JPS60169701A - Position detector for moving body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to perform accurate detection of a plurality of positions of a moving body by a simple structure, by a roller, which is slidably contacted with a moving body and rotated and has a plurality of detecting parts. CONSTITUTION:When a body 1 is moved to a specified position of a conveying path 2, the body 1 is detected by a limit switch and the like. An air cylinder 27 is extended and driven and a moving arm 28 is turned to the side of the conveying path 2. A roller 5 is contacted with the side surface of the body 1, and the roller 5 is rotated in correspondence with the movement of the body 1. At this time, the actuator or the limit switch 8 is protruded over the roller 5 and sequentially contacted with pins 9. Thus the switch 8 is operated. The detected signal by this operation is sent to an automatic spot welding machine through a cord 26, and welding is performed at a plurality of positions of the body. Even though there are irregularities on the side surface of the body, the roller 5 is elastically contacted with the body by a spring in a supporting body 5, which rotatably supports the rollers, and the roller 5 follows the irregularities and rotated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a position detection device for a moving object, and more particularly to a position detection device for detecting a plurality of positions along a moving direction of a moving object moving along a conveyance path.

Such a position detection device is used in an automobile body assembly line to automatically spot weld a body at a plurality of positions, to detect a plurality of positions along a moving direction of a body moving on a conveyance path, and the like. Conventionally, such a position detection device for detecting multiple positions of a body has been constructed by providing a traveling path parallel to the conveyance path of the body, and attaching an arm supported by a traveling body capable of traveling along the traveling path to the body. A device that detects multiple positions of the body by running a traveling body and detecting detected parts set and arranged in advance on the traveling path, and a drive on a conveyor for transporting the body. A device that detects multiple positions of the body according to the amount of angular displacement of the body has been realized. However, such conventional technology has a complicated structure, and it is difficult to accurately detect the position depending on the operating state of the conveyor that conveys the body. There are drawbacks such as.

Further, in the case of using the above-described traveling body, it is necessary to provide a traveling path outside the conveyance path, and a relatively large space is required to provide the traveling path.

In order to eliminate such conventional drawbacks, the first object of the present invention is to provide a position detection method for a moving object that can accurately detect multiple positions of a moving object with a simple structure and that occupies a relatively small space. The purpose is to provide equipment.

In order to achieve this object, according to the invention, a moving object position detection device is rotatable in contact with the side of the moving object, and has a plurality of detected objects spaced apart in the circumferential direction. a roller having a roller; a support body rotatably supporting the roller; and a drive means disposed on a side of the conveyance path, for reciprocating the support body in order to move the roller close to and away from a moving object on the conveyance path. and a detector fixed to the support body for detecting each of the detection target parts.

According to such a position detection device, when the roller rotates while slidingly contacting the moving object, the object to be detected! : Since the two parts are sequentially detected by the detector, by making the position of each detected part correspond to a plurality of positions of the moving object to be detected, it is possible to detect a plurality of positions of the moving object. Incidentally, the body surface of a moving object, such as a car, generally has unevenness, and the roller needs to rotate to follow the unevenness.

Further, when the roller is brought into contact with a moving object, it is necessary to make soft contact in order to avoid damaging the moving object.

Therefore, in view of the above circumstances, the second object of the present invention is to obtain, in addition to the effects of the first invention, soft contact of a roller with a moving object and rotational movement that follows the unevenness of the surface of the moving object. An object of the present invention is to provide a moving object position detecting device.

In the second invention to achieve this second purpose, the first invention
In addition to the inventive configuration of
Relative movement with the drive means is allowed along the separation direction, and a buffer means is interposed between the drive means and the support body to bias the support body toward the moving object.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, in FIG. 1, on an automobile body assembly line,
A body 1 as a moving object is transported along a conveyance path 2 indicated by a two-dot chain line.
The upper part of the body 1 is moved by a conveyor (not shown), and during the movement, a plurality of equally spaced positions along the movement direction 3 of the body 1 are detected by the position detection device 4 . The detection signal of the position detection device 4 is input to an automatic spot welding machine (not shown), and the welding machine performs automatic spot welding on the body 1 at equally spaced positions along the moving direction 3 based on the detection signal.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, position detection device #4
a row 25 that is rotatable in contact with the side of the body 1;
A support body 6 that rotatably supports the roller 5, and a roller 5.
It includes a driving means 7 for reciprocating the support 6 to bring it into contact with and away from the body 1 on the conveyance path 2, and a limit switch 8 as a detector fixed to the support 6. A plurality of pins 9 are protruded from the roller 5 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the limit switch 8 is sequentially switched by each pin 9 as the row 25 rotates. do.

