JPS629781A - Welding equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase a welding efficiency by fitting the robot for welding on the upper part base and by arranging a guide part on the lower part base, further by moving the lower part fixture between the welding position and nonwelding position. CONSTITUTION:The welding robot 5 providing the stud gun 4 for spot welding is fitted to the upper part base 1. A guide rail 10 is provided on the lower part base 12 and the welding truck 14, 15 having respectively the lower part fixture 13 are arranged thereon as well. The welding is performed with the cooperation of the fixture 13 and robot 5 by installing the work W fed in via a transfer truck on a welding truck 14. Then when the shape changed work W is transferred, the truck 14, 15 are moved on the guide rail 10 and the welding of a new work W is performed by using the truck 15. The welding efficiency of plural works W of different shapes is thus increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a welding device for welding panel materials together as workpieces in a process for assembling an automobile body such as an engine compartment process or a front floor process. In particular, it is designed to be able to quickly follow changes in the shape of the workpiece.

(Prior Art) An automobile body is formed by assembling a large number of panel materials by welding. In such a welding assembly line, multiple types of workpieces with different shapes depending on the car model or table type are transported and welded by the welding machines at each stage, and traditionally they are also called shuttle bars. A predetermined welding operation was performed on the welding stage while the workpiece was sequentially transferred between each stage using a transfer bar. In order to weld workpieces with different shapes at each welding stage, the upper and lower fixtures of the welding machine were switched to those corresponding to the workpieces, and the workpieces were welded by these working together. (There is one described in JP-A-57-10880).

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in order to switch the upper fixture as described above, not only a plurality of fixtures must be installed on the frame of the welding machine, but also a chain for fixture switching, a drive motor, etc. Although it is necessary to provide a device and the device can be made more versatile, there are still issues to be considered, such as the cost involved in making the frame more robust.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention uses a welding robot equipped with a stud gun, and works in cooperation with the stud gun of the robot to move a lower fixture for spot welding a workpiece into a welding position and a non-welding position. The object of the present invention is to enable rapid welding to the workpiece when the shape of the workpiece to be welded is changed by making the workpiece movable between the two.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention for achieving the above object is such that a welding robot equipped with a stud gun is attached to an upper base forming a welding machine body, and the welding robot is located below the upper base. A guide part extending from a welding position to a non-welding position is provided on the lower base, and a lower fixture for supporting a workpiece and welding the workpiece in cooperation with the stud gun is provided on the guide part, so that the lower fixture The welding device is characterized in that it is movable between the welding position and the non-welding position.

(Example) Next, a welding apparatus according to an example of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 will be described.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a welding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. There is. A welding robot 5 equipped with a stud gun 4 for spot welding is attached to the upper base 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, this stud gun 4 has an upper electrode 7 at the upper end that contacts the power supply base 6, and a lower electrode 8 at the lower end that contacts the workpiece W, and has a welding robot 5.
It is attached to a bracket 9 attached to it so that it can move up and down.

Below the upper base 1, a lower base 12 is attached to the base 3 by a support 11, and a guide rail 10 as a guide section is provided on the lower base 12, extending from a welding position to a non-welding position. It is being

These guide rails]O each support a workpiece W,
Welding carts 14 and 15 each having a lower fixture 13 for welding a workpiece W in cooperation with the stud gun 4 of the welding robot 5 are movably installed.

In the illustrated embodiment, two sets of lower bases 12 and guide rails 10 are provided at a predetermined distance from each other, and each guide rail 10 is provided with a welded carriage 14.1.
5 is installed.

In FIG. 1, one of the welding carts 14 is in the welding position, and the workpiece W is welded by the lower fixture 13 and the stud gun 4, and the other welding cart 15 is in the non-welding position. ing.

These welding carriages 14,15 are connected to phase U by joints 16. As shown in FIG. 1, this joint 16 has a horizontal pin 17 and a shaft 18, and can maintain a connected state even if one of the welding carts goes up or down. For example, if a front floor is assembled using such a welding device, a plurality of panel materials such as a front floor panel and a sill inner are integrated, and these form a workpiece W (the illustration is simplified).
The workpiece is transported by a workpiece transport vehicle 40 shown in FIG. 2.4.

In order to integrally drive the two welding carts 14.15 connected by the joint 16, the No. 3.4
As shown in the figure, a chain 24 is passed around sprockets 20 to 23 attached to the lower base 12, one end of this chain 24 is connected to a welding cart 15, and the other end is connected to the other welding cart 15. ing. Further, a chain 28 is provided between the sprocket 26 of the motor 25 fixed to the lower base 12 and the sprocket 27 integrated with the sprocket 23. As a result, the chain 24 is driven by the motor 25 via the chain 28.

Figure 5.6 shows the workpiece W in cooperation with the welding robot 5.
It is a diagram showing the welding position for performing spot welding on the welding wheel, and the guide rail 10a for the welding car at that part is
It is separated from other parts via a gap 30 shown in FIG. 4, and this part 10a is fixed to a support stand 31 or is a movable part that can be moved up and down by a lid 32, as shown in FIG. It has become. This lifter 32 is constituted by a hydraulic cylinder, and Fig. 5.6 shows the state in which the beam lid 32 is lowered. At this time, the wheels 14 of the welding cart 14
A is located away from the movable part 10a of the guide rail 10 for the welding truck, and the positioning pin 34 of the support 33 is connected to the support 35 provided on the welding truck 14.
At the same time, this receiver is connected to the welding carriage 14 by the stand 33.
is supported. This receiver 35 is provided on all four welding carts 14, 15 shown in FIG. 3.4.

