JPS62225476A - Conveyor for car assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To optionally change the direction of a car body, make the conveying speed in a certain segment different from that in other segments, and improve the assembly line efficiency by providing sliding plates liftable to be slidden on drive wheels and arranged on a base. CONSTITUTION:Drive wheels 53 are arranged in parallel along the conveying direction in a certain segment on an assembly line to accelerate the travel speed of a travel dolly 2 than in other segments. On the other hand, a pair of sliding plates 63 slidable on the drive wheels 53 are liftably provided on the travel dolly 2, and an air cylinder 64 for lifting and driving individual sliding plates 63 are fixedly arranged below a base 4. A car body 1 is mounted on a receiving member 9 of the travel dolly 2, the air cylinders 64 are extended and operated to make the sliding plates 63 slide on the drive wheels 53 and make individual wheels 5 float from a travel road 55a, and when the drive wheels 53 are rotated and driven under this condition, the dolly 2 is traveled by the friction with the sliding plates 53.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A1 Object of the Invention (1) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an automobile assembly conveyance device for conveying vehicle bodies for assembling automobiles.

(2) Prior Art Conventionally, on an automobile assembly line, vehicle bodies are conveyed and assembled using an overhead conveyor or a slat conveyor.

(3) Problems that the invention seeks to solve By the way, automobile assembly work involves a large number of parts and many parts that are heavy, so automation has been attempted to reduce the labor burden on workers. It's coming. However, in the conventional transport device described above, the direction of the vehicle body remains constant along the entire length of the assembly line, and the movement is complicated to automate assembly work in the engine room or trunk room, for example, and even if automated, it would be difficult to automate the assembly work. There are problems such as it takes too much time and equipment costs are high.

Furthermore, if the conveyance speed in a certain section in the middle of the assembly line can be made different from the speed in other sections, the assembly line can be configured efficiently, and there is such a demand.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a conveyance device for automobile assembly that allows the direction of the vehicle body to be changed arbitrarily, and in which the conveyance speed in a certain section is different from that in other sections. The purpose is to provide

B6 Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving Problems 11) The device of the present invention includes a base on which a vehicle body can be mounted; wheels; a steering mechanism provided on the base to steer each wheel; a plurality of drive boilers arranged in parallel in a certain section in the middle of the assembly line and driven to rotate around a horizontal axis; a sliding contact plate disposed on a base so that it can be raised and lowered for sliding contact; an upper limit position in which the sliding contact plate is positioned above the drive wheel with the wheel in contact with the running road surface; and an elevating and lowering driving means provided on the base to move the sliding contact plate up and down between an upper limit position where the sliding contact plate is brought into sliding contact with the drive wheel in a floating state.

(2) Effect The vehicle body is mounted on a base, and in this state, the direction of the vehicle body can be changed arbitrarily by steering each wheel using a steering mechanism. Furthermore, in the middle of the assembly line, the sliding contact plate is lowered to make sliding contact with the drive wheel, and when the drive wheel is rotated with each wheel lifted off the running road surface, the base is caused by the friction between the drive wheel and the sliding contact plate. Runs due to resistance.

(3) Embodiment Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, during the assembly process of an automobile, a bodyworker is mounted on a traveling truck 2, and the vehicle body 2 is mounted on the traveling truck 2.
is transported along the assembly line in the transport direction 3. Moreover, each part is assembled to the car body 1 at multiple assembly positions set in the middle of the assembly line, and the traveling bogie 2 adjusts the height of the car body 1 according to the work characteristics at each assembly position. The vehicle travels while changing its speed and direction, and increases the traveling speed in certain sections to transport the vehicle.

Referring also to FIG. 2, the traveling truck 2 has a base 4 of 6i
# is installed at the bottom of this base 4 so that four i[transporters 5] can be steered. Each wheel 5 is arranged on a virtual circle ll centered on the center of the base 4 and at each vertex position of a rectangle, and by steering these wheels 5, the direction of the traveling trolley 2, that is, the traveling The direction of the vehicle body 1 on the truck 2 can be changed arbitrarily.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, each wheel 5 is pivotally supported with a horizontal axis on a substantially U-shaped support member 12 that opens downward, and is integrally mounted on the upper part of this support member 12. A protruding support shaft 13 is rotatably supported by a support arm 14 about a vertical axis.

