JPH11278631A - Work transporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a work transport device which can make transport with buffer capability in compliance with different sorts of plate-form works having different shapes and dimensions. SOLUTION: A work transport device is composed of pushout members 41 and 41' abutting on a plate-form work W, a transporting mechanism 1 equipped with a first moving mechanism 2 to move the pushout members 41 and 41' in reciprocations for a certain distance horizontally on one axial direction and additional moving mechanisms 3 and 4 to advance and retreat the pushout members 41 and 41' horizontally on one axial direction with respect to the first moving mechanism 2 while adjustability is reserved for the advancing/retreating amount in accordance with the dimensions of the work W, and a buffer mechanism 5 which stacks a plurality of works W fed by the transporting mechanism 1 in accordance with their dimensions and shapes. This allows the device to operate in well compliance with the fed works in a plurality of sorts having different dimensions and shapes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work transfer device disposed in a buffer area for eliminating an imbalance in work time generated between processes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a manufacturing line is formed by a plurality of successive steps, there is a case where an unbalance of operation time occurs between each successive step. In order to eliminate the decrease in work efficiency caused by this imbalance, it is necessary to form a buffer region between each step.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a buffer area formed between a first welding step and a second welding step, and a conventional work transfer device P arranged in the buffer area. The work transfer device P includes a transfer mechanism P1 and a buffer mechanism P2, and the plate-shaped work W (for example, a roof panel) sent from the first welding process is transferred to the transfer mechanism P1 as shown in FIG. Is placed. Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the moving mechanism P3 moves in the horizontal uniaxial direction, and conveys the plate-shaped work W to the buffer mechanism P2 side. The buffer mechanism P2 is provided with a stacking standby mechanism P5 on a gate-shaped base P4 opposed to the plate. The plate-shaped work W conveyed to a predetermined position is lifted by the lifting / lowering means P6. Loaded on the mechanism P5 (FIG. 7)
(C)). The stacking standby mechanism P5 can stack a plurality of plate-shaped works W and make them stand by. As a result, the first
The work time imbalance generated between the welding process and the second welding process is absorbed.

[0004]

By the way, the work transfer device P is generally manufactured in consideration of versatility at the time of design. However, there is a limit even when considering versatility, and at the time of design, it is designed to correspond to a work of a certain specific shape. It was not possible to cope with it, and it was necessary to replace the entire work transfer device P arranged in the buffer area, which was troublesome and uneconomical. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems by enabling transport and buffering of a plurality of types of plate-shaped works having different shapes and dimensions.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a transport mechanism for receiving a transported plate-like work and transporting the plate-like work in a horizontal uniaxial direction, and loading the plate-like work transported by the transport mechanism to a buffer. In a work transfer device disposed in a buffer area that eliminates imbalance in work time between processes, an extruding member abutting on the plate-shaped work and a predetermined distance in the horizontal uniaxial direction are provided. A first moving mechanism for reciprocatingly moving the extruding member, and allowing the extruding member to move back and forth in the horizontal uniaxial direction with respect to the first moving mechanism, and adjusting a moving amount to the size of the plate-like work. The transfer mechanism having an additional moving mechanism that can be adjusted by the transfer mechanism, and the plate-like work is moved while corresponding to the size and shape of the plate-like work transferred by the transfer mechanism. Consists of a buffer mechanism for several loading and the work carrier, characterized in that was adaptable to different types of plate-shaped workpiece dimensions. Further, the additional moving mechanism may be characterized by being constituted by a combination of a plurality of moving mechanisms that move forward and backward in the horizontal uniaxial direction. Further, the buffer mechanism may be provided with a loading standby mechanism on each of the bases opposed to each other, and may correspond to the size of the plate-like work by moving the base in the opposite direction. .

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Incidentally, FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a work transfer device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the work transfer device according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view in which a part of a third moving mechanism is enlarged, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing of a loading standby mechanism, (a) is a front view, (b) is a side view. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the loading standby mechanism, and FIG. 6 is an operation diagram of the work transfer device according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional work transfer device as described above.

