JPS6311488A - Roof feeding system to vehicle body assembly line - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a roof with an erroneous specification from being entered and cope with the multi-type few-quantity production by operating a robot only when the specification recognized by a specification recognizing means and the specification of a vehicle body coincide and feeding a roof at a preset position to a roof entry process. CONSTITUTION:Even if a roof with an erroneous specification is carried in to a present position by a roof carrying device 5, it is checked by a camera means 6, a specification recognizing means 7 and a judging means 8 before it is fed to a roof entry process 2 by a robot 3, thus a mistake that a roof with an erroneous specification is fed to the roof entry process 2 can be prevented. In addition, the roof is fed to the roof entry process 2 from the present position by the robot 3, and the roof is carried in to the preset position by the roof carrying device 5, thus even if many roof specifications are used, many bogies are not required to the aligned at the line side having many restrictions space-wise, and the multi-type few-quantity production can be easily coped with.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a system for supplying a roof, which is four parts, to a roof-input culm in an 11-body assembly line for automobiles.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional roof supply system for a car body assembly line is shown in FIG. 8, for example.

In other words, body main line A, which is a car body assembly line.
- A suspended loader (: is mounted on the culm B that loads/unloads by moving in the X direction perpendicular to the culm B from the side thereof, and this loader C Car body assembly A: Roof loading process B from each truck D1 to D3 of Insai 1-, which is loaded with one part, the roof, according to each specification.
The roofs that meet the specifications of the vehicle body that are flowing are selectively taken out and sequentially supplied to the roof loading process B.

Note that a technology similar to this is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-137231.
It is disclosed in the publication No.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, such conventional roof supply systems for vehicle body assembly lines have the following problems.

(1) The loader selects a line-side trolley that is supposed to be loaded with a roof of that specification, depending on the specifications of the car body that are submitted to the roof loading process.

Loading/unloading is simply done assuming that the specifications of the roof loaded on the cart are correct, so if the worker makes a mistake in the specifications when loading the roof onto each trolley, it is possible to The roof will be put into the roof putting process B as is.

The more different roof specifications there are, the more mistakes are made in loading, and roofs with different specifications for the car body are supplied. (2) The line side is an area where there are many space constraints, and only simple tasks such as loading and unloading can be performed. If the roof is supplied directly from multiple carts lined up on the line side by a loader, there are considerable restrictions on the layout of the loader and each cart, so if there are many roof specifications, it will not be possible to accommodate them easily due to space constraints. Difficulties arose in producing a wide variety of products in small quantities.

An object of the present invention is to provide a roof supply system for a vehicle body assembly line that can solve the problems (1) and (2) above.

[Means for solving problems]

Therefore, the roof supply system for the car body assembly line according to the present invention is as shown in FIG.
and a robot 3 which is disposed on the side of the vehicle body and holds a roof (not shown), which is an assembly part of the vehicle body, with a holder 4 and supplies it to the roof inputting process 2.

A roof carrying device 5 that sequentially carries roofs according to the specifications of the vehicle bodies that are successively introduced into the roof loading process 2 into a predetermined position within the movable range of the robot 3;
an imaging means 6 for taking an image within a fixed field of view of a specific part of the corner portion of the roof carried into a predetermined position by the imaging means 6; and a specification recognition means 7 for processing the imaging data from the imaging means 6 and recognizing the specifications of the roof. , a determining means 8 for comparing and determining whether or not the specifications recognized by the specification recognizing means 7 match the specifications of the vehicle body; and when the determining means 8 determines that both specifications match, the robot 3 to supply the roof at the predetermined position to the roof loading step 2, and when it is determined that the two specifications do not match, a control means 9 performs predetermined abnormality processing.

[For production]

In this way, even if the roof carrying device 5 carries a roof with incorrect specifications to a predetermined position, the robot 3
Before being supplied to the roof loading step 2 by the imaging means 6
Since this is checked by the specification recognition means 7 and the discrimination 8, it is possible to prevent mistakes such as supplying a roof with different specifications to the roof loading process.

