JPH04200675A - Painting method using robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the execution of a color changing operations in a short period of time by preparing different painting guns varying in the coating materials to be discharged from each other, selecting an arbitrary painting gun and mounting the painting gun to a robot. CONSTITUTION:The plural painting guns 12 which vary in the paints to be discharged from each other are prepd. and the arbitrary painting gun 12 is selected and is mounted to the robot 1. Consequently, the color change operation is executed in a short period of time. The consumption of a solvent for washing is lower than heretofore when washing is executed at every color change. In addition, the cost is reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a painting method using a robot that can reduce the time required for color change.

As an example of conventional technical painting methods, a painting gun is attached to a robot,
There is a painting method in which paint is discharged from a paint gun while a robot moves according to the shape of the object to be painted.

Conventionally, as means for changing the color of paint in a painting method using a robot, a solvent supply source and a plurality of paint supply sources of different colors are connected to the painting gun via a switching valve. The method used was to clean the paint flow path and the inside of the paint gun by supplying a solvent with the paint still attached to the robot, and then supplying paint of another color.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As mentioned above, in the conventional painting method, the paint flow path and the inside of the paint gun are cleaned while the paint discharge is interrupted when changing colors. In order to avoid paint defects caused by residual paint mixing with other paints supplied after the color change, it is necessary to continue flowing the solvent for a long time until the paint is completely washed away. For this reason, it takes a long time to change colors, and when colors are changed frequently, there is a drawback that coating efficiency is significantly reduced.

In addition, since it is necessary to clean every time you change the color,
The disadvantages are that a large amount of solvent is consumed and the cost is high.

Means for Solving the Problems The method of the present invention, as a means for solving the above problems,
Prepare multiple paint guns that eject different paints,
The configuration was such that any paint gun could be selected and attached to the robot.

Functions and Effects of the Invention The present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and when changing colors, the paint gun attached to the robot stops discharging paint, removes the paint gun from the robot, and replaces it with another paint. A gun is attached to the robot and paint is discharged from the paint gun.

In this way, when changing colors, the only work to be done while the paint discharge is interrupted is to attach and detach the paint gun.

The time required for this attachment/detachment operation is shorter than the time required for cleaning with a conventional solvent. Therefore, there is an effect that the color change work can be carried out in a short time.

In addition, since a dedicated painting gun is prepared for each paint, there is no need to clean the painting gun removed from the robot every time the color is changed during painting, and cleaning can only be done when the painting job is finished. good.

Therefore, compared to the conventional method in which cleaning is performed every time a color is changed, the amount of cleaning solvent consumed can be reduced, which has the effect of keeping costs low.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

The robot 1 is provided with a rotary disk 3 on the top surface of a base 2 that is rotationally driven around a vertical axis by a drive mechanism (not shown), and a base end of a first arm 4 is mounted on the top surface of the rotary disk 3. The proximal end of the second arm 5 is attached to the distal end of the second arm 5, and the rotating body 6 is attached to the distal end of the second arm 5, respectively, relative to each other about mutually parallel axes 7, 8, and 9 by a drive mechanism (not shown). The structure is connected so that it swings.

A robot adapter 10, which will be described in detail later, is fixed to the rotary body 6 of the robot 1, and an air spray type painting gun 1 is connected to the rotary body 6 of the robot 1 via the robot adapter IO.
2 can be attached to and detached from the robot l. The coating gun 12 mounted on the robot 1 can be moved to any direction and position in three dimensions by the rotation of the rotating disk 3 and the swinging of each arm 4.5 and rotating body 6. There is.

The painting gun 12 is equipped with a nozzle 15 at its tip, which has a paint spout 16, a paint atomizing air spout (not shown), and a pattern adjustment air spout, and has a built-in on-off valve (not shown) for controlling pilot air. By opening and closing the paint spout 16, the paint is ejected from the paint spout 16 and stopped.

A plurality of such painting guns 12 are prepared, and each painting gun 12 has a circular tool adapter 17 that is connected to and disconnected from the robot adapter 10, and an attachment/detachment surface 17a corresponding to the robot adapter IO. It is fixed via a bracket (19) fixed to the opposite end surface. Between the outer peripheral surface of the rear end of each painting gun 12 and the outer peripheral surface of the tool adapter 17, an air supply hose 20a for paint atomization, an air supply hose 20b for pattern adjustment, and a pilot air supply hose 20c are routed. There is. Also,
A paint hose 22 connected to the outer peripheral surface of each paint gun 2 via a connector 21 is separately connected to a plurality of paint supply sources (not shown) that supply paint of different colors.

Each painting gun 12 fixed to the tool adapter 17 is usually attached to a horizontal holding shelf 25 formed with a plurality of cutouts 26 opening to the side line, and the bracket 19 is fitted into the cutouts 26, and the tool adapter 17 attachment/detachment surface 17a
The end surface on the opposite side is held in a state of being locked to the upper surface of the holding shelf 25 and is on standby.

Next, a structure for attaching and detaching the coating gun 12 to and from the robot 1 will be described.

A positioning bin 27, 27 and three air outflow ports (not shown) are formed on the attachment/detachment surface lOλ corresponding to the tool adapter 17 of the robot adapter IO. It is connected to a pressurized air supply source (not shown) via an air supply hose (not shown). Similarly, the attachment/detachment surface 10a of the robot adapter IO
, the piston rod 32 of the air cylinder is projected between two support plates 31 and 31, and the piston rod 32 is
A pair of toggle arms 33 and 33 are pivotally supported,
A locking mechanism 30 is formed in a protruding manner by fitting a guide pin 34.34 fixed to the support plate 31 into an elongated hole 35.35j of a toggle arm 33.33.