First, an outline of a work transfer device A according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the plate-shaped work is a roof panel W. The work transfer device A is disposed in a buffer area formed between the first welding step and the second welding step, and eliminates an unbalance in the operation time between the respective steps. Work transfer device A
The transport mechanism 1 and the buffer mechanism 5 can be roughly classified into two groups.
Two-dot chain line). The transport mechanism 1
The transport loader (not shown) receives the roof panel W transported from the first welding step and transports it to the buffer mechanism 5 side. The buffer mechanism 5 stacks and transports the plurality of transported roof panels W. Another transport loader (not shown) transports the plate workpiece W in the standby state to the second welding step as needed.

The transport mechanism 1 includes a first moving mechanism 2 and a second
The main part is constituted by the moving mechanism 3 and the third moving mechanism 4, and the details will be described below with reference to FIGS. Note that the solid lines in FIG.
Indicates a state in which all the moving mechanisms 2, 3, and 4 are operating. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of leg brackets 11
a, 11a or 11b, 11b are fixed in pairs, a work guide rail 13 is fixed to the upper ends of the paired leg brackets 11a, 11a, and a roller is fixed to the upper ends of the paired leg brackets 11b, 11b. The guide rail 15 is fixed.

The roller guide rails 15 and the work guide rails 13 are disposed so as to be parallel to a single horizontal axis direction (hereinafter, referred to as a transfer direction) from the transfer mechanism 1 to the buffer mechanism 5, and the ends thereof are buffered. It faces the mechanism 5 side. The work guide rails 13 are cylindrical rod-shaped members provided at three locations on the same plane, and the roller guide rails 15 are prismatic rod-shaped members disposed at a position one step below the plane. Work guide rail 1
Reference numeral 3 guides the roof panel W to the buffer mechanism 5 with the roof panel W placed thereon, and the roller guide rail 15 guides the rollers 24.

The roller 24 moves along the roller guide rail 15 and is fixed to the tip of the slider 22 via a bracket 25. The slider 22 has a slider guide 22 a formed at a base end thereof, and the slider guide 22 a is slidably fitted to the slider guide rail 17.

The slider guide rail 17 is disposed so as to be parallel to the roller guide rail 15, that is, along the transport direction.
The movement of the slider 22 is guided.

Both ends of a chain 23a are connected to a slider guide 22a fitted to the slider guide rail 17, and the chain 23a is wound around sprockets of a gear 23b and a gear 23c. Gear 23
The gear 23c is provided with a gear 23d coaxially.
A chain 23g is wound around a sprocket of 3d and a gear 23f. The gear 23f is connected to the motor 23
e is rotationally driven. Therefore, the gears 23b, 23c,
23d, 23f, chains 23a, 23g, and a motor 23e form a driving unit, and the slider 22 is moved by the driving of the motor 23e, and the rotation direction and the number of rotations of the motor 23e are controlled to drive the reciprocating movement amount ( (A predetermined distance). The slider 22, the roller 24, the slider guide rail 17, and the roller guide rail 15 constitute a main part of the first moving mechanism 2.

Next, the second moving mechanism 3 provided on the first moving mechanism 2 will be described. A cylinder 35 is attached to the lower surface of the slider 22, and the tip of a cylinder rod 35a is directed toward the buffer mechanism (see FIG. 2). A column 33 is attached to the tip of the cylinder rod 35a. A base 34 is fixed to an upper portion of the column 33, and a slider 31 is fixed to a lower portion. A slide guide 32 is formed on the slider 31 along the transport direction. The slide guide 32 is attached to a slider rail 26 fixed to the lower surface of the slider 22.
Is slidably fitted. That is, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
4 and the slider 31 advance and retreat in the transport direction along the slider rail 26. It should be noted that the amount of advance and retreat can be appropriately adjusted by adjusting the amount of expansion and contraction of the cylinder rod 35a.

An extruding member 41 is provided on the lower surface of the central portion of the base 34.
Are fixed, and cylinders 43 and 4 are provided on the lower surfaces of both ends.
3 is attached (see FIG. 2). This cylinder 4
The 3 and 43 cylinder rods 43a are directed in the transport direction, and are provided with pushing members 41 'and 41' at their ends. That is, the extruding members 41 ', 41' located at both ends of the base 34 can move forward and backward in the transport direction as shown in FIG. Incidentally, FIG. 3A shows a state where the cylinder rod 43a is contracted, and FIG. 3B shows a state where the cylinder rod 43a is extended. The amount of expansion and contraction of the cylinder rods 43a and 43a of the cylinder 43 is adjustable, and the amount of expansion and contraction is appropriately controlled.

