JPH09323229A - Engine assembling method and device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an assembling method that automates the assembling of a crankshaft to an engine block, and its device. SOLUTION: This assembling device is equipped with a conveyor unit 20, centering a crankshaft 2 and its metal installing shaft part 3 with a reference block 31 and clamping them, a metal supply unit 50 fitting a pair of thrust metals 1 into both sides of the metal installing shaft 3 of the crankshaft 2 at the regular position, and an engine supporting unit 70 positioning and supporting an engine block 5 in which the crankshaft 2 installed with the paired thrust metals are assembled, respectively. Subsequently, the engine block 5 is directly positioned by a second positioning means 71 of this engine supporting unit 70, and the crankshaft 2 being integrated with the thrust metals is assembled in the engine block 5 in a state that positioning for both the units is carried out by a first positioning means 36 of the conveyor unit 20 and a third positioning means 73 of the engine supporting unit 70.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an assembling method and an assembling apparatus in an assembling process of an engine block and a crankshaft in an automobile engine manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A crankshaft is mounted on an engine block of an automobile engine via a pair of thrust metals. The thrust metal is a thin semi-circular metal flat plate as shown in FIG. 18, and has an engine entrainment prevention protrusion 1'at one end. As shown in FIG. 19, for example, the thrust metal 1 is fitted and inserted into both ends of the metal mounting shaft portion 3 of the crankshaft 2, and is mounted in surface contact with the crank side surfaces 4 on both sides of the metal mounting shaft portion 3. The engine block 5 shown by the chain line in FIG. 19 is upside down, and the crankshaft 2 is attached to the semicircular arc portion of the oil pan mounting surface that is the upper surface of the engine block 5.

The thrust metal 1 is incorporated into the engine block 5 in a narrow gap of the crankshaft 2 to enhance the mounting accuracy of the crankshaft 2. It is difficult to automatically and accurately install such thrust metal 1 in the engine block 5 in the narrow gap of the crankshaft 2. Therefore, the crankshaft 2 is automatically assembled to the engine block 5, and then the thrust metal 1 is assembled by a worker.

[0004]

As described above, since the thrust metal is manually assembled when the crankshaft is assembled to the engine block, the work efficiency of the engine assembly is poor, and the engine assembly sequence is It was difficult to automate the process. Further, the manual assembling of the thrust metal has a problem in that the forgetting to attach the thrust metal causes a problem in reliability, and there is also a problem that the system for preventing the forgetting to attach the thrust metal and the checking system are troublesome.

An object of the present invention is to provide an assembling method and an assembling apparatus for automatically assembling a crankshaft to an engine block.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The technical means of the method of the present invention that achieves the above object is to provide a crankshaft having a metal mounting shaft portion in which a pair of semi-circular thrust metal members are fitted at both ends thereof on an engine block. In the assembling method, the metal holder is formed by inserting both ends of a pair of thrust metals fitted into both ends of the metal mounting shaft portion of the crankshaft between the crank side surfaces at both ends of the metal mounting shaft portion. It is to assemble the crankshaft with the thrust metal in the engine block while pressing it against the side of the crank and holding it.

That is, by holding a pair of thrust metals on the metal mounting shaft portion of the crankshaft with the metal holder, the thrust metal can be integrated with the crankshaft into the engine block. Thrust metal is automatically installed at the same time as the crankshaft.

A device of the present invention for automatically assembling a crankshaft and a thrust metal into such an engine block is a crankshaft having a metal mounting shaft portion into which a pair of semi-circular thrust metals are fitted and inserted at both ends. For mounting a pair of thrust metals on the metal mounting shaft part by assembling the engine blocks upside down from above, and includes the following transport unit, metal supply unit, and engine support unit. .

