JPH0760448A - Welding torch nozzle cleaning device of consumable electrode type welding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the cleaning defect occurring in brush wear and improve the reliability of brush cleaning by applying elastic energization to a brush for cleaning the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle part of a welding torch. CONSTITUTION:This welding torch nozzle cleaning device of a consumable electrode type welding device has a brush holder 36 for holding the rotary brush 40A, lifting devices 31 32 for lifting this brush holder 36, rotating mechanisms 33, 34A, 34B, for rotating the rotary brush and an energizing mechanism 47 for elastically energizing the brush body 41 of the rotary brush 40A in a direction different from the lifting direction thereof. The rotary brush 40A receives the elastic energization toward the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle and is held locked non-displaceably at the time of non-cleaning but when the brush is inserted into the nozzle, the brush is unlocked and is made displaceable toward the inside surface of the nozzle by the elastic energization and, therefore, the cleaning defect by the wear of the brush body 41 is surely prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a welding torch nozzle cleaning device in a consumable electrode type welding device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A consumable electrode type welding apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 3
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 23078.

In the consumable electrode type welding apparatus, spatter adheres to the inner surface of the nozzle of the welding torch that ejects the shield gas and the outer surface of the tip that holds the consumable electrode, disturbs the flow of the shield gas, and improves the welding quality. Therefore, the inner surface of the nozzle and the outer surface of the tip are cleaned regularly.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 3-23078 discloses a device for automatically performing the cleaning in an automatic welding device such as a welding robot or an automatic welding machine for performing consumable electrode welding.

In this conventional example, for cleaning the nozzle portion, a cylindrical brush is used as a cleaning tool, and the cylindrical brush is inserted into the nozzle portion removed from the torch body of the welding torch at the standby position, By rotating the spatter, the attached spatter is scraped off.

[0006]

In this prior art, since the brush is always inserted in the nozzle portion in a posture coaxial with the nozzle portion, when the brush bristle end of the brush is worn, the inner surface of the nozzle portion is damaged. Although it does not come into sliding contact, in the above-mentioned automatic welding, there are many opportunities to overlook this and perform cleaning.
Although the cleaning operation step was executed, spatter still adheres to the inner surface of the nozzle portion after cleaning, which often causes deterioration of the welding quality.

The present invention has been made in order to solve this kind of problem, and it is possible to prevent cleaning failure due to brush abrasion and improve the reliability of nozzle cleaning. A welding torch nozzle for a consumable electrode welding apparatus. The purpose is to provide a cleaning device.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a brush holder for holding a rotating brush, an elevating mechanism for elevating the brush holder, and a brush rotating mechanism for rotating the rotating brush. The rotating brush has a biasing mechanism that elastically biases the brush main body in a direction different from the ascending / descending direction, and the rotating brush is a brush for cleaning the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle portion of the welding torch.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a brush holder for holding the brush, an elevating mechanism for elevating the brush holder, an urging mechanism for elastically urging the brush main body in a direction different from the ascending / descending direction, and a detaching mechanism from the welding torch. The brush is a brush for cleaning the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle portion of the welding torch.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the brush holder for holding the rotary brush, the lifting mechanism for lifting the brush holder, the brush rotating mechanism for rotating the rotary brush, and the brush main body of the rotary brush in a direction different from the vertical direction. An elastic biasing mechanism and a mechanism for rotating the nozzle portion removed from the welding torch are provided, and the rotating brush is a brush for cleaning the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle portion of the welding torch.

