JPH10315090A - Machining device and machining method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly machine works by arranging a work posture displacing means to displace works positioned in and fixed to a work fixing mechanism to a posture suitable for machining. SOLUTION: Respective works W positioned on and fixed to plural pallets 2 already supported by a work posture displacing means 3 are simultaneously machined by plurality of work machining means 1 in prescribed positions respectively becoming a posture suitable for machining. At this time, the machined works W are carried out of the work posture displacing means 3 of the positioned/fixed pallets 2. Besides, pallets 2 corresponding to kinds of works W are selected from plural kinds of empty pallets 2 stored in a pallet storage means 4. The works W are positioned on and fixed to these pallets 2, and are carried in the work posture displacing means 3 of the pallets 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing apparatus and a processing method, and more particularly, to a processing apparatus and a processing method for processing a plurality of different types of workpieces by displacing them into postures suitable for processing the workpieces. It relates to a processing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of machining, for example, in a case where arc welding is automatically performed on a work, since the bead hangs downward, the position of the work is such that a welding portion is located below the tip of the arc welding torch, and It is desirable to be horizontal.

[0003] Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-21671, a substrate that is driven by an elevating mechanism to move up and down is mounted on a carriage that travels between a work mounting station, a welding station, and a work transfer station. An automatic drive mechanism for rotating the work transfer member about an axis extending in the running direction on the substrate, and a clamp member for detachably positioning and holding the work on the work transfer member; 2. Description of the Related Art A device for supporting a work in a welding device is known.

In this apparatus, at a work mounting station, a pallet on which a work is fixed is placed and fixed on a transfer fork of a carriage, the carriage is moved to a welding station, and a reversing motor is operated to move the work. The pallet is rotated through the mounting fork, and the welding robot performs the welding process at a required location while turning the work in a direction suitable for welding and inverting the work. When the welding operation is completed, the carriage is moved to the transfer station, the transfer fork is positioned on the transfer conveyor, and the pallet is transferred onto the transfer conveyor.

In an automatic welding line of an automobile, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, a work is transported between processes A, B and C by an overhead suspension system or a lift and carry system. Is rotated 90 ° from the horizontal direction so that it is at the upper right, the posture is changed, and the welding part located on the right side of the work is automatically welded by an automatic welding machine. The posture is changed by rotating and displacing 90 ° from the horizontal direction so that
The welding part located on the left side of the work is automatically welded by an automatic welding machine. In the process C, the posture is changed by rotating the work by 180 ° from the horizontal direction with respect to the transport direction, and the welding part located on the back side of the work is automatically changed. 2. Description of the Related Art Automatic welding by a welding machine is known.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 14, the work is positioned and fixed on a rotatable substrate by a clamp jig or the like so that the posture of the work can be changed, and the substrate is rotationally displaced. This is commonly done.

On the other hand, it is desirable that such an automatic body welding line for a body of an automobile can cope with the production of many types of vehicles in small quantities. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-1
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 1077, a positioning frame having a plurality of positioning devices such as clamp jigs is provided on both left and right sides of a transport path of a truck for transporting a temporarily assembled body of an automobile. There is known an apparatus provided with an automatic welding device on the outside thereof for spot welding a portion to be welded between body parts of a temporarily assembled body.

In this apparatus, the positioning frame can be made compact and lightweight by spot welding the welded portion between the body parts of the temporary assembly body using an automatic welding device provided separately from the positioning device. It is very easy to replace and maintain positioning devices such as clamp jigs attached to them, and the automatic welding machine installed separately from the positioning device is easy to move, making spot welding quick and accurate. As a whole, the spot welding work efficiency of the temporarily assembled body can be greatly improved, and it is extremely effective particularly when applied to the positioning and welding of various assembled bodies in small-lot production of many models.

[0009]

However, among the above-mentioned prior arts disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 4-21671, a single pallet on which a work is fixed is transferred at a work mounting station. Individually placed on the fork, and the truck is moved to the welding station,
When the welding operation is completed, the trolley is moved to the transfer station, and a single pallet is transferred onto the transfer conveyor.Therefore, only a single work can be processed individually. There is a problem that it is not possible to improve the machining efficiency. In addition, there is a problem that the traveling time is further increased and the traveling space of the carriage is required because the carriage travels between the work mounting station, the welding station, and the work transfer station.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 14, a work is transported between processes A, B, and C by a lifting method or a lift-and-carry method, and the posture of the work is rotationally displaced between the processes. Therefore, the transfer time between each process, the posture conversion time in each process, the clamping of the work to each substrate,
The time required for unclamping is required, and the time spent for operations other than welding increases, resulting in a problem of low productivity. Further, since an independent space is required for each process, there is a problem that space efficiency is poor. Furthermore, since an equipment such as an actuator for changing the posture of the work is required for each process, there is a problem that the production cost is increased.

On the other hand, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-11077, spot welding is not affected by the posture of the work, and there is no direction suitable for welding the work, and the work is displaced. It is not something to consider. Since an automatic welding machine is provided separately from the positioning device, when there are multiple processes, it is necessary to provide a plurality of automatic welding machines for each positioning device. there were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to displace a plurality of workpieces to postures suitable for machining, to appropriately process the workpieces, and to improve productivity and space efficiency. It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing apparatus and a processing method capable of improving the above-described characteristics and reducing the production cost.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a plurality of different types of workpieces are respectively displaced into postures suitable for processing the workpieces. A plurality of types of workpiece fixing mechanisms for positioning and fixing a plurality of types of workpieces, respectively, and a plurality of workpiece fixing mechanisms which are detachably supported and positioned and fixed to the workpiece fixing mechanism. A work posture displacement means for displacing the work to a posture suitable for machining, and a work positioned and fixed to a plurality of work fixing mechanisms supported by the work posture displacement means, at predetermined positions where the posture is suitable for machining. A plurality of work processing means for processing; a work fixing mechanism storage means for storing a plurality of work fixing mechanisms; Conveying means for conveying to and from the work fixing mechanism storage section, it is made comprising a.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a plurality of different types of workpieces are respectively displaced to postures suitable for the processing of the workpieces and are processed by the workpiece processing means. The workpieces positioned and fixed to the plurality of workpiece fixing mechanisms already supported by the workpiece attitude displacement means are simultaneously processed by the workpiece processing means at predetermined positions that are suitable for processing, and at this time, the processing is performed. The work fixing mechanism in which the fixed work is positioned and fixed is unloaded from the work posture changing means, and a work fixing mechanism corresponding to the work is selected from a plurality of types of work fixing mechanisms stored in the work fixing mechanism storage means. To position and fix the work on the work fixing mechanism,
The work fixing mechanism is carried into the work posture changing means.

In the invention according to the first aspect, each work is positioned and fixed to a suitable work fixing mechanism. A plurality of these work fixing mechanisms are supported by the work posture changing means. On the other hand, a plurality of empty work fixing mechanisms to which the work is not positioned and fixed are supported by the work fixing mechanism storage means. The work positioned and fixed by the work fixing mechanism is sequentially displaced in its posture by the work posture displacing means, and is simultaneously processed by the work processing means at predetermined positions each having a posture suitable for processing. During this processing, the work fixing mechanism, which has positioned and fixed the processed work by the transfer means, is carried out from the work posture changing means, and the work fixing mechanism is transferred to the work fixing mechanism storage means, and the next work is Is fixedly selected from the work fixing mechanisms stored in the work fixing mechanism storage means, is positioned and fixed, and is supported by the work posture changing means.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, each work positioned and fixed to the plurality of work fixing mechanisms already supported by the work posture changing means is simultaneously moved by the work processing means at a predetermined position where each work becomes a posture suitable for processing. Process. In parallel with this, unloading of the work fixing mechanism where the processed work is positioned and fixed from the work posture displacement means, and handling of the work from multiple types of work fixing mechanisms stored in the work fixing mechanism storage means The work fixing mechanism is selected, the work is positioned and fixed to the work fixing mechanism, and the work fixing mechanism is carried into the work posture changing means.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a case where a workpiece W in the shape of a hollow pipe having a rectangular cross section is joined by arc welding will be described. The present invention is not limited to this,
If it is necessary to perform processing while displacing a plurality of workpieces to postures suitable for processing, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to processing other than welding.

The processing apparatus according to the present invention is a processing apparatus for processing a plurality of works W of different types, each of which is displaced to a posture suitable for the processing of the work W, by the work processing means 1. Types of workpiece fixing mechanisms 2 for positioning and fixing each type of workpiece W
A work posture displacing means 3 for detachably supporting a plurality of work fixing mechanisms 2 on which the work W is positioned and fixed, and displacing the work W positioned and fixed on the work fixing mechanism 2 into a posture suitable for machining; A plurality of workpiece processing means 1 for processing the workpiece W positioned and fixed to the plurality of workpiece fixing mechanisms 2 supported by the workpiece attitude displacement means 3 at predetermined positions each having a posture suitable for processing, and the workpiece is positioned and fixed. Empty work fixing mechanism storage means 4 for storing a plurality of work fixing mechanisms 2 which are not
Transport means 5 for transporting the workpiece between the work posture changing means 3 and the work fixing mechanism storage means 4. When the hollow pipe-shaped workpieces W having a rectangular cross section are joined to each other by arc welding, the workpiece is processed so that the welding position is not a vertical position and horizontal welding is performed in view of welding quality due to bead hanging or the like. It is suitable to perform arc welding in a state where the welding line extends horizontally below the tip of the arc welding torch as the means 1.

