JPH09206641A - Automatic coating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit the reduction of the number of operation programs to be preliminarily stored even if articles to be coated have various shapes and to reduce the labor required in teaching and required memory capacity. SOLUTION: In an automatic coating apparatus equipped with a numerical value control type coating robot (a) and the control unit (b) thereof, an input means (c) inputting data of an article to be coated as a plurality of characteristic quantities and a conversion means (d) converting a plurality of the inputted characteristic quantities to operation variables to supply them to the control unit (b) are provided and the control unit (b) has an operation condition parameter selection means (e) extracting a combination of operation condition parameters from a plurality of stored operation condition parameters on the basis of the supplied operation variables, an operation/setting means (f) performing the operation of a teaching point and the setting of a coating path on the basis of the extracted operation condition parameters and a control means (g) executing the control of the operation of the coating robot (a) according to the operation/setting result and a preset operation program.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic coating apparatus using a coating robot, and more particularly to an automatic coating apparatus suitable for coating work in which the shape, size, etc. of an object to be coated are various.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the case where automatic coating is performed on a wide variety of objects to be coated using a coating robot, teaching with a general teaching playback method for each type not only increases the number of operation programs. , Teaching time will be enormous.

As a method of shortening such teaching time, conventionally, various kinds of objects to be coated having different shapes are classified into those having similar shapes, and the height of the object to be coated and the zigzag of the coating gun are classified according to the classification. A basic program in which only the number of times of running is left as an uncertain factor is stored, the shape of the object to be coated is detected before it is transported to the coating position, and the object to be coated is detected based on the detection result. A robot coating apparatus has been proposed in which the size (height) of an object is recognized to determine the number of repetitions of zigzag running and the basic program is determined (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-292845).

[0004]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional proposals, a plurality of preset basic programs and some of the uncertain factors such as the number of times the paint pass is repeated in each of the basic programs are automatically determined. Depending on the setting operation, a wide variety of objects to be coated are supported, but teaching is required for each of a plurality of basic programs. The number of operation programs and the teaching time to be stored depend on the general teaching playback method. Although it is less than the teaching, a considerable number of basic programs and their teaching time are required especially when the shapes and packing of objects to be coated are wide.

The object of the present invention is to reduce the amount of memory of operation programs and teaching points even if the shape of the object to be coated is wide, reducing the labor required for teaching and at the same time the required memory in the robot controller. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic coating device capable of reducing the volume and performing accurate coating according to the shape of the object to be coated.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the automatic coating apparatus of the present invention comprises a numerical control type coating robot a and its control apparatus b as shown in the basic conceptual diagram of FIG. In the provided automatic coating device, input means c for inputting information of the object to be coated as a plurality of feature amounts,
The control device b is provided with a conversion unit d that converts the input plurality of feature quantities into a robot motion variable and outputs the same to the control device b. An operating condition parameter selecting means e for storing parameters and extracting a combination of operating condition parameters from the stored contents based on the operating variables supplied through the converting means d, and teaching point calculation and painting based on the extracted operating condition parameters. It is characterized by having a calculation / setting means f for setting a path and a control means g for controlling the operation of the coating robot a according to the calculation / setting result and a preset operation program.

In the present invention, the information of the object to be coated is the unevenness type, the three-dimensional shape classification, the size, etc. of the object to be coated, and a concrete mode of the input means c is a switch provided on the operation panel surface. Alternatively, the case of using a keyboard can be mentioned.

Further, as a concrete mode as the conversion means d in the present invention, a programmable controller or an F
A personal computer etc. can be mentioned. Then, the operating condition parameter selecting means e in the control device b of the present invention,
The setting means f and the control means g are specifically realized by a program stored in a storage means in a control device b mainly composed of a computer.

<Operation> Information such as the shape and size of the object to be coated is input from the input means c as a combination of a plurality of characteristic amounts. In the conversion means d, the input plurality of feature quantities are converted into motion variables of the robot, for example, according to the initial allocation, and then supplied to the control device b.

On the other hand, in the control device b, in the operating condition parameter selecting means e, the operating condition of the coating robot a, for example, the number of coating passes, corresponding to the operating variable, that is, the combination of the feature amount of the object to be coated , Coating order, spray target position, spray distance, coating gun angle, coating gun moving speed, coating gun moving stroke, coating equipment conditions, etc. are stored as a master table and the like, and according to the operating variables supplied through the conversion means d, A combination of parameters for each of these operating conditions is extracted.

Based on the combination of the operating condition parameters extracted according to the combination of the characteristic amounts of the object to be coated in this way, the calculation / setting means f has the object to be coated before the start of each coating operation. The teaching points required for the painting operation on the object and the painting path are set, and the result of the computation / setting is used for the control of the robot a by the control means g.

According to the present invention, various operating condition parameters necessary for controlling the operation of the coating robot a are automatically extracted based on the combination of a plurality of characteristic amounts of the object to be coated by the input means c, and the extraction thereof. Since the teaching point calculation and the paint path setting are automatically performed according to the result, the number of basic operation programs that should be stored in advance is small. It is not necessary to store in advance a large number of teaching points and painting paths that need to be set based on the shape and size of the object.