In addition, the robot 3 is configured to supply the roof from a predetermined position to the roof loading process 2, and the roof is transported to the predetermined position using a roof carrying bag @5, which increases the specifications of the roof. However, there is no need to line up many cars on the line side, where there are many space constraints.
It has a high degree of freedom in layout and can easily accommodate high-mix, low-volume production.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7 of the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the layout of a roof supply system for a vehicle body assembly line according to the present invention, and parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

Reference numeral 3 designates a roof supplying robot, for example, a vertically articulated robot, which is placed on the line side of a roof loading process 2 in a body main line 1, which is a vehicle body assembly line.

As shown in FIG. 3, the tip of the arm 3a of this robot 3 has a roof 10a of various specifications to be described later.
A hanger 4, which is a holder for holding items such as 10e and 10e, is attached, and is playback-controlled by a control device (not shown), and is accurately positioned at a predetermined position P by a roof loading device 5, which will be described later. The stopped roof is held by this hanger 4, and the roof is transferred and supplied to a roof loading step 2.

Also, this hanger 4 is equipped with a TV camera 6 as an imaging means.
is attached, and when the robot 3 is played back to position this TV camera at the taught position on the predetermined position P, the robot 3 is placed in the right front corner of the roof that is accurately positioned at the predetermined position P. Image a specific part within a certain field of view.

Note that the details will be described later.

The roof loading device 5 is placed across the movable range of the robot 3 and a separate area away from the body main line 1,
Roofs 10a to 10 of each specification. A closed-loop conveyor 51 as shown in the figure that sequentially conveys the objects and temporarily stops at a predetermined position P, and a plurality of carts 5 arranged in the separate areas and loaded with roofs 108 to 100, etc. each having different specifications.
2a to 52f, a suspended roof loader 53 takes out roofs according to the specifications of the vehicle body sequentially flowing into the roof loading process 2 and loads them on a conveyor 51.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a controller, which functions as the specification recognition means 71 discriminating means 8g and control means 9 shown in FIG. 1 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. Output interface (1/
F)25. and a binarization circuit 26, and the binarization circuit 26 receives the video signal A from the TV camera 6.
v is input, and vehicle body specification data D flowing through the body main line 1 from a production control device (not shown) is input to the T/F 25.
s, etc. are input, and the T/F 25 outputs a robot operation signal Mv to a robot control device (not shown) and a line stop signal ST at the time of abnormality processing to a body main line controller (not shown).

The operation of this embodiment constructed as described above will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

First, the operation of the roof loading device 5 will be explained step by step.

The roof loader 53 sequentially takes out roofs with required specifications from the carts 52a to 52f in a sequence according to the specification requirements of the body main line 1, and sequentially loads them onto the conveyor 51.

The conveyor 51 is mounted on a roof 10, for example, by a roof loader 53. ~10e, etc. are sequentially conveyed in the direction of the arrow to form a roof of specified specifications, for example, roof 10a.
reaches a predetermined position [P within the movable range of the robot 3,
Position it accurately and stop once.

Then, when it is confirmed by the later-described determination function of the controller 20 that the specifications of the roof 10a at this predetermined position P match the specifications of the vehicle body flowing into the roof loading process 2, the robot operation signal Mv This causes the robot 3 to hold and hold the roof 10a on the hanger 4.
After this movement, or in synchronization with this movement, the conveyor 51 starts moving again and conveys the primary roof 10h to the predetermined position 1). After that, repeat the above operation.

The CPU 21 of the controller 20 executes a program stored in the ROM 22 in advance as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

That is, first, for example, a video signal A is sent from a robot control device.
It is checked whether input permission for v is granted, and only when input permission is granted, the process proceeds to the next specification recognition process.

This input permission check can be performed by receiving a signal from the control device of the white robot 1 indicating that the robot 3 has performed a playback operation to position the holder 4 at a predetermined position [Pl]. With this debt,
For example, this may be done by checking whether a signal for detecting that the roof has arrived at the predetermined position fiP is also input.

