JPS63123457A - Method and apparatus for washing painting gun - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently perform washing by incorporating a washing process in a line, by making a washing tank having a plurality of nozzles arranged thereto displaceable to a washing work position where a painting gun can be introduced into the tank from a retracted position. CONSTITUTION:An upper painting gun washing mechanism 136 for washing the painting guns 90a-90d of an upper painting mechanism is formed in a freely revolving, rising and falling manner and preliminarily retracted from the feed path of a car body 14 at the time of painting and displaces respective washing tanks 148a-148d to a predetermined position, where the painting guns 90a-90d must be washed, at the time of washing work. At this time, the painting guns 90a-90d are displaced in the direction shown by an arrow A to be simultaneously introduced into the hole parts provided to the flexible cover members of the washing tanks 148a-148d and the nozzle parts of the painting guns are washed with the solvent injected from a washing gun. Further, even in said painting gun washing mechanisms 138, 140, side part painting guns are washed simultaneously and efficiently in the same way.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cleaning method and device for automatically cleaning a plurality of painting guns installed in an automatic painting device, and more specifically, for example, The installed cleaning tank is moved from a predetermined retreat position to a cleaning work position, and then the plurality of painting guns and the cleaning tank are moved relatively close to each other so that the painting gun faces the cleaning tank, and then thinner, etc. By injecting solvent into each painting gun for cleaning, a large number of painting guns can be cleaned in a short time and efficiently. The present invention relates to a method and device for cleaning a painting gun that makes it possible to easily automate the entire painting process.

Generally, in the automobile industry, painting apparatuses are employed to paint the outer panels of automobile bodies. In this case, the painting equipment has come to be automated to correspond to the line production process, and generally, multiple painting guns are installed and the painting equipment is connected to the car body to be painted. The vehicle body is automatically coated by spraying predetermined paint from the plurality of paint guns while moving the paint guns.

By the way, when painting work is continued on an automobile body, paint sprayed from each painting gun often adheres to the tip of the painting gun, that is, to the nozzle portion. If paint adheres to the nozzle, the colors may mix when trying to spray different paints from the same paint gun.
Alternatively, a chemical change may occur, and the paint may solidify and clog the nozzle, making it impossible to spray the paint when performing a new painting job.

Therefore, conventionally, before starting painting work and after finishing painting work, a worker cleans each nozzle part with a brush coated with a solvent such as thinner, and then uses a cloth or the like to clean the nozzle part. The painting gun is cleaned by wiping off the solvent.

However, as mentioned above, since the cleaning work of the painting gun is done manually by the operator, especially in the automatic painting equipment mentioned above, which is equipped with a large number of painting guns,
It takes a considerable amount of time to clean the painting gun, and
This exposes the inconvenience of imposing a considerable burden on workers.

Moreover, since the cleaning work is carried out by the operator himself, it is extremely difficult to achieve an automated painting line process, and there is a drawback that it is impossible to efficiently paint the car body.

The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, and includes a plurality of nozzles for injecting a cleaning solvent to each coating gun provided in an upper coating mechanism for coating at least the upper part of an object to be coated. The cleaning tank equipped with the cleaning tank is moved from a predetermined retreat position to the cleaning work position with respect to the painting line, and then the cleaning tank and the painting gun are moved relatively close to each other, and the painting gun enters the cleaning tank. and spraying solvent from each nozzle to clean the painting gun,
It is possible to efficiently and automatically clean multiple painting guns, and also to perform the painting process all at once in a short time, and also to easily achieve automation of the painting process. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for cleaning a paint gun.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a coating system comprising an upper coating mechanism for coating the upper part of an object to be coated that is conveyed along a coating line, and a side coating mechanism for coating the sides of the object to be coated. A cleaning method for automatically cleaning each painting gun of an apparatus, the cleaning method including a plurality of cleaning nozzles corresponding to a plurality of painting guns provided in at least one of the above-mentioned painting mechanisms. integrally displacing the tank from a predetermined retreat position to a cleaning work position, then moving the cleaning tank and one of the painting mechanisms relatively close to each other so that the painting gun faces the cleaning tank; Furthermore, the paint gun is cleaned by spraying a cleaning fluid from a cleaning nozzle.