The workpieces W are sequentially carried in and processed in a state where different types are mixed, for example, frames of chassis of different types of automobiles. The work fixing mechanism (hereinafter referred to as a pallet) 2 includes a pallet body 20.
And a clamp device 21 that is attached to the pallet body 20 so as to correspond to the type of the work W and that positions and fixes the work W. By mounting the clamp device 21 so as to correspond to the type of the work W,
A plurality of pallets 2 are prepared.

The clamping device 21 is, as shown in FIG.
A pair of clamp arms 23 are pivotally connected at their intermediate portions by pins 24 so as to be swingable.
One end of a toggle link 25 is pivotally connected to the base end side by a link pin 26, and the other end of both toggle links 25 is pivotally connected to a cylinder knuck 27 of a common clamp cylinder (not shown). A clamp piece 29 is provided on the distal end side of the clamp arm 23 and on the clamp main body 28 for abutting and positioning the workpiece W and holding the workpiece W without damaging it. When the cylinder knuckle 27 is moved downward in FIG. 4 by driving the clamp cylinder, the clamp arm 23 operates via the toggle link 25 so as to clamp the work W as shown by a solid line in FIG. 4 (work clamp). When the cylinder knuckle 27 moves upward in FIG. 4, the clamp arm 23 opens via the toggle link 25 as shown by the chain line in FIG. 4, and operates to release the work W (work unclamping). .

As shown in FIG.
Is composed of a rotating body 33 in which a support shaft 32 is supported by a support bearing portion 31 via a bearing 30 so as to be able to rotate at an arbitrary angle around the support shaft. In the case of, the rotating body 33 has a support surface around which four pallets are supported. At least one end of the rotator 33 is provided with a positioning unit 34 for driving the rotator 33 to rotate, positioning and holding the rotator 33 at a predetermined angle to lock the rotation of the rotator 33. A pallet lock device 35 for detachably supporting the pallet 2 is provided on each support surface of the rotating body 33.

The positioning unit 34 will now be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a disk-shaped rotating member 33 is provided at its end with cam portions 56a of a number corresponding to the number of supporting surfaces thereof. A rotation angle positioning cam member 56,
A large-diameter gear 58 meshed with a small-diameter gear 57a provided on the rotation shaft of the motor 57 is provided. The positioning roller 5 is located near the rotation angle positioning cam member 56.
9 are provided. The motor 57 is rotationally driven so as to be controllable at an arbitrary rotation angle. The small-diameter gear 57a of the motor 57 is connected to the gear 58 of the rotating body 33 having a larger diameter.
The rotational speed of the drive of the motor 57 is reduced by the meshing, and the rotating body 33 is rotationally driven to an arbitrary posture.
On the other hand, the positioning roller 59 is supported by a slider 61 slidably provided on the slide holder 60. The slider 61 is connected to a piston rod 62 a of a positioning lock operation cylinder 62 via a lock operation lever 63 and an operation link 64. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the positioning roller 59 engages with the cam portion 56a when driven to extend the piston rod 62a of the positioning lock operation cylinder 62 in a state where the cam portion 56a of the positioning cam member 56 faces. When the rotating body 33 is positioned and locked at a predetermined angle and the piston rod 62a of the positioning lock operation cylinder 62 is driven to retract, the rotating body 33 is unlocked (pulled) away from the cam portion 56a. . With the above configuration, the rotating body 3
The pallet 2 supported by each support surface of the pallet 3 is driven to rotate at a predetermined angle and locked, and the work W positioned and fixed to the pallet 2 is displaced to a predetermined posture. Then, when the processing on the work W in that position is completed, the lock is released to displace the rotating body 33 so that the next processing position, the pallet 2 can be attached / detached, and the work W can be loaded / unloaded. You.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the pallet lock device 35, the base end of a pallet lock arm 37 is pivotably pivotally mounted on a bracket 36 provided on a rotating body 33, and the pallet lock arm 37 One end of a pair of toggle links 38 is pivotally connected to the intermediate portion and the bracket 36, and the other end of each of the toggle links 38 is pivotally connected to a piston rod 39a of a common lock cylinder 39. Piston rod 3 of lock cylinder 39
When the extension 9a is driven to extend, the pallet lock arm 37 sandwiches the flange 20a of the pallet 2 between the peripheral surface of the rotating body 33 and the pallet 2 via the toggle link 38 as shown by a solid line in FIG. (Pallet clamp), and when the piston rod 39a of the lock cylinder 39 is driven to retract, as shown by a chain line in FIG.
The pallet lock arm 37 operates to separate from the flange 20a of the pallet 2 via the toggle link 38 (pallet unclamping).