The row 25 is formed by, for example, reinforcing both sides of the tire 100 with a pair of reinforcing plates 11 and 12, and a plurality of pins 9 are provided to protrude from the upper reinforcing plate 11. This roller 5 has an obliquely inclined shape corresponding to the side shape of the body 1 to be brought into contact with it, and is pivotally supported by a support body 6.

Referring also to FIG. 4, the support body 6 is constructed by connecting a pair of mutually opposing support plates 13.14 with a pair of mutually parallel connecting rods 15.16.

That is, one end of both connecting rods 15 and 16 is connected to one support plate 1.
Small-diameter male screw portions 15a and 16α fixed to the connecting rods 15 and 16 at the other ends of the connecting rods 15 and 16 are respectively inserted into insertion holes 17 and 18 formed in the other support plate 14. These male threaded portions 15α.

16a has a nut 21゜2 through washer 19.20.
2 are screwed together, and by tightening the nuts 21 and 22, both support plates 13 and 14 are connected via connecting rods 15 and 16.

In this support body 6, a guide rod 23 is provided at the center of one support plate 13 to protrude toward the other support plate 14 side. Further, a support stand 24 is integrally fixed to the upper part of one of the support plates 13, and the limit switch 8 is fixed on this support stand 24. Furthermore, the other support plate 1
A support section 25 is integrally provided on the upper part of the row 25, and the row 25 is rotatably supported by the support section 25. An actuator 8α of the limit switch 8 fixed to the support base 24 extends above the row 25, and when the pin 9 comes into contact with this actuator f3a, the limit switch 8 is switched. A detection signal accompanying the switching operation of the limit switch 8 is sent to the automatic spot welding machine via the cord 26 (see FIG. 1).

The driving means 7 includes a pneumatic cylinder 27 and a swing arm 28.
It consists of The pneumatic cylinder 27 is a single-rod double-acting cylinder, and is supported via a clevis pin 30 on a substrate 29 fixed to the floor on the side of the conveyance path 2 . Pneumatic supply pipes 31 and 32 (see Fig. 1) are connected to the head side and the rond side of this pneumatic cylinder 27, respectively, and when air pressure is supplied to the head side, the piston rod 33 is extended and moved to the rond side. Supply air pressure to 1-
At this time, the piston rod 33 is retracted.

One end of the swinging arm 28 is pivoted to a bracket 34 fixed to the base plate 29 via a vertical pin 35, and a piston rod 33 of the pneumatic cylinder 27 is connected to the pin 35 in the middle of the swinging arm 28. They are connected via parallel pins 36. Therefore, by driving the pneumatic cylinder 27 to extend and contract, the swing arm 28 swings in a horizontal plane using the pin 35 as a fulcrum.

Referring again to FIG. 4, a guide cylinder 37 is fixed at right angles to the other end of the swing arm 28, and a guide plate 38 is fixed to one end of the guide cylinder 3γ. A hole 39 communicating with the guide cylinder 37 is bored in the guide plate 38, and the guide rod 23 of the support body 6 is inserted into the guide cylinder 37 and the hole 39. Further, guide holes 40.41 are bored at both ends of the guide plate 38, and the support body 6 is inserted into these guide holes 40.41.
connecting rods 15 and 16 are inserted respectively. Therefore, the other end of the swinging arm 28 is connected to the guide rod 3 in the support body 6.
7 and the connecting rods 15 and 16 are connected to the support 6 so as to be relatively movable along the axes thereof.

A pair of coiled springs 42 and 43 are interposed between the support body 6 and the drive means 7 as buffer means. That is,
A pair of springs 42 and 43 are stretched between the guide plate 38 of the swing arm 28 in the drive means 7 and one support plate 13 in the support body 6. These springs 42,
43 exerts a spring force that urges the support body 6 toward the conveyance path 2 side when the swing arm 28 swings toward the conveyance path 2 side.

Moreover, relative movement of the support body 6 in a direction away from the conveyance path 2 is also allowed by the expansion of the springs 42 and 43.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. When the body 1 does not move to a predetermined position on the conveyance path 2, the pneumatic cylinder 27 is driven to contract, and therefore the swing arm 28 moves along the conveyance path 2. evacuated to a location far away from In this state, as shown in FIG.
The relative position between the other end of 8 and the support body 6 is determined by the springs 42 and 43.
Due to the spring force, the tip of the guide tube 37 is set at a position closest to the support plate 13 side.