That is, in the above-mentioned transport unit, a reference block for axially positioning the crankshaft with the metal mounting shaft portion as a reference, and a reference block attached to this reference block positions the metal mounting shaft portion. Sometimes a metal holder that forms a gap into which the ends of the thrust metal can be inserted between the both ends of the metal mounting shaft part and the crank side surface, and both ends of the crankshaft are approached from the axial direction and the crankshaft And a pair of first positioning means installed downward at a fixed position on the axial line extension of the crankshaft, and is supported by the support tool. The crankshaft is conveyed in a fixed direction.

Further, the metal supply unit has an open end from below in a gap between the metal holder and the crank side surfaces of both ends of the metal mounting shaft portion of the crankshaft conveyed in a horizontal position at a predetermined position by the transfer unit. It has a swing arm that inserts both ends of a pair of thrust metals with their sides facing upward and separates from the thrust metal when the thrust metal is held by the metal mounting shaft portion by the metal holder.

Further, the engine support unit positions the engine block by fitting it into a plurality of fixed positions on the upper surface of the engine block, which are positioned and held upside down at a fixed position on the side of the metal supply unit, from directly above. A second positioning means, and an engine support unit having a pair of third positioning means for determining a relative position between the transport unit and the crankshaft supported by the transport unit by fitting with the pair of first positioning means of the transport unit. Prepare

In the above assembling apparatus of the present invention, the crankshaft in which the pair of thrust metals are held by the metal mounting shaft portion is conveyed in the horizontal position to the position right above the engine support unit by the conveying unit and is lowered. With the first positioning means of (1) fitted to the third positioning means of the engine supporting unit to position the engine block positioned by the second positioning means of the engine supporting unit and the crankshaft of the transport unit in the axial direction, Assemble the crankshaft and thrust metal to the engine block.

Here, each positioning means of the transport unit and the engine support unit is a positioning pin such as a locate pin and a positioning hole into which the pin is fitted. Further, the reference block of the transport unit positions the crankshaft in the transport unit with high accuracy in the axial direction, and the first positioning means of the transport unit and the third positioning means of the engine support unit of the transport unit of the transport unit with respect to the engine support unit. The crankshaft supported by the transport unit is positioned with high accuracy with respect to the engine support unit. Furthermore, by positioning the engine block on the engine support unit with high accuracy by the second positioning means, it is possible to perform high-precision positioning when assembling the crankshaft supported by the transport unit and the engine block supported by the engine support unit. hand,
A pair of thrust metals previously assembled and held on the crankshaft are automatically assembled on the engine flock together with the crankshaft.

The metal holder of the carrying unit in the apparatus of the present invention described above is an expanding / contracting air cylinder having piston rods on both side surfaces for pressing both end portions of a pair of thrust metals on the crank side surfaces at both ends of the metal mounting shaft portion of the crankshaft. However, it is desirable because the operation is accurate and stable.

Further, the metal supply unit in the apparatus of the present invention performs continuous automatic supply of thrust metal, and vertically holds a pair of thrust metals vertically at the same height for holding them in a multi-tiered manner. The arranged magazines, a pair of cutting claws that are arranged at the lower ends of the pair of magazines so as to be horizontally reciprocally movable, and horizontally cut the bottommost thrust metal of each magazine one by one, and a pair of cutting claws. The lower surface of the pair of horizontal thrust metals cut out from the above is vacuum-sucked, and the pair of the thrust metal thus sucked is swung downward by 90 ° so as to approach a predetermined interval in the vertical posture, and then the pair of thrust metals is thrust. A pair of swinging arms that vertically swing the metal 90 ° upward with both open ends of the semi-circular thrust metal at a predetermined interval. Those with is desirable.

In this metal supply unit, a pair of thrust metals supported by the swing arms when the pair of swing arms are turned upward by 90 ° are fitted into both ends of the metal mounting shaft portion of the crankshaft, When the pair of inserted thrust metals is held by the metal holder of the transport unit, the swing arm stops vacuum suction of the thrust metal and pivots downward to separate from the thrust metal.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, FIG. 1 shows an overall outline of the assembling apparatus of the present invention. The crankshaft 2 is supported by the transport unit 20 in a state of being horizontally horizontal in the axial direction, and is directly above a predetermined take-out position Pa. To the horizontal movement position Pb, and from this position Pb, the metal supply position Pc, the pre-assembly position Pd
Is horizontally fed in the axial direction to and descends from the pre-assembly position Pd to the assembly position Pe immediately below.