As shown in FIG. 4.6, between the two lower bases 12, there is a workpiece transport vehicle 4O on the base 3 for transporting the workpiece W from the workpiece loading position (not shown) to the welding position. It is installed so as to be movable by wheels 40a along workpiece conveyance rails 42 laid down via support columns 41 shown in the figure. In addition, in FIG. 3.5, illustration of this workpiece conveyance rail 42 is omitted.

The workpiece conveyance rail 42, which movably supports the workpiece conveyor medium 40 with its wheels 40a, also corresponds to the movable part 10a, which is movable up and down, of the guide rail 10 for each welding wheel. , a movable part 42 that is separated from other parts 42 via a gap 43 and can freely move up and down.
It has a.

In order to move the movable part 42a up and down, the movable part 42a is attached to a support stand 44 located between the two lower bases 12 or a lid 45, as shown in FIG. . The movable part 42a of the workpiece conveyance rail 42, which can freely move up and down, is lowered as shown in FIG. 5.6 when welding the workpiece W, and the workpiece conveyance carriage 40 When moving away from the position to the non-welding position, the lifter 45 raises the movable part 42a of the rail 42 to the same position as the other parts.

When performing welding work on the work W, one of the welding carts 14 is set at a predetermined welding position, and at that position, the movable part 10a of the guide rail 10 is lowered by the lifter 32, and the respective welding carts 14, 15 are lowered. In order to install the workpiece W, the movable part 42a of the workpiece transport rail 42 is lowered by the cover 45. This downward movement causes each welding cart 14 and workpiece transport cart 4 to
As shown in FIG. 6, a locating pin 46 is provided on the workpiece carrier 40, and a receiving portion 47 having a hole into which the pin 46 fits is connected to each other. It is provided on the welding cart 14.15. Note that the locate pin 46 may be provided on the welding carriage 14.15.

Further, reference numeral 46 denotes a locate pin provided on the workpiece transport vehicle 40 in order to position the workpiece W.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, a terminal arm 48 for supplying current to the fixture 13 in each welding cart 14, 15 is attached to the column 11 supporting the lower base 12 so as to be openable and closable. The welding carriage 14.15 is also fitted with a terminal 49 which comes into contact with this arm 48.

Next, to explain the operation, first, in FIG. 3.4, for example, a workpiece W conveyed from the left by a workpiece carrier 40 is welded with a fixture 13 provided on two adjacent welding carriages 14. In order to weld a predetermined location using the welding stud gun 4 provided on the welding robot 5, the work W is installed on the welding carts 14 as shown in the figure, and the fixtures provided on these welding carts 14 are used. 13 and a welding robot 5 shown in FIG. 1.2. At this time, the workpiece transport rail 4
The movable portion 42a of the guide rail 10 and the movable portion 10a of the guide rail 10 are both in a lowered state.

After the predetermined welding work on the workpiece W is completed in this way, the lifter 45 is driven to raise the movable part 42a of the workpiece conveyance rail 42 to the same level as the other parts 42. As a result, the locate pin 46 is moved to the receiving portion 4.
7, and the workpiece carriage 40 and welding carriage 14 are in a separated state. In this state, the workpiece carrier 40 is driven by a driving means (not shown) built in the workpiece carrier 40.
The workpiece transport vehicle 40 is moved to the next step (not shown) by driving the wheels 40a.

Next, the shape of the work W to be welded is changed, so that the fixture 13 provided on the welding cart 14 cannot perform welding work, and the welding is performed by the fixture 13 provided on the welding cart 15. When the movable part 10a of each guide rail 10 is raised to the position of the other part, the motor 25 is driven to move the chain 24.28.
3.4, the respective welding carriages 14.15 are simultaneously moved to the right in FIG. 3.4 on the guide rail 10 for the welding machine. In parallel with this, the operating trajectory of the welding robot 5 is changed. As a result, the welding carts 15 are each transported to a position above the movable portion 10a of the welding cart guide rail 10, and then the lifter 3 shown in FIG.
2 to lower the movable portion 10a of the guide rail 10.

Then, the arm 48 shown in FIG. 6 is closed and brought into contact with the terminal 49, so that the fixture 13 can be energized. To perform welding work on a new workpiece W using this welding cart 15, the same procedure as described above is performed.

At this time, the stud gun 4 provided on the welding robot 5 follows the fixture 13 provided on the welding cart 15 and operates.

In the illustrated embodiment, two welding carts 14 and 15 are provided, but they may be provided one each or other types.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, a welding robot equipped with a stud gun is attached to an upper base forming a welding machine body, and a welding robot is attached to a lower base located below the upper base. a lower fixture extending from the welding position to the non-welding position; a lower fixture supporting the workpiece and welding the workpiece in cooperation with the stud gun; The lower fixture can be moved to and from the non-welding position, so when the shape of the workpiece to be welded changes, the lower fixture changes the operating trajectory of the welding robot and also works with the stud gun of the welding robot. By replacing the workpiece, preparations for welding a new workpiece are quickly completed, and it becomes possible to transport a plurality of workpieces with different shapes on one line and perform welding on each workpiece. Therefore, there is no need to mount various mechanisms for switching the upper fixture on the frame of the welding machine.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the entire welding apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of the main part of FIG. 1 taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of the main part of FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of FIG. 1... Upper base, 4... Stud gun,
10... Guide rail, 12... Lower base, 13
... Fixture, 14.15 ... Welding trolley, 32
...lifter, 40...workpiece transport trolley, 4
5... Lifter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A welding robot equipped with a stud gun is attached to an upper base that forms the welding machine main body, and a guide section extending from a welding position to a non-welding position is provided on a lower base located below the upper base to support a workpiece and A lower fixture that welds the workpiece in cooperation with a stud gun is provided on the guide part, and the lower fixture is movable between the welding position and the non-welding position. Welding equipment.