Furthermore, the present invention also provides a first cleaning mechanism for cleaning a plurality of painting guns attached to an upper coating mechanism for painting the upper part of the object to be painted, and a side painting mechanism for painting the sides of the object to be painted. and a second cleaning mechanism for cleaning a plurality of painting guns attached to the mechanism, and the first and second cleaning mechanisms are provided with cleaning tanks corresponding to the number of respective painting guns, and each of the cleaning tanks has a plurality of cleaning tanks. a plurality of cleaning nozzles for injecting cleaning fluid to the first cleaning mechanism; a cleaning tank provided at least in the first cleaning mechanism is configured to be movable between a predetermined retreat position and a cleaning work position; The present invention is characterized in that the cleaning tank is configured to avoid interfering with the painting operation when performing the painting operation on the object to be painted via the cleaning tank.

Next, a method for cleaning a coating gun according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, with reference to preferred embodiments in relation to an apparatus for carrying out the method.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates an automobile painting line, and this painting line 10 is divided into a first stage 10a, a second stage 10b, a third stage 10c, and a fourth stage 10d according to the work process. Ru. In this case, the cleaning device 12 according to the present invention has a third stage 10c.
will be placed in

In the first stage 10a, the engine compartment and trunk compartment of the vehicle body 14 are painted. That is, rail sections 16a and 16b are arranged on both sides of the first stage 10a, and painting robots 18a to 18d are movably arranged on these rail sections 16a and 16b. Also,
A bonnet opening/closing mechanism 20 and a trunk opening/closing mechanism 22 are provided in the first stage 10a. Note that the painting line 10 from the first stage 10a to the fourth stage 10d
A vehicle body transport mechanism 24 is provided in the center of the vehicle body.

In the second stage 10b, the inner surface of the door of the vehicle body 14, etc., is painted. In this case, rail parts 26a and 26b are arranged on both sides of the second stage 10b, and painting robots 28a and 28b are movably arranged on these rail parts 25a and 26b. Furthermore, a rail portion 30a,
30b, and door opening/closing mechanisms 32a, 32b are movably arranged on these rail parts 30a, 30b.

Next, at the third stage 10c where the cleaning device 12 according to the present invention is installed, the outer panel portions of the vehicle body 14 including the bonnet, trunk cover, roof, and doors are painted via the painting device 34 installed therein. be exposed. Then, in the fourth stage 10d, the painted vehicle body 14 is dried. Note that the first stage 10a to the third stage 1
At 0c, it is assumed that static electricity is applied to the paint and electrostatic painting is performed on the vehicle body 14, which is the object to be painted.

Therefore, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the coating device 34 has rail sections 35a and 35b arranged in parallel on both sides of the vehicle body transport mechanism 24, an upper coating mechanism 36 that runs along the rail sections 35a, and an upper coating mechanism 36 that runs along the rail sections 35a. It basically consists of a left side painting mechanism 38 and a right side painting mechanism 40 that runs along the rail section 35b.

The traveling means for causing the upper painting mechanism 36, the left side painting mechanism 38, and the right side painting mechanism 40 to travel along the rail portions 35a and '35b are basically configured the same. That is, in FIG. 2, the rail bracket 42 constituting each rail portion 35a, 35b is
A rank member 44 is disposed on the vertical outer side of the rail bracket 42 and extends in the longitudinal direction of the rail bracket 42 .

On the other hand, a plate body 48 is fixed to the lower end portions of casings 46a to 46c that constitute the outer frames of the upper painting mechanism 36, the left side painting mechanism 38, and the right side painting mechanism 40.
A traveling motor 52 is attached to a side plate 50a fixed to the lower side of the vehicle 8. A pinion 54 is rotatably attached to the tip of the rotating shaft 52a of the travel motor 52, and this pinion 54 is attached to the rack member 44 provided on the rail bracket 42.
mesh with. Further, a side plate 50b fixed to the other side of the lower surface of the plate body 48, and wheel parts 56a, 56b that rotate by engaging with the rail bracket 42 are attached to the side plate 50a.

Next, the configuration of the upper coating mechanism 36 will be explained.

In FIG. 2, a ball screw 58 extending vertically is rotatably supported in the casing 46a, and the upper end of the ball screw 58 is connected to the drive shaft of a lifting motor 60 mounted on the upper surface of the casing 46a. connected to. There are four guide rods 62a to 62d around the ball screw 58.
are installed in parallel. Here, a support plate 64 is screwed onto the ball screw 58, and the support plate 64 is configured to move up and down by rotating the ball screw 58 under the driving action of an elevating motor 60. Note that the support plate 6
4 through which the guide rods 62a to 62d are inserted.