Furthermore, the support arm 14 is fixed to the base 4.

An air morph 7 is supported and fixed on the sides of two support members 12 supported by the base 4 on the rear side of the base 4 when the vehicle body l is oriented along the transport direction 3. An output shaft 15 of this motor 7 is coaxially connected to a shaft 16 of the wheel 5.

In order to steer each wheel 5, a steering mechanism 6 is provided for each wheel 5. This steering mechanism 6 includes an I-operation arm 1 whose one end is fixedly connected to the upper end of a support shaft 13.
7, and an air cylinder 20 equipped with a screw 1-rod 19 connected to the other end of the swing arm 17 via a pin 18.
It consists of The air cylinder 20 is horizontally supported by a bracket 21 fixed to the base 4 via a pin 22.

In such a steering mechanism 6, the support shaft 13, that is, the support member 12, rotates around the axis due to the expansion and contraction operation of the air cylinder 20, thereby steering the wheels 5.

A pair of cylindrical guide posts 8 are erected on the base 4 at an interval larger than the width of the vehicle body 1, and a pair of receiving members 9 that can be raised and lowered along the guide posts 8 are provided on the vehicle body 1. i on top! MH is done. Moreover, each receiving member 9 has a lifting mechanism 1.
0 is concatenated.

In FIG. 6, the elevating mechanism 10 includes an elevating cylinder 23 that is slidably fitted into each guide post 8, and an elevating cylinder 23 that is suspended from the upper end of the elevating cylinder 23 that protrudes from the upper end of the guide post 8 along the outer surface of the guide post 8. The nut 25 has a support plate 24 on which the receiving member 9 is fixed at the lower end, a nut 25 fixed on the lower end of the elevating tube 23, and a guide member 26 that can slide inside the elevating tube 23 at the upper end. a screw shaft 27 that is screwed into the screw shaft 27, a first bevel gear 28 provided at the lower end of the screw shaft 27, a second bevel gear 29 that meshes with the first bevel gear 28, and a second bevel gear of both guide posts 8. 29, and a fourth bevel gear 31 that meshes with the third bevel gear 30.

In FIG. 7, a groove 32 extending in the axial direction is provided on the inner surface of the guide post 8 over its entire length, and a protrusion 33 that slides into the groove 32 is provided on the outer surface of the elevating tube 23. As a result, the elevating tube 23 is prevented from rotating around the axis, but is allowed to move in the axial direction. Therefore, the elevating tube 23
goes up and down. Moreover, since the receiving member 9 is connected to the lifting cylinder 23 via the support plate 24, the screw shaft 2
According to the rotational movement of 7, the receiving member 9 on which the vehicle body 1 is placed moves up and down.

The lower end of the guide post 8 protrudes into the base 4, and a gear box 34 is fitted and fixed into the lower end of the guide post 8. A first bevel gear 28 coaxially connected to the screw shaft 27 is rotatably supported within the gear box 34 . Also, on the side of the gear box 34,
A support tube 35 extending inwardly of the base 4 is connected,
The second bevel gear 29 is rotatably supported by the support tube 35.
meshes with the first bevel gear 29 within the gear box 34.

A gear box 36 is fixedly disposed inside the base 4 at the center between both guide posts 8, and a third bevel gear 30 coaxial with the second bevel gear 29 is rotatably disposed within the gear box 36. supported. Furthermore, the third bevel gear 30 and the second bevel gears 29 on both sides are coaxially connected via a transmission shaft 37.

Within the gear box 36, the fourth bevel gear 31 is rotatably supported with a vertical axis of rotation, and a shaft 38 of the fourth bevel gear 31 projects downward from the gear box 36.

An elevating drive source 39 that can be connected to the elevating mechanism 10 is disposed at a set position midway in the transport direction 3 by the traveling trolley 2 .

That is, a pit 41 is provided at a set position on the traveling road surface 40 on which the traveling trolley 2 travels, and within this bit 4I there is a lifting drive that can be connected to the shaft 38 of the fourth bevel gear 31 in the lifting mechanism 10. A source 39 is provided.