At the take-out position Pa, the crankshaft 2 is positioned on the pallet 11, for example.
Will be brought in. The metal supply unit 5 is placed at the metal supply position Pc where the crankshaft 2 moves in a horizontal posture.
0 is installed, and when the crankshaft 2 moves to this position Pc, a pair of thrust metals 1 are attached to the metal mounting shaft portion 3.
Is automatically inserted from below. The thrust metal 1 inserted in the crankshaft 2 is held on the metal mounting shaft portion 3 by a metal holder 40 described later as shown in FIG.
As it is, it is sent integrally to the crankshaft 2 to the pre-assembly position Pd and then moves to the assembly position Pe. An engine support unit 70 for positioning and holding the engine block 5 upside down is installed at the assembly position Pe, and the crankshaft 2 descending from directly above the engine block 5 at the assembly position Pe is integrated with the thrust metal 1. Will be automatically assembled. Thus, the method of the present invention is a method of holding the thrust metal 1 on the crankshaft 2 and assembling it to the engine block 5 at the same time as the crankshaft 2.

The transport unit 20 includes a reference block 31 for positioning the supporting crankshaft 2 in the axial direction,
A pair of first positioning means 36 for positioning relative to the engine support unit 70 are provided. On the other hand, the engine support unit 70 is transferred to the engine support unit 70 by fitting the second positioning means 71 for directly positioning the supporting engine block 5 and the first positioning means 36 of the transfer unit 20. It has a third positioning means 72 for positioning the unit 20 and for positioning the crankshaft 2. Each of these positioning means 36, 7
Nos. 1 and 72 correspond to each other when the crankshaft 2 is assembled to the engine block 5 at the assembling position Pe, and the crankshaft 2 is positioned to the engine block 5 with high accuracy, The pair of thrust metals 1 held in advance on the shaft 2 is securely inserted into the narrow gap with the engine block 5.

Next, the construction and operation of the transport unit 20, the metal supply unit 50, and the engine support unit 70 will be described in order.

The carrying unit 20 vertically moves and moves horizontally in the axial direction while the crankshaft 2 at the take-out position Pa is positioned and supported in the axial direction in a horizontal posture, and is assembled with the horizontal moving position Pb. A horizontal slide 21 that horizontally reciprocates between the front position Pd and a horizontal slide 2
1 has a horizontal elevating table 22 supported by a guide rod 28 so as to be vertically movable. Horizontal slide 21
Is supported by a horizontal fixed rail 23 so as to be horizontally movable,
An elevating table 22 is installed below the horizontal slide 21. A reference block 31 for positioning the crankshaft 2 and a pair of left and right support members 33 for clamping and supporting the crankshaft 2 in the axial direction are provided on the lower surface of the lifting table 22.
The pair of first positioning means 36 described above is installed. The first positioning means 36 is, for example, a locate pin, and is hereinafter referred to as the first positioning pin 36.

On the horizontal slide 21 of the transfer unit 20, a vertical movement cylinder 24 for vertically moving the lifting table 22,
For example, a servo motor 25 that horizontally moves the horizontal slide 21 is installed. The rack gear 26 fixed to the rotation shaft of the servomotor 25 meshes with the pinion gear rail 27 fixed horizontally along the fixed rail 23, and the rack gear 26 is reciprocally rotated by the servomotor 25, whereby the horizontal slide 21 is lifted. Horizontally reciprocates with 22. A specific example of the lift 22 is shown in FIG.

