JPS622952B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention is a composite robot used in the assembly of automobile bodies, etc., which is capable of performing workpiece transfer in addition to the original work such as welding. It relates to working equipment.

(Prior Art) Recently, a wide variety of robots have come to be used in automobile body assembly, etc., and efforts are being made to automate and save labor.

However, conventional robots are all specialized; for example, welding robots perform only welding work, and transport robots only perform workpiece transport. For this reason, it is necessary to install many robots even in one work process, resulting in problems such as high equipment costs and the need for a large work space.

Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the present applicant has developed a welding robot that can grip and transport workpieces with a welding gun, and that one robot can be used for both welding work and transporting workpieces. (See Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 151972/1983). However, in this proposal, the electrode, which is the part of the welding gun that grips the workpiece, is thin and small, so it is unsuitable for transporting large workpieces, and there is also a risk of damage to the electrode itself. .

(Object of the Invention) In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to use a removable workpiece holder on the robot, instead of holding the workpiece with the welding gun of the welding robot as in the above-mentioned proposal. To effectively reduce the number of robots required in car body assembly, etc. by enabling a robot to carry out work on a workpiece and transferring the workpiece regardless of the size of the workpiece.

(Structure of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the structure of the present invention is such that a working tool for working on a workpiece is provided at the tip of the arm, and a first A robot equipped with a joint part, a second joint part connectable to the first joint part of the robot, and a holding mechanism that allows the workpiece to be attached and detached, and is placed at a fixed position outside the work area when the robot is working. The present invention includes a workpiece holder and a control means for sending work operation commands and workpiece transfer operation commands to the robot, work tool, and workpiece holder. As a result, under the control of the control means, when working on a workpiece, the robot is operated without a workpiece holder and the work tool is used, while when the workpiece is transferred, the workpiece is moved. , a workpiece holder is attached to the robot in advance, the workpiece is held via the workpiece holder, and the workpiece is transferred by the robot.

(Effects of the Invention) Therefore, according to the robot-based compound work device of the present invention, a single robot can perform work on a workpiece and transfer the workpiece, without affecting the work in any way just by attaching and detaching the workpiece holder of the robot. Since it can be carried out without any work, it is possible to reduce the number of robots that were conventionally required in car body assembly, etc., and effectively reduce equipment costs and the space required for work. I can do it. Furthermore, when transferring a workpiece, a workpiece holder is attached to the tip of the robot's arm, separate from the workpiece, and the workpiece is held via the workpiece holder, which prevents damage to the workpiece. Not only does this not cause any problems, but the work can be transferred stably and reliably. Furthermore, the scope of application is not limited by the size of the workpiece, and is advantageous in terms of practicality and versatility.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a welding assembly equipment for the side surface of an automobile body according to an embodiment of the present invention, and numeral 1 indicates various parts and parts.
A storage section 2 for storing parts moves the temporarily attached outer panel W ₁ from the storage section 1 to a predetermined welding position.
The first carry-in shooters 3 to 5 are each arranged around the welding position S ₁ and perform welding on the outer panel W ₁ that has been transferred to the welding position S ₁ by the first carry-in shooter ₂ . The welding robot 3, one of the welding robots 3 to 5, welds parts on the parts welding table 6 between welding to the outer panel _W1 at the welding position _S1 . Configured to perform welding of part W ₂ . In addition, after welding to the outer panel W ₁ at the welding position S ₁ is completed, the other welding robot 5 holds the outer panel W ₁ via the workpiece holder 7 and transfers it from the welding position S ₁ to the assembly table. 8. Note that, unlike the other two welding robots 3 and 5, the welding robot 4 only performs welding work on the outer panel _W1 at the welding position _S1 . With the above configuration, the outer panel W ₁ transferred to the welding position S ₁ by the first carry-in shooter 2 is transferred to the welding position S ₁
At this point, the welding robots 3 to 5 perform the final welding, and then the welding robot 5 transports it to the assembly table 8.