[0011]

In the present invention, the brush is elastically biased toward the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle, and is locked so that it cannot be displaced when not being cleaned. It is possible to displace and move toward the inner surface of the nozzle by elastic urging.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, reference numeral 10 is a base provided at the standby position of the automatic welding apparatus. Reference numeral 20 denotes a fixed frame that hangs downward from the lower surface of the base 10. The fixed frame 20 has a U-shape in horizontal section,
A cleaning tool drive mechanism is provided on a horizontal base portion 21 provided at an intermediate portion in the vertical direction. The cleaning tool drive mechanism includes a screw nut 3 fixed to the horizontal base portion 21 of the fixed frame.
1. An elevating mechanism section consisting of a screw shaft 32 that threadably penetrates the screw nut 31 in a vertical direction, and the screw shaft 3
A brush including a spur gear 33 pinned to a portion projecting upward from the screw nut 31 of No. 2 and two spur gears 34A and 34B (both have a smaller diameter than the spur gear 33) that mesh with each other by sandwiching the spur gear 33 in the diameter direction. Rotation mechanism (gear mechanism)
The transmission gear 35A of the motor 35 with a speed reducer for forward and reverse rotation is meshed with the spur gear 33. The gear mechanism unit is housed in a gear case (box) 36. 37 is the screw shaft 32 in the brush holder 36
Is a bearing that holds. 40A and 40B (40B is partially shown) are cleaning tools (in this embodiment, they are rotating brushes, and the brush body 41 has a predetermined outer diameter and a predetermined axial length). Shaft 42A, 42B
Spur gears 34A and 34B are fitted and fixed to the lower end of the. The brush shafts 42A and 42B are held in the gear case 36 by bearings 38A and 38B and extend vertically upward. The brush main body 41 is fixed above the brush shafts 42A and 42B.

One of the left and right sides of the gear case 36, 36R
A vertical guide groove 36A is formed therein, and a roller 43 provided on a side surface 20R facing the side surface 36R of the fixed frame 20 is engaged with the guide groove 36A. This guide groove 3
6A and the roller 43 constitute an elastic biasing mechanism.

The gear case 36 includes spur gears 33,
One end side of a rotating arm 44 extending in the arrangement direction of 34A and 34B is supported by a shaft 45, and a roll 46 is provided on the other end surface of the rotating arm 44 that constitutes the holder urging mechanism. ing. The gear case da 36 includes a rotating arm 4
4 is provided with a load coil spring 47 that urges the other end of the roll 4 toward the inner surface 20B of the fixed frame 20.
Reference numeral 6 is press-contacted with the inner surface 20B.

A position sensor (a limit switch in this example) 48 is fixed to the side surface 20L of the fixed frame 20, and a dog of the limit switch 48 is engaged with the side surface 36L of the gear case 36. The joint portion 48A is fixed.

In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a chuck device for removing the nozzle, which is arranged at an appropriate position on the base 10. The chuck device 100 for removing the nozzle is usually
At least 2 to accommodate nozzles with different lengths
The base is provided. A chuck device 105 for tightening the nozzle is provided on the base 10.

When the nozzle removing chucks having different diameters are arranged, it is necessary to arrange the chuck device 105 for tightening the nozzles corresponding to the nozzle diameters.

A chuck device 100 for removing the nozzle.
Includes a chuck coil 101 having a predetermined number of turns, and the inner diameter of the chuck coil 101 is the welding torch 2 shown in FIG.
No. 00 nozzle portion 202 is loosely engaged with the outer peripheral surface of the nozzle portion 202. When the nozzle portion is inserted into the chuck coil 101, the chuck coil 101 is right-handed. Therefore, when the one end side is rotated in the right-hand rotation direction, it is not wound around the nozzle portion 202 and the nozzle portion 202 is easily wound. It can be inserted into the chuck coil 101. When the nozzle portion 202 is inserted into the chuck device 100 for removing the nozzle, the rotational force is applied to the nozzle portion 202 in the direction in which the torch body 201 and the nozzle portion 202 are unscrewed. The chuck device 105 for tightening the nozzle includes the nozzle portion 20.
A rotational force is applied to the nozzle portion 202 in a direction in which the screwing between the 2 and the torch main body 201 is strengthened. In FIG. 7, 201 is a torch body portion, 203 is a tip portion, 2
Reference numeral 04 is an orientation unit.

The diameters of the spur gears 34A and 34B and the spur gear 33 are not limited to those described above, and if the number of rotations of the brush shafts 42A and 42B is increased relative to the rotation of the screw shaft 32, the number of rotations of the brush shafts 42A and 42B is increased. It is preferable to select the diameters of the spur gears 34A and 34B so that the cleaning efficiency can be increased. The brush rotating mechanism and the screw shaft 32 of the elevating mechanism section may be driven by different drive sources, and a cylinder device such as an air cylinder can be used as the drive source of the elevating mechanism section.