The pair of left and right support members 33 are, for example, conical chuck pins projecting inside the lower end portions of a pair of chuck slides 34 movably installed on the lower surfaces of both ends of the lift table 22. As the pair of supporting members 33 move forward in the direction of approaching each other, they are fitted into the mounting holes 7 formed at the centers of both end surfaces of the crankshaft 2 and support the crankshaft 2 in a horizontal posture. Each chuck slide 34 independently moves back and forth by a front and rear moving cylinder 35 fixed to the lower surfaces of both ends of the lifting table 22. Behind the retracted position of the pair of chuck slides 34, the pair of first positioning pins 3
6 are arranged. The first positioning pin 36 is used for the lifting table 22.
It is fixed to the lower surface of both ends. The pair of left and right supports 33 and the first positioning pin 36 are arranged side by side on the axis of the crankshaft 2 supported by the supports 33. The reference block 31 positions the crankshaft 2 before the pair of left and right support members 33 advance and chuck the crankshaft 2.

The reference block 31 is fixed to the lift table 22 at a fixed position just above the metal mounting shaft portion 3 of the crankshaft 2 when the support 33 supports the crankshaft 2. A pair of a metal holder 40 and a thin plate-shaped reference plate 32 as shown in FIG. 3 are fixed to both sides of the reference block 31 in the front-rear direction of FIG. The metal holder 40 is for temporarily holding the pair of thrust metals 1 on the metal mounting shaft portion 3, and the reference plates 32 are both ends of the pair of thrust metals 1 fitted into the metal mounting shaft portion 3 from below. It determines the height position of the, and its contents will be described later.

When the transport unit 20 is in the horizontal movement position Pb and the crankshaft 2 is loaded into the take-out position Pa directly below it, the lift table 22 of the transport unit 20 is lowered. At this time, the pair of supporting members 33 are in the retracted and open position, and when the lifting platform 22 approaches the crankshaft 2, the reference block 31 is first inserted into the metal mounting shaft portion 3 of the crankshaft 2. As shown in FIG.
The lowered reference block 31 comes into contact with the upper end of the metal mounting shaft portion 3 and contacts the crank side surfaces 4 at both ends of the metal mounting shaft portion 3.
Axial positioning is performed with high accuracy. Immediately after this positioning, the pair of support members 33 move forward to clamp the crankshaft 2. By this clamp, the crankshaft 2 is positioned and held in the horizontal position on the lift table 22, and is lifted from the pallet 11 to the horizontal movement position Pb by the lift of the lift table 22.

When the crankshaft 2 axially positioned by the transfer unit 20 moves to the metal supply position Pc, the horizontal movement of the transfer unit 20 is temporarily stopped and the metal supply unit 50 operates to cause a pair of thrusts. The metal 1 is fitted and inserted from below along the crank side surface 4 of the metal mounting shaft portion 3 of the crankshaft 2.

An embodiment of the metal supply unit 50, which is one element of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10. The metal supply unit 50 shown in the plan view of FIG.
Is a pair of magazines 51 for holding a plurality of thrust metals 1 horizontally and stacked in a multi-stage manner, and a pair of magazines 51.
Horizontal support bases 52 for vertically mounting the same at the same height, a pair of cutting claws 53 for horizontally cutting the bottommost thrust metal 1 of each magazine 51 one by one, and each cutting claw 53.
A pair of swing arms 54 is provided for swinging and swinging the thrust metal 1 cut out in (1).

As shown in FIG. 6, the magazine 51 is formed by stacking the semi-circular thrust metal 1 horizontally with its open ends facing forward. A thrust metal remaining amount detection sensor 55 is installed below the magazine 51. The cutout claw 53 is a plate having a plate thickness similar to that of the thrust metal 1 and is used for the magazine 5
1 and the support base 52 are arranged so as to be movable back and forth in the horizontal direction, and a front and rear movement is controlled by a cutting cylinder 56 fixed to the support base 52. The pair of horizontal thrust metals 1 cut out from the magazine 51 by the pair of cutting claws 53 come into contact with the stoppers 57 at fixed positions in front of the magazine 51 and stop. At this stop position, the upper surface of the central portion of the thrust metal 1 is pressed by the pressing cylinder 59, and the lower surface of the central portion is moved to the swing arm 5.
It is vacuum-adsorbed at the tip portion 54 a of No. 4.

