JPS60143876A - Method and device for sealing motor car body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform sealing of a motor car body automatically by performing carrying-in, positioning, opening of door, application of a sealing material using a sealing robot, closing the door, and finally carrying out. CONSTITUTION:A motor car body 24 is carried in by a conveyor 20, and a truck 22 into a sealing stage, allowed to stand still after positioning to a predetermined position and is held after opening the doors, hood, etc. to a predetermined position by an automatic opening/closing device 62, 64. A sealing agent is then applied to necessary parts for sealing using sealing robots 66, 68, 72, and 74, then, the doors and hood, etc. are closed and the body is carried out of the sealing stage. By this method, the sealing work is performed efficiently and automatically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for applying a sealant to joints between structural members of an automobile body, and an apparatus suitable for carrying out the method.

Prior Art Automobile bodies are made up of many components (usually stamped parts)
Since it is usually constructed by joining the components by spot welding or the like, it is necessary to apply a sealing material to the joints between the component parts to ensure watertightness. This sealing work is generally performed on a painting line, but most of the sealing work involves opening and closing of so-called lids such as doors and hoods, and it is also necessary to sufficiently improve the positioning accuracy of the car body during transportation. is difficult, so it is often done manually.

However, the seams that require sealing (referred to as areas that require sealing) cover the entire area of the automobile body, and each area requires a variety of coatings to meet the required quality, such as thin beads, thin and wide beads, and thick and thick beads. Work must be done in accordance with the conditions. In addition, considerable skill is required to seal parts such as hemming parts that require good-looking beads. Furthermore, since the innermost part of the engine room is far away from the operator, it is difficult to quickly perform sealing work on this part. In addition, there are many problems, such as limitations on the amount of sealing work that can be done within a given line takt.
Currently, many sealing processes are arranged in series within a painting line, and a large number of people are employed to carry out the sealing work.

Automatic sealing using industrial robots is also carried out in some cases, but due to the accumulation of errors such as misalignment of the conveyor or other transport device that transports the car body, misalignment of the body in relation to the transport device, and assembly errors of the body itself. Furthermore, the positions of the parts that require sealing vary considerably from body to body, and it is difficult to automatically seal the parts with a narrow bead width using an industrial robot or the like. Therefore, in each sealing process, the cart that has transported the body is stopped, and another positioning device installed in the sealing process lifts the body to position it with high precision, and then closes the doors, hoods, and other lids. It is necessary to open the door to a predetermined position using an automatic opening/closing device and perform automatic sealing in that state. In addition, after automatic sealing is completed, the lids are closed, the positioning of the body by the positioning device is released, and then the cart loaded with the body is moved to the next process by a conveyor, etc., and these steps are considered as one cycle. It will be repeated. Therefore, preparatory work such as positioning the body for delivery, opening lids, etc., and I
Post-work such as closing objects and transporting bodies requires a lot of time, and the original purpose of sealing work needs to be done within a short period of time during one cycle, so when automating The reality is that the number of processes has increased many times more than in the case of manual labor.

Therefore, an automatic sealing device has been devised that has a position correction function that detects the positional deviation between the sealing required part and the aiming point of the sealing nozzle and corrects the aiming point of the sealing nozzle based on the detection signal. Such a device has the disadvantage that the structure of the position detection device, control device, etc. is complicated and extremely expensive.

In addition, in order to extend the sealing time during the 1 cycle, attempts have been made to carry out sealing while conveying the truck loaded with the body at a constant speed using a conveyor, etc. during the sealing process, but the back side of the door Inside the car,
Inside the engine room.

Or, since the sealing time required for one place, such as inside a language, cannot be secured in one process, it is necessary to perform the sealing work on the same place in two or more processes, and an automatic opening/closing device for lids is required. It is necessary to install automatic sealing equipment for each process.
The reality is that the rise in equipment costs and increase in line length cannot be avoided.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made against the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to reduce the proportion of the actual sealing work time to the total work time, including the time required for the preparation work and post-sealing work. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for sealing an automobile body, which allows sealing work to be carried out efficiently and to minimize the number of steps and equipment costs, and a device suitable for carrying out the method. do.

Composition of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the sealing method according to the present invention includes (a) a step of transporting an automobile body into a sealing stage; (C1) A step in which the door, hood, etc. of the positioned automobile body is opened and held at a predetermined position by an automatic opening/closing device; A process of applying a sealing material to substantially all parts of a stationary automobile body that require sealing using a sealing robot. The method is characterized in that it includes a step of transporting the container from the container.