Next, the operation of this cleaning device will be described.

In addition to the data of the welding work step, the data of the nozzle cleaning work step is stored in the data memory built in the controller (not shown) of the welding robot.

Now, assuming that the welding torch 200 provided at the tip of the wrist of the welding robot has returned to the standby position after the Nth welding operation is completed, the program stored in the program memory of the control device is It is assumed that the nozzle cleaning operation is programmed to start at the end of the Nth welding operation.

(1) The welding torch 200 moves to a position immediately above the chuck device 100 for removing the nozzle (referred to as a first predetermined position), and the chuck device 100 for removing the nozzle causes the chuck device 100 for removing the nozzle to receive a command from the welding robot. The portion 202 is rotated in the tightening direction. As a result, the chuck chuck device 100 for removing the nozzle is normally rotated.

(2) The welding torch 200 is lowered and the nozzle portion 202 is moved to the chuck coil 101 for nozzle removal.
Enter inside.

(3) Chuck coil 1 for nozzle removal
Since the coil inner diameter of 01 has a size that loosely contacts the nozzle portion 202, when the nozzle portion 202 is inserted into the chuck coil 101, the nozzle portion 202 does not wind around the nozzle portion 202 and the nozzle portion easily chucks. It is inserted into the coil 101. In response to a command from the welding robot, the chuck coil 101 for nozzle removal is attached to the nozzle portion 20.
Rotate (reverse) 2 in the direction of loosening. By this rotation, the chuck coil 101 is wound around the nozzle portion 202, and the nozzle portion 202 and the torch body portion of the welding torch 200 are unthreaded.

(4) When the chuck coil 101 is rotated at a predetermined number of revolutions and the nozzle portion 202 is unthreaded from the torch body portion of the welding torch 200, the welding torch 200 is released.
Returns to the first predetermined position while leaving the nozzle portion 202 inside the chuck coil 101. The chuck coil 101 continues to rotate as it is.

(5) In response to a command from the welding robot, the motor 35 with a reduction gear that drives the cleaning device in the forward and reverse directions starts forward rotation, and the screw shaft 32 rises while rotating, and the gear case 36 accordingly moves. While being guided by the roller 43, the ascent starts at a predetermined speed.

When the screw shaft is rotated 32 times, the spur gear 33
The spur gears 34A and 34B rotate with the rotation. As a result, both brush shafts 42A and 42B rotate.

(6) As the gear case 36 is raised, the brush main body 4 of the cleaning tool 40A is placed in the nozzle portion 202 that holds the chuck coil 101 while rotating.
1 enters while rotating. The brush main body 41 of the cleaning tool 40B enters into another chuck spring 101 (not shown).

(7) When the brush body 41 enters the nozzle portion 202 in the chuck coil 101, the gear holder 36 and the roller 43 are disengaged, and the load coil spring 47 causes the rotating arm 44 to move horizontally. The brush main body 41 is urged in the direction to rotate in the horizontal direction about the screw shaft 32, and the brush main body 41 slides in pressure contact with the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle portion 202.

(8) The brush body 41 has the nozzle portion 20.
While slidingly contacting the inner peripheral surface of No. 2 while rotating, it rises to a predetermined position inside the nozzle portion 202 in this state.

(9) The brush body 41 has the nozzle portion 20.
The position sensor 48 is provided at a position where it rises to the above-mentioned end in the nozzle portion 202 when the inside of 2 is raised to a predetermined position.
Works. As a result, the nozzle portion 202 is cleaned from the tip to the back. When the position sensor 48 operates, after the operation, the motor 35 with a reducer temporarily stops and then reverse rotation is started.

(10) Since the screw shaft 32 starts to rotate in the reverse direction due to the reverse rotation of the speed reducer motor 35, the gear case 36 descends and the brush main body 41 moves to the chuck coil 101.
It is pulled out from the nozzle portion 202 inside. During this time, the nozzle portion 202 is cleaned.