The swing arm 54 is in the form of a strip plate, and has a notch 6 along the arc of the thrust metal 1 at the front end of the tip 54a.
7 is formed, and a vacuum suction hole 61 connected to a vacuum mechanism (not shown) is formed near the center of the notch 67. The pair of swing arms 54 shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
The rotating base end portions 54b, which are in a normal position aligned in a horizontal straight line with the respective tip portions 54a facing outward, and which are close to each other, are fixed to the horizontal rotating shaft 62. A pair of swing arms 54
Each rotation axis 62 of the
∙ Reciprocating rotation control. The arm rotation source 63 causes the pair of swing arms 54 to reciprocally rotate 90 ° in opposite directions in synchronization between the horizontal position shown by the solid line in FIG. 9 and the downward vertical position shown by the chain line in FIG. A pair of the swing arm 54, the rotary shaft 62, and the arm rotation source 63 are attached to the front end portion of the front-rear turning arm 64 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10. The front-rear swivel arm 64 has a substantially central portion rotatably supported by a fixed frame 65 by a pivot 66, and is vertically arranged. The fixed frame 65 swivels the front-rear swivel arm 64 back and forth (left and right in FIG. 8) by 90 degrees. 67 is installed.

The metal supply unit 50 operates as follows. When the pair of swing arms 54 are in the horizontal normal position shown by the solid line in FIG. 4, the pair of thrust metals 1 is cut out from each magazine 51 on the tip 54a thereof. The cut-out thrust metal 1 is stopped at the position where the inner circumference is along the arcuate notch 67 of the tip end portion 54 a of the swing arm 54, and is vacuum-sucked by the vacuum suction hole 61. This vacuum suction is surely performed by the urging of the pressing cylinder 59, and is continued until the thrust metal 1 is fitted into the crankshaft 2. When the pair of swing arms 54 adsorbs the thrust metal 1, the arm rotation source 56 operates and the pair of swing arms 54 rotates 90 ° downward in the direction of the arrow in FIG. It becomes vertical in a state, and the pair of thrust metals 1 face each other in a vertical posture with their open ends facing forward.

When the downward rotation of the pair of swinging arms 54 is completed, the front-rear turning cylinder 67 operates and the rotation of the pair of swinging arms 54 shown in FIGS.
The front-rear turning arm 64 in the vertical position indicated by the solid line is turned upward by 90 ° to the position shown by the chain line in FIG. By this 90 ° upward turning, the pair of thrust metals 1 face each other in a vertical posture with their open ends facing upward. In addition, the front and rear turning arm 64
When 90 ° is swung upward by 90 °, the crankshaft 2 stands by at the metal supply position Pc in front of it, and the pair of thrust metals swung 90 ° upward by the forward / backward swivel arm 64 on the metal mounting shaft portion 3 of the crankshaft 2. 1 is inserted. When the thrust metal 1 is inserted into the crankshaft 2, the front-rear turning arm 64 releases the vacuum suction of the crankshaft 2 and turns 90 ° downward to move to the next thrust metal removal.

Crankshaft 2 at metal supply position Pc
The pair of thrust metals 1 are supplied in the manner shown in FIGS. 11 to 13. As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 13 (A), the pair of thrust metals 1 is rotated by 90 ° upward and backward by the front-reverse swivel arm 64, and the pair of thrust metal 1 is attached to the metal mounting shaft portion 3 of the crankshaft 2.
When the thrust metal 1 is inserted from below, the both ends of the thrust metal 1 facing upward are inserted into the gap g between the crank side surface 4 and the metal holder 40 at both ends of the metal mounting shaft portion 3, and this insertion is facilitated. The size of the gap g is set so that the gap can be achieved. Both ends of the thrust metal 1 inserted into the gap g come into contact with the lower end of the reference plate 32, and the thrust metal 1 is positioned on the metal mounting shaft portion 3. Next, when the metal holder 40 is actuated to temporarily hold both ends of the pair of thrust metals 1, the front-rear turning arm 64 releases the vacuum suction and separates downward from the thrust metal 1.

