阅读说明：本技术 涂装系统以及涂装方法 (Coating system and coating method ) 是由 谷真二 沼里亮 田中一基 木村拓史 于 2021-05-25 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及涂装系统以及涂装方法。涂装系统具备涂装单元,该涂装单元具有第一涂装机器人和第二涂装机器人。所述第一涂装机器人具备：第一机器人基座；以及第一机器人臂,以能运转的方式装配于所述第一机器人基座上。所述第二涂装机器人具备：第二机器人基座；以及第二机器人臂,以能运转的方式装配于所述第二机器人基座上。在将沿着被涂装物与所述涂装单元的相对移动的方向且在竖直方向延伸的假想平面作为基准面的情况下,将所述第一机器人基座与基准面之间的距离设定为比所述第二机器人基座与所述基准面之间的距离短,并且在所述第一机器人基座的下侧设有供所述第二机器人臂通过的机器人臂通过范围。(The present invention relates to a coating system and a coating method. The coating system includes a coating unit having a first coating robot and a second coating robot. The first coating robot includes: a first robot base; and a first robot arm operably mounted on the first robot base. The second coating robot includes: a second robot base; and a second robot arm operably mounted to the second robot base. When an imaginary plane extending in a vertical direction along a direction of relative movement of the object to be painted and the painting unit is used as a reference surface, a distance between the first robot base and the reference surface is set to be shorter than a distance between the second robot base and the reference surface, and a robot arm passing range through which the second robot arm passes is provided on a lower side of the first robot base.)

1. A coating system is characterized in that the coating system comprises a coating device,

includes a coating unit having: a first painting robot configured to paint an upper region of an object to be painted; and a second coating robot configured to coat a region of the object to be coated on a lower side than the upper region,

the first coating robot includes: a first robot base; and a first robot arm operably mounted on the first robot base,

the second coating robot includes: a second robot base; and a second robot arm operably mounted on the second robot base,

the object to be coated and the coating unit are relatively movable in a horizontal direction, and the first coating robot and the second coating robot are disposed on the same side with respect to a reference plane when the reference plane is a virtual plane extending in a vertical direction along a direction of the relative movement of the object to be coated and the coating unit,

a distance between the first robot base and the reference surface is set to be shorter than a distance between the second robot base and the reference surface,

the arrangement height position of the first robot base is set to be higher than the arrangement height position of the second robot base, and a robot arm passing range through which the second robot arm passes is provided below the first robot base.

2. The coating system of claim 1,

the painting system further includes a single control device configured to control both the operation of the first painting robot and the operation of the second painting robot.

3. The coating system of claim 2,

and a coating booth constituting a conveying path for accommodating the object to be coated and a coating space isolated from the outside of the coating unit,

the control device is arranged outside the coating room.

4. The coating system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the first robot arm and the second robot arm each carry a spray gun configured to spray paint toward the object to be painted,

at least one of the spray guns is configured to electrostatically atomize a paint and spray the paint toward the object to be painted.

5. The coating system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the coating units are arranged on both sides with the reference surface therebetween,

the painting unit disposed on one side with respect to the reference surface is configured to: the first painting robot paints an area of the one side of an upper surface of the object to be painted, the second painting robot paints a side surface of the one side of the object to be painted,

the painting unit disposed on the other side with respect to the reference surface is configured to: the first painting robot paints an area of the other side of the upper surface of the object to be painted, and the second painting robot paints a side surface of the other side of the object to be painted.

6. The coating system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

further comprising a rail configured to allow the first painting robot or the second painting robot to move in a conveying direction of the object to be painted.

7. The coating system of claim 1,

the painting system is configured to spray paint toward the object to be painted from the first painting robot and the second painting robot to paint the object to be painted.