A swing motor 68 is fixed to the upper surface of the support plate 64 via a holder 66, and the rotation shaft 6 of the swing motor 68
A gear 70 is pivotally attached to 8a. The holding body 66 is a bearing member 72
A rotating shaft 74 is pivotally supported by this bearing member 72, and a gear 76 that meshes with the gear 70 is pivotally attached to one end of the rotating shaft 74. The other end of the pivot shaft 74 projects outward from the casing 46a, and one end of a pivot arm 78 is fixed to that end.

On the other hand, a shift cylinder 80 as a shift means is disposed on the other end side of the swing arm 78.

The cylinder rod 82 of this shift cylinder 80 engages with a slide sleeve 84, and a horizontal gun arm 86 is engaged with the slide sleeve 84. Gun support bars 88a to 88d are held perpendicular to the horizontal gun arm 86 at predetermined intervals. And gun support bars 88a to 88
Painting guns 90a to 90d, which serve as paint injection means, are attached to the lower end of d while being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. Note that a nozzle portion 91 is provided on the tip side of the painting guns 90a to 90d.
a to 91d are provided.

The left side painting mechanism 38 and the right side painting mechanism 40 are connected to the vehicle body 1.
The left side and right side of 4 are painted, and they are basically configured the same. Therefore, the left side painting mechanism 38
will be described in detail below, and a detailed description of the right side painting mechanism 40 will be omitted.

That is, in FIG. 3, columns 92a and 92b extending in the vertical direction are disposed within a casing 46b constituting the outer frame of the left side painting mechanism 38.

Rail portions 35a, 3 are provided between these supports 92a, 92b.
Two guide bars 94 extending horizontally and perpendicular to 5b.
a, 94b are bridged, and these guide bars 94a, 9
4b, a holding member 96 is slidably engaged and held. A horizontally moving cylinder 98 is fixed to the holding member 96, and a distal end portion of a cylinder rond (not shown) of this horizontally moving cylinder 98 is engaged with a support column 92b via a connecting member 100.

Further, the holding member 96 includes a slide metal 102a.

The guide bar 104 is inserted through the guide bar 102b so as to be vertically slidable and rotatable.

That is, the connecting member 106 is engaged with the lower end of the guide bar 104 that protrudes downward from the holding member 96, and the shift cylinder 10 is fixed to the outer side of the holding member 96.
A cylinder rod 110 protruding from the lower end of B is connected to the connecting member 106.

On the other hand, a pinion 114 is engaged with the upper side of the guide bar 104, and a rack 118 extending from a cylinder 116 attached to the holding member 96 meshes with this pinion 114.

Therefore, a holder 120 is further connected to both upper and lower ends of the guide bar 104, and a gun arm 124 is engaged with this holder 120 via support members 122a and 122b. A paint gun 128 as a paint injection means is connected to the gun arm 124 via connecting members 126a to 126d.
a to 128d are attached at a predetermined distance apart, and in this case, the painting guns 128a, 128b and 128
d are configured to be able to swing freely.

That is, the cylinders 130a to 1 are attached to the gun arm 124.
30c is engaged, and the cylinders 130a to 130C
One ends of the holding members 134a to 134C engage with the cylinder rods 132a to 132C extending from the cylinder rods 132a to 132C. The holding members 134a to 134c include a connecting member 126a,
It is rotatably supported relative to 126b and 126d, and holds painting guns 128a, 128b and 128d at the other end of each. Note that the coating gun 128C is fixed with its tip oriented horizontally.

Next, the cleaning bag 'Jl 12 according to the present invention will be described in detail below.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the cleaning device 12 basically includes an upper painting gun cleaning mechanism 136 that cleans the painting guns 90a to 90d, a left side painting mechanism 38, and a right side painting machine. It includes side paint gun cleaning mechanisms 138 and 140 that clean the respective paint guns 128a to 128d constituting the f7I40.

In FIG. 4, the upper coating gun cleaning mechanism 136 includes a base 142, and a main body 144 is provided on the base 142 so as to be movable up and down and rotatable.