[0013]

FIG. 2 is an external view showing a device configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The coating robot 1 is a so-called numerical control type robot capable of numerical teaching in a robot language AS. An airless coating device 3 is connected to the coating gun 2 mounted on the coating robot 1.
Further, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 4 is a control device for the coating robot 1, and reference numerals 5 and 6 are an operation variable conversion device and an input device, respectively.

The object W to be coated in this example is a building material for a house, and as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a planar object (flat object) or an L-shaped three-dimensional object (role) Objects, etc., and as illustrated in FIG. 2C, a plurality of these are stacked on the coating tray T, and the coating line 7
Is transported to the coating stage 8. Further, the packing style of the article W to be coated on the coating tray T is uniquely determined according to the type, size, etc. of the article W to be coated according to a certain rule.

A typical operation path of the coating gun 2 by the coating robot 1 is determined according to the shape of the article W to be coated, as shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B). The posture of the coating gun 2 is set variously for the coating object W for each coating pass, and coating is performed while the opening and closing operation of the coating gun 2 is performed.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing the system configuration of the embodiment of the present invention. A motion variable conversion device 5 is connected to the control device 4 of the coating robot 1 described above, and an input device 6 is connected to the motion variable conversion device 5.

Since the input device 6 inputs information such as the shape and size of the object W to be coated as a combination of a plurality of characteristic amounts, as shown in the front view of the main part of the operation panel surface in FIG. 6 (A). Is a push-button type input device, and as a button for inputting the feature amount of the object W to be coated, the product type setting button group 61 set according to the surface unevenness of the object W to be coated and the object W to be coated are flat objects. 3D shape setting button group 6 for setting whether it is a character or a character, and a more detailed shape or the like among them.
2. A coating area setting button group 63 for setting the loading range on the coating tray T is provided.

As an example of the method of inputting the characteristic amount by the input device 6, as shown in FIG. 6B, a case where a plurality of flat objects W to be coated are stacked on the coating tray T is taken as an example. Then, the push button to be operated is shown by hatching in FIG. That is, A is selected by the product type setting button group 61 according to the unevenness of the object W to be coated.
Depending on the shape of the three-dimensional shape setting button group 62
1, and the coating area setting button group 63 sets the X direction to the Y direction and the Y directions I to III according to the stacking range. The input of the characteristic amount by the input device 6 is performed, for example, when the articles W to be coated are loaded on the coating tray T.

The operation variable conversion device 5 is actually constituted by an FA personal computer or a programmable controller, and as shown in [Table 1], each operation variable is assigned corresponding to the combination of the above-mentioned respective characteristic amounts. Based on the table, the combination of feature quantities input from the input device 6 is converted into a motion variable and output to the robot control device 4.

[0020]

[Table 1]

The robot controller 4 stores a plurality of operating condition parameter storage units 4 as schematically shown in FIG.
1 and an operation condition parameter selection program 42 that extracts a combination of a plurality of operation condition parameters from the stored contents of the storage unit 41 according to the operation variable supplied from the operation variable conversion device 5, and the operation condition parameter selection program 42 extracted by this. Using the combination of operating condition parameters, the teaching point calculation / painting path setting program 43 for calculating the coordinates of all the teaching points necessary for various painting operations of the painting robot 1 and setting the painting path, and the calculation / setting by this The teaching point and painting path data thus obtained are adopted as concrete data of each teaching point and painting path in the basic movement path illustrated in FIG. 4, and the operation program 44 for driving and controlling the painting robot 1 is stored. ing.

The storage unit 41, which stores a plurality of operating condition parameters, corresponds to the operating variables and is therefore substantially coated, as illustrated in [Table 2], [Table 3] and [Table 4]. Corresponding to a combination of a plurality of feature amounts of the object W, the work height, the roll angle and pitch angle of the coating gun 2, the aim point interval,
A plurality of operating condition parameters such as the feed pitch, the target distance, the original pressure of the airless coating device 3, the coating speed, and the number of coating passes in the X direction stroke and the Y direction according to the coating area are set as variables in advance. It is set. In addition, in the case of objects to be coated, operating condition parameters such as roll angle, pitch angle, aiming position, aiming distance, etc. are set individually for each aiming direction of the short side, the ridgeline, and the longitudinal direction. It

[0023]

[Table 2]

[0024]

[Table 3]

[0025]

[Table 4]

Here, the operating condition parameters shown in [Table 2] and [Table 3] will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view (A) and a schematic cross-sectional view (B) in the tray longitudinal direction showing a state in which flat objects W to be coated are stacked on the coating tray T, and FIG. Is a schematic cross-sectional view (A) and a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view (B) of the tray showing a state in which the objects W to be coated are stacked on the coating tray T.
It is.