8. A coating method using the coating system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the coating method comprising:

the object to be coated and the coating unit relatively move along the horizontal direction, and the first coating robot coats an upper area of the object to be coated; and

and coating a region of the object to be coated on a lower side than the upper region by the second coating robot.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a coating system for coating an object to be coated such as a vehicle body of an automobile, and a coating method using the coating system. In particular, the present invention relates to a coating system and a coating method including at least two coating robots on the same side with respect to a predetermined reference plane.

Background

As a coating system for spraying a mist of paint onto an object to be coated such as a vehicle body of an automobile, a coating system disclosed in japanese patent application laid-open No. 1-266870 is known. In the coating system of jp 1-266870 a, a plurality of coating robots are arranged along a conveyance path of a coating object, and the arrangement height positions of the coating robots are shifted in the vertical direction. As a specific example, there are disclosed: the coating device is provided with a first coating robot for coating the upper surface of a coated object and a second coating robot for coating the side surface of the coated object, wherein the arrangement height position of the first coating robot is set to be higher than the arrangement height position of the second coating robot, and the arrangement position of the first coating robot is set to be closer to the outer side (the side far away from the conveying path) than the arrangement position of the second coating robot. That is, in jp 1-266870 a, each region of the object to be coated (the upper surface and the side surfaces of the object to be coated) is coated by using a coating robot (the first coating robot) that coats a region of the object to be coated near the center of the conveyance path (for example, the center of the upper surface of the object to be coated) and a coating robot (the second coating robot) that coats a region of the object to be coated far from the center of the conveyance path (for example, the side surfaces of the object to be coated).

Generally, a coating robot includes: a robot base; and a robot arm mounted on the robot base and extending toward the object on the conveying path. Further, as disclosed in japanese patent application laid-open No. 1-266870, when a first coating robot that coats a region of the object close to the center of the conveyance path and a second coating robot that coats a region of the object far from the center of the conveyance path are used together, the first coating robot needs to extend the robot arm so that the spray gun provided at the tip of the robot arm reaches the center of the upper surface of the object. However, when the robot arm is lengthened, the first coating robot is increased in size, which leads to an increase in size of the coating system. An increase in the size of the coating system is not preferable because it leads to an increase in facility cost and running cost.

As a method for avoiding lengthening of the robot arm, it is conceivable to set the position of the robot base of the first coating robot to a position close to the conveyance path. However, in this case, if only the position of the robot base of the first coating robot is set to a position close to the conveyance path, the movable range of the robot arm of the second coating robot may be restricted by the first coating robot (the movable range may be restricted so as to avoid interference with the first coating robot), and the coating of the side surface of the object to be coated may be adversely affected.

In this way, in a coating system in which a plurality of coating robots are arranged along a conveyance path, it is difficult to achieve both downsizing of the coating robots and expansion of the movable range of the robot arms.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a coating system and a coating method using the coating system, which can simultaneously realize the miniaturization of a coating robot and the expansion of the movable range of a robot arm.

A first aspect of the invention relates to a coating system. The coating system includes a coating unit having: a first painting robot configured to paint an upper region of an object to be painted; and a second painting robot configured to paint a lower region of the object than the upper region. The first coating robot includes: a first robot base; and a first robot arm operably mounted to the first robot base. The second coating robot includes: a second robot base; and a second robot arm operably mounted to the second robot base. The object and the coating unit are relatively movable in a horizontal direction, and the first coating robot and the second coating robot are disposed on the same side with respect to a reference plane when the reference plane is a virtual plane extending in a vertical direction along a direction of the relative movement of the object and the coating unit. The distance between the first robot base and the reference surface is set to be shorter than the distance between the second robot base and the reference surface. The arrangement height position of the first robot base is set to be higher than the arrangement height position of the second robot base, and a robot arm passing range through which the second robot arm passes is provided below the first robot base.