On the other hand, the attachment/detachment surface 17a of the tool adapter 17 has a positioning hole 37, and three air inflow boats 4 each communicating with the paint atomization air supply hose 20λ, the pattern adjustment air supply hose 20b, and the pilot air supply hose 20c.
0 a, 40 b, 40 c are formed,
Furthermore, a housing chamber 41 into which the locking mechanism 30 is inserted is formed, and a pair of lock bins 39, 39 are protruded from the inner wall of this housing chamber 41.

Then, the robot adapter 10 and the tool adapter 1
7 is achieved by fitting the positioning pin 27 into the positioning hole 37 and bringing the robot adapter lO close to the tool adapter 17 with a slight gap as shown by the solid line in FIG. By advancing the toggle arm 33 and swinging the toggle arm 33 outward, the toggle arm 33 is opened as shown by the chain line in FIG.
．． 33 is locked to the lock pin 39, 39, and then the piston rod 32 is further advanced to draw the tool adapter 17 toward the robot adapter 10, and as shown by the solid line in FIG. , 172
This is done by bringing the robot adapter lO and tool adapter 17 into close contact with each other.
By connecting the air outflow boat and the air inflow boat 40
The coating gun 12 is attached to the robot 1 in a state where the two are aligned.

Furthermore, the robot adapter IO and the tool adapter 17 can be separated by retracting the piston rod 32 and removing the toggle arm 3.
3.33 to be closed, the tip of the toggle arm 33.33 is removed from the lock pin 39.39 and brought into contact with the rear end surface of the storage chamber 41, as shown by the chain line in FIG. By further retracting the piston rod 32 from the bent state and pushing the rear end surface of the storage chamber 41 with the toggle arm 33.33, the attachment/detachment surface 10λ of the robot adapter 10 and the tool adapter 17 are separated from each other, as shown by the solid line in FIG. This is done by separating the attachment/detachment surfaces 17a to release the connection, and then removing the positioning bin 27 from the positioning hole 37 while moving the robot adapter 1o in a direction away from the tool adapter 17. As a result, the painting gun 12 is removed from the robot l.

Next, a coating method performed using the apparatus configured as described above will be explained.

When painting, the paint gun 12 of the desired color is selected from among the plurality of paint guns 12 held on the holding shelf 25 and is tangentially connected to the paint supply source, and the paint gun 12 is transferred to the robot I. Installing. Then, by driving the robot (2) and discharging paint while moving the paint gun I2, the object to be painted (not shown) is painted.

When changing colors, the paint gun 12 mounted on the robot I stops discharging paint, and the robot 1 is driven to fit the paint gun 12 into a predetermined notch 26 of the holding shelf 25. By separating the tool adapter 17 from the robot adapter IO in this state, the painting gun 12
Remove from robot I. Next, the robot l is driven to move the robot adapter 10 to a position corresponding to the paint gun 12 that discharges paint of another desired color, and the tool adapter 17 of the paint gun 12 and the robot adapter 10
By connecting the painting gun 12 to the robot I
Attach to. After that, drive the robot 1 and paint gun I.
2 to a predetermined painting position to discharge the paint.

In this color change work, the steps to be performed from the time when paint dispensing is stopped before the color change until the paint discharge is started after the color change is as follows: removing the paint gun 12 from the robot 1 and attaching it to the robot ■. It's just the installation work. The time required for this attachment/detachment operation is significantly shorter than the cleaning operation performed by supplying a solvent during conventional color changing. therefore,
The time when painting is interrupted for color changes is short, and painting efficiency is high. Further, since cleaning with a solvent is not necessary, the amount of solvent consumed is small, and costs are reduced.

In the means for attaching the painting gun 12 to the robot l in the above embodiment, the air supply hose for supplying air to the painting gun 12 is shared between the pressurized air supply source and the robot adapter IO. Unlike the case where each painting gun 12 and the pressurized air supply source are directly connected by air supply hoses exposed outside the robot l, the air supply hoses are routed inside the robot l. However, the method of attaching the painting gun to the robot is not limited to the means using the robot adapter IO and tool adapter 17 as explained in the above embodiment; Other means may be used, such as providing a chuck at the tip and using the chuck to grip a painting gun each having its own air supply hose.

In addition, as another example, the paint gun ζ is connected to a solvent supply source and multiple paint supply sources that supply paints of different colors through switching valves, and the paint gun While the gun is painting and the paint flow path is empty, the paint gun removed from the robot and its paint flow path should be cleaned with solvent to prepare for discharging a different color of paint, as in a conventional color change. There is a way to rub it. In this embodiment method, as in the above-described embodiment method, the discharging of paint for color change is interrupted only while the coating gun is being attached and detached, so that the interruption time is short. Furthermore, this coating method has one advantage in that it is possible to perform color change coating of three or more colors using two coating guns.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The accompanying drawings show an example of the apparatus used to carry out the method of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a painting gun, and Fig. 3 is a front view of a partially cutaway portion of the connection between the robot and the painting gun. 4 and 5 are partial front views showing the connecting operation. l: Robot 12・Painting gun

Claims (1)

[Claims] Prepare multiple paint guns that eject different paints,
A painting method using a robot, which is characterized by selecting an arbitrary painting gun and attaching it to the robot.