The elevating drive source 39 is, for example, an air motor having a vertical output shaft 42, and the upper end of the output shaft 42 is provided with a socket connecting portion 43 that can be connected to the shaft 38. The elevating drive source 39 is fixed to a bracket 45, and the bracket 45 is supported by a guide plate 44 extending vertically so as to be movable up and down. Moreover, an air cylinder 46 for lifting is disposed between the base of the guide plate 44 and the bracket 45, and by driving the air cylinder 46 to expand and contract, the lifting drive source 3
9 moves up and down between the position where the socket connecting part 43 is connected to the shaft 38 and the position where the connected state is released.

In FIG. 8, the bottom of the base 4 has a plurality of positioning holes 4.
7 are provided, and when the base 4 is in a position where the elevating drive source 39 can be connected to the elevating mechanism 10, a positioning cylinder 48 is provided on the traveling road surface 40 corresponding to those positioning holes 47. Ru.

Piston rod 49 in this positioning cylinder 48
A positioning pin 50 that can be fitted into the positioning hole 47 is protruded from the tip of the positioning pin 50 , and by extending the positioning cylinder 48 and fitting the positioning pin 50 into the positioning hole 47 , the position of the traveling carriage 2 is determined. is fixed.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the traveling road surface 40 is provided with a guide groove 51 extending along the conveyance direction 3, and the guide groove 5 is provided at the lower center of the base 4 of the traveling vehicle 2.
A guide bin 52 that fits into the guide pin 1 is provided in a protruding manner. As a result, the traveling trolley 2 can travel linearly along the transport direction 3, and the guide bin 52 can also be used when changing direction.
It can be rotated around the center to prevent the center position from shifting.

Referring also to FIG. 9, in a certain section A in the middle of the assembly line, a plurality of drive wheels 53 are installed along the conveyance direction 3 in order to make the traveling speed of the traveling carriage 2 faster than in other sections. are arranged in parallel.

A pit 54 extending along the transport direction 3 is provided on the road surface 40 leading to the certain section, and the upper open end of the pit 54 is closed by a floor plate 55 flush with the road surface 40 . The center part in the width direction of the floor +tJi 55 is supported by a central support stand 56 provided at the center of the bottom of the pit 54, and the floor plate 5
Both sides of the pit 54 are supported by side support stands 57 and 58 provided on both sides of the bottom of the pit 54. Each of the support stands 56.57.5
8 rotatably supports horizontal rotating shafts 59 perpendicular to the conveying direction 3, and a plurality of these rotating shafts 59 are arranged at intervals along the conveying direction 3. Furthermore, both the measuring section support stands 57 and 58 are formed in a substantially U-shape that is open upward, and the drive wheels 53 are respectively fixed to the rotating shaft 59 within these support stands 57 and 58. A sprocket/nodboil 60 is fixedly attached to the end of the rotating shaft 59 that protrudes laterally from one side support 57, and each sprocket wheel 60 has an endless chain 761 that is driven to run by a drive source (not shown). is wrapped around. Therefore, each drive wheel 53 is rotated in conjunction with each other.

Each drive wheel 53 is arranged with its upper part protruding upward from the floor plate 55, and in the center of the floor plate 55, one
11. A guide slit 62 connected to the guide groove 5j is provided over the entire length along the conveyance direction 3 in order to guide the guide pin 52.

On the other hand, in the traveling trolley 2, a pair of +g contact plates 63 that can be slidably contacted with the drive wheel 53 are provided so as to be movable up and down. That is, sliding contact plates 63 extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the receiving members 9 are disposed below the base 4 at both end sides in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the receiving members 9 so as to be movable up and down. Ru. Moreover, each sliding contact plate 63 and each drive wheel 53 are
Their positions are determined so as to correspond to each other.

At the bottom of the base 4, a plurality of air cylinders 64 are fixedly arranged for each sliding contact plate 63 as a lifting means for driving each sliding contact plate 63 up and down.