An embodiment of the metal holder 40 which is one element of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. The metal holders 40 shown in the figure are expansion / contraction air cylinders, which are arranged in pairs on both sides of the metal mounting shaft portion 3. That is, the metal holder 40 has the cylinder chamber 4 formed at the bottom.
A pair of piston members 42 and springs 43
And a pair of piston members 42 are advanced in the opposite direction against the elastic force of the spring 43 by compressed air from an air hole 44 formed in the center of the cylinder chamber 41. The piston member 42 integrally has a piston rod 45 that protrudes from the side wall of the cylinder chamber 41 when moved forward and retracts from the side wall when retracted.

Before the pair of thrust metals 1 are inserted into the metal mounting shaft portion 3, the metal holder 40 is in a normal state in which the piston rod 45 is retracted by the spring 44 as shown in FIG. 13 (A). . In this state, the metal holder 40
When both ends of the pair of thrust metals 1 are inserted into the gaps g on both sides of the pistons from below, the piston members 42 are simultaneously moved forward by compressed air as shown in FIG. 1 is projected toward both end portions of the crankshaft 1 and the both end portions are pressed against the crank side surface 4 to bring the thrust metal 1 into close contact with the crank side surface 4 and maintain that state.

Crankshaft 2 at metal supply position Pc
When a pair of thrust metals 1 are supplied to the crankshaft 2, the crankshaft 2 is horizontally fed to the next pre-assembly position Pd by the transport unit 20 while holding the thrust metal 1,
It descends to the assembly position Pe just below. Prior to this lowering, the engine block 5 is positioned upside down by the engine support unit 70 at the assembly position Pe and stands by, and the lift table 2 of the transport unit 20 is placed from directly above the waiting engine block 5.
2 and the crankshaft 2 descend, and the crankshaft 2 is automatically assembled to the engine block 5 as shown in FIG.

The engine support unit 70 positions the engine block 5 by the second positioning means 71 when the engine block 5 is mounted on the pallet 73 at the assembly position Pe and carried in by the conveyor 74. The second positioning means 71 has mounting holes 76 formed at a plurality of fixed locations on the upper surface of the engine block 5 as shown in FIG. 16, for example.
The pin that is inserted into the pin is hereinafter referred to as the second positioning pin 71. The plurality of second positioning pins 71 are vertically movably installed on the upper part of the pillar 75 on the side of the assembly position Pe.

Assembly position Pe by the second positioning pin 71
The positioning of the engine block 5 in the above is performed for the following reason. Normally, when the engine block 5 is carried into the mounting position Pe, the engine block 5 is positioned by positioning the pallet 73 with the positioning pins or the like at this position. Crankshaft 2 integrated with thrust metal 1
There remains an uncertain factor in precision when automatically assembling the engine to the engine block 5. Therefore, the mounting hole 7 of the engine block 5 that has been carried into the mounting position Pe and positioned by the ordinary technique is used.
The second positioning pin 71 is inserted into 6 to position the engine block 5 itself directly on the engine support unit 70 with high accuracy.

The engine support unit 70 is also provided with a third positioning means 72 for the transport unit 20. The third positioning means 72 is a pair of positioning holes into which the pair of first positioning pins 24 of the transport unit 20 are fitted and is hereinafter referred to as a third positioning hole 72. The pair of third positioning holes 72 are circular holes formed in the upper surface of the upper portion of the support column 75, for example, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the pair of first positioning pins 36 are pins having a substantially rhombic cross-section whose both side surfaces in the axial direction of the crankshaft slide on the inner circumference of the third positioning hole 72. Such a pair of first
A pair of third positioning holes 72 corresponding to the positioning pins 36.
When fitted in, the engine support unit 70 and the transport unit 20 are relatively accurately positioned in the axial direction of the crankshaft.