Next, when the body 1 moves to a predetermined position on the conveyance path 2, the body 1 is detected by a limit switch (not shown) or the like, and the pneumatic cylinder 27 of the driving means 7 is driven to extend based on the detection signal. by this,
The swing arm 28 rotates toward the conveyance path 2 side. Therefore, the guide cylinder 37 and the guide plate 38 at the other end of the swing arm 28 move toward the conveyance path 2 side, and the support body 6 follows through the springs 42 and 43. As a result, the row 25 comes into contact with the side of the body 1 on the conveyance path 2, and the roller 5 starts rotating in response to the movement of the body 1.

Limit switch 8
The pins 9 successively come into contact with the actuator 8α, and the limit switch 8 switches. This results in
An automatic spot welding machine can perform automatic spot welding at multiple positions on the body 1.

In such a position detection device 4, when the roller 5 comes into contact with the body 1, the springs 42, 43 are expanded as shown in FIG. 6, and the support body 6 is moved relative to the swing arm 28. , softens the contact of the row 25 with the body 1. Therefore, the roller 5 is prevented from colliding with the body 1, and damage to the body 1 due to the collision can be prevented. Also, the side surface of the body 1 is not flat and has unevenness, but since the roller 5 is resiliently in contact with the side surface of the body 1 due to the spring force of the springs 42 and 43, there may be some unevenness. It can also rotate to follow it.

In this way, the row 25 rotates following the movement of the body 1, so that the limit switch 8 can reliably detect multiple positions along the movement direction 3 of the body 1, and the movement speed of the body 1, i.e., the speed of the conveyor. The multiple positions can be detected accurately regardless of the conveyance speed.

When the body 1 passes, the pneumatic cylinder 27 is driven to contract, and therefore the row 25 is retracted to the side of the conveyance path 2 until the next body 1 reaches a predetermined position.

In this embodiment, a position detection device 4 has been described which detects a plurality of equally spaced positions along the movement direction 3 for automatic spot welding to the body 1, but the reference position when the roller contacts the moving object is set. By doing so, it is possible to detect a plurality of positions with different intervals. Alternatively, holes may be provided in place of the bottle 9 as the detected part, and these holes may be detected by a detector equipped with a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and the configuration of the detected part and the detector may be the same as shown in the figure. is not limited. Furthermore, the structure of the support body 6, the drive means γ, and the buffer means are not limited to those of the above-described embodiments.

As described above, according to the first invention, the position detection device has the following features:
a lock that is rotatable in contact with a side of a moving object and has a plurality of detected portions spaced apart in the circumferential direction; a support that rotatably supports the roller; a side of the conveyance path; a driving means disposed on the support body for reciprocating the support body so as to bring the roller into contact with and away from a moving object on the conveyance path; a detector fixed to the support body for detecting each of the detection target parts; It has a simple configuration and can accurately detect the position by following the movement of a moving object.
Moreover, the space it occupies is only a small space on the side of the conveyance path.

According to the second invention, in addition to the configuration of the first invention,
The support body is allowed to move relative to the driving means in the direction of approaching and moving away from the moving object, and a buffer means is provided between the driving means and the support body for biasing the support body toward the moving object. Since it is interposed, in addition to the first effect of sprouting,
The contact of the roller with the moving object is softened and damage to the moving object is prevented, and the roller can be rotated to follow the unevenness of the moving object, making it possible to detect the position more accurately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a detection state, Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line n-■ in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a limit switch shown in Fig. 2. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the connecting portion between the driving means and the support, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are the relative positions of the driving means and the support when not in operation and when detection is activated. FIG. 1...-Body as a moving object, 2... Conveyance path, 3
...Movement direction, 4.Position detection device, 2..Roller, 6.Support, 7.Driving means, 8.--Limit switch as detector, 9..Detected object Bottle as part, 42°43...Spring as buffering means Patent applicant Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a position detection device for detecting a plurality of positions along the movement direction of a moving object moving along a conveyance path,
a roller that is rotatable in contact with a side portion of the moving object and has a plurality of detected portions spaced apart in the circumferential direction; a support that rotatably supports the roller; a side of the conveyance path; a driving means disposed on one side and reciprocating the support to bring the roller into contact with and away from a moving object on the conveyance path; a detector fixed to the support and detecting each of the detected parts; A moving object position detection device characterized by comprising; (2) In a position detection device for detecting a plurality of positions along the movement direction of a moving object moving along a conveyance path,
a roller that is rotatable in contact with a side portion of the moving object and has a plurality of detected portions spaced apart in the circumferential direction; a support that rotatably supports the roller; a side of the conveyance path; a driving means disposed on the opposite side of the conveyance path and driving the support body back and forth while allowing relative movement of the support body along a direction toward and away from the moving object in order to bring the roller into contact with and away from the moving object on the conveyance path; a buffering means interposed between the drive means and the support and urging the support toward the moving object; a detector fixed to the support for detecting each of the detected parts; A moving object position detection device comprising: