JPH08117968A - Automatic casting finishing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide an automatic casting finishing device capable of grasping a work with a direct and indirect robot and freely changing its posture to perform machining such as drilling and hammer ring. In an automatic casting finisher 10 that uses a multi-joint robot 12 having a gripping hand 13 at the tip of a drive arm 11 and conveys a work A gripped by the gripping hand 13 to a plurality of processing stations for finishing processing. The gripping hand 13 is a fixed frame 21 that is directly connected to the drive arm 11, a movable frame 23 that is connected to the fixed frame 21 via a vibration isolation member 22, and includes a clamp mechanism 24 that fixes the work A. And a lock mechanism 41 for fixing 23 to the fixed frame 21.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process for discharging casting sand left inside when producing a product (hereinafter simply referred to as a work) made of aluminum casting such as a cylinder head or a cylinder block of an automobile engine. The present invention relates to an automatic casting finishing device for automatically performing the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 7, since a work A such as a cylinder head or a cylinder block of an automobile engine is cast by using a core 81, the work A is made inward even after the outer mold is removed. The core 81 remains, and it is necessary to remove the core 81 after casting. This work is work A
Open a hole 82 at a predetermined position of
The work A was placed on the cradle 83, and the hitting seat 84 of the work A was hit by the hammer 85, and the core 81 was broken by vibration and discharged from the lower hole 82.

[0003]

However, since a large amount of dust is generated in the above-mentioned work, it is required to automate the work. In the present application, it is widely used in automatic welding work and the like. Considered using a robot. In this case, the procedure is to convey the work by a conveyor and carry out the work by mounting a hammer or air nozzle on the multi-joint robot as well as the welding work, and to convey the work with the multi-joint robot and fix the hammer etc. There is a method to perform work, but if a work is conveyed by a conveyor or the like, a special device is required to change the posture of the work, but if the work is conveyed using an indirect robot, the posture is changed. The advantage is that you can change it freely. However, since the work held by the multi-indirect robot is directly hit by the hammer, a shock is directly transmitted to the multi-indirect robot, which causes a problem such as a failure of the multi-indirect robot. Also, if the work is gripped by the indirect robot via the cushioning member, the impact will be mitigated, but this time when the machining position is not accurately determined when machining the hole etc. and other accurate positioning work is performed. I have trouble. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances,
An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic casting finisher capable of directly gripping a work with a multi-direct robot and changing its posture freely to perform machining such as drilling and hammer ring.

[0004]

A method according to the above-mentioned object.
The automatic casting finishing device described uses an indirect robot having a gripping hand at the tip of the drive arm, and in an automatic casting finishing device for carrying out finishing processing by conveying the work held by the gripping hand to a plurality of processing stations. The gripping hand is connected to a fixed frame directly connected to the drive arm, and is connected to the fixed frame via a vibration isolating member,
It has a movable frame provided with a clamp mechanism for fixing the work, and a lock mechanism for fixing the movable frame to the fixed frame. The automatic casting finisher according to a second aspect is the automatic casting finisher according to the first aspect, wherein the gripping hand is detachably attached to the drive arm. The automatic casting finisher according to claim 3 is the automatic casting finisher according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing station has a hammer ring station equipped with a hammer, and the multi-joint robot supports the workpiece. In this state, sand is removed by hitting the work. And the automatic casting finishing device according to claim 4 is the automatic casting finishing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processing station has an air blow station, and the multi-indirect robot is used for the automatic casting finishing device. The inside of the work is blown while the work is supported.

[0005]

In the automatic casting finisher according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the gripping hand attached to the drive arm of the multi-joint robot has a fixed frame directly attached to the drive arm and a movable frame. Are connected by a vibration isolating member, and a clamp mechanism for fixing the work is provided on the movable frame. Therefore, when the work is gripped by the movable frame using the clamp mechanism and the hammer ring is performed, the direct vibration from the work is not transmitted to the fixed frame, so that the multi-indirect robot can be prevented from being damaged by the vibration. Further, since a lock mechanism for fixing the movable frame to the fixed frame is further provided, when the lock mechanism is operated, the work attached to the movable frame becomes in a fixed state, and the work at other stations is not locked. Perforation processing etc. are possible. Particularly, in the automatic casting finisher according to the second aspect, since the gripping hand is detachably attached to the drive arm, it can be easily removed when necessary, and another gripping hand can be attached to the drive arm. Work can be performed, which increases the flexibility of the multi-joint robot. In the automatic casting finishing device according to claim 3, since the processing station has a hammer ring station equipped with a hammer, the workpiece is grasped by the multi-joint robot and kept in a certain posture, A predetermined position can be hammered, which enables more efficient sand removal from the work. In the automatic casting finisher according to the fourth aspect, since the processing station is provided with the air blow station, it is possible to remove the sand most efficiently from the air nozzle directed in the predetermined direction using the multi-joint robot. You can work while maintaining a proper posture.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention. 1 is a side view showing a working condition of an automatic casting finishing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is the same plan view, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a gripping hand, and FIG. 4 is the same plan view. FIG. 5 is a side view of the same, and FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of the gripping hand.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an automatic casting finishing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an indirect robot 12 having a drive arm 11 and a grip attached to the tip of the drive arm 11. A hand 13, a processing station 14 for punching a work, a hammer ring station 16 having a hammer 15 for hammering, an air blow station 18 having an air nozzle 17 fixedly arranged, and a sand discharge for conveying discharged sand. And a processing conveyor 19. These will be described in detail below.

The multi-indirect robot 12 is a motor-driven 6-axis multi-indirect robot used in welding or painting work, etc., and by carrying out teaching work in advance, the work A grasped can be arbitrarily moved within its operating range. It can be transported to the position in any position.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the gripping hand 13 has a fixed frame 21 directly attached to the tip of the drive arm 11, and a vibration-proof rubber as an example of four vibration-proof members on the fixed frame 21. The movable frame 23, which is attached via 22 and with a small gap, and the movable frame 23.
And a clamp mechanism 24 attached to the surface of the. The fixed frame 21 has a quadrangular plate 25 with no corners, and a vibration-proof rubber 22 is attached to the corners of the plate 25 via a support plate 27. A guide piece 28 is provided at a corner of the vibration isolating rubber 22, and a bolt 29 projects from the guide piece 28.

The movable frame 23 is a rectangular frame 30.
There are mounting seats 31 into which the bolts 29 are fitted at the four inner corners. Then, on the surface thereof, a pair of L-shaped guides with stoppers 32, a holding metal fitting 35 that is moved forward and backward by a pair of air cylinders 34 attached to the support member 33, and a spring 36 that presses both sides of the holding metal fitting 35. , 37 and a clamp mechanism 24 having these mounting seats 38 are provided. As a result, the work A can be firmly gripped, and even if the work A is impacted, the clamp mechanism 24 is easily loosened so that the work A does not drop. When the air cylinder 34 is contracted, the springs 36 and 37 are contracted and the pressing metal fitting 35 is retracted to release the clamp of the work A. In addition, 39 is a guide 32 with a stopper
The reference numeral 40 denotes a workpiece contact piece that is attached to the work piece, and 40 denotes the contact piece that is attached to the pressing fitting 35.

The movable frame 23 is fixed to the fixed frame 21 and the movable frame 23.
There are four lock mechanisms 41 fixed to the. As shown in FIG. 6, the lock mechanism 41 includes an air cylinder 42, a conical wedge 43 attached to the rod tip of the air cylinder 42, and an inverted cone formed on the movable frame 23 and the fixed frame 21. Trapezoidal depressions 44, 45
The movable frame 23 and the fixed frame 21 are separated from each other when the air cylinder 42 is extended, but by contracting the air cylinder 42, the wedge 43 is fitted into the inverted frustoconical recesses 44 and 45, and is movable. The frame 23 is pressed and fixed to the fixed frame 21. In addition,
Reference numeral 44a indicates a dustproof rubber sheet.

An electric drill is provided in the processing station 14 so as to open a sand removing hole in the work A conveyed to a predetermined position by the multi-joint robot 12. Further, the hammer ring station 16 is provided with an impact hammer 15, which is reciprocated by a drive cylinder 46 to strike a predetermined position of the work A, disassemble the core and discharge it as sand. In the air blow station 18, an air nozzle 17 connected to a high pressure air source is arranged in a fixed direction, and the multi-joint robot 1
Air is blown from a predetermined portion onto the work A conveyed by 2 to remove the sand adhering to the inside. Then, the sand removed by the hammer ring and the air blow is discharged to the outside by the sand discharge processing conveyor 19 at the bottom.