Support rods 146a and 146b are provided at the top of the main body 144.
One end of the rods 146a and 146 are fixed to each other.
b extend in parallel in the horizontal direction. And rod 1
Cleaning tanks 148a to 148d are supported by 46a and 146b, and the spacing between the cleaning tanks 148a to 148d is selected in accordance with the coating guns 90a to 90d of the upper coating mechanism 36.

In this case, the cleaning tanks 148a to 148d are constructed in the same way, so the cleaning tank 148a will be described in detail below, and the detailed description of the other cleaning tanks 148b to 148d will be omitted.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the base brake 150 constituting the cleaning tank 148a has two rods 146a and 1, respectively.
46b to connect the cleaning tank 148a to these rods 14.
6a, support member 152a for hanging from 146b
152d to 152d are provided. In addition, the base plate 15
A circular opening 154 having a relatively large diameter is formed in the center of the base plate 150, and flexible cover members 156a and 156b facing the opening 154 are fixed to the base plate 150. The cover members 156a and 156b have the same shape, and a coating gun 90a is provided in the center of each.
Holes 158a and 158b having a smaller diameter than the nozzle portions 91a to 91d of the holes 158a to 90d are formed, and slits (not shown) are formed at a predetermined distance from the center of each hole 158a and 158b and directed outward in the radial direction. Form it.

Then, the flexible cover members 156a and 156b are overlapped and fixed to the base plate 150 so that the respective slits do not overlap.

On the other hand, the support members 152a to 1 of the base plate 150
As shown in FIG. 6, one end portions of support bars 160a to 160d are fixed to the surface portion opposite to the surface portion provided with the support bar 52d at equal intervals so as to surround the opening 154. One end of support bar 162 is fixed between bars 1600 and 160d.

Holder members 164a to 164d are engaged with the other ends of the support bars 160a to 160d, and the holder members 16
Cleaning guns 166a to 166d are attached to 4a to 164d.

In this case, the nozzle tips 168a to 168d of the cleaning guns 166a to 166d are inclined toward the base plate 150 and are also oriented on the center line of the opening 154. Further, a support bar 170 is engaged with the other end of the support bar 162 in a direction perpendicular thereto, and a holder member 172 is engaged with the support bar 170. and,
A cleaning gun 174 is attached to this holder member 172, and a nozzle tip 176 of the cleaning gun 174 is connected to the opening 154.
oriented on the center line of

Therefore, the casing 178 is attached to the base plate 150.
For example, it is detachably attached via bolts or the like, and a cleaning work chamber 180 is defined within this casing 178.

The chamber 180 communicates with a waste liquid and mist outlet 182 which has a reduced diameter at the end of the casing 178.

Cleaning tanks configured in this way 14th a to 148d
A pipe line 184 is integrally connected to the outlet 182 of the main body part 144, and the pipe line 184 is attached to the main body part 144.
4 and is configured to move up and down as well as rotate integrally.

Further, one end of a flexible pipe 186 is connected to the pipe 184, and the other end of the flexible pipe 186 is connected to a separation tank 188. The separation tank 188 has a mist pipe line 190 on its upper side, and a waste liquid pipe line 192 on its lower side.
The pipe line 192 is connected to, for example, a pump 193, and further connected to a waste liquid processing section (not shown).

On the other hand, the side painting gun cleaning mechanisms 138 and 140 are constructed in the same way, and the side painting gun cleaning mechanism 138 will be described in detail below, and a detailed explanation of the other cleaning mechanism 140 will be omitted.

That is, the cleaning mechanism 138 includes a base 194, and a support 196 is erected on the base 194. The pillar 19
6 are provided with holding members 198a to 198d extending horizontally at predetermined height positions, respectively, and the holding members 19
Cleaning tanks 200a to 200d via 8a to 198d
are mounted corresponding to the painting guns 128a to 128d constituting the left side painting mechanism 38. The cleaning tanks 200b and 200d are fixed to holding members 198b and 198d, and the other cleaning tanks 200a and 200c are configured to be freely displaceable in the horizontal direction. That is, the cleaning tank shift cylinders 202a, 202b are oriented horizontally to the support column 196.
are engaged with each other at a predetermined distance, and the cylinder 202a,
Cylinder rod 204 extending horizontally from 202b
The cleaning tanks 200a and 200c are attached to the cleaning tanks 200a and 204b.