In this embodiment, a clamp cylinder (not shown) of the clamp device 21 and a lock cylinder 39 of the pallet lock device 35 are driven by compressed air and controlled by solenoid valves 40 and 41, respectively. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
An air supply rotary joint 42 for supplying compressed air to the clamp cylinder of the clamp device 21 and the lock cylinder 39 of the pallet lock device 35, and a power supply unit 43 for supplying current to each of the solenoid valves 40 and 41 are provided. I have. The rotator 33 is provided with a control sequence 44 for controlling the solenoid valve 40 of the pallet lock device 35.
At 0, an air supply unit 45 connected to the solenoid valve 41, a control sequence 46 for controlling the solenoid valve 41, and a power supply unit 47 connected to the control sequence 46 are provided. An air supply / power supply coupler 48 provided on the pallet body 20 and detachably connected to the air supply unit 45 and the power supply unit 47 of each pallet 2 is provided on each support surface of the rotating body 33 supporting the pallet 2.
(Only one of the four support surfaces is shown in FIG. 2). In the rotating body 33, a conduit 50 for connecting the air supply rotary joint 42, the solenoid valve 40 of the pallet lock device 35 and the air supply / power supply coupler 48 is provided, and the power supply unit 43 and the pallet lock device 35 A control sequence 44 and a lead wire 51 for electrically connecting the power supply unit 43 and the air supply / power supply coupler 48 to each other independently are provided.

Rotating body 3 constituting work posture changing means 3
As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of torches 1 for arc welding the works W positioned and fixed on the pallet 2 are supported by a robot 55 and disposed around the periphery of the work 3. As shown in FIG. 6, each torch 1 has a rotating body 3
3, that is, in the example shown in FIG.
Only the upper horizontal plane suitable for arc welding in each posture of the workpiece W positioned on the left, right, and above 3 is subjected to arc welding. Then, from the support surface located below the rotating body 33, the work W for which welding has been completed and its pallet 2 are carried out, and the pallet 2 on which the work W to be welded next is positioned and fixed is newly carried in.

The pallet storage means 4 includes a plurality of pallets (empty pallets) on which the workpieces are not positioned and fixed.
2 and, like the work posture displacement means 3,
The positioning unit 3 is composed of a rotating body 66 having a support surface capable of supporting the four pallets 2 around it.
4. A pallet lock device 35 is provided. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding parts as the work posture changing means 3, and the description thereof will be omitted. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a work loading device (not shown) for loading the work W into the empty pallet 2 stored and supported by the rotating body 66 is provided above the pallet storage means 4. Provided.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the transporting means 5 is disposed below the work attitude changing means 3 and the pallet storage means 4 and turns the pallet 2 on which the work W is positioned and fixed upside down. Both rotating bodies 3 in the state
And a lifter 72 for moving the pallet carrier 71 up and down between the carrier path 70 and the support surfaces below the rotating bodies 33 and 66, respectively. 73. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the processing apparatus according to the present invention receives the welded work W located on the support surface below the rotating body 33 of the work posture changing means 3 and carries out only the work W. A work carrying cart 75 is provided as carrying-out means.

Incidentally, the transport means 5 is not limited to this embodiment, and as shown in FIG.
A rail 80 is provided on each support surface of the pallet 66, a transport roller 81 and a side roller 82 are provided on the pallet 2,
A rack 83 is provided on each of the support surfaces 3 and 66, and this rack 8
By providing a transport motor 84 having a pinion 84a meshing with the pallet 3 on each pallet 2, the pallet 2 itself can be configured to run on its own. Although not shown, the pallet 2 may be transported by driving a chain or the like. Further, in these cases, a positioning bush 85 may be provided on the pallet 2 and a pallet positioning pin unit 86 may be provided so as to protrude from the support surface of the rotating bodies 33 and 66 so that the pin 86a can engage with the positioning bush 85. it can.

Further, when the conveying roller 81 is provided on the pallet 2 as described above, the pallet 2 is placed between the work posture changing means 3 and the pallet storage means 4 as shown in FIG. By providing a transport path 70 having an intermediate rail 87 that is continuous with a rail 80 provided on the lower surface of both rotating bodies 33 and 66 at the loading / unloading position, the pallet 2 can be configured to run another way. it can. A pallet moving means is provided for moving the pallet 2 between the work attitude changing means 3 and the pallet storage means 4 via the intermediate rail 87 of the transport path 70. The pallet moving means includes an engaging portion 88 provided on each pallet, a track 89a extending between the work posture changing means 3 and the pallet storage means 4, and a driving wheel 89b moving on the track 89a.
And the engaging portion 87 of the pallet 2
And a transport pin 89c that extends and retracts so as to engage with and retract from the transport pin 89c.

