel on the traveling rail is provided with the guide member that guides the longitudinal movement of the pair of left and right lift arms extending in the vertical direction, and those lifts are lifted. Hangers on which the objects to be transported can be placed are fixed to the lower ends of the arms, and cam rollers that roll along a pair of cam rails that are continuously arranged along the extending direction of the traveling rail are provided for each lift. Since it is pivotally supported on the upper end of the arm, the height position of both hangers can be made to correspond to the height position of the corresponding cam rail, and the traveling carriage is temporarily stopped by setting the height position of both cam rails appropriately. It is possible to incline the transported object without changing it, or to change the height position while maintaining the horizontal posture, so that the posture of the transported object can be changed efficiently and without providing a drive unit dedicated to changing the posture. The work can be performed easily by avoiding the presence of obstacles below the transported object, and the protrusion of the hanger to the outside can be avoided to avoid extra changes in posture. It is also unnecessary to set a large space.

According to the second feature of the present invention, the guide member is a guide cylinder through which the lift arms are movably inserted, and the guide cylinders have a plurality of guide rollers slidably contacting the outer periphery of the lift arm. Are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction, the vertical movement of the lift arm can be smoothly guided while avoiding center runout, and the vertical movement of the hanger can be performed smoothly.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 is a side view, Fig. 2 is a front view taken along the arrow II of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of Fig. 2 and Fig. 4. Is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion V of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a height of a pair of cam rails. FIG. 8 is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2 in a state in which the positions are different, and FIG. 1 ... Overhead conveyor, 2 ... Traveling rail, 3
...... Trucking trolley, 4 …… Hanger, 22 …… Guide cylinder as guide member, 25 …… Lift arm, 26 …… Guide roller, 38 …… Cam rail, 42 …… Cam roller, B …… As a transported object Car body

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location B65G 17/20 D 9244-3F 43/08 D 47/61 D 7612-3F B66C 17/04 7309- 3F

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A guide member (2) for guiding a longitudinal movement of a pair of vertically extending left and right lift arms (25, 25) on a traveling carriage (3) capable of traveling on traveling rails (2, 2).
2, 22) are provided and their lift arms (25,
Hangers (4, 4) on which the transported object (B) can be placed are fixedly attached to the lower ends of the rails 25, 25).
2) A cam roller (4) rolling along a pair of cam rails (38, 38) continuously arranged along the extending direction of
2, 42) is pivotally supported on the upper end of each lift arm (25, 25). 2. The guide member comprises each lift arm (25,
25) guide cylinders (22,
22), and a plurality of guide rollers (26) slidably contacting the outer circumference of the lift arms (25, 25) are arranged in the guide cylinders (22, 22) at intervals in the circumferential direction. A posture control device for an object to be conveyed in the overhead conveyor according to the item (1).