Further, numeral 9 denotes a second carry-in shooter for transferring the quarter inner panel W ₃ in a temporarily attached state from the storage section 1 to a predetermined standby position S ₂ , and 10 denotes a transfer robot equipped with a workpiece holder 11 . The transport robot 10 receives the quarter inner panel that has been transported to the standby position _S2 by the second transport system 9.
Hold W ₃ with work holder 11 and move to standby position S ₂
It is configured so that it can be transferred from there to the temporary storage stand 12. Further, 13 and 14 are the transfer robots 1
The welding machines 13 and 14 are stationary welding machines arranged corresponding to the quarter inner panel W ₃ that is transferred from the standby position S ₂ to the temporary stand 12 by the transfer robot 10. During the transfer, the final welding on one side is performed.

Furthermore, 15 is a rotating welding robot disposed between the assembly table 8 and the temporary storage table 12,
The welding robot 15 performs welding assembly of the workpieces on the assembly table 8 (welding assembly between the outer panel W ₁ , the quarter inner panel W ₃ , and the front pillar inner W ₄ as described later), and also performs welding assembly of the workpieces on the assembly table 8 . Quarter inner panel W ₃ placed on temporary stand 12 during welding and assembly of workpieces at
is held via the workpiece holder 16 and placed on the temporary stand 12.
It is configured so that it can be transferred from there onto an assembly table 8. 17 is a stationary welding machine disposed corresponding to the rotary welding robot 15;
The quarter inner panel W ₃ is transferred from the standby position S ₂ to the assembly table 8 during its transfer, and as described above, is permanently welded by the welding machines 13 and 14 during the transfer from the temporary stand 12 to the standby position S 2. The actual welding is performed on one side and the opposite side. With the above configuration, the quarter inner panel W ₃ transferred to the standby position S ₂ by the second carry-in shooter 9 is transferred from the standby position S ₂ to the temporary storage stand 12 by the transfer robot 10 and the rotary welding robot 15. are transferred to the assembly table 8, and during the transfer, final welding is performed by welding machines 13, 14, and 17.

In addition, in the vicinity of the assembly table 8, there are two other rotary welding robots 18 and 19 that work together with the rotary welding robot 15 to weld and assemble workpieces on the assembly table 8. One of the welding robots 18 and 19, the welding robot 18, clamps the workpiece with a workpiece holder 40 placed on the mounting table 20 between welding and assembling the workpieces on the assembly table 8. Front pillar inner
It is configured to transfer the W ₄ together with the workpiece holder 40 from the mounting table 20 onto the assembly table 8. Further, after the assembly and welding of the workpieces on the assembly table 8 is completed, the other welding robot 19 holds the assembled workpiece assembly W ₅ via the workpiece holder 21 and carries it out from the assembly table 8 to the shutter 22. It is configured to be transferred to the removal position _S3 . Therefore, on the assembly table 8, the outer panel _W1 , the quarter inner panel _W3 , and the front pillar inner _W4 , which have been transferred to the assembly table 8, are welded together by the welding robots 15, 18, and 19. A work assembly W ₅ of a predetermined shape that will constitute the side surface of the vehicle body is assembled, and then this work assembly W ₅ is transferred and placed on the carry-out shooter 22 at the take-out position S ₃ by the welding robot 19, and then It is designed to be transferred to the next process by the shutter 22. Here, the second carry-in shooter 9, the first carry-in shooter 2, the assembly table 8, and the carry-out shooter 22 each have a function as a workpiece mounting table.
are arranged parallel to each other at predetermined intervals in one direction (up and down in the figure), and the temporary storage tables 12 are positioned on the extension line in the conveying direction of the first loading chute 2, that is, the second loading chute 9. and the assembly table 8.

And the above-mentioned rotary welding robots 3 to 5, 1
5, 18, and 19, the workpieces (i.e., outer panel W ₁ , quarter inner panel W ₃ ,
Front pillar inner W ₄ or work assembly W ₅ )
Welding robots 5, 15, 18, 19 transporting
As shown in detail in FIG. 2, there is a rotary base 23 that can rotate, a support 24 that is swingably erected on the rotation base 23, and a horizontal direction from the top of the support 24. The arm 25 is provided to be rotatable around its axis and swingable in the vertical direction. In addition, the arm 2
A welding gun 27 as a working tool for performing work (welding work) on the workpiece is attached to the tip of the connecting member 26 via a connecting member 26, and the connecting member 26 is also shown in FIG. welding gun 2
A first joint portion 28 made of a hook member is attached to a position that does not interfere with the rotary base 2 , that is, a portion outside the working space of the welding gun 27 .
3, between the two workpiece mounting tables that transfer the workpiece (that is, in the case of the welding robot 5 that transfers the outer panel _W1 , between the welding position _S1 of the first carry-in shooter 2 and the assembly table 8, the quarter In the case of the welding robot 15 that transfers the inner panel W ₃ , between the temporary holding table 12 and the assembly table 8, and in the case of the welding robot that transfers the front pillar inner W ₄ , between the mounting table 20 and the assembly table 8, Further work assembly
The welding robot 19 for transporting W ₅ is provided so as to be movable back and forth between the assembly table 8 and the take-out position S ₃ of the carry-out shooter 22.