Therefore, from directly above the engine block 5 which is highly accurately positioned by the second positioning pin 71 of the engine support unit 70 at the assembly position Pe, the crankshaft 2 of the thrust metal integrated with the lift table 22 of the transport unit 20.
To lower the first positioning pin 36 to the third positioning hole 7
When the crankshaft 2 is fitted into the crankshaft 2 and positioned with high precision with respect to the engine support unit 70, both the engine block 5 and the crankshaft 2 are assembled with high precision. As a result, the pair of thrust metals 1 held by the metal mounting shaft portion 3 of the crankshaft 2 are also automatically assembled to the engine block 5 at the same time as the crankshaft 2.

It should be noted that the positioning means in each of the above units may have the pins and holes reversed, or may be a combination of concave and convex steps other than the pins and holes.

[0042]

According to the engine assembling method of the first aspect of the present invention, the crankshaft and the thrust metal are integrally assembled with the engine block at the same time, so that the manual assembling process of the thrust metal alone can be omitted. , It is possible to automate a series of work of engine assembly, improve efficiency,
Labor saving is possible.

According to the engine assembly device of the second aspect, it is ensured that a pair of thrust metals are automatically mounted and held on the crankshaft, and the crankshaft is accurately positioned and incorporated into the engine block. As a result, it is possible to provide an engine assembling device capable of performing automatic assembling of the crankshaft integrated with the thrust metal to the engine block with high reliability and mass productivity.

When the metal holder for holding the pair of thrust metals on both sides of the metal mounting shaft portion of the crankshaft is constituted by the expansion / contraction air cylinder as in the engine assembly apparatus according to the third aspect, the pair of thrust metals are common. The compressed air can be surely held at the same time, and the reliability of the thrust metal assembling operation is improved.

According to the engine assembling apparatus of the fourth aspect, the automatic cutting of the pair of thrust metals and the posture change from the horizontal to the vertical can be accurately and surely performed, and the automatic assembling to the crankshaft is facilitated. Facilitates full automation of a series of assembly of crankshaft and thrust metal to engine block.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an overall outline of an engine mounting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a transport unit in the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 (A) is a partially enlarged front view of a reference block and a crankshaft in the transport unit shown in FIG. 2;
3B is a sectional view taken along the line TT of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a metal supply unit in the apparatus shown in FIG.

5 is a side view of the metal supply unit shown in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged plan view of the metal supply unit shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged plan view of a swing arm in the metal supply unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the metal supply unit shown in FIG. 4 from another perspective.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the metal supply unit shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side view for explaining the operation of the metal supply unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the crankshaft when the thrust metal is mounted.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing the positional relationship between the thrust metal and the metal holder in the state of FIG.

FIG. 13 (A) is a side view including a partial cross section of the thrust metal and the metal holder immediately before the state of FIG.
FIG. 13B is a side view when the thrust metal is held by the metal holder in the state of FIG. 11.

14 is a front view of the engine support unit and the transport unit in the apparatus of FIG. 1 when assembled.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a positioning outline of each positioning means at the time of assembling in FIG.

16 is a partial cross-sectional view of an engine block and positioning means at the time of assembling of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing an arrangement relationship of each positioning means at the time of assembling in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a thrust metal.

19 (A) is a partial side view of a crankshaft assembled to an engine block, and FIG. 19 (B) is a sectional view taken along the line T′-T ′ of FIG. 19 (A).