As shown by a solid line in FIG. 9, when the transport pin 89c is driven to extend while the driving wheel 89b is positioned below the pallet storage means 4, the engagement of the pallet 2 supported on the lower surface of the rotating body 66 is achieved. When the drive wheel 89b moves toward the work posture changing means 3 in this state, and moves to the left in FIG. 9, the transport roller 81 rolls on the rail 80 and the intermediate rail 87 to move the pallet. 2 is conveyed to the work posture changing means 3. When the transport of the pallet 2 is completed, the transport pin 89c is driven to retract and retracts from the engaging portion 87, as shown by the chain line in FIG.

The processing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified.
As shown in FIG. 10, a work setting device 90 can be provided between the rotating bodies 33 and 66 of the work posture changing means 3 and the pallet storage means 4. This work setting device 90 is composed of a rotating body 91 having support surfaces on the front and back so as to be able to support two pallets, and includes the above-described positioning unit 34 and pallet lock device 35. The back surface of the rotator 91 is set to be substantially the same height as the lower surfaces of the rotators 33 and 66 of the work posture changing means 3 and the pallet storage means 4. Thereby, when the pallet 2 is of a self-propelled type as shown in FIG. 8 or when the pallet 2 is of another type as shown in FIG.
Can be transported.

Further, the rotating bodies 33 and 66 of the work posture changing means 3 and the pallet storage means 4 are not limited to those capable of supporting the four pallets 2, for example, as shown in FIG. May have a support surface on the front and back so that the two pallets 2 can be supported, and may include a positioning unit 34 and a pallet lock device 35. Furthermore,
In this case, as shown in FIG. 12, the same components as the work setting device 90 shown in FIG.
36 may be provided. Also, in the case of the processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, as shown in FIG. 8, the pallet 2 itself is configured to run by itself, or the pallet 2 is transported and moved by driving a chain or the like. Needless to say, the pallet 2 may be configured to be configured to be driven (not shown), or the pallet 2 may be configured to be the other type as shown in FIG.

Next, an embodiment of the working method according to the present invention is welded by using the working devices shown in FIGS. 1 to 12, while referring to these working devices.
Description will be made based on the timing chart shown in FIG. The processing method according to the present invention is a processing method in which a plurality of workpieces W of different types are roughly displaced to postures suitable for the processing of the work W and are processed by the workpiece processing means 1. The workpieces W positioned and fixed on the plurality of pallets 2 already supported by the workpiece 3 are simultaneously processed by a plurality of workpiece processing means 1 at predetermined positions where the workpieces are in a posture suitable for processing. Unloading the pallet 2 with the W positioned and fixed from the work posture displacing means 3 and selecting the pallet 2 corresponding to the type of the work W from the plurality of types of empty pallets 2 stored in the pallet storage means 4. The work W is positioned and fixed on the pallet 2, and the pallet 2 is carried into the work posture changing means 3.

First, the rotating body 3 of the work posture changing means 3
The pallet 2 on which the corresponding work W is already positioned and fixed is sequentially supported on the support surface 3. These pallets 2 are controlled by a control sequence 4 of the pallet lock device 35.
4, the solenoid valve 40 is opened, compressed air is supplied via an air supply rotary joint 42 so as to extend the piston rod 39a of the lock cylinder 39 of the pallet lock device 35, and the compressed air is supplied via the toggle link 38. Pallet lock arm 37 is pallet 2
(A pallet clamp).

Each pallet 2 has its solenoid valve 41 opened by a control sequence 46 of the clamp device 21, and compressed air is supplied to a clamp cylinder (not shown) of the clamp device 21 through a supply air rotary joint 42. 27 is moved downward in FIG. 5, and the clamp arm 23 operates to clamp the work W via the toggle link 25.

On the other hand, in the pallet storage means 4, similarly, an empty pallet 2 on which the work is not fixed at the W position is supported on each support surface of the rotating body 66 by the pallet lock device 35. (Pallet clamp).

As shown in FIG. 6, among the four support surfaces of the rotating body 33 of the work posture changing means 3, the work positioned and fixed on the pallet 2 supported by the support surfaces located on the left, right, side and above. As for W, only the upper horizontal plane in each posture suitable for arc welding is automatically welded simultaneously by the torch 1 supported by the plurality of robots 55 (between t0 to t4 and t5 in FIG. 13A).

When the welding of the upper horizontal surface of each work W in that position is completed, the positioning unit 34
The locking of the rotating body 33 is released by separating the positioning roller 59 from the cam portion 56a (t4 in FIG. 13B).
And t5), the rotating body 33 is rotated by 90 ° in this case by the motor 57 of the positioning unit 34 so as to be in a position suitable for the next arc welding of the work W (t4 in FIG. 13C).
And the time t5), the rotating body 33 is moved at this displaced angle to the positioning roller 59 of the positioning unit 34 by the cam portion 56a.
Lock by engaging with. By repeating the rotation displacement and the welding process by the rotating body 33, when a portion to be welded of the workpiece W is a hollow pipe having a rectangular cross section,
The work W positioned and fixed on the pallet 2 carried in from the support surface below the rotating body 33 of the work posture changing means 3
During one rotation of the rotating body 33, welding of at least three surfaces of one welding location is completed three times for each surface and welding is completed. Then, the support surface of the rotating body 33 supporting the work W returns to be lower again.