On the other hand, the rotary welding robots 5, 15, 1
The workpiece holders 7, 16, 40, 21 used when transferring the workpieces 8, 19 are the welding robots 5, 19,
15, 18, and 19, the welding robots 5, 15, 18, and 19 (the welding gun 27 or the first joint portion 28 at the tip of the arm 25) are placed in fixed positions within the movement area between the workpiece mounting tables outside their respective work areas. It is located in Further, each of the workpiece holders 7, 16, 40, 21 includes a frame 29 assembled according to the shape of the workpiece, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the frame 29 includes: A chuck mechanism 30 as a second joint part connectable to the first joint part 28 of each of the welding robots 5, 15, 18, 19 is attached, and a plurality of Holding mechanisms 33, 33, .
5, 18, and 19 (first joint portion 28), each holding mechanism 33 is configured to hold the workpiece. Here, the attachment device for the chuck mechanism 31 to the frame 29 is as follows:
When the workpiece is held by the workpiece holder 7, 16, 40, 21, the workpiece holder 7, 16, 4
0 and 21 are set to approximately coincide with the position of the entire center of gravity of the workpiece.

Furthermore, each of the welding robots 5, 15, 18,
19 is provided with a control means consisting of a microcomputer etc., although not particularly shown, and the control means controls each welding robot 5, 15, 18, 1.
9. Work operation commands and workpiece transfer operation commands are sent to the welding gun 27 at the tip of the arm 25 and the workpiece holders 7, 16, 40, 21 attached to the welding robots 5, 15, 18, 19. It's starting to be controlled. The above welding robot 5,1
5, 18, and 19, workpiece holders 7, 21 corresponding to these two welding robots, and control means constitute robot-based composite working devices A, A of the present invention, respectively. .

In addition, rotating type welding robots 3 to 5, 15, 18,
Of the 19 robots, welding robots 3 and 4, which only perform welding work, are not shown in detail in the figure, but they are equipped with only a welding gun at the tip of the arm and do not have a joint part. Welding robots 5, 15, 19 that transfer the workpiece together
It has almost the same configuration.

Next, a complex work device A using a robot according to the present invention
Regarding the operation of the welding robots 5 and 19 that transport the workpiece during welding work,
The case of the welding robot 5 that transfers W ₁ will be explained as an example.

Suppose now that the outer panel W ₁ in a temporarily attached state has been transferred to a predetermined welding position S ₁ by the first carry-in shooter 2 . In this case, the welding robot 5
is waiting at the welding position _S1 without the workpiece holder 7 attached, and the workpiece holder 7 itself is at the welding position _S1 of the first carry-in shooter 2, which is outside the work area of the welding robot 5. It is placed at a fixed position between it and the assembly table 8.

In this state, a work operation command is sent from the control means to the welding robot 5 and the welding gun 27 at the tip of its arm 25, and under the control of the control means, the welding robot 5 is moved to the welding position _S1 . The other two placed around the welding position _S1
While working together with the welding robots 3 and 4 on the stand, the welding gun 27 at the tip of the arm 25 performs the final welding of the outer panel _W1 . At this time, the workpiece holder 7 is placed at a fixed position outside the work area of the welding robot 5 as described above, and a workpiece holder 7 is provided on the welding robot 5 so that the workpiece holder 7 can be attached to the welding robot 5. Since the first joint portion 28 is located outside the working space of the welding gun 27 at the tip of the arm 25, the operation of the welding robot 5 and the welding gun 27 is limited to the workpiece holder 7 and the first joint portion 28.
The joint portion 28 does not cause any trouble.

