NL1043586B1

NL1043586B1 - Automated frame assembling

Info

Publication number: NL1043586B1
Application number: NL1043586A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Maarten Hoogwout Peter; Antonius Johannes Maria Robben Marcus
Original assignee: Wwa Holding B V; De Groot Bewerkingsmachines Bv
Priority date: 2020-03-03
Filing date: 2020-03-03
Publication date: 2021-10-14

Abstract

A system for manufacturing a construction by assembling multiple constructional elements. The system comprises a platform, grippers for being moved over the platform and for securing a position of the constructional elements. The grippers are movable by electric motors. A control unit controls the electric motors in such a way that the grippers are moved to a first desired position on the platform which makes room for placing the multiple constructional elements on the platform. The control unit further controls the electric motors in such a way that the grippers are then moved into contact with the multiple constructional elements at a second desired position on the platform, after the multiple constructional elements have been placed on the platform.

Description

AUTOMATED FRAME ASSEMBLING

TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to an automated system and method for manufacturing a construction made of constructional members. More particular the invention relates to assembling of constructional element such as a window- or door frame, or a window or door, using a platform with grippers.

BACKGROUND In building, such as housebuilding or office building, prefabricated constructional members are often assembled in a factory instead of at the building site. Typical elements manufactured in a plant are frames such as windows and window frames, doors and door frames, and trusses (hereafter referred to as “frames”). The material of the frames is often wood, but plastic and metals such as aluminum are also used. Often, the constructional elements are connected to each other in a two-dimensional plane, but a three dimensional frame or a curved frame may also be assembled. Current methods and equipment are usually aimed at assembling frames in a two dimensional plane, whereby the elements are laid out on a flat surface, such a table. The table may be placed horizontally, slanted, or vertically. A mechanical force is applied to connect elements after glueing the contact parts. Dowels or other connection methods such as screwing may also be employed. Especially when the elements are made of wood, a connection method is usually combined with the use of an adhesive, such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive, which forms a bond when pressure is applied to bond the adhesive with the adherend. No solvent, water, or heat is needed to activate the adhesive. Usually a worker places elements such as rods in a position where a top end may come in contact with a side of another element, typically at a 90 degree angle. Subsequently the elements are pressed together manually, or by using a gripper which is place at a position and in an orientation wherein the gripper may be moved such that the element come in close contact with each other at the desired position. A mechanical aid may be used, such as a movable hydraulic press. Especially, when using pressure-sensitive adhesive a short but great force is needed to activate the adhesive. Hereafter some current art solutions are discussed. United States patent application US2013/0042480 by Autoprod Oy is summarized as a method whereby grippers are placed on a stationary assembly table and rod-like members forming a wooden construction are laid on the support of said grippers. The wooden construction can be for example a roof truss or a wall frame. The assembly table comprises a vertical fastening plane to which the grippers are fastened. International patent application WO2006/136653 by Turulin is summarized as a method and system for fabrication of roof trusses or similar structures wherein the structure is assembled from members to be set against each other and the members are fastened to each other by means of nail plates or similar fastening means, data defining the structure is produced for controlling the fabrication, one or more planes are defined for assembly of the structure and several grippers are arranged to move and rotate according to the control in said plane whereby the grippers form the basic part of an assembly line or unit for the structure, the grippers are controlled to move and rotate to certain places and positions and said certain members are set in the grippers to form on them a basic part of the structure, and the structure is controlled to move on the grippers for carrying out the other steps of the assembly process. A disadvantage of the current art solutions is that the grippers are arranged for only holding a frame passively in a position.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for manufacturing a construction by assembling multiple constructional elements of a construction such as window frame, a door frame or a door, or window or door panel elements which is flexible and can be fully automated. It is a further object to provide a system which is suitable for glueing together constructional elements. It is yet a further object to provide a system which can exert a force on constructional elements which are being glued together. It is yet a further object to provide an autonomous identification system for identifying constructional elements and to position, move and assemble these elements into a desired construction.

3 , The object is realized by present invention and in particular by the clauses described in the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The figures show views of embodiments in accordance with the present invention. FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of a platform with multiple grippers. FIGURE 2 Shows a side view of the platform with raised grippers. FIGURE 3 Shows a side view of the platform with lowered grippers. FIGURE 4 Shows a perspective view of an installation with a platform.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention is summarized in the following clauses and further embodiments.