Therefore, the cleaning tanks 200a to 200d are configured in substantially the same manner as the cleaning tank 148a described above, and in this case,
Support members 207a to 207d are provided on the upper side of the casing 206 constituting the cleaning tanks 200a to 200d, and the holding members 198a, 198d and the cylinder rod 204a are connected via the support members 207a to 207d.

It is suspended from 204b. Note that the internal configurations of the cleaning tanks 200a to 200d are configured similarly to the cleaning tank 148a described above, so a detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Further, in the lower part of the casing 206 constituting the cleaning tanks 200a to 200d, there is a conduit 20 for collecting waste liquid and mist.
8 are connected, and each pipe line 208 is connected to a separation tank 212 via a pipe line 210, and the separation tank 188 described above is connected to the separation tank 188.
Similarly, a mist pipe line 214 and a waste liquid pipe line 216 are connected to this separation tank 212.

The cleaning device for implementing the coating gun cleaning method according to the present invention is basically configured as described above.
Next, its action and effects will be explained.

First, the hood of the vehicle body 14 transported to the first stage 10a by the vehicle body transport mechanism 24 is opened by the bonnet opening/closing mechanism 20, and the trunk cover is opened by the trunk opening/closing mechanism 22.

Then, the engine room and the trunk room are painted by the painting robots 8a to 18d running along the rail parts 15a and 16b.

Next, the vehicle body 14 with the bonnet and trunk cover closed by the bonnet opening/closing mechanism 20 and the trunk opening/closing mechanism 22 is transported to the second stage 10b by the vehicle body transport mechanism 24.

In the second stage 10b, the door of the vehicle body 14 is opened by the door opening/closing mechanism 32a, 32b, and the inner surface of the door is moved along the rail parts 26a, 26b of the painting robot 2.
8a and 28b. Next, the door opening/closing mechanism 3
The vehicle body 14 with the door closed by 23.32b is transported to the third stage 10c by the vehicle body transport mechanism 24.

Therefore, in advance, the painting guns 90a to 90d attached to the upper coating mechanism 36 are arranged so as to point toward the front panel of the vehicle body 14, and the coating guns 128a, 128b attached to both measuring section coating mechanisms 38.40 and 128d
are oscillated and displaced under the driving action of the respective cylinders 130a to 130C, and are positioned in accordance with the side shape of the vehicle body 14. When the traveling motor 52 is driven, a pinion 54 that is rotatably mounted on the rotating shaft 52a of the traveling motor 52 rotates, and the upper coating mechanism 36
6b and starts traveling along the rail bracket 42 in the direction of arrow C.

Next, the front panel of the vehicle body 14 and the upper painting mechanism 36
When the interval between the paint guns 90a to 90d reaches a predetermined distance, driving of the traveling motor 52 is stopped or the rotational speed is reduced to a predetermined speed. Further, when the lifting motor 60 is driven, the ball screw 58 connected to the lifting motor 60 rotates, and the swing arm 78 is raised in the direction of the arrow through the support plate 64 screwed onto the ball screw 58. Start.

In this case, paint is injected from the paint guns 90a to 90d toward the front panel of the vehicle body 14, and the front panel is painted.

Note that the painting guns 90a to 90d are arranged at a predetermined distance apart so that the injected paints do not interfere with each other. Therefore, the paint is deposited in stripes on the painted surface of the front panel.

When the painting of the front panel is completed and the painting guns 90a to 90d reach the boundary between the front panel and the bonnet, the turning motor 68 is driven. Therefore, the swing arm 78 rotates in the direction of arrow B about the swing shaft 74 via the gear 76 that meshes with the gear 70 that is pivotally supported by the rotation shaft 68a of the swing motor 68. As a result, the painting guns 90a to 90d attached to the rotating arm 78 are attached to the vehicle body 14.
It will be oriented perpendicular to the hood of the vehicle. Here, the upper coating mechanism 36 travels along the rail portion 35a under the driving action of the travel motor 52, and the bonnet is painted.

In this way, the support plate 64 is vertically displaced along the inclination of the vehicle body 14 under the action of the lifting motor 60, and the swing arm 78 is rotated under the drive action of the swing motor 68. 14. Paint is applied in stripes over the entire upper surface.