Then, the outer panel W ₁ at the above welding position S ₁
When the welding work is completed, first, the welding robot 5 is placed in a fixed position between the welding position _S1 of the first carry-in shooter 2 and the assembly table 8 based on a work transfer operation command from the control means. Move to the workpiece holder 7 (rotation of the rotating base 23), connect the first joint part 28 of the welding robot 5 to the chuck mechanism 30 of the workpiece holder 7 at that position, and attach the workpiece holder 7. It works like that.

Thereafter, the welding robot 5 moves to the welding position S ₁ of the first carry-in shooter 2 so as to approach the outer panel W ₁ on which welding work has been completed, with the workpiece holder 7 still attached. Next, each holding mechanism 33 of the workpiece holder 7 operates to hold the welding robot 5.
After the outer panel W ₁ is held via the workpiece holder 7, the welding robot 5 moves to the assembly table 8, and the outer panel W ₁ is placed on the assembly table 8.
It operates to place the .

Thereafter, the welding robot 5 returns the workpiece holder 7 to its original position between the assembly table 8 and the first carry-in shooter 2, and then returns the workpiece holder 7 to the original position between the assembly table 8 and the first carry-in shooter 2.
Move to welding position S ₁ and complete one cycle of work. Thereafter, welding is repeatedly performed on the outer panel W ₁ that is being transferred next by the first carry-in shooter 2 at the welding position S ₁ . With the above steps, one cycle of operation is completed.

Although the operation in the case of another welding robot 19 that transfers a large workpiece together with welding work, which is related to the robot-based compound work device A of the present invention, will not be described in detail,
In the case of the welding robot 19 that transfers _W5 , welding work on the workpiece on the assembly table 8, transfer of the workpiece assembly _W5 from the assembly table 8 to the take-out position _S3 of the carry-out shooter 22, and attachment and detachment of the workpiece holder 21. This sequence of operations is the above-mentioned outer panel W ₁
This is the same as in the case of the welding robot 5 that transports the robot.

Therefore, in the robot-based compound work device A of the present invention, the welding robots 5 and 19 each perform the welding operation and also transport the workpieces, and the workpiece holders 7 to the welding robots 5 and 19 , 21 can be attached and detached without causing any hindrance to the welding work. Therefore, the number of robots required in the past can be reduced by that amount (two robots in the above example), and the equipment can be reduced. It is possible to effectively reduce costs and reduce the space required for work.

Furthermore, each of the welding robots 5, 19 is equipped with a workpiece holder 7, 21 at a first joint portion 28 separate from the welding gun 27 when transferring the workpiece, and the plurality of workpiece holders 7, 21 are Holding mechanism 33, 3
3, . . . are used to hold the workpiece, the workpiece can be transferred stably and reliably, and the electrodes of the welding gun 27 are not damaged. Furthermore, since the size, shape, etc. of the workpiece holders 7 and 21 can be freely selected, the scope of application is not limited by the size of the workpiece, etc., and is advantageous in terms of practicality and versatility. It is.

Furthermore, since the workpiece holders 7 and 21 are attached and detached (installed or removed) during the movement between the workpiece mounting tables of the welding robots 5 and 19, the time required for attachment and detachment can be shortened and operation efficiency improved. can be achieved.

In the above embodiments, the present invention was applied to a welding robot used in equipment for welding and assembling the side surfaces of automobile bodies, but it can be similarly applied to robots used in various other places. Of course. In this case, the original work of the robot is not limited to the welding work as in the above embodiment, but may also be various other works such as bolt tightening work and painting work.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the entire welding and assembly equipment for the side of an automobile body, and Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a rotary welding robot that transfers workpieces during welding work. 3 is a partial view seen from direction B in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the state of workpiece holding by the workpiece holder, and FIG. 5 is along the line - in FIG. FIG. 5, 19...Rotating type welding robot, 7, 21...Work holder, 25...Arm, 27...Welding gun, 2
8...first joint part, 30...chuck mechanism, 3
3... Holding mechanism, A... Composite work device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A robot that is provided with a work tool that performs work on a workpiece at the tip of an arm, and that has a first joint section at the end of the arm, excluding the work space of the work tool, and the robot's first joint. a workpiece holder, which has a second joint part that can be connected to the part and a holding mechanism that allows the workpiece to be attached and detached, and is placed at a fixed position outside the work area when the robot is working; and the robot, the work tool, and the workpiece holder. 1. A complex work device using a robot, comprising a control means for sending a work movement command and a work transfer movement command to a robot.