The above-described cylinder 43 and pushing member 41 '
Constitute the main part of the third moving mechanism 4. Further, the third moving mechanism 4 and the second moving mechanism 3 correspond to an “additional moving mechanism” described in the claims. However, the third moving mechanism 4 may be provided as needed, and the fourth and fifth moving mechanisms 4 may be provided.
May be additionally formed. However, the total moving distance of the pushing members 41 and 41 ′ obtained by the first moving mechanism 2 and the additional moving mechanism is a distance that the side end of the roof panel W can be pushed to a position where it does not interfere with the base 51. Needs to be

Referring to FIG. 2, the work guide rail 13
The transfer of the roof panel W placed on the top will be briefly described. First, an extrusion member 4 shown by a solid line is attached to the roof panel W.
1, 41 'contact (position of X1). First moving mechanism 2
Is moved from the position X1 to the position X2 (for a predetermined distance), the roof panel W is also moved for a predetermined distance by being pushed by the pushing members 41 and 41 '. Further, the cylinders 43, 43 extend and contract the cylinder rods 43a, 43a appropriately according to the dimensions of the roof panel W, etc.
The roof panel W is sent out to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line indicated by.
When the roof panel W reaches the position indicated by the two-dot chain line, it does not interfere with the base 51 even if it rises.

Next, details of the buffer mechanism 5 will be described mainly with reference to FIG. The buffer mechanism 5 has a plurality of loading standby mechanisms 6 facing each other on the bases 51 and 53 that are opposed to each other, and the roof panel W being conveyed to a lower position between the bases 51 and 53. Guide rail 5 to guide
2, and a lifting / lowering means 7 for pushing up the roof panel W is provided at a lower position where it does not interfere with the guide rail 52. The base 53 is movable in the facing direction and corresponds to the width of the roof panel W that has been transported.

The guide rail 52 is a rod-shaped member having the same shape as the work guide rail 13, and is disposed on the same plane as the work guide rail 13 and along the transport direction. Therefore, the roof panel W guided by the work guide rail 13 is not directly
Handed over to 2. Further, in order to smoothly carry out the transfer, the base end of the guide rail 52 is disposed so as to partially overlap the front end of the work guide rail 13. still,
The guide rail 52 is fixedly supported on the base 11 by a leg bracket 11a below the base 51 and a leg bracket 11c below the base 53.

Below the guide rail 52, a lifting means 7 is provided.
Is installed. The lifting means 7 has a suction pad 7 at the upper end.
1 and a driving unit (not shown) for vertically moving the lifting / lowering unit 72. The driving unit is controlled to vertically move the lifting / lowering unit 72 within an appropriate range. Incidentally, the elevating unit 72 is installed so as not to interfere with the guide rail 52 when moving up and down.

The base 53 shown in FIG. 1 is formed in a gate shape by legs 54, 54 provided below both ends.
Guide members 55, 55 are formed at the bottoms of the legs 54, 54. The guide members 55, 55 are slidably engaged with the slide rails 56, 56 and move in the transport direction along the slide rails 56, 56. A bracket 55a protrudes from a side surface of the one guide member 55, and a cylinder rod 57a of the cylinder 57 is fixed. Therefore, the base 53 moves by the action of the cylinder 57, and the amount of movement of the base 53 can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of expansion and contraction of the cylinder rod 57a.

On the other hand, the base 51 is fixed to the base 11 via legs 54 ', 54' provided below both ends so as to have the same height as the base 53 and a gate shape. The roof panel W passes under the gate.

A plurality of stacking standby mechanisms 6 (in the present embodiment, three sets and six sets) are provided as a set at opposing positions on the bases 51 and 53. Hereinafter, one of the loading standby mechanisms 6 on the base 51 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. However, since the other loading standby mechanisms 6 have the same structure, the description of the other loading standby mechanisms 6 is omitted. .

A loading base 61 is bolted on the base 51, and slide rails 62, along both sides of the loading base 61 (the left and right sides in FIG. 4B) are provided along the transport direction.
62 is provided horizontally. A cylinder 65 is provided in the loading base 61, and the cylinder rod 65 a is aligned with the directions of the slide rails 62, 62. Further, the distal end of the cylinder rod 65a is fixed to the base end of the slider 63, and slide guides 64, 64 formed on the side surface of the slider 63 are slidably fitted to the slide rails 62, 62.