According to the first aspect, at the time of coating operation of the object to be coated by the coating system, the first coating robot coats the upper region of the object to be coated, and the second coating robot coats the lower region of the object to be coated than the upper region. In this case, in the second coating robot in which the second robot base is located below the arrangement height position of the first robot base of the first coating robot (the first robot base whose distance from the reference surface is set to be shorter than the distance between the second robot base of the second coating robot and the reference surface), the second robot arm coats the lower region of the object to be coated (the region below the coating region of the first coating robot) while passing through the robot arm passage range provided below the first robot base. That is, although the position of the first robot base is set to a position close to the conveyance path (a position closer to the reference surface than the position of the second robot base), the second robot arm performs coating in a region below the coating region of the first coating robot without interfering with the first coating robot and with a sufficient movable range. That is, the position of the first robot base is set to be connectedThe distance between the first robot base and the object to be coated is shortened by approaching the position of the reference surface, thereby shortening the length of the first robot arm. Therefore, it is possible to achieve both downsizing of the coating robot (particularly, the first coating robot) and enlargement of the movable range of the robot arm (particularly, the second robot arm). As a result, the coating system can be downsized in accordance with the downsizing of the coating robot, and the facility cost and the running cost can be reduced. In addition, CO can be expressed by downsizing the coating system₂The effect of the reduction is improved. Further, by expanding the movable range of the second robot arm, the coating of the lower region of the object to be coated (the region below the coating region of the first coating robot) can be performed satisfactorily.

In the first aspect, the coating system may further include a single control device configured to control both the operation of the first coating robot and the operation of the second coating robot.

According to the above configuration, as compared with the case where a plurality of control devices are provided for individually controlling the operation of each coating robot, the entire control unit (the unit for controlling the coating robot including the control devices) can be downsized, and the downsizing of the coating system can be facilitated.

In the above aspect, the coating system may include a coating booth that constitutes a coating space that houses the conveyance path of the object to be coated and the coating unit and is isolated from the outside. The control device may be disposed outside the painting booth.

According to the above configuration, the internal space required for the coating booth can be reduced as compared with the case where the control device is disposed inside the coating booth. In general, in a coating booth, air conditioning is performed so as to generate an air flow (an air flow for suppressing diffusion of uncoated paint particles) that can satisfactorily obtain the flow of paint particles in the interior of the coating booth, and the interior space of the coating booth is reduced, so that the space for generating the air flow can be reduced, and the air conditioning apparatus for generating the air flow can be downsized and energy consumption can be reduced.

In the above aspect, each of the first robot arm and the second robot arm may be mounted with a spray gun configured to spray paint toward the object to be painted. At least one of the spray guns may be configured to electrostatically atomize the paint and spray the paint toward the object to be painted.

According to the above configuration, the coating efficiency of the paint on the object to be coated can be improved, and the range in which the paint sprayed toward the object to be coated rebounds can be reduced. Therefore, the position at which the coating robot is disposed can be set to a position close to the object to be coated without arranging the coating robot at a position very far from the object to be coated in order to avoid adhesion of the rebounded paint to the coating robot. As a result, the size of the coating system in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction of relative movement of the coating unit with respect to the object to be coated can be reduced, and the facility cost and the running cost can be reduced. In addition, CO can be expressed by downsizing the coating system₂The effect of the reduction is improved.

In the above aspect, the coating units may be disposed on both sides with the reference surface interposed therebetween. The coating unit disposed on one side with respect to the reference surface may be configured to: the first painting robot paints an area of the one side of an upper surface of the object to be painted, and the second painting robot paints a side surface of the one side of the object to be painted. The coating unit disposed on the other side with respect to the reference surface may be configured to: the first painting robot paints an area of the other side of the upper surface of the object to be painted, and the second painting robot paints a side surface of the other side of the object to be painted.

According to the above configuration, the coating robot of each coating unit can favorably coat the one region and the other region of the object to be coated with respect to the reference surface, and the coated surface of the object to be coated can be favorably finished.

In the above aspect, the painting system may further include a rail configured to allow the first painting robot or the second painting robot to move in a conveying direction of the object to be painted.

In the first aspect, the coating system may be configured to spray paint toward the object to be coated from the first coating robot and the second coating robot to coat the object to be coated.