Note that "applying a sealant to substantially all sealing-required parts of a stationary automobile body with the doors, hood, etc. open" refers to the application of a sealant to substantially all sealing-required parts of an automobile body that is stationary with the doors, hood, etc. open. This means that the sealing work for the front pillars, cowls, quarter pillars, etc. is not performed in multiple steps after closing the doors, hoods, etc., or that the sealing work for the front pillars, cowls, quarter pillars, etc. is not done automatically. This does not preclude repairing the beads that have been removed or manually applying the sealant to extremely limited areas where it is impossible to apply the sealant automatically.

Furthermore, the sealing device according to the present invention includes (a) a conveying device that carries an automobile body into a sealing stage and takes it out; (c) a positioning device that supports the vehicle body in a predetermined position and positions it at a predetermined position; an automatic opening/closing device that engages each of the doors and the hood to hold them open to a predetermined position; and (d) substantially all sealing needs of the vehicle body with the doors and hood open. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a plurality of sealing robots that are disposed so as to be able to apply sealants to different parts that require sealing, and that apply sealants in parallel to different parts that require sealing.

Note that the automatic opening/closing device is "located at a predetermined position at least when in operation" herein means that, for example, in the case where bodies of multiple car models are supplied to one sealing stage, each This does not preclude opening and closing doors, hoods, etc. by moving the automatic opening/closing device to a predetermined position corresponding to the body of the vehicle.

Effects of the Invention According to the above-mentioned sealing method, in order to seal one body, preparatory work such as positioning the body and opening/closing lids, and post-work after the completion of sealing, need only be performed once, and can be done only once during one cycle. Most of the time can be spent on sealing work, which is the original purpose, and it is efficient (
Can perform sealing work.

In addition, the automatic body positioning device, the automatic lid opening/closing device, the sealing robot, etc. only need to be installed for one process, so the equipment cost is significantly reduced.

Of course, the cycle time is longer than when using the conventional method, and it does not match the line tact of the entire painting line. This can be solved by connecting the stages in parallel and sequentially supplying sealed bodies from each sealing stage at different times. Can be made smaller.

Further, according to the sealing device according to the present invention, not only can the above-mentioned sealing method be carried out, but also the body can be positioned accurately and easily, and the door, hood, etc. of the body can be opened and closed by an automatic opening/closing device. By operating multiple sealing robots with all robots opened to predetermined positions and performing sealing work in parallel at multiple locations, the time required for actual sealing work can be shortened. be.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

1 and 2 are a plan view and a side view of the main parts of a sealing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In these figures, 20 is a conveyor, and carts 22A, 22
B and 22C constitute a conveying device that carries the bodies 24A, 24B, 24C, etc. to the sealing stage 26, and carries them out from there. The conveyor 20 is equipped with a button 28. The bushers 28 are provided in pairs on the upper surface of the conveyor 20, and engage with dogs 30 provided on the lower side of the cart 22A, etc., to move the cart 22A, etc. a certain distance along the longitudinal direction of the conveyor 20. Move intermittently.

A plurality of supports 32 are provided as body holders on the upper surface of the bogie 22A, etc., and these support columns 32 are brought into contact with or engaged with specific parts of the body 24A, etc., to accurately hold the support against the bogie 22A, etc. It is designed to be supported in a state where it is positioned. The body 24A and the like are transferred from the conveyor serving as the main transport device of the painting line where they have been transported up to that point to the trolley 22A and the like at a transfer stage (not shown).
Carriage 2 with pin gauges and clamps (not shown)
2A, the carriage 2 is moved by the conveyor 20 to the waiting stage 34 shown on the right side of FIGS. 1 and 2.
It is moved by 2A and placed on standby waiting for a carry-in command signal from the sealing stage 26. On the other hand, the body 24C carried out from the sealing stage 26 to the standby stage 36 shown on the left side of FIGS. 1 and 2 is
There, it is put on standby, and at an appropriate timing, it is transferred onto a conveyor serving as the main transport device and supplied to the coating line.

A positioning device 38 is provided below the ceiling stage 26 . This positioning device 38 is indirectly connected to the body 24B via the truck 22B and the support column 32.
most of which are housed within the pit 40. The width of this pit 40 is narrower than the width of the truck 22A, and the truck 22A and the like run astride the pit 40. 42 is a base, to which an air cylinder 46 is fixed via a bracket 44, and four pillow blocks 48 are also fixed. A rod-shaped glue lid 50 is inserted into each pillow block 48 in a vertical position and slidable in the vertical direction, and a rack formed in a part of the lid is rotatably supported by the pillow block 48. It is engaged with a pinion (not shown) fixed to 52. The pinion is further engaged with a drive rack 54 that is supported by the pillow block 48 so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction, and the drive rack 54 is connected to the piston rod 56 of the air cylinder 46 . Therefore, the four lids 50 are raised and lowered all at once by the operation of the air cylinder 46. Each lifter 50 protrudes upward from a through hole formed in a cover 58 covering the opening of the pit 40, and its tip abuts against the lower surface of the truck 22B so that it can be lifted from the cover 58. A reference plane is formed at the upper end of each lifter 50 and a corresponding portion of the truck 22B, so that the truck 22B can be supported horizontally at an accurate height. Furthermore, two of the four lids 50 are provided with pin gauges that fit into positioning holes formed on the lower surface of the truck 22B to accurately position the truck 22B even in a horizontal plane.