(11) When the gear case 36 moves down to the home position, a position sensor (not shown) operates,
The chuck coil 101 is stopped together with the speed reducer motor 35.

(12) After that, the chuck coil 101 is normally rotated, and the motor 35 with a reducer is stopped.
The torch body portion of the welding torch 200 descends from the first predetermined position to the chuck coil 101 side, engages with the nozzle portion 202 held by the chuck coil 101, and is screwed with the nozzle portion 202. When the nozzle portion 202 and the torch body portion 201 are screwed together (the nozzle portion 20
2 becomes slip-rotated with respect to the chuck spring 101), and the welding torch 200 returns to the first predetermined position. In this state, the nozzle portion 202 is temporarily fixed to the torch body portion 201.

(13) Next, according to a command from the welding robot, the chuck coil 105 for tightening the nozzle is rotated in the direction of tightening the nozzle portion 202. The nozzle portion 202 is pushed into the chuck coil 105 for tightening the nozzle after moving to a position immediately above the chuck coil 105 for tightening the nozzle (the second predetermined position).

(14) Like the chuck coil 101, the inner diameter of the nozzle tightening chuck coil 105 has a size such that it is loosely in contact with the nozzle portion 202, and since it is left-handed, the nozzle portion 202. Is inserted into the chuck coil 105, the nozzle portion 20
The nozzle portion 202 is wound around the nozzle 2 and rotated. By this rotation, the nozzle portion 202 and the torch main body portion of the welding torch 200 are tightly screwed together.

(15) Nozzle portion 202 and welding torch 2
When the torch body of No. 00 is tightly screwed, the chuck coil 105 for tightening the nozzle is rotated in the opposite direction to the above by the command of the welding robot, and the chuck spring 105 is unwound around the nozzle 202.

Subsequently, the welding torch 200 is returned to the second predetermined position, and then the rotation of the chuck coil 105 is stopped by a command from the welding robot.

With the above operation, the cleaning work of the nozzle portion 202 of the welding torch 202 is completed, and the process proceeds to the next obscene work.

As described above, in this embodiment, the brush main body 4
When 1 enters the nozzle portion 202, the load coil spring 47 elastically urges the nozzle portion 202 in the radial direction. Therefore, even if the brush main body 41 is worn, the brush main body 41 will not be worn until it is extremely worn. There is no risk that the cleaning work will be disabled because it will surely come in pressure contact with the inner peripheral surface.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a cylinder device 51 is used as an elevating mechanism, and the brush holder 5 is attached to the end of the rod 51B of the cylinder device 51.
2 is fixed coaxially, a roller holder 53 that constitutes a guide mechanism is attached, and a cylinder body 51A of the cylinder device is connected to a vertical guide plate 54 so as to be tiltable by a shaft 55, and a load spring 57 is used. Guide plate 54
It is urged so that it is pulled to the rod 5 of the guide plate 54.
The 1B end side is biased to the tapered surface 54A. The brush holder 52 has a toothbrush-shaped brush main body 56.

In this embodiment, the nozzle portion 202 is rotated, and the brush main body 5 is placed in the rotating nozzle portion 202.
Enter 6. When the brush main body 56 rises and enters the nozzle portion 202, the roller 53A moves toward the tapered surface 54.
When the brush main body 56 is not in contact with A,
It slides in pressure contact with the inner surface.

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which a shaft-shaped brush holder 63 consisting of divided brush holders 62A and 62B having toothbrush-shaped brush main bodies 61A and 61B respectively at one end is provided. Have The lower ends of the split brush holders 62A and 62B are connected to a connecting part 71 provided at the upper end of the lifting / rotating shaft 70 by a pin so as to be tiltable. A large-diameter portion 63A having a predetermined axial length is formed on the upper end side of the brush holder 63.
As shown in FIG. 6, recesses 64A and 64B are provided in the large diameter portion 63A of A and 62B so as to face each other, and the compression coil spring 65 is loaded in the space defined by the recesses 64A and 64B. It is stored in the state. One end of the compression coil spring 65 engages with the step portion 66A of the recess 64A, and the other end of the compression coil spring 65 has the step portion 6 of the recess 64B.
6B is engaged. The steps 66A and 66B face each other in the radial direction of the brush holder 63.