On the other hand, a substrate 66
On the front side of the substrate 66 (the side facing the base 53), vertically arranged claws 67a and 67b are provided. The upper claw 67a and the lower claw 67b are formed in the same structure, and the lower end is pivotally supported by the shaft portion 67c.
An engaging portion 67e is formed at the upper end, and an inclined surface 67f is formed on the side surface. The claws 67a and 67b are connected to the reference surface 66.
With respect to a, the shaft portion 67c can be depressed around the fulcrum, and is returned to the original position by a coil spring 67d stretched inside the depression.

Therefore, when the roof panel W lifted from below comes into contact with the inclined surface 67f of the claws 67a and 67b, the claws 67a and 67b are depressed into the reference surface 66a, and the roof panel W is lifted up. When it comes out above the stop 67e, it projects again from the reference surface 66a and returns to the original position. That is, by lifting the roof panel W to this point, it becomes possible to hook the roof panel W on the locking portion 67e.

On the front side of the substrate 66, claws 67a, 67b
In addition, a cylinder 69 is disposed, and a pawl 68 having the same structure as the pawls 67a and 67b is disposed on the front side of the main body 69a of the cylinder 69. Also, the main body 6 of the cylinder 69
The front surface 9a and the reference surface 66a are on the same plane, and when the cylinder 69 acts and the main body 69a moves up and down, the claw 68 hooks the roof panel W hooked on the claw 67b. The operation of the cylinder 69 will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5 (a), the roof panel W is
7c, the pawl 68 provided on the cylinder 69 is located below the roof panel W. Incidentally, the same operation as the operation of the cylinder 69 described below is performed by the other loading standby mechanisms 6 at the same time.

When the main body 69a of the cylinder 69 moves upward from the state shown in FIG. 5A, the claw 68 hooks the roof panel W. Then, the roof panel W rises while leaving the claw 67b and being caught by the claw 68. If the pawl 68 continues to rise as it is, the roof panel W interferes with the pawl 67a and pushes in as shown in FIG. Then, the pawls 67a project again to be in a stackable state, and the roof panel W is loaded on the pawls 67a by lowering the pawls 68 as shown in FIG. 5C.

Next, the operation of the work transfer device A including the buffer mechanism 5 and the transfer mechanism 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A shows a case where the width of the roof panel W is large, and FIG. 6B shows a case where the width of the roof panel W is small. Also, here, the case of two types of roof panels W is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to such a case, and a plurality of types of shapes and dimensions (such as widths) can be appropriately handled. And this response is also the first
It is performed appropriately each time the size of the roof panel W conveyed from the welding process is switched.

[Case of Conveying and Buffering a Wide Type Roof Panel W] The roof panel W conveyed from the first welding step is placed at a position shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. . Then, the first moving mechanism 2 moves X from the position of X1.
2 and at the same time, the pushing member 41 comes into contact with the roof panel W and sends it out to the buffer mechanism 5 side. Even if the first moving mechanism 2 reaches the position X2 (solid line in FIG. 6A), if the roof panel W is raised as it is, the base 5
It interferes with 1. Therefore, the third moving mechanism 4
To push the roof panel W to a position where the roof panel W does not interfere with the base 51 to complete the conveyance.

Simultaneously with or before the movement of the first moving mechanism 2, the cylinder 57 is operated to move the base 53 to an appropriate position in the direction of the arrow Y. When it moves to this appropriate position, that is, near the boundary where the roof panel W does not interfere, the load standby mechanism 6 is finely adjusted.
The cylinder 65 is operated as shown in FIG. Incidentally, the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4A shows a state in which the cylinder 63 acts and the slider 63 is pushed out. At this time, the first moving mechanism 2 returns from the position X2 to the position X1, and is in a state of waiting for the next roof panel W, and the elevating part 72 of the elevating means 7 is below the guide rail 52. (See FIG. 1), the pawl 68 of the stacking standby mechanism 6
It is in a lower state (see FIG. 5A).

From the above state, the lift panel 7 acts to lift the roof panel W with the suction pad 71. The roof panel W rises to a position beyond the pawls 68 and the pawls 67b, descends therefrom, and is caught by the pawls 67b to be in a buffered state (see FIG. 5A).