A gate-shaped pedestal 60 is disposed at the center in the width direction of the ceiling stage 26, and an engine hood opening/closing device 62. A luggage compartment door opener 64 and two sealing robots 66,68 are installed. These sealing robots 66 and 68 are commercially available industrial robots with a sealing nozzle attached to the end of the robot arm, and although both have the same structure, they can be used to seal all the parts in the engine room and luggage area that require sealing. The participants are taught in advance the movements necessary to apply the sealant to the surface.

Traveling devices 70 are disposed on the left and right sides of the sealing stage 26, respectively, and extend in parallel in the front-back direction of the body 2.4B.These traveling devices 70 move two sealing robots 72 and 74 in the front-back direction of the vehicle. movably supported. Sealing robot 72ba,
It is designed to be capable of sealing not only the front door 76 and its surroundings, but also the engine hood 78 and the outer surface of the engine room. Further, the sealing robot 74 is capable of sealing the rear door 80 and its surroundings, and the outer surface of the language compartment door 82. Two front door opening/closing devices 84 and two rear door opening/closing devices 86 for opening and closing the left and right front doors 76 and rear doors 80 are attached to the pedestal 60, respectively.

Next, the operation will be explained.

When the sealing work of the body 24B on the sealing stage 26 is completed, the lifter 50 is lowered by the air cylinder 46, and the dog 30 of the truck 22B is fitted between the pair of buttons 28 of the conveyor 20. In this state, the conveyor 20 is moved to the left in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the body 24B is moved to the standby stage 36. At this time, the body 24C that was waiting on the standby stage 36 has already been supplied to the painting line, so the body 248 will be waiting on the standby stage 36 instead.

In parallel with the movement of the body 24B, the standby stage 34
Body 24A, which was waiting at
The carriage 22A is brought into contact with a positioning device (not shown) and stopped at an accurate position. Subsequently, the lifter 50 is raised by the air cylinder 46, and the carriage 22A and the body 24A are moved to the carriage 22 as shown in FIG.
B and body 24B and maintain that position.

When the positioning is completed, a signal is emitted from the positioning device, and based on the signal, the engine hood 78. of the body 24B (positioned body 24A) is moved. Luggage compartment door 82. The left and right front doors 76 and rear doors 80 are connected to each opening/closing device 62. 64. +3. !
and 86 to a predetermined position;
It is held in that position.

Once Engine Two 1'' 78 and door 76.80.82 are opened, sealing robots 66.68.72 and 74 start operating based on signals from each opening/closing device and perform sealing work in their respective areas. In particular, the sealing robots 72 and 74 are mainly responsible for sealing the front door 76 and rear door 80 and their surrounding areas, and also sealing the traveling device 70.
It is moved to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, and also performs sealing work on the outer surfaces of the engine room and luggage. Further, these sealing robots 72 and 74 are connected to the front door opening/closing device 8.
4 and the front door 7 by the rear door opening/closing device 86.
6 and the front pillar and cowl after the rear door 80 is closed.

Perform sealing work on quarter pillars, etc. Examples of parts requiring sealing are shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. In these figures, 8, 7, and 88 are body constituent members, respectively;
9 is the applied sealing material.

After the sealant has been applied to all areas in the engine room and language that require sealing, the engine hood 7
8 and the language compartment door 82 are closed, the lifter 50 is lowered, and the cart 22B is moved to the cover 5.
8, and the engagement of the lifter 50 with the cart 22B is released.

Then, the conveyor 20 is operated again and the body 24
B is carried out from the sealing stage 26, and
The body 24A is carried into the sealing stage 26.

Note that when the conveyor 20 is moved back to the right in FIG. 2, the bushing 28 is rotated and retracted downward from the lower end of the dog 30, allowing the conveyor 20 to move backward.

Thereafter, sealing work is performed on the body one after another by repeating the same operation, but as is clear from the above explanation, once the body 24B is positioned at a predetermined position, all sealing work on the body 24B is performed one after another by repeating the same operation. Since the work is performed continuously in the same state, the time required for preparation work and post-work for one body is reduced, and the proportion of time spent on sealing work in the total work time is reduced compared to conventional methods. It becomes thicker, making it possible to perform sealing work more efficiently.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, standby stages 34 and 36 are provided before and after the sealing stage 26, so the body 24B on which the sealing work has been completed is immediately carried out from the sealing stage 26, and at the same time, the next body 24B is carried out.
4A can be loaded into the sealing stage 26. Therefore, the waiting time in the sealing process, which requires a particularly long working time compared to other processes, is advantageously minimized.