1. A system for manufacturing a construction by assembling multiple constructional elements, the system comprising: - a platform; - one or more grippers arranged for being moved over the platform in at least one plane; - the one or more grippers arranged for securing a position of the multiple constructional elements; - the one or more grippers arranged for being movable by one or more electric motors; - a control unit arranged for controlling the one or more electric motors, characterized in that, - the control unit is arranged for controlling the one or more electric motors in such a way that the one or more grippers are being moved to a first desired position on the platform which makes room for placing the multiple constructional elements on the platform; - the control unit is arranged for controlling the one or more electric motors in such a way that the one or more grippers are moved into contact with the multiple constructional elements at a second desired position on the platform, after the multiple constructional elements have been placed on the platform.

2. The system according to clause 1, characterized in that the grippers are arranged for exerting a desired force on one or more constructional elements of the one or more constructional elements.

3. The system according to clause 1 or 2, characterized in that an electric motor of the one or more electric motors is co-located with a gripper, thereby enabling self- propelling of the gripper.

4. The system according to any one of the preceding clauses, characterized in that the gripper comprises a height adjustable head arranged for gripping an element of the multiple constructional elements from the top, said head further arranged for being lifted before placing an element of the multiple constructional elements, and arranged for being lowered after the gripper is moved into contact with said element from the side, thereby holding the element in position from the side and from the top.

5. The system according to clause 4, characterized in that the head is height adjustable by means of a slidable cylindrical or square rod or tube configured perpendicularly relatively to the platform, and arranged for being slid through a passage in the platform.

6. The system according to clause 4 or 5, characterized in that the head comprises a horizontal plate, such as a rectangular, or round plate, arranged for covering at least a part of the constructional element.

7. The system according to any one of the clauses 4-6, characterized in that the head is arranged for being moved separately, said movement comprising a movement such as tilting, rotating or telescoping.

8. The system according to any one of the clauses 4-7, characterized in that the head is arranged for exerting a force, such as a spring force, on the element when holding the element.

9. The system according to any one of the preceding clauses, characterized that the construction comprises a window, a door or a frame, such as a window- or doorframe, and the multiple constructional elements comprise members, such as panels, stiles, heads or sills.

10. The system according to any one of the preceding clauses, characterized in that a motor of the one or more electric motors comprises any one of the group comprising: - a servo motor;

- a linear actuator arranged for driving a linear movement of the gripper; - a rotary actuator arranged for driving a rotational movement of the gripper; - a combination of a linear and a rotary actuator actuating a rotational movement of the gripper and/or a linear movement of the gripper respectively.

5 11.The system according to clause 13, characterized in that the desired first or second position and/or force results from a set of instructions stored in a memory, and associated to one or more identified constructional elements and the desired construction.

12.The system according to any one of the preceding clauses, characterized that the system further comprises an identification unit arranged for identification of the multiple constructional elements.

13.The system according to clause 17, characterized that the identification unit comprises any one of the group comprising: - a Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) reader, whereby the multiple constructional elements are provided with an RFID tag, each comprising an identification of the constructional element, and/or a set of instructions; - a camera system in connection with an image recognition application, arranged for recognizing size and shape of the multiple constructional elements; - a barcode reader, whereby the multiple constructional elements are provided with barcodes each comprising an identification of the constructional element; - an imaging system, whereby the multiple constructional elements and/or the platform are provided with fiducial markers each arranged for being used as a point of reference and/or a measure.

14. The system according to any one of the clauses 11-13, characterized in that an instruction of the set of instructions comprises any one of the group comprising: - a position and/or orientation of the one or more grippers on the platform - a movement of the one or more grippers on the platform; - a start- and end time or duration of the movement the one or more grippers on the platform - a number of rotations of a spindle arranged for adjusting the height of the head of a gripper; - a force of the one or more grippers to be exerted on an element of the multiple constructional elements;

- a duration of the force, when two elements of the multiple constructional elements are glued together.

15. The system according to any one of the preceding clauses, characterized that the system is arranged for holding together a first and a second element of the multiple constructional elements, either or both of which provided with glue, such as pressure-sensitive adhesive and/or a dowel on a first and second contact surface respectively.

16. The system according to any one of the preceding clauses, characterized that the platform comprises a horizontal, vertical, slanting, and/or curved surface.

17.The system according to any one of the preceding clauses, characterized that the system further comprises a tilting mechanism arranged for tilting the platform before, during or after the assembling.

18. The system according to any one of the preceding clauses, characterized that the system further comprises a robot arranged for manipulating the multiple constructional elements and/or handling the construction.

19. The system according to any one of the clauses 17-18, characterized that the identification unit is comprised in the robot.

The invention is now described with reference to the figures, whereby reference is made to the terms used in the description of the figures. Hereafter a list of references is shown to facilitate reading of the figures.