Therefore, in the automatic casting finisher 10, the work A carried in by the work carry-in / carry-out device 47 is used.
Is gripped by the gripping hand 13 of the multi-joint robot 12, the lock mechanism 41 is operated, and the work A is fixedly attached to the tip of the drive arm 11, and then a predetermined drilling process is performed at the processing station 14. In this case, the blade is fixed, and the posture and position of the work A are controlled by the multi-joint robot 12, whereby a hole is drilled at a predetermined position of the work A.

After the above work is completed, the work A is moved to the hammering station 16. In this case, the operation of the lock mechanism 41 is released, and the movable frame 23 is attached to the fixed frame 21 via the vibration-proof rubber 22 so that it can freely vibrate. As a result, secondary vibration can be generated in addition to direct vibration by the hammer ring, and sand can be efficiently removed. Since the vibration caused by the hammer ring is difficult to be transmitted to the fixed frame 21, the life of the multi-joint robot 12 including the drive arm 11 can be extended.

The impact hammer 15 strikes a predetermined position to discharge the sand inside, and the sand discharge processing conveyor 19 discharges it to the outside. After that, the work A is further moved to the air blow station 18 to blow air inside the work A to remove the attached sand. As a result, the core is removed almost completely. In this case, the lock mechanism 41 may be released to perform the air blow, or the lock mechanism 41 may be operated to perform the air blow while the work A is rigidly fixed.

In the above embodiment, one multi-indirect robot is used for the work, but a plurality of multi-indirect robots may be used for the work. Further, in the processing station, another supporting means may be provided, and the processing may be performed while the work is supported by this supporting means.

[0017]

The automatic casting finisher according to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention divides the gripping hand into a fixed frame and a movable frame, and further includes a lock mechanism. In addition to being able to perform various hammer rings, it can be held in a rigid state for precision machining such as machining of a workpiece. In this case, since the work is gripped by the multi-direction robot, the operation and position of the work can be freely corresponded to many kinds of work or processing, and the versatility is excellent.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a working situation of an automatic casting finishing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a gripping hand.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of a gripping hand.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a work.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a core removing operation according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Automatic Casting Finishing Device 11 Drive Arm 12 Multi-Indirect Robot 13 Grip Hand 14 Processing Station 15 Impact Hammer 16 Hammering Station 17 Air Nozzle 18 Air Blow Station 19 Sand Discharge Conveyor 21 Fixed Frame 22 Anti-Vibration Rubber (Vibration Isolation Member) 23 Movable Frame 24 Clamping Mechanism 25 Plate 27 Supporting Plate 28 Guide Piece 29 Bolt 30 Frame 31 Mounting Seat 32 Guide with Stopper 33 Supporting Member 34 Air Cylinder 35 Holding Metal 36 Spring 37 Spring 38 Mounting Seat 39 Abutment Piece 40 Abutment Piece 41 Locking Mechanism 42 Air cylinder 43 Wedge 44 Inverted frustoconical recess 44a Dust-proof rubber sheet 45 Inverted frustoconical recess 46 Drive cylinder 47 Workpiece loading / unloading device A Workpiece

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Koji Shiraishi 46-59, Nakahara, Tobata-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture Machinery & Plant Division, Nippon Steel Corporation (72) Inventor Shinichiro Shiraiwa Noritake Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture 1-10-6 Production Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic casting finishing apparatus that uses a multi-joint robot having a gripping hand at the tip of a drive arm to convey a workpiece gripped by the gripping hand to a plurality of processing stations for finishing processing. The hand includes a fixed frame that is directly connected to the drive arm, a movable frame that is connected to the fixed frame via a vibration isolating member, and has a clamp mechanism that fixes the workpiece, and the movable frame is fixed to the fixed frame. An automatic casting finishing device having a locking mechanism for 2. The automatic casting finisher according to claim 1, wherein the gripping hand is detachably attached to the drive arm. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the processing station has a hammer ring station equipped with a hammer, and the sand is removed by hitting the work while the work is supported by the multi-joint robot. Automatic casting finishing equipment. 4. The processing station has an air blow station, and the inside blow of the work is performed in a state in which the work is supported by the multi-joint robot. Automatic casting finisher.