A second aspect of the invention relates to a coating method using the coating system of the above aspect of the invention. The coating method comprises the following steps: the object to be coated and the coating unit relatively move along the horizontal direction, and the first coating robot coats an upper area of the object to be coated; and coating a region of the object to be coated on a lower side than the upper region by the second coating robot.

According to the second aspect, the length of the first robot arm is shortened by setting the position of the first robot base to a position close to the reference surface and shortening the distance between the first robot base and the object to be coated, but the movable range of the second robot arm can be sufficiently secured by providing a robot arm passage range through which the second robot arm passes below the first robot base. Therefore, the coating robot can be miniaturized and the movable range of the robot arm can be expanded.

According to the aspects of the present invention, the distance between the first robot base of the first painting robot that paints the upper region of the object to be painted and the reference surface (the virtual plane extending in the vertical direction along the direction of the relative movement between the object to be painted and the painting unit) is set to be shorter than the distance between the second robot base of the second painting robot that paints the lower region of the object to be painted than the upper region and the reference surface, and the robot arm passage range through which the second robot arm of the second painting robot passes is provided below the first robot base. Thus, although the length of the first robot arm of the first painting robot is shortened, the movable range of the second robot arm can be sufficiently secured. As a result, the coating robot can be made compact and the movable range of the robot arm can be expanded.

Drawings

Features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements, and wherein:

fig. 1 is a plan view showing a coating system according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a front view showing a coating system according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a spray gun provided in the coating robot.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the tip of the rotating head of the spray gun.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining electrostatic atomization of the coating material.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system in the coating system.

Fig. 7 is a plan view for explaining movable ranges of the first robot arm and the second robot arm.

Fig. 8 is a front view for explaining the movable range of each lance.

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing a coating system according to a second embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a front view showing a coating system according to a second embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a plan view showing a coating system according to a third embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a plan view showing a coating system according to a fourth embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a front view showing a coating system according to a fifth embodiment.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In the following first to fourth embodiments, a case where the present invention is applied to a coating system for coating a vehicle body of an automobile and a coating method using the coating system will be described. In addition, in the fifth embodiment, a coating system for coating an object to be coated other than a vehicle body will be described.

First embodiment

First, a first embodiment will be explained. Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a coating system PS according to the present embodiment. Fig. 2 is a front view (as viewed in the direction of arrow II in fig. 1) showing a coating system PS according to the present embodiment. As shown in the drawing, the paint system PS includes a paint booth 100, and a plurality of paint units PU1, PU2, PU3, and PU4 are provided inside the paint booth 100. Further, auxiliary rooms 201 and 202 are provided on both outer sides (both outer sides in the horizontal direction) of the coating room 100.

In fig. 1 and 2, the X direction is the width direction of the coating system PS, the Y direction is the longitudinal direction of the coating system PS (the conveying direction of the vehicle body 150 as the object to be coated), and the Z direction is the height direction of the coating system PS (the vertical direction).

The painting booth 100 is provided with a conveyor 5 for conveying the vehicle body 150. Two painting units PU1, PU2, PU3, and PU4 are provided on both sides of the conveyance device 5 (both sides in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction).

When the vehicle body 150 is conveyed as indicated by an arrow a in fig. 1 (when the vehicle body 150 is conveyed from the upper side toward the lower side in fig. 1 by the conveyor 5), the respective painting units PU1, PU2 (more specifically, the respective painting robots 1A, 1B constituting the respective painting units PU1, PU2) located on the downstream side in the conveying direction mainly paint the front half portion of the vehicle body 150. That is, the painting unit PU1 (hereinafter, referred to as a first painting unit PU1) located on the left side (right side in fig. 1) in the conveyance direction mainly paints the left half of the hood of the vehicle body 150, the left front fender, the left front door, and the left front half of the roof. The painting unit PU2 (hereinafter referred to as a second painting unit PU2) located on the right side (left side in fig. 1) in the conveyance direction mainly paints the right half of the hood of the vehicle body 150, the right front fender, the right front door, and the right front half of the roof.