However, the sealing device of this embodiment still provides 1
The total time required to seal each body is quite long (because it takes a considerable amount of time), it is necessary to install multiple similar sealing devices in order to supply a sufficient amount of bodies to a painting line with a short line tact. However, even with this method, the number of sealing robots is less than half that of conventional sealing equipment with the same production capacity, and the process length and floor space are also approximately half that of conventional sealing equipment. be.

In this embodiment, only the sealing robots 72 and 74 were movably supported by the traveling device 70, but the sealing robots 66 and 68 were also moved in the width direction of the sealing stage 26 by the traveling device. It is possible to do so.

FIG. 6 shows another example of a positioning device for positioning the body on the sealing stage 26.

In this example as well, the four lids 50 are connected to the air cylinder 46.
It is similar to the positioning device 38 in the previous embodiment that it is moved up and down by the drive rack 54 etc., but
In the positioning device 90 of this example, four lids 50
The difference is that a table 91 is fixed to the upper end of the body 24B, and a body support provided on the table 91 is configured to position and support the body 24B using a plurality of supports 92 as jigs. 4 on table 91
The book guide posts 94 are fixed vertically and are slidably inserted into the billow blocks 96, so that the table 91 maintains an accurate horizontal posture and is accurately positioned within the horizontal plane. It is designed to be raised and lowered.

The table 91 is normally lowered to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6, but after the trolley 22B is stopped directly above it, it is raised by the air cylinder 46 to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. I am made to do so. At this time, table 91
The plurality of upright pillars 92 each engage with a predetermined portion of the body 24B, and the body 24B is connected to the trolley 22.
It is lifted up from the pillar 32 of B, positioned accurately in both horizontal and vertical directions, and supported in that state.

Note that a hole is formed in the truck 22B to allow a part of the support 92 to pass through.

Since the parts other than those described above are the same as those in the previous embodiment, corresponding components are given the same reference numerals and detailed explanations are omitted. However, according to the positioning device of this embodiment, the body 24B
can be directly positioned independently of the trolley 22B, resulting in even higher positioning accuracy than in the previous embodiment.

Two embodiments of the present invention have been described above based on the drawings, but these are literally just examples, and there are various configurations and arrangements of the positioning device, door and hood opening/closing device, sealing robot, body conveyance device, etc. It goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in a manner with the following modifications.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the main parts of a sealing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the same sealing device. FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5 are explanatory diagrams each showing an example of a portion of an automobile body that requires sealing. FIG. 6 is a front sectional view of a sealing stage in another embodiment of the present invention. 24A, 24B, 24C: Body 26: Sealing stage 32. 92: Strut (podium holder is a jig) 34. 36: Standby stage 3B, 90: Positioning device 46: E or cylinder 48% 16: Below block 50: Lifter 52: Axis 54: Drive rank 62: Engine hood opening/closing device 64: Luggage compartment door opening/closing device 66.
6B, 72,147 Sealing robot 70: Traveling device 84: Front door opening/closing device 86: Rear door opening/closing device 91: Table 94 Niguide Post Applicant: Tokota Jidosha Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (11) A method for applying a sealant to parts that require sealing, such as joints between constituent members of an automobile body, comprising the steps of: carrying the automobile body to a sealing stage; a step of positioning the ceiling stage at a predetermined position and making it stand still; a step of opening and holding the door, hood, etc. of the automobile body thus positioned to the predetermined position by an automatic opening/closing device; A sealing process in which a sealing robot applies sealant to virtually all parts of the car body that is stationary with the hood open, etc. After the application of the sealant is completed, the doors, hood, etc. are closed, and the car is closed. A method for sealing an automobile body, comprising the step of transporting the body from the sealing stage. (2) An apparatus for applying a sealant to parts that require sealing, such as joints of each component of an automobile body, , a conveying device that carries an automobile body into and out of a sealing stage, and a conveying device disposed on the sealing stage that lifts the carried automobile body from the conveying device, supports it in a stationary state, and positions it at a predetermined position. a positioning device; at least when actuated, the device is positioned at a predetermined position and engages each of all the doors and hoods of the vehicle body positioned by the positioning device to open them to the predetermined position; A plurality of automatic opening/closing devices are arranged in such a manner that sealants can be applied to substantially all sealing-requiring parts of the automobile body when the doors and hoods are opened, and the sealing material is applied to different sealing-requiring parts. A sealing device for an automobile body, comprising a plurality of sealing robots that apply a sealing material to the body in parallel.