When input permission is granted, the CPU 21 converts the binarization circuit 26
A binarization start signal a is outputted to a binarization start signal a, and a video signal Av, which is imaged data from the TV camera 6 which is capturing an image of a specific part of the front right corner of the roof at a predetermined position P, is input and binarized. do.

Then, in synchronization with this binarization processing, the binarized image data Dv of four frames per frame is stored in a required area of the RAM 23.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the image data Dv for 1 frame and 4 minutes means that the panel portion RP of the roof 10 is 1'',
The data is 0'' for parts other than the antenna holes A and H and the roof.

Next, the CPU 21 calculates the area of the panel portion RP by counting the number of 1'' data based on the image data Dv for one frame stored in the RAM 23, and also calculates the area of the antenna hole Al-1. is calculated by counting the number of "o" data.

Then, the calculated values of the area of the panel portion and the area of the antenna hole portion are compared with the corresponding area values of the roof of each specification stored in advance in the ROM 22,
The shape of the roof 5 and the presence or absence of an antenna hole (or the shape of the antenna hole) are recognized from the verification results, and the specifications of the roof are recognized based on the recognition results of the anus and the like.

Note that the specifications of this roof vary depending on the car model and car type (sedan, hardtop, wagon, etc.).

In this way, after recognizing the specifications of the roof 10, the body main line 1 is stored in the non-volatile memory 24 from the production control device in advance or periodically via ■/1725.
It is compared and determined whether or not the specifications of the vehicle body that have come to the roof insertion step 2 match the recognized specifications among the specifications of the vehicle body flowing through the process.

Note that, as a method of reading out the specification data of the vehicle body at roof insertion 112 from the non-volatile memory 24, for example, the specification data is stored and turned on in accordance with the order of the vehicle bodies flowing on the body main line 1, and then read out in order. It is possible to release it.

If the above specifications match, a robot operation signal Mv is output to the robot control device, and if the specifications do not match, a robot operation signal Mv is output to the controller controlling body main line 1, for example, to perform abnormality processing. Outputs line stop signal ST.

When the robot motion signal Mv is output, the process immediately returns to the initial process and the input permission check is performed.
When the line stop signal ST is output, for example, the operator sets a roof with the correct specifications in place of a roof with different specifications at the predetermined position P or in the roof loading process 2, and performs the abnormality removal process.

The process returns to the initial process on the condition that the manual restart switch that notifies the controller 20 that the abnormality has been removed is turned on.

In this way, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent a roof with an incorrect specification from being supplied to the roof loading process 2.

In addition, even if specifications increase due to model changes or the development of new vehicle models, 12 bogies carrying roofs with new specifications can be added in a separate area away from the line side of body main line 1, with plenty of time to spare. Increases or changes in specifications can be accommodated by increasing or rewriting the data in the ROM 22.

In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the T'V camera 6 was attached to the hanger 4, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the T'V camera 6 may be fixed at a predetermined position [r', , I-].

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an example was described in which the body main line 1 is stopped as an abnormality process when the two compared specifications do not match, but it is also possible to stop the body main line 1 at the same time or simply to warn of the occurrence of an abnormality. .

Next, a specific example of roof specification recognition in the present invention will be described.

In this embodiment, in addition to recognizing the area of a specific part of the front corner of the roof and the presence or absence of an antenna hole based on the image data captured by the °I'V camera 6, the length of the roof and the presence or absence of a sunroof are also recognized. A wide variety of specifications (car models)
It is possible to distinguish and recognize the

(A) As shown in FIG. 7(a), the roof length is determined by two reflective phototubes 11. placed at an interval in the length direction facing the rear part of the roof 10 positioned at the predetermined position P described above. 1
2, and its detection signal (ON: roof present, OFF
: without roof), the recognition data (
Longest = 1 Shortest = 2. Intermediate = 3) is obtained.

Table 1 (B) What is the area of the specific part of the front corner of the roof?