101 platform 102a,b...g grippers 103a,b slidable bars 104a,b heads 201,202 constructional elements 300 robot 400 cart 500 glueing apparatus 600,700 racks FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of a platform 101 with multiple grippers 102a,b...g positioned in contact with parts of constructional elements 201,202.Grippers 102a,b,c hold element 201 at a fixed position on platform 101, whereas grippers 102d,e,f hold a second constructional element 202 at a fixed position on the platform

101.Grippers 102a,b...g are moveable into a position for holding elements 201,202. After applying glue to parts 201 and/or 202 and holding them together in a fixed position for a certain duration, elements 201 and 202 are glued together when cured.

When using a pressure-sensitive adhesive elements 201 and 202 are pressed together with a rather large force for a relative short time, which cures the adhesive.

By using this kind of glue, the production time may be shortened considerably.

In order to apply pressure on elements 201,202, grippers 102a and 102d need to exert a counterforce on the glued parts of element 201,202. A control unit (not shown) instructed with a set of instructions which define in which direction grippers 102a,d need to move and to which level of force.

Grippers 102bc,e,f prevent that elements 201,202 move sideways in the given example.

Gripper 102g is not involved in positioning of elements 201,201,

but may be used for positioning of another construction in this case.

FIGURE 2 shows a side view of platform 101 with raised heads 104a,b of grippers 102a,b respectively.

Gripper 102a is moved to the left in the figure, and gripper 102b is moved towards the viewer in the figure.

This leaves room for placing element 201 on platform 101. Heads 104a,b are raised for the same purpose.

Grippers 102a,b are height adjustable by means of a lifting mechanism, such as slidable bars 103a,b respectively.

Bars 103a,b me be moveable withing slots in platform 101 and also slidable through these slots or other holes in platform 101. Movement is provided by electro motors, such as linear or rotational actuators (not shown). Preferably the motors are co-located with grippers 102a,b, and self-propel grippers 102a,b.

Bars 103a,b may for example comprise spindles which by rotating provide a movement of grippers 102a,b in vertical direction.

Heads 104a,b may be rotatable, tiltable or may even be configured with a separate lifting mechanism such as a telescope for further adjustment tot the shape of element 201. A spring may be provided which compensates for irregular shapes or prevents too high pressing force, which may damage the material of element 201. Additional actuators for individual movement of heads 104a,b may be incorporated in grippers 102a,b respectively.

FIGURE 3 shows a side view of platform 101with lowered grippers 102a,b.

After placing of element 201 on platform 101, grippers 102a,b may be moved into a position in close contact with element 201. Gripper 102a moves to the right in the figure towards element 201, and gripper 102b moves away from the viewer towards element 201. After these movements, grippers 102a,b or only heads 104a,b are lowered into contact with the top side of element 201 and thus hold element 201 in position. The downward and/or sideward force of grippers 102a,b and/or heads 104a,b may be controlled by the control unit. In dependence of the type of glue used for glueing elements together, or the time it takes to make a connection in another manner, such as screwing, element 201 is hold in position for a certain duration with a certain force.

FIGURE 4 shows a perspective view of an installation with platform 101.

The installation consists of a centrally positioned robot 300 that handles constructional elements (e.g. frame parts) 201,202. Robot 300 has preferably an arm with six degrees of freedom, and is equipped with a double grab for holding a total of four parts at a time. Robot 300 checks whether the data of the parts corresponds to the part itself. For this purpose, the parts may be provided with a barcode in advance, and robot 300 may have a barcode reader, or other image recognition hard-and software to identify the part. Robot 300 takes the parts from a cart 400 and preferably places two parts at the same time in an automatic glueing apparatus 500. There, the parts are provided with dowel and glue for typically 35 seconds per side. After these 35 seconds, the parts are turned over by robot 300 and placed back in glueing apparatus 500.

The next step provides that robot 300 removes the parts from the glueing apparatus 500 and places the parts on the invented platform 101, which is an intelligent, flexible assembly table 101, taking into account the actions described in the previous figures. Table 101 has a typical size of 4500 x 3000 cm. Table 101 is equipped with several servo-controlled grippers 102a,b...g, of which gripper 102a is referred in the figure as an example. Having multiple individually movable grippers, ensures that all kinds of different frames can be made. The parts can also be pressed together by this servo controlled grippers 102a,b...g.. Part 201 is referred in the figure as an example.

After assembly of a construction (i.e. a frame, such as a window frame), the completed frame is automatically tilted upright in rack 600, after which it is placed in one of the warehouse positions of rack 700. Rack 700 is equipped with non-driven roller conveyors (preferably 500 x 20 cm). An operator may take the frame off a roller conveyor for further processing.