Meanwhile, the side painting mechanisms 38 and 40 are displaced a predetermined distance from the upper painting mechanism 36 along the rail portions 35a and 35b, and the gun arm 124 is moved in the direction of arrow E or F under the driving action of the cylinder 98. Paint is sprayed from each of the paint guns 128a to 128d while being displaced, thereby applying striped paint to the side surface of the vehicle body 14.

Next, in both measuring section coating mechanisms 38 and 40, the guide bar 104 is displaced by a predetermined amount in the direction of the arrow A or D under the driving action of the cylinder 108. In addition, the cylinder 130a
After setting the angular positions of the painting guns 128a, 128b, and 128d by driving the painting guns 128a, 128b, and 128d, both measuring part painting mechanisms 38, 40 are displaced along the rail parts 35a, 35b in the opposite direction. At that time, the painting gun 128a
The paint sprayed from 128d to 128d is sprayed onto the portion to be painted on the side of the vehicle body 14, so that the entire side surface of the vehicle body 14 is coated.

On the other hand, in the upper painting mechanism 36, the horizontal gun arm 86 is displaced by a predetermined amount in the direction of arrow E or F under the driving action of the cylinder 80, and the upper painting mechanism 36 is moved toward the rail portion 35.
While displacing the painting gun 9 in the opposite direction to the above along a.
The paint is injected onto the portion to be painted in the upper part of the vehicle body 14 through the ports 0a to 90d, and the painting work on the entire outer surface of the vehicle body 14 is completed.

In this way, the vehicle body 14 that has been painted is transported to the fourth stage 10d via the vehicle body transport mechanism 24, and then subjected to a drying process.

Therefore, after finishing the painting work on the car body 14 in the painting line 10 or before starting the painting work on the car body 14, the respective painting guns 90a to 90d and 128a to Perform the cleaning work of 128d.

That is, the upper coating gun cleaning mechanism 136 constituting the cleaning device 12 performs the above-mentioned painting operation on the vehicle body 14.
As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning mechanism 136 is arranged parallel to the rail portion 35b to prevent the cleaning mechanism 136 from interfering with the painting operation of the vehicle body 14. and,
When cleaning the painting guns 90a to 90d, the main body 144 is displaced vertically upward, and then the main body 144 is rotationally displaced in the direction of the arrow under the driving action of a rotational drive source (not shown). Rods 146a, 146b are positioned parallel to horizontal gun arm 86, thereby moving each cleaning tank 148a-148d into position (see FIGS. 1 and 4).

Next, the ball screw 58 is driven by the lifting motor 60.
When the support plate 64 is displaced in the direction of the arrow A through the support plate 64, the painting guns 90a to 90d are similarly displaced in the direction of the arrow A through the pivot arm 78 held by the support plate 64.
The respective nozzle parts 91a to 91d are made to face inside the cleaning tanks 148a to 148d. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the nozzle portion 91a of the coating gun 90a is inserted into the holes 158a, 15 of the flexible cover members 156a, 156b, which are attached to the base plate H50 constituting the cleaning tank 148a.
Enter 8b. At that time, the holes 158a, 158
b is formed to be smaller than the diameter of the nozzle portion 91a, and the slits (not shown) communicating with the holes 158a and 158b are arranged so as not to overlap each other, so that the casing 178 is formed through the nozzle portion 91a.
The upper side of the inner chamber 180 can be completely closed off.

Furthermore, if a solvent such as thinner or a mixed fluid of the solvent and air is injected from the respective nozzle tips 168a to 168d and 176 via pipes (not shown) connected to the cleaning guns 166a to 166d and 174,
Since the nozzle tips 168a to 168d and 176 are oriented on the center line of the opening 154, that is, toward the nozzle portion 91a of the coating gun 90a, the solvent or mixed fluid is vigorously jetted toward the nozzle portion 91a and The cleaning action of 91a is achieved very effectively.

In this case, the upper part of the chamber 180, that is, the end where the nozzle part 91a enters, is covered with a flexible cover member 156a.
156b, the cleaning guns 166a to 166
The solvent or mixed fluid injected from d and 174 is not led out to the outside, and in particular, the inconvenience that mist containing a large amount of thinner enters the workplace and adversely affects the health of workers is avoided. becomes possible.