On the other hand, the painting units PU3 and PU4 (more specifically, the painting robots 1A and 1B constituting the painting units PU3 and PU4) located on the upstream side in the conveyance direction mainly paint the rear half of the vehicle body 150. That is, the painting unit PU3 (hereinafter, referred to as the third painting unit PU3) located on the left side (the right side in fig. 1) in the conveyance direction mainly paints the left rear fender, the left rear door, and the left rear half of the roof of the vehicle body 150. The painting unit PU4 (hereinafter referred to as a fourth painting unit PU4) located on the right side (left side in fig. 1) in the conveyance direction mainly paints the right rear fender, the right rear door, and the right rear half of the roof of the vehicle body 150.

The coating units PU1 to PU4 have the same configuration. In fig. 2, only the first painting unit PU1 and the second painting unit PU2 are shown.

The following describes the paint booth 100, the paint units PU1 to PU4, and the auxiliary booths 201 and 202 constituting the paint system PS according to the present embodiment.

Coating room

The coating booth 100 is a facility for performing coating of the vehicle body 150. The coating booth 100 includes: a coating booth (coating space) 2 in which the coating units PU1 to PU4 are installed; an air supply chamber 3 disposed above the coating chamber 2; a recovery chamber 4 disposed below the coating chamber 2; and the conveying device 5 that conveys the vehicle body 150.

The coating booth 2 is supported by a support frame 6, and a space for disposing the recovery booth 4 is secured below the booth. An inlet 21a for introducing air is formed in a part of the ceiling portion 21 of the paint booth 2, and an outlet 22a for discharging air is formed in a part of the floor portion 22 of the paint booth 2. The filter 23 is provided at the inlet 21a, and the grid plate 24 is provided at the outlet 22 a. The filter 23 is provided to remove dust and the like in the air introduced into the coating chamber 2.

The air supply chamber 3 is provided for supplying air for ventilation to the coating chamber 2. The air supply chamber 3 is connected to an air supply duct 7, and air whose temperature and humidity have been adjusted from an air conditioner (not shown) flows into the air supply chamber 3 through the air supply duct 7. Air supply chamber 3 has a function of rectifying air flowing in from air supply duct 7, and is provided with air volume adjusting mechanism 31 in the internal space. Therefore, the internal space of the air supply chamber 3 is partitioned into the upstream space 3a and the downstream space 3b by the air volume adjusting mechanism 31. The upstream side space 3a communicates with the air supply duct 7, and the downstream side space 3b communicates with the coating booth 2 through the filter 23 of the introduction port 21 a. The air volume adjusting mechanism 31 is configured to adjust the air volume in the air supply chamber 3 so that the air volume around the vehicle body 150 has a preset value.

The recovery chamber 4 is provided for recovering paint particles in the air discharged from the coating booth 2. The recovery chamber 4 is connected to an exhaust duct 8 and communicates with the outside via the exhaust duct 8. The recovery chamber 4 is provided with a filter 41 and an air volume adjusting mechanism 42 in an internal space. Therefore, the internal space of the recovery chamber 4 is partitioned into the upstream space 4a and the downstream space 4b by the filter 41 and the airflow adjusting mechanism 42. The filter 41 is disposed above the air volume adjusting mechanism 42, the filter 41 faces the upstream space 4a, and the air volume adjusting mechanism 42 faces the downstream space 4 b. The upstream space 4a communicates with the coating booth 2 via the grid plate 24 of the discharge port 22a, and the downstream space 4b communicates with the exhaust duct 8. The filter 41 is a thin dry filter and is provided to remove paint particles in the air. The air volume adjusting mechanism 42 is configured to adjust the air volume in the recovery chamber 4 so that the air volume around the vehicle body 150 becomes a preset value.