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Thrust Metal 2 Crank Shaft 3 Metal Mounting Shaft 4 Crank Side 5 Engine Block 20 Transport Unit 31 Reference Block 33 Holding Tool 36 First Positioning Means 40 Metal Holding Tool (Expanding / Reducing Air Cylinder) 50 Metal Supply Unit 51 Magazine 53 Cutting Claw 54 Swing arm 70 Engine support unit 71 Second positioning means 72 Third positioning means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Fumitaka Katsumata, 2 Takara-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (72) Ichiro Mashima, 2 Takara-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Nissan Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for assembling a crankshaft having a metal mounting shaft part, in which a pair of semi-circular thrust metals are fitted and inserted at both ends, to an engine block via the thrust metal, the metal mounting shaft of the crankshaft. The thrust metal that is inserted into both ends of the crank part by pressing the crank shaft against the crank side surface with the metal holders that are inserted between the crank side surfaces at both ends of the metal mounting part. A method of assembling an engine, characterized in that the engine block and the engine block are assembled together. 2. A crankshaft having a metal mounting shaft portion into which a pair of semi-circular thrust metal members are fitted at both ends is mounted on an engine block upside down with the metal mounting shaft portion holding the pair of thrust metal members. An engine assembling device that is fitted and inserted from above, in which a crankshaft is axially positioned with respect to its metal mounting shaft as a reference, and a reference block attached to this reference block is metal mounted. A metal holder that forms a gap into which the ends of the thrust metal can be inserted between the crank side surface and the crank side surface at both ends of the metal mounting portion, and the crank shaft that approaches both ends of the crankshaft from the axial direction. A pair of supports for supporting the shaft with its axis horizontal, and downwardly installed at a fixed position on the extension of the crankshaft axis. A transport unit having a pair of first positioning means, which transports the crankshaft positioned by the reference block and supported by the supporting member in a fixed direction, and a metal of the crankshaft transported by the transport unit in a predetermined horizontal position. Insert both ends of a pair of thrust metal with the open end side facing upward from the bottom into the gap between the crank side surface at both ends of the mounting shaft and the metal holder, and use the metal holder to insert the thrust metal into the metal mounting portion. A metal supply unit that has a swing arm that separates from the thrust metal when held, and a metal supply unit that is positioned upside down at a fixed position on the side of the metal supply unit. Second positioning of engine block
And an engine support unit having a pair of third positioning means for determining a relative position between the transport unit and the crankshaft supported by the transport unit by fitting with the pair of first positioning means of the transport unit. , A pair of thrust metal is held in the metal mounting portion while the crankshaft is in a horizontal position while being conveyed to a position right above the engine support unit by the conveying unit and lowered.
With the positioning means fitted to the third positioning means of the engine support unit, the engine block positioned by the second positioning means of the engine support unit and the crankshaft of the transport unit are axially positioned, and the crankshaft and An engine mounting device characterized by mounting thrust metal on an engine block. 3. The expansion / contraction air cylinder, wherein the metal holder of the transport unit has piston rods on both side surfaces of a crank mounting metal portion of the crankshaft, the piston rods pressing both end portions of a pair of thrust metals. The engine assembly device according to claim 2, wherein 4. The metal supply unit comprises a pair of vertically arranged magazines at the same height for holding a plurality of thrust metals horizontally and stacking them vertically, and reciprocates horizontally at the lower ends of the pair of magazines. A pair of cutting claws that are movably arranged to cut out the bottommost thrust metal of each magazine in the horizontal direction one by one, and a pair of cutting claws vacuum suction the bottom surface of a pair of horizontal thrust metal cut out from the magazine. Then, the pair of adsorbed thrust metals are swung downward by 90 ° so as to approach a predetermined interval in the vertical posture, and then the pair of thrust metals are opened in the vertical posture at the predetermined intervals to release the semi-circular thrust metal. Equipped with a pair of swing arms that swivel upward by 90 ° so that both ends face upward, and supported by the swing arm when swiveling the pair of swing arms upward by 90 ° 3. The engine mounting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the pair of thrust metals are fitted and inserted into both ends of the metal mounting shaft portion of the crankshaft.