In this embodiment, during the automatic welding of the workpiece W positioned and fixed on the pallet 2 on the left and right lateral sides and the upper supporting surface of the rotating body 33, in this embodiment, the welding is performed from the rotating body 33 of the completed workpiece W. Unloading, transporting the empty pallet 2 which has been positioned and fixed to the pallet storage means 4, and selecting an empty pallet 2 suitable for the next work W from the empty pallets 2 stored in the pallet storage means 4 Then, the work W is loaded into the pallet 2, the pallet 2 loaded with the work W is transported to the rotating body 33 of the work attitude displacing means 3, and the transported work pallet 2 is displaced. 3 is supported by the rotating body 33.

The unloading of the work W after welding is performed as follows. That is, the work unloading cart 75 is advanced so as to be positioned on the lifter 72,
2 to move the work carrying cart 75 closer to the welded work W located below the rotating body 33 (FIG. 13).
F between t0 and t1). Then, the clamp device 21 of only the pallet 2 located below the pallets 2 supported by the rotating body 33 is controlled to be unclamped (between t0 and t1 in D in FIG. 13), and the welding is completed. The work W is transferred to the work carrying cart 75. Thereafter, the lifter 72 is lowered (between t0 and t1 of F in FIG. 13), and FIG.
As shown by the solid line in FIG. 13, the workpiece unloading carriage 75 is moved backward from the lifter 72 to the left in FIG. 7 (t in FIG. 13G).
The work W is carried out (between 0 and t1).

When the work W is carried out, the pallet transfer carriage 71 is advanced to the lifter 72 in order to transfer the empty pallet 2 which has positioned and fixed the work to the pallet storage means 4 (t1 of H in FIG. 13). ), Lifter 72
Is raised (after t1 of I in FIG. 13), and the pallet lock device 35 of the rotating body 33 is controlled to be unclamped (between t1 and t2 in E of FIG.
1. The empty pallet 2 from which the work has been carried out is transferred to 1. The empty pallet 2 is moved from the support surface of the rotating body 33 to the pallet transport cart 7.
1, the lifter 72 is lowered (I in FIG. 13).
Between t1 and t2), the pallet transport cart 71 is
3 (between t1 and t2 of H in FIG. 13),
The lifter 73 is raised (t2 in FIG. 13I), and the pallet lock device 35 of the rotating body 66 is controlled so that the empty pallet 2 is supported on the supporting surface below the rotating body 66 of the pallet storage means 4 (FIG. 13). After t2 of M). By this time, the rotating body 66 of the pallet storage means 4 is rotationally driven by the motor 57 of the positioning unit 34 so that the supporting surface that does not support the empty pallet 2 is located below, and locked by the positioning roller 59. I have.

The transfer of the pallet 2 on which the work W is loaded and set to the rotating body 33 of the work posture changing means 3 is performed as follows. That is, the pallet 2 on which the work is carried in is set to the rotating body 6 of the pallet storage means 4.
6, the lock is released by moving the positioning roller 59 of the positioning unit 34 of the rotating body 66 away from the cam portion 56a so as to be transferred to the pallet conveyance carriage 71 (between t2 and t3 in FIG. 13J). ), The rotating body 66 is rotationally driven by the motor 57 of the positioning unit 34 so that the pallet 2 on which the work W is clamped is positioned below (between t2 and t3 in FIG.
In order to fix the position, the positioning roller 59 of the positioning unit 34 is engaged with the cam portion 56a to be locked (between t2 and t3 in J of FIG. 13). By this time, the loading set of the work to the suitable empty pallet 2 (to be described later) has been completed.