Each air cylinder 64 is fixed to the base 4 with its piston rod 65 facing downward, and a sliding contact plate 63 is commonly fixed to the tip or lower end of each piston rod 65. As a result, the sliding contact plate 63 moves up and down in response to the expansion and contraction of the air cylinder 64, but the length and amount of expansion and contraction of the air cylinder 64 are determined by the traveling road surface 55a formed on the upper surface of the floor plate 55.
With each wheel 5 in contact with the ground, slide the sliding contact plate 63 onto the road surface 5.
The sliding contact plate 63 is raised and lowered between an upper limit position in which the sliding contact plate 63 is located above the drive wheel 5a and an upper limit position in which the sliding contact plate 63 is in sliding contact with the drive wheel 53 with each wheel 5 floating above the running road surface 55a. determined.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. The vehicle body 1 is placed on the receiving member 9 of the traveling truck 2. In this state, the car body
While conveying with the orientation perpendicular to the conveying direction 3, when a certain section A is reached, the air cylinder 64 is extended and the sliding contact plate 63 is brought into sliding contact with the drive wheel 53, and each wheel 5 is moved to the traveling road surface 55a. make it float from the top. When each drive wheel 53 is rotated in this state, the friction between the sliding contact plate 63 and the drive wheel 53 causes the traveling bogie to
runs. At this time, the air motor 7 as a traveling drive source provided in the traveling carriage 2 is stopped, and the traveling carriage 2 travels in the transport direction 3 at a higher speed than in other sections.

After the travel of the certain section A is completed, the air cylinder 64 is contracted, and each wheel 5 comes into contact with the traveling road surface 55a, and the sliding contact plate 63 separates from the drive wheel 53 and moves upward.

Then, when the air motor 7 is activated, each wheel moves on the road surface 55.
The vehicle travels from point a to the traveling road surface 40 and returns to its original traveling speed.

Further, when the vehicle body 1 is to be transported with its direction turned in the transport direction 3, each wheel 5 is steered by the steering mechanism 6 so as to follow the virtual circle 11, and the air motor 7 is activated. Then, the traveling carriage 2 can be rotated by 90 degrees around the guide pin 52, and the vehicle body 1 can be driven with its direction aligned with the transport direction 3.

Further, when the traveling carriage 2 reaches the set position, the positioning cylinder 48 is extended to fix the traveling carriage 2, and the lifting drive source 39 is raised and connected to the shaft 38 of the lifting mechanism IO. By operating the lifting drive source 39 in this state, the receiver can lift the member 9, that is, the vehicle body 1.

In this way, since it is possible to change the direction of the vehicle body 1 and also adjust the height of the vehicle body 1, it becomes easy to assemble parts to the vehicle body 1. Moreover, since the traveling speed of the traveling carriage 2 can be changed in the middle of the assembly line, the assembly line can be configured efficiently.

C9 Effects of the Invention As described above, the device of the present invention includes a base on which a vehicle body can be mounted;
A plurality of wheels are attached to the bottom of the base so that they can be steered and can roll on the running road surface; A steering mechanism is installed on the base to steer each vehicle width; a plurality of drive wheels arranged in groups and driven to rotate around a horizontal axis; a sliding contact plate disposed on a base so as to be movable up and down so as to come into sliding contact with each drive wheel; the wheels are in contact with a running road surface; The upper limit position is where the sliding contact plate is placed above the drive wheel with the wheel lifted off the road surface, and the upper limit position is where the sliding contact plate is placed above the drive wheel with the wheel lifted off the road surface.
(11#, so
In addition to being able to change the direction of the car body, it is also possible to change the running speed midway, making it easier to assemble parts to the car body, making it easier to automate assembly, and improving the efficiency of the assembly line. configuration is possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which the vehicle body is transported, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of the traveling trolley. , Figure 4 shows ■ in Figure 3.
5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 4, and FIG.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 3. FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line rX--EX in FIG. 1... Vehicle body, 4... Base, 5... Wheels, 6...
Steering mechanism, 40.55a... Running road surface, 53
...Drive wheel, 63...Sliding contact plate, 64...
Air cylinder as traveling drive means, A...Certain section change Figure 7 Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] A vehicle assembly transport device for transporting a vehicle body for assembling a vehicle includes a base on which the vehicle body can be mounted; and a plurality of wheels that are attached to the bottom of the base in a steerable manner and can roll on a running road surface. ; A steering mechanism installed on the base to steer each wheel; A plurality of drive wheels arranged in parallel in a certain section in the middle of the assembly line and driven to rotate around a horizontal axis; Sliding contact with each drive wheel. a sliding contact plate disposed on the base so that it can be raised and lowered as much as possible;
between an upper limit position where the sliding contact plate is positioned above the drive wheel with the wheel in contact with the running road surface and a lower limit position where the sliding contact plate is placed in sliding contact with the drive wheel with the wheel floating above the running road surface. 1. A transport device for assembling an automobile, comprising: a lifting drive means provided on a base for lifting and lowering a sliding contact plate;