The production process is preferably supervised and managed by robot 300. Robot and table 101 are fed with sets of instructions perform the right tasks at the right moment. Report and control may be followed on a Human Machine Interaction screen.

it should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that a person skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim.

Use of the verb "to comprise" and its conjugations does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those stated in a claim.

The term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The article "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements.

The article "the" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements.

In the device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware.

The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Claims

CONCLUSIONS

A system for manufacturing a structure by assembling several building elements, the system comprising: - a platform; - one or more grippers adapted to be moved in at least one plane over the platform; - the one or more grippers adapted to fix a position of the plurality of construction elements; - the one or more grabs designed to be moved by one or more electric motors: - a control unit which is arranged for controlling the one or more electric motors, characterized in that - the control unit is adapted for controlling the one or more electric motors in such a way that the one or more grippers are moved to a first desired position on the platform which makes room for placing the multiple building elements on the platform; - the control unit is designed for controlling the one or more electric motors such that the one or more grippers at a second desired position on the platform are brought into contact with the plurality of construction elements at a second desired position, after the multiple construction elements have been elements are placed on the platform.

The system according to claim 1, characterized in that the grippers are adapted to exert a desired force on one or more construction elements of the one or more construction elements.

The system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an electric motor of the one or more electric motors is located at a gripper, thereby enabling self-propulsion of the gripper.

1043586 |

The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gripper comprises a height-adjustable head adapted to grip an element of the plurality of construction elements from above, the head being further adapted to lift upwards. be moved before placing an element of the plurality of construction elements, and arranged to be lowered after the gripper has been brought into contact with the element from the side, thereby holding the element in position from the side and from the top.

The system of claim 4, characterized in that the head is adjustable in height by means of a slidable cylindrical or square rod or tube configured perpendicular to the platform and adapted to be slid through a passageway in the platform. .

The system according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the head comprises a horizontal plate, such as a rectangular or round plate, arranged to cover at least a part of the construction element,

The system according to any one of claims 4-8, characterized in that the head | is individually movable, which movement comprises a movement such as tilting, rotating or telescoping.

The system according to any one of claims 4-7, characterized in that the head is adapted to exert a force, such as a spring force, on the element when holding the element,

The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the structure comprises a window, a door or a frame, such as a window or door frame, and the multiple structural elements comprise elements, such as panels, uprights, heads or sills.

The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a motor of the one or more electromolors comprises one of the group comprising:

- gene servo motor; - a linear actuator adapted to drive a linear movement of the gripper; a rotary actuator adapted to drive a rotary movement of the gripper; - a combination of a linear and a rotary actuator which respectively controls a rotary movement of the gripper and/or a linear movement of the gripper.

The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the desired first or second position and/or force results from a set of instructions stored in a memory, and associated with one or more identified construction elements and the desired construction.

The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the system further comprises an identification unit adapted to identify the plurality of construction elements.

The system according to claim 12, characterized in that the identification unit comprises one of the group comprising: -gen Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) reader, wherein the plurality of construction elements are provided with an RFID tag, which each comprise an identification of the construction element and/or a set of instructions; - a camera system in connection with an image recognition program, adapted to recognize the size and shape of the plurality of construction elements; - a barcode reader, wherein the plurality of construction elements are provided with barcodes, each comprising an identification of the construction element; - gene imaging system, wherein the plurality of construction elements and/or the platform are provided with fiducial markings, each adapted to be used as a reference point and/or measure,

The system according to any one of claims 11-13, characterized in that an instruction of the set of instructions comprises one of the group comprising:

- no position and/or orientation of the one or more grippers on the platform; - a movement of the one or more grabs on the platform; - a start and end time or duration of the movement of one or more grabs on the platform; ~ a number of rotations of a lead screw adapted to adjust the height of the head of a gripper; - no force of the one or more grippers exerted on an element of the plurality of construction elements; - a duration of the force, when two elements of the plurality of construction elements are glued together.

The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the system is adapted to hold together a first and a second element of the multiple construction elements, one or both of which are provided with glue, such as pressure-sensitive glue and /or a dowel on a first and second contact surface, respectively,

The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the platform comprises a horizontal, vertical, inclined and/or curved surface |

The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the system further comprises a tilting mechanism adapted to tilt the platform before, during or after mounting.

The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the system further comprises a manipulator such as a robot adapted to manipulate the plurality of construction elements and/or handle the construction.

The system according to claim 18, characterized in that the identification unit is included in the manipulator.