For example, the area of the panel portion of the roof indicated by diagonal lines in FIG.
The area can be calculated by summing up the number of ``, but the area may also be calculated by recognizing the outer peripheral shape of the roof.

Table 2 Note that in this example, a 16-bit microcomputer is used to perform image processing, so one area is calculated in hexadecimal. The recognition data is obtained as shown in Table 2, with a wide range of recognition.

(C) To determine whether there is an antenna hole, calculate the area of the white part in the shaded area in Figure 7 (B) (or count the number of 0's in the image data '1'' as described above). Again, it is determined in hexadecimal, and the average value of the area of the antenna hole is [bO], so
Obtain recognition data as shown in Table 3.

(D) Whether or not there is a sunroof, as shown in FIG. A reflective phototube 13 is placed at the center, and its detection signal (ON = no opening.

OFF: With opening), recognition data is obtained as shown in Table 4.

By combining the above recognition data, comprehensive recognition data as shown in Table 5 is obtained.

-16= Table 5 This comprehensive recognition data is expressed as a 4-digit numerical value for each of the above recognition data (A) to (D) as data in the 4th to 1st digits. This data is displayed on a display such as a CRT, or the data is converted into vehicle model Nos. 091 to 13 using the table in Table 5, and is used to determine whether the vehicle body sent to the roof installation process matches the vehicle model. .

In Table 5, [Desk type JA-E] indicates the type of sedan, hardtop, 2-door, 4-door, wagon, etc., and [Specification JA-E]
ac means the following specifications.

a: No sunroof, antenna hole present b = No sunroof, no antenna hole C: Sunroof present, no antenna hole [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the roof supply system to the car body assembly line according to the present invention Even if the carry-in device brings in a roof with different specifications from the specifications of the car body transported to the roof loading process of the car body assembly line, it checks to ensure that the specifications are -fi before feeding it to the roof loading process. Since the roof is supplied only when the roof is in use, there will be no problem if a roof that does not meet the specifications is mistakenly supplied to the roof loading process.

In addition, the robots 1 to 1 will supply the roof to the culm from a predetermined position within the robot's movement range, and the roof with the required specifications will be delivered to the predetermined position by the roof carrying device. This eliminates the need to line up a large number of car body specifications on the line side where there are many space constraints, and the degree of freedom of Leila 1~ increases, making it easier to produce a wide variety of sunset views. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of this invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of this invention.
3 is an enlarged view of the robot 1 to 3 in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an example of the configuration of the controllers 1 to 20 in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a ring processing program executed by CI) U21 in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the binarized video data Dv, and FIG.
Figures (A) to (C) are for explaining a specific embodiment of roof specification recognition in the present invention, and Figure 8 is a layout diagram showing an example of a conventional roof supply system to a vehicle body assembly line. 1. Body main line (vehicle body assembly line) 2...
Roof loading process 3...Robot 4...Hanger (holding tool) 5...Roof loading device 6...TV
Camera (imaging means) io, i
oa~10e...Roof 20...Controller 51...Conveyor
853a-53f...Dolly 53...Roof loader Figure 5 start? Start of unification 1 frame capture area calculation panel part antenna hole Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A robot disposed on the side of a car body assembly line that holds a roof, which is a car body assembly part, and supplies it to the roof loading process of the car body assembly line; a roof carrying device that sequentially carries roofs according to the specifications of the vehicle bodies that are successively introduced into the roof loading step; and a specific portion of the corner portion of the roof that is carried to the predetermined position by the roof carrying device. an imaging means for taking an image within a certain field of view; a specification recognition means for image-processing the imaged data by the imaging means to recognize the specifications of the roof at the predetermined position; and specifications recognized by the specification recognition means. and a determining means for comparing and determining whether or not the specifications of the vehicle body and the vehicle body match, and when the determining means determines that both specifications match, the robot is operated to move the robot to the predetermined position. A system for supplying a roof to a vehicle body assembly line, comprising a control means for supplying the roof to the roof loading process and for performing predetermined abnormality processing when it is determined that the two specifications do not match.