Thereafter, in order to support the transported pallet 2 on the rotating body 33 of the work posture changing means 3, the lifter 73 on which the pallet transport carriage 71 is mounted is raised (FIG. 13).
In t3 of I), the pallet lock device 35 on the support surface below the rotating body 66 that supports the pallet 2 on which the work W is clamped is controlled to be unclamped (after t3 of M in FIG. 13), and the pallet is conveyed. The pallet 2 on which the work W is clamped is transferred to the carriage 71. At this time, the air supply unit 45 of the pallet 2 is
And the power supply unit 47 is detached, but the clamp device 21 maintains the clamp of the work W. Next, the lifter 72 is lowered (between t3 and t4 in I of FIG. 13), the pallet transport cart 71 is moved forward to the lifter 73 (between t3 and t4 in H in FIG. 13), and the lifter 73 is raised. Move the pallet 2 close to the rotating body 33 (I in FIG. 13).
Between t3 and t4), the pallet lock device 35 on the support surface below the rotating body 33 is controlled to be a clamp, and the pallet 2 on which the work W is clamped is supported on the supporting surface below the rotating body 33 (FIG. 13E, t4). At this time, the air supply unit 45 and the power supply unit 47 of the pallet 2 are connected to the air supply / power supply coupler 48 of the rotating body 33. Thereafter, the lifter 72 is lowered (after t4 of I in FIG. 13), and the pallet transport cart 71 and the work transport cart 75 are respectively moved backward (from t4 to t5 in H and G in FIG. 13).
Up to).

The selection of an empty pallet 2 suitable for the next work W from the empty pallets 2 stored in the pallet storage means 4 and the setting of the work W to be loaded into the pallet 2 are performed as follows. . That is, the pallet transport cart 71 on which the empty pallets 2 are transferred is moved to the lifter 7.
3 to control the pallet lock device 35 of the rotating body 66 to be clamped (t2 of M in FIG. 13).
(After) After the empty pallet 2 is supported on the support surface below the rotating body 66, the positioning roller 59 of the positioning unit 34 of the rotating body 66 is separated from the cam portion 56a to release the lock (at t3 in FIG. 13). during t4), positioning unit 3
The rotating body 66 is rotationally driven so that the pallet 2 suitable for the work W is positioned above the empty pallets 2 supported by the rotating body 66 by the motor 57 (t3 in FIG. 13K).
Between t4 and t4), the positioning roller 59 of the positioning unit 34 is engaged with the cam portion 56a to lock the rotating body 66 at the rotational displacement position, and the lock is engaged (FIG. 13).
J t4).

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 11, the next work W is positioned above the rotating body 66 by a work loading device (not shown) provided above the pallet storage means 4. The pallet 2 is placed down on the empty pallet 2 (after t4 in FIG. 13), and the clamp device 21 of the pallet 2 is controlled to be clamped (between t4 and t5 in O in FIG. 13). Is raised (between t4 and t5 of N in FIG. 13). Then, in order to be able to transfer the pallet on which the work W is clamped to the pallet transport carriage 71, the positioning roller 59 of the positioning unit 34 of the rotating body 66 is moved to the cam portion 56a.
And remove the lock (t4 and t5 of J in FIG. 13).
During this period, the rotating body 66 is rotationally driven so that the pallet 2 that is supported by the rotating body 66 by the motor 57 of the positioning unit 34 and clamps the work W is positioned below (FIG. 13).
K at t5), the positioning roller 59 of the positioning unit 34 is engaged with the cam portion 56a to lock the rotating body 66 at the rotational displacement position, and the lock is engaged (FIG. 13).
After t5 of J). As a result, as described above, the pallet 2 in which the work W is loaded and set can be conveyed to the rotating body 33 of the work posture changing means 3.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 12, the pallet 2 corresponding to the work W is rotated by the motor 57 of the positioning unit 34 so as to be located below the rotating body 66 of the pallet storage means 4, The pallet 2 is moved from the rotating body 66 to the rotating body 9 of the work setting device.
The workpiece W is conveyed to and supported by the lower surface of the work 1, the rotating body 91 is turned over, the work W is loaded and set on the pallet P located on the upper surface, the work W is clamped by the clamp device 21, and the rotating body of the work setting device 90 is again rotated The pallet 2 on which the work W is clamped by inverting 91 is positioned on the back surface. Then, the pallet 2, which is located on the back surface of the rotating body 91 of the work setting device 90 and clamps the work W, is transported below the rotating body 33 of the pallet attitude displacing means 3, and the pallet locking device is clamped to clamp the pallet 2. 35 is controlled.

When the pallet itself is configured to run on its own as shown in FIG. 8, or when the pallet is of another type as shown in FIG. It is not necessary to provide.

In this embodiment, the workpieces W positioned and fixed on the pallet 2 on the left and right sides and above the support surface of the rotating body 33 are simultaneously horizontally welded in that position, respectively. The work can be arc-welded in a short time. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of welding failure such as bead hanging on each work and to efficiently weld the work. In addition, equipment such as an actuator for changing the posture of the work is not required for each process. For this reason, productivity can be improved, and in the case where workpieces of each process that have a suitable posture for each welding part are simultaneously welded, conventionally, the workpieces of each posture are arranged side by side in a plane. However, in the present invention, the work W is three-dimensionally arranged around the rotating bodies 33 and 66 via the pallet 2, that is, space can be saved by making the process three-dimensional, and thus the production cost is reduced. Can be achieved. In addition, the work W, which has been welded during the welding, is carried out from the rotating body 33, the empty pallet 2 which has been positioned and fixed is conveyed to the pallet storage means 4, and stored in the pallet storage means 4. An empty pallet 2 that fits the next work W is selected from the empty pallets 2 that have been set, and the work W is loaded into the pallet 2 and the work posture displacement means 3 of the pallet 2 into which the work W is loaded is set. Of the pallet 2 and the work W, the transfer time between the steps of the pallet 2 and the work W and the work W Time other than welding can be shortened by overlapping the welding time for displacing to the welding posture, and the welding time for loading and unloading the workpiece W. . Therefore, the productivity can be improved, and the production cost can be reduced.