A guide frame 72 has an upper bearing 73 and a lower bearing 74. The lower bearing 74 receives the elevating shaft 70, and the upper bearing 73 receives the large diameter portion 63A of the brush holder 63.

In this embodiment, since the large diameter portion 63A of the brush holder 63 is fitted in the upper bearing 73 before the cleaning is started, the recesses 64A, 6 of the divided brush holders 62A, 62B are inserted.
4B is in a position where they are completely opposed to each other,
Is moved by a predetermined distance, the large diameter 63A comes out of the upper bearing 73, and the recesses 64A and 64B are relatively displaced by the action of the compression coil spring 65, as shown in the drawing, and the brush main body 61A. , 61B is the nozzle part 2
The inner peripheral surface of 02 is slidably contacted in a pressure contact manner.

Is receiving

In this embodiment, the cleaning efficiency can be improved by rotating the nozzle portion 202 and rotating the elevating / rotating shaft 70 in the opposite direction to the nozzle portion 202.

In each of the embodiments, a roller mechanism is provided so that the brush holder always enters the nozzle portion before and after cleaning the inner surface of the nozzle portion.

However, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the upper end side in the drawing of the rotary brush is tapered, and the brush shaft is inclined by the elastic bias and enters the nozzle portion.
In the nozzle portion, the elastic member may be pushed back in a direction opposite to the direction of the elastic bias, and the non-tip portion may be elastically pressed against the inner surface of the nozzle portion. With this configuration,
The lock mechanism composed of the guide groove 36A and the roller 43 can be omitted.

Similarly in the other embodiments, the lock mechanism can be omitted by forming the upper end side of the brush main body into a tapered shape.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, the brush is elastically biased toward the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle and is locked so as not to be displaceable when not cleaning. When it is inserted into the inside, this lock is released, and it is possible to displace toward the inner surface of the nozzle by elastic urging, so it is possible to reliably prevent cleaning failure due to abrasion of the brush main body and improve reliability. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an essential part of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an essential part of the third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a welding torch.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Base 20 Fixed Frame 21 Horizontal Base of Fixed Frame 31 Screw Nut 32 Screw Shaft 33, 34A, 34B Spur Gear 35 Motor 36 Gear Case 36A Guide Groove 40A Cleaning Tool (Rotating Brush) 41 Brush Main Body 42A Brush Shaft 43 Cam 44 Rotating Arm 46 Roll 47 Load Coil Spring 48 Position Sensor 51 Cylinder Device 53A Roller 54 Guide Plate 54A Tapered Surface 56 Brush Main Body 62A, 62B Split Brush Holder 65 Coil Spring 70 Elevating Rotating Shaft 72 Guide Frame

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A brush holder for holding a rotating brush, an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering the brush holder, a brush rotating mechanism for rotating the rotating brush, and an elastic biasing of the brush main body of the rotating brush in a direction different from the ascending and descending direction. A welding torch nozzle cleaning device for a consumable electrode type welding device, wherein the rotating brush is a brush for cleaning the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle portion of the welding torch. 2. A brush holder for holding a brush, an elevating mechanism for elevating the brush holder, an urging mechanism for elastically urging the brush main body in a direction different from the ascending and descending direction, and a nozzle removed from the welding torch. A welding torch nozzle cleaning device for a consumable electrode type welding device, comprising a mechanism for rotating a portion, wherein the brush is a brush for cleaning an inner peripheral surface of a nozzle portion of the welding torch. 3. A brush holder for holding a rotating brush, an elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering the brush holder, a brush rotating mechanism for rotating the rotating brush, and an elastic biasing of the brush main body of the rotating brush in a direction different from the ascending and descending direction. Welding of a consumable electrode type welding apparatus, characterized in that the rotating brush is a brush for cleaning the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle portion of the welding torch. Torch nozzle cleaning device.