The work height is the distance from the upper surface of the tray T on the surface of the work when the work W is loaded on the coating tray T, and the roll angle is the cross-section of the tray in the lateral direction. The angle (projection angle) formed by the normal of the surface of the object W and the aim of the coating gun 2, and the pitch angle is the normal of the surface of the object W to be coated and the aim of the coating gun 2 in the tray longitudinal section. Is the angle (projection angle) formed by and. The target point distance is the distance between the target points of the coating gun 2 on the surface of the object W to be coated, and the feed pitch is the coating gun 2 on the surface of the object W to be coated.
The center distance and the target distance of the target point interval are the distance between the tip of the coating gun 2 and the target point on the surface of the object W to be coated. Further, the source pressure setting is the source pressure of the pump used in the airless coating device 3, and the coating speed is the moving speed of the coating gun 2 during the coating operation.

Operating condition parameter selection program 42
Is to compare the operation variables supplied from the operation variable conversion device 5 with the stored contents of the storage unit 41 as described above, and to extract a combination of applicable operation condition parameters.

Teaching point calculation / painting path setting program 43
Then, from the combination of the operation condition parameters thus extracted, the calculation of all the teaching points and the setting of the painting path are performed as follows.

The data necessary for various painting operations of the robot are the coordinates of all the teaching points that move, that is, the six coordinates of the position (X, Y, Z) and posture (O, A, T) of the painting gun in the robot coordinate system. , The number of painting passes, the complementary operation type between teaching points, ie (straight line, arc, each axis), operation speed,
The conditions of the painting equipment during each complementary operation (opening / closing of painting gun, pump pressure), etc.

In this embodiment, the complementary motion is defined as a straight line-repetition of each axis and the motion program 44 is defined.
Is created, other data is created based on the combination of operating condition parameters, and the operating program 44 is created.
Set inside. In the numerical control type robot, the teaching point can be designated by coordinates, and the relative coordinates of the coating robot 1 and the coating tray T, the relative coordinates of the coating tray T and the object W to be coated, and the object W to be coated. If the relative coordinates of the coating gun 2 are known, all teaching points can be set by the coordinate offset function and the coordinate rotation function of the teaching points. Therefore, it is possible to operate all necessary data based on the combination of operating condition parameters to operate.

In this way, after the data concerning the teaching points and the painting path for specifically executing the operation program 44 are calculated and set, the control device 4 controls the painting robot 1 according to the embodied operation program 44. Drive control. The operation start instruction is supplied from the operation variable conversion device 5 to the control device 4 at the same time as the operation variable, and the control device 4 receives these and performs the above-mentioned processes and then controls the drive of the coating robot 1. To start. In addition, such extraction of operating condition parameters, calculation of teaching points, and setting of painting path are executed each time an operating variable is supplied. Therefore, after completing one coating operation, the control device 4 waits for the next input of operation variables without storing the specific data of the teaching point and the coating path used for the operation.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, by inputting the combination of the characteristic quantities of the object to be coated, the input contents are converted into the operation variables and the operation condition parameters of the coating robot are changed. Combinations are automatically extracted, and the teaching points and painting paths required for painting operation are automatically calculated and set based on the extracted combinations of operating condition parameters, and preset in the robot controller. Since the basic operation program stored in the robot controller is embodied and provided for the control of the painting robot, the basic operation program stored in the robot controller can be extremely small, and the teaching labor can be greatly reduced. it can. In addition, the teaching can be corrected simply by changing the operating condition parameter. Moreover, since all the teaching points and the coating paths are set according to the feature amount such as the shape and size of the object to be coated, it is possible to perform accurate coating corresponding to the shape and size of the object to be coated.

Further, since it is not necessary to store all the teaching points in the painting operation, there is an advantage that the memory capacity of the robot controller can be small in combination with the fact that the memory number of the basic operation program can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic conceptual diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing a device configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of examples (A) and (B) of the shape of the article to be coated W and an example (C) of the packing appearance on the coating tray T in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a typical operation path of the coating gun 2 for a flat object (A) and an accessory (B) by the coating robot 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a main part of an operation panel surface of the input device 6 according to the embodiment of the present invention (A) and an explanatory view (B) for explaining an input method by the input device 6;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of operating condition parameters in the embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic cross-sectional view (A) of the tray in the transverse direction showing the flat object W to be coated on the coating tray T and the same. Longitudinal schematic sectional view (B)

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of operating condition parameters in the embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic cross-sectional view (A) of the tray in the transverse direction showing a state in which the objects W to be coated are stacked on the coating tray T; Longitudinal schematic sectional view (B)

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 coating robot 2 coating gun 3 airless coating device 4 robot controller 41 operating condition parameter storage unit 42 operating condition parameter selection program 43 teaching point calculation / painting path setting program 44 operating program 5 operating variable converter 6 input device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic painting apparatus equipped with a numerically controlled painting robot and its control device, wherein input means for inputting information of an object to be coated as a plurality of characteristic quantities, and the inputted plurality of characteristic quantities. Is provided with a conversion means for converting the robot motion variable into the robot operation variable and outputting the robot motion variable
The control device stores a plurality of operating condition parameters corresponding to the combination of the characteristic amounts of the objects to be coated, and extracts the operating condition parameter combinations from the stored contents based on the operating variables supplied through the converting means. Selection means, calculation / setting means for performing teaching point calculation and paint path setting based on the extracted operation condition parameters, and operation control of the coating robot according to the calculation / setting result and a preset operation program An automatic coating device having a control means.