In this manner, when the nozzle portion 91a of the painting gun 90a is cleaned, the paint impregnated with the fluid sprayed from the cleaning guns 166a to 166d and 174, that is, the waste liquid and the mist, are removed from the outlet provided at the lower part of the casing 178. 182 to a separation tank 188 from conduit 184 and conduit 186.

In the separation tank 188, the mist is sent to an exhaust treatment section (not shown) via a pipe line 190, while the waste liquid is sent to a pipe line 19.
2 to a waste liquid treatment section (not shown) under the action of a pump 193. Therefore, there is an advantage that no waste liquid or mist flows into the workplace, and a good environment in the workplace can be ensured.

Although the cleaning process for the painting gun 90a has been described in detail above, it is easily understood that the same process can be performed for the other painting guns 90b to 90d. Paint guns 128a to 1
The painting work of 28d will be explained in detail below.

That is, in the side painting gun cleaning mechanism 138, the cylinder rods 204a, 204b are displaced in the horizontal direction under the driving action of the cylinders 202a, 202b, and the cleaning tanks 200a, 200c held therein are moved to the painting gun. It is positioned corresponding to the positions 128a and 128c. On the other hand, holding members 134a to 134c rotate the painting guns 128a, 128b and 128d under the driving action of the respective cylinders 130a to 130c.
, and position each distal end portion horizontally (see the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3).

Next, the rack 118 is displaced in a predetermined direction under the driving action of the cylinder 116, and the guide bar 104 is rotated by 90 degrees via the pinion 114 that meshes with the rack 118. Therefore, the gun arm 124 that is attached to the guide bar 104 swings from the side of the vehicle body 14 toward the side painting gun cleaning mechanism 138, and the painting gun 128a
128d come to face cleaning tanks 200a to 200d, respectively.

Therefore, when the left side painting mechanism 38 is displaced toward the cleaning mechanism 138 side along the rail portion 35a, the respective painting guns 128a to 128d are moved to the cleaning tanks 200a to 200.
Insert the tip into 0d. Next, similar to the cleaning tank 148a described above, each of the cleaning tanks 200a to 200
It is only necessary to clean the tips of the painting guns 128a to 128d that have entered the inside of the paint gun 128a to 128d. The cleaning operation will be automatically performed via the cleaning mechanism 140.

As described above, according to the present invention, the upper coating gun cleaning mechanism 136 for cleaning the coating guns 90a to 90d of the upper coating mechanism 36 is configured to be rotatable and vertically movable, and the coating guns 90a to 90d are used to clean the vehicle body 14. When painting the vehicle body 14, the vehicle body 14 is evacuated from the transport path to prevent interference with the painting work, and during cleaning work, each cleaning tank 14 is removed from the transport path.
8a to 148d are positioned at predetermined positions for cleaning the painting guns 90a to 90d. Therefore,
The space occupied by the cleaning mechanism 136 on the painting line 10 can be made as small as possible. Moreover, it is possible to simultaneously and automatically clean a plurality of painting guns 90a to 90d.
It becomes possible to shorten the time required for 0d cleaning work at once. In addition, in order to automatically perform the cleaning work,
As in the past, an operator applies the coating gun 90a using a brush or the like.
Compared to a method that requires 90 d of cleaning work, it does not impose a burden on the operator (and has the advantage that the entire painting work process can be highly automated).

Further, the mist and waste liquid generated in each of the cleaning tanks 148a to 148d are transferred to a separation tank 188 via a pipe line 184.
The waste liquid is separated into mist and waste liquid in this separation tank 188, and each is sent to a predetermined processing section. in this way,
In particular, by effectively disposing of mist containing a large amount of thinner, which tends to adversely affect the health of workers, it is possible to maintain a good environment in the workplace.

It will be easily understood that the cleaning mechanisms 138 and 140 for side painting guns can also simultaneously and efficiently clean each of the painting guns 128a to 128d.