[0049]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of types of work fixing mechanisms for respectively positioning and fixing a plurality of types of works, and the plurality of work fixing mechanisms are detachably supported to fix the works. A work posture displacing means for displacing a work positioned and fixed to the mechanism to a posture suitable for processing, and a work positioned and fixed to a plurality of work fixing mechanisms supported by the work posture displacing means, each of which is suitable for processing. A plurality of work processing means for processing at a predetermined position, a work fixing mechanism storage means for storing a plurality of work fixing mechanisms, and a conveyance for conveying the work fixing mechanism between the work posture changing means and the work fixing mechanism storage means. Means that each of the plurality of workpieces can be displaced to a posture suitable for machining, and the workpiece can be machined appropriately. , Aims to improve the productivity and the like and space efficiency, it is possible to provide a processing apparatus which can achieve a reduction in production costs have.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, each of the workpieces positioned and fixed to the plurality of workpiece fixing mechanisms already supported by the workpiece attitude changing means is brought into a predetermined position at which the workpiece processing means is in a posture suitable for the processing. At this time, the processed work is unloaded from the work posture changing means of the work fixing mechanism where the processed work is positioned and fixed, and the work is fixed from among the plural types of work fixing mechanisms stored in the work fixing mechanism storage means. Select a work fixing mechanism corresponding to and position and fix the work to the work fixing mechanism,
By carrying the work fixing mechanism into the work posture displacing means, a plurality of works can be displaced to postures suitable for processing, and the work can be appropriately processed, and productivity and space efficiency can be improved. It is possible to provide a processing method that can improve the production cost and thereby reduce the production cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a rotating body of a work posture changing device and pallet storage means.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a positioning unit provided on a rotating body of a work posture changing device and pallet storage means.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a pallet lock device provided on the rotating body shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a clamp device provided on each pallet.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a work positioned and fixed to a pallet supported on each support surface of the rotating body is welded.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a work and a pallet on which the work is positioned and fixed are transferred by a pallet transfer cart between rotating bodies of a work posture changing device and pallet storage means.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a case where the pallet itself is configured to run by itself.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a case in which the pallet is of another type.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart showing an embodiment of the processing method apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic explanatory view showing a conventional automatic welding line for an automobile.

[Description of sign]

Reference Signs List 1 torch (work processing means) 2 pallet (work fixing mechanism) 3 work posture changing means 4 pallet storage means (work fixing mechanism storage means) 5 transport means 21 clamping device 33 rotating body 35 pallet locking device 66 rotating body 71 pallet transporting cart 75 Work transport cart 90 Work set device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A processing apparatus for processing a plurality of different types of workpieces by a workpiece processing means while displacing the plurality of workpieces into postures suitable for processing the workpieces, and positioning and fixing each of the plurality of types of workpieces. A plurality of types of work fixing mechanisms; a plurality of work fixing mechanisms detachably supporting the plurality of work fixing mechanisms; and a work posture displacing means for displacing a work positioned and fixed by the work fixing mechanism to a posture suitable for machining; A plurality of work processing means for processing the work positioned and fixed to the plurality of work fixing mechanisms supported by the workpiece at predetermined positions each having a posture suitable for processing, and a work fixing mechanism storage means for storing the plurality of work fixing mechanisms And conveying means for conveying the work fixing mechanism between the work posture changing means and the work fixing mechanism storage means. Processing equipment. 2. A processing method for displacing a plurality of different types of workpieces to postures suitable for processing the workpieces and processing the workpieces by a workpiece processing means, wherein the plurality of workpieces already supported by the workpiece attitude displacement means are provided. The respective workpieces positioned and fixed by the fixing mechanism are simultaneously processed at predetermined positions where the respective workpieces are in a posture suitable for the processing by the workpiece processing means. At this time, the workpiece attitude displacing means of the workpiece fixing mechanism in which the processed workpiece is positioned and fixed. And a work fixing mechanism corresponding to the work is selected from a plurality of types of work fixing mechanisms stored in the work fixing mechanism storage means, and the work is positioned and fixed to the work fixing mechanism. And loading the workpiece into the work posture changing means.