Metal deforming – With use of control means energized in response to activator... – Sensing work or product
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-27
2001-12-04
Crane, Daniel C. (Department: 3725)
Metal deforming
With use of control means energized in response to activator...
Sensing work or product
C072S319000, C072S446000, C029S243580
Reexamination Certificate
active
06324880
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for performing hemming with respect to a workpiece, using an appropriate hemming die, and to a system for performing hemming.
A system shown in
FIG. 12
is used in hemming the peripheral part of an outer panel and an inner panel of a part of an vehicle body such as a trunk lid or door panel, with the inner panel and the outer panel held together by an adhesive, thereby bending the peripheral part of the outer panel.
The vehicle body part that is the workpiece is hemmed at a hemming station
1
at which is fixed a hemming die D (D
1
). On the side of this hemming station
1
is disposed a die storage area, in which hemming dies D (D
2
, D
3
, D
4
, and D
5
) for accommodating various other workpiece types.
In the storage area
3
, a hemming die D can move to the left and to the right as shown in the drawing, and at a position corresponding to the hemming station
1
it can also move between the die storage area and the hemming station
1
. By enabling this movement, it is possible to interchange a hemming die D with a desired die to accommodate a specific type of workpiece.
At a station
5
of the hemming station
1
, cylinder operations for applying adhesive to hold the inner and outer panels together and for performing mutual positioning of the panels is successively performed. After a workpiece, made up of the two panels adhered to one another, is transported to the hemming station
1
, it is transported out to the station
7
. The transport of the workpiece into the hemming station and away therefrom is performed by a conveyer (not shown in the drawing).
FIG. 13
shows another type of hemming system, which performs hemming of the wheel housing arch part of a vehicular body side, in which case the workpiece is transported along the production line
9
in the direction of the arrow A in an upright attitude, with the roof rail upward and the side sill downward.
A plurality of hemming stations provided with hemming dies corresponding to various types of workpieces for various vehicle types and fixtures for holding these hemming dies in position are disposed to the side of the production line
9
. A transport robot
13
, which holds a workpiece on the production line
9
and transports the workpiece toward a hemming station
11
is movable in a direction along the alignment direction of the plurality of hemming stations
11
, and moves the held workpiece toward an appropriate hemming station
11
, at which point the workpiece is positioned and held in place.
FIG. 14
is a plan view showing, at the hemming system shown in
FIG. 13
, the condition in which a hemming die
17
hems the wheel housing arch part
15
a
, and
FIG. 15
is a perspective view of
FIG. 14
in the direction of the arrow B. The hemming die
17
is continuously held by a hemming die driver
21
that is fixed to a base plate
19
, and the body side
15
is held and fixed at a number of positions around the periphery thereof by a plurality of clamping mechanisms
23
disposed on the base plate
19
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The hemming system shown in
FIG. 12
, however, has a number of problems.
The first problem associated with this hemming system is that the die storage area
3
for moving and interchanging a hemming die D with respect to the hemming station
1
is heavy and high in cost, and requires a large amount of installation space.
Another problem associated with this hemming system is the time required for changing the hemming die D, which causes a reduction in production efficiency in successively hemming different types of workpieces, making the system suitable for only continuous production lots of the same type of workpiece.
With the hemming system shown in
FIG. 13
, at the hemming station
11
, even if a common fixture is used to position and hold the hemming dies, because the hemming dies themselves are dedicated special types, accommodating various types of vehicles (workpieces) requires that there be as many hemming stations as there are vehicle types, thereby requiring a large amount of installation space.
Such problems are derived from the conventional concept that the hemming is a pressing. In other words, the hemming in the past was like as a crocodile opening a large mouth, as illustrated in
FIG. 16
, waiting for a game (workpiece) to come in, and the workpiece is set in attitude to a die for hemming.
It is an object of the present invention to break the conventional concept by providing a method for hemming and a hemming system to be flexible and speedy, as necessary.
An aspect of the invention to achieve the object is a method for hemming comprising recognizing a workpiece, and moving a hemming die to be set to the recognized workpiece.
Another aspect of the invention to achieve the object is a hemming system comprising a recognizer which recognizes a workpiece, and a controller which moves a hemming die to be set to the recognized workpiece.
According to these aspects of the invention, it is possible as illustrated in
FIG. 10
to have subdivided hemming dies nested like cobras for example, having a system controller recognize the location and attitude of a workpiece, controlling to move the dies to be set to the recognized workpiece, to bite on the workpiece at an adequate angle. That is, hemming dies are allowed to be flexible and speedy, as necessary, unlike the past.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4060046 (1977-11-01), Eckold
patent: 4831862 (1989-05-01), Ohashi
patent: 5168745 (1992-12-01), Miyagawa
patent: 5502993 (1996-04-01), Powers
patent: 5694801 (1997-12-01), Takahashi
patent: 5964119 (1999-10-01), Kutschker
patent: 6076255 (2000-06-01), Shikakubo
Crane Daniel C.
McDermott & Will & Emery
Nissan Motor Co,. Ltd.
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