As a result, like the coating device 34 in this embodiment, a large number of coating guns 90a to 90d and 128a to 12 are used.
8d, it is possible to easily improve the efficiency of the painting process by shortening the cleaning work considerably compared to the conventional method in which the cleaning is done one by one manually by an operator. This has the effect of making it possible to

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of cleaning nozzles can be installed for a plurality of painting guns installed in a painting device configured to automatically paint the upper and side parts of an object to be painted. In addition, cleaning is performed automatically via a movable cleaning tank. Therefore, the cleaning device can be provided close to the conveyance mechanism for the object to be coated, and the painting line incorporating the cleaning device can be downsized as much as possible. Moreover, since multiple paint guns can be cleaned at the same time,
Compared to the conventional method in which painting guns were manually cleaned one by one by an operator, the time required for the cleaning work is drastically reduced, and the entire painting process can be performed efficiently. Moreover, by automatically carrying out the painting operation and the cleaning operation of the painting gun, there is an advantage that a highly automated painting process can be easily achieved.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various improvements and changes in design can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a painting line system incorporating a cleaning device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view of a coating device cleaned by the cleaning device according to the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a coating line system incorporating a cleaning device according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a partially omitted side view showing the arrangement of the cleaning device according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a cleaning tank constituting the cleaning device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-Vl in FIG. 5.

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) Automatically operate each painting gun of the coating device, which consists of an upper coating mechanism that paints the upper part of the object to be painted that is transported along the painting line, and a side coating mechanism that paints the sides of the object to be painted. A cleaning method for cleaning at least one of the above-mentioned painting mechanisms, the cleaning method comprising cleaning a cleaning tank corresponding to a plurality of painting guns installed in at least one of the above-mentioned painting mechanisms and equipped with a plurality of cleaning nozzles from a predetermined retreat position. Then, the cleaning tank and one of the painting mechanisms are moved relatively close to each other so that the painting gun faces the cleaning tank, and the cleaning fluid is supplied from the cleaning nozzle. A method for cleaning a painting gun, characterized in that the painting gun is cleaned by spraying. (2) A method for cleaning a coating gun according to claim 1, wherein one of the coating mechanisms is an upper coating mechanism. (3) In the method according to claim 1, a plurality of side painting guns provided in the side painting mechanism are horizontally oriented and positioned, and a plurality of cleaning guns corresponding to the side painting guns are provided. After the cleaning tank in which the cleaning nozzle is disposed and the side painting mechanism face each other, the cleaning tank and the side painting mechanism are moved relatively close to each other so that the side painting gun faces the cleaning tank, Next, a cleaning method for a painting gun is characterized in that the side painting gun is cleaned by spraying a cleaning fluid from a cleaning nozzle. (4) A method for cleaning a coating gun according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning tank provided in the side coating mechanism is fixed. (5) A first cleaning mechanism for cleaning a plurality of painting guns attached to an upper coating mechanism that paints the upper part of the object to be painted, and a first cleaning mechanism that is attached to the side painting mechanism that paints the sides of the object to be painted. and a second cleaning mechanism for cleaning a plurality of painted guns, and the first and second cleaning mechanisms are provided with cleaning tanks corresponding to the number of respective painting guns, and a cleaning tank is provided in the cleaning tank. A plurality of cleaning nozzles for ejecting fluid are disposed, and at least a cleaning tank provided in the first cleaning mechanism is configured to be movable between a predetermined retreat position and a cleaning work position,
When performing painting work on the object to be painted via the painting mechanism,
A cleaning device for a painting gun, characterized in that the cleaning tank is configured to avoid interfering with the painting operation. (6) In the device according to claim 5, the first
A plurality of cleaning tanks provided in the cleaning mechanism are configured to be movable between a retreat position parallel to the coating direction of the object to be coated and a cleaning work position running perpendicular to the coating direction and facing the plurality of painting guns of the upper coating mechanism. A cleaning device for paint guns. (7) In the device according to claim 6, the first
The cleaning mechanism is a paint gun cleaning device in which each cleaning tank is configured to be able to move up and down. (8) In the device according to claim 5, the second
Among the plurality of cleaning tanks provided in the cleaning mechanism, at least one cleaning tank is configured to be freely displaceable in a direction perpendicular to the coating direction of the object to be coated under the action of an actuator, and the side coating mechanism is configured to be able to move in the direction perpendicular to the coating direction of the object to be coated. A cleaning device for a painting gun, wherein the position of the cleaning tank is adjusted so that each painting gun faces a predetermined cleaning tank when the painting gun is rotated to face a mechanism. (9) In the apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 8, a separation tank is connected to the cleaning tank, and waste liquid and mist generated in the cleaning tank are separated via the separation tank. Separate paint gun cleaning device.