The claw 67a is moved by a transfer loader (not shown).
When the roof panel W hooked on the sheet is conveyed, the claws 67a are released as shown in FIG. 6A. Then
The cylinder 69 operates, and the roof panel W is moved to the lower claw 67.
b to the claw 67a. Then, the lower claw 67b becomes empty, and the next roof panel W is loaded on this claw 67b.

[Conveying and Buffering a Narrow Width Roof Panel W] The roof panel W conveyed from the first welding step is placed at a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 6B. . Then, the second moving mechanism 3 operates, and the pushing members 41 and 41 ′ come into contact with the roof panel W. And
The first moving mechanism 2 moves from the position X1 to the position X2 to convey the roof panel W to the buffer mechanism 5 side. Here, if necessary, the third moving mechanism 4 operates to send the roof panel W to a position where the roof panel W does not interfere with the base 51 (FIG. 6).
(Solid line position in (b)). When the above-described conveyance is completed, the buffer mechanism 5 buffers the roof panel W by performing the same operation as that of the wide type roof panel W.

[0035]

As described above, according to the work transfer apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to transfer and buffer a plurality of types of plate-like works having different shapes and dimensions. Further, the work transfer device according to the present invention can also be manufactured by partially modifying a conventional work transfer device designed to cope with a single-shaped plate-shaped work, so that there is an existing facility. Is economical because such existing equipment can be used as it is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a work transfer device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the operation of the transport mechanism.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view in which a part of a third moving mechanism is enlarged.

4A and 4B are explanatory views of a loading standby mechanism, wherein FIG. 4A is a side view and FIG. 4B is a front view.

FIG. 5 is an operation diagram of a loading standby mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an overall perspective view of a work transfer device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a conventional work transfer device, and FIG.
Is a state diagram in which the work is placed on the transfer mechanism, (b) is a state diagram in which the work is transferred to the standby mechanism side by the transfer mechanism, and (c) is a state in which the work is lifted to the stacking means by the elevating means. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Work transfer device W: Roof panel 1: Transfer mechanism 11: Base 12: Base 13: Work guide rail 14: Bracket 15: Roller guide rail 16: Bracket 17: Slider guide rail 2: First moving mechanism 22: Slider 22a: Slider guide 23: Drive unit 23a: Chain 23b: Gear 23c: Gear 23d: Gear 23e: Motor 23f: Gear 23g: Chain 24: Roller 25: Bracket 26: Slider rail 3: Second moving mechanism 31: Slider 32 : Slider guide 33: Support 34: Base 35: Cylinder 4: Third moving mechanism 41, 41 ′: Pushing member 43: Cylinder 43 a: Cylinder rod 5: Buffer mechanism 51: Base 52: Guide rail 53: Base 54 , 54 ': leg 55: guide member 56: slider Rail 57: Cylinder 6: Loading standby mechanism 61: Base 62: Slider rail 63: Slider 64: Slider guide 65: Cylinder 65a: Cylinder rod 66: Substrate 66a: Reference surface 67a, 67b, 68: Claw 67c: Shaft 67d : Coil spring 67 e: Locking part 67 f: Inclined surface 69: Cylinder 7: Work lifting mechanism 71: Suction pad 72: Lifting part

Claims (3)

[Claims] A transport mechanism for receiving the transported plate-like work and transporting the transported work in a horizontal uniaxial direction; and a buffer mechanism for loading and buffering the plate-like work transported by the transport mechanism. In a work transfer device arranged in a buffer area for eliminating an unbalance of operation time, the extruding member abutting on the plate-shaped work, and the extruding member are moved by reciprocating a predetermined distance in the horizontal uniaxial direction. A first moving mechanism, and an additional moving mechanism that allows the pushing member to advance and retreat in the horizontal uniaxial direction with respect to the first moving mechanism, and that the amount of advance and retreat can be adjusted according to the size of the plate-like work. And a buffer mechanism that loads a plurality of the plate-like works while corresponding to the size and shape of the plate-like work transferred by the transfer mechanism. Ri, workpiece transfer device, characterized in that the possible corresponding to the dimensions and a plurality of types having different shapes of the plate-shaped workpiece. 2. The work transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the additional moving mechanism is configured by a combination of a plurality of moving mechanisms that move back and forth in the horizontal uniaxial direction. 3. The buffer mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a stacking standby mechanism on each of the bases opposed to each other, and adapted to correspond to the size of the plate-like workpiece by moving the bases in the opposite direction. The work transfer device according to claim 1.