The conveyance device 5 is provided for carrying the vehicle body 150 into the painting booth 2 and carrying the vehicle body 150 out of the painting booth 2. The conveyance device 5 is arranged to convey the vehicle body 150 to the near side of the drawing sheet of fig. 2, for example.

The coating booth 100 of the present embodiment is configured to: the air traveling from the air supply chamber 3 to the recovery chamber 4 flows through a predetermined region Ri in the coating chamber 2, and the air traveling from the air supply chamber 3 to the recovery chamber 4 does not flow through a region Ro outside the predetermined region in the coating chamber 2. The predetermined region Ri is a region including a passage region Rp through which the vehicle body 150 passes in the coating booth 2 and the periphery of the passage region Rp (a region in which paint particles not applied to the vehicle body 150 float during coating). The predetermined region outer Ro is a region other than the predetermined region Ri in the coating booth 2, and is disposed outside the predetermined region Ri in the width direction (X direction).

Specifically, the introduction port 21a of the coating booth 2 is arranged to correspond to the passage area Rp of the vehicle body 150. The width (length in the X direction) of the introduction port 21a is set to be larger than the width of the vehicle body 150 and smaller than the width of the paint booth 2. For example, the width of the introduction port 21a is set based on the width of the vehicle body 150, the range in which paint particles (overspray) that are not applied to the vehicle body 150 at the time of coating float, and the like. That is, the width of the introduction port 21a is set to: the predetermined region Ro, through which air does not flow, is formed, and the predetermined region Ri, through which air flows, includes the generation range of the excess spray. The introduction port 21a is provided over the entire length of the paint booth 2 in the longitudinal direction (Y direction).

The discharge port 22a of the coating booth 2 is disposed to correspond to the passage area Rp of the vehicle body 150. The width (length in the X direction) of the discharge port 22a is set to be the same as the width of the introduction port 21a, for example. Further, the width of the discharge port 22a is set to: the predetermined region Ro, through which air does not flow, is formed, and the predetermined region Ri, through which air flows, includes the generation range of the excess spray. The discharge port 22a is provided over the entire length of the coating booth 2 in the longitudinal direction.

At this time, the air traveling from the inlet 21a to the outlet 22a mainly passes through a space between a two-dot chain line La connecting one end in the width direction of the inlet 21a and one end in the width direction of the outlet 22a and a two-dot chain line Lb connecting the other end in the width direction of the inlet 21a and the other end in the width direction of the outlet 22 a. Therefore, the predetermined region Ri is, for example, a region including a space between the two-dot chain lines La and Lb and to which a diffusion space of the air flow is added.

Coating unit

Each of the coating units PU1 to PU4 includes two coating robots 1A and 1B, respectively. That is, the coating system PS includes eight coating robots 1A and 1B … …. The coating robots 1A and 1B … … are configured by air-driven articulated robots, have the same configuration, and are arranged to atomize the paint and apply the paint to the vehicle body 150. Further, each of the coating robots 1A and 1B … … includes: spray guns 11A, 11B for atomizing the paint; robot arms 12A, 12B for moving the spray guns 11A, 11B; robot bases 13A, 13B supporting the robot arms 12A, 12B; and support columns 14A, 14B to which the robot bases 13A, 13B are attached. The support columns 14A and 14B are formed to extend upward from the floor portion 22 of the coating booth 2.

The two coating robots 1A and 1B provided in the respective coating units PU1 to PU4 are different from each other in installation state, and the effects thereof are different from each other. The painting robots 1A and 1B provided in the painting units PU1 to PU4 include a first painting robot 1A that paints mainly an upper region of the vehicle body 150 and a second painting robot 1B that paints mainly a region extending from a side portion to a lower portion of the vehicle body 150. For example, in the first painting unit PU1 and the second painting unit PU2, the first painting robot 1A mainly paints the roof and the hood of the vehicle body 150, while the second painting robot 1B mainly paints the front fender and the front door of the vehicle body 150.

Hereinafter, the robot arm 12A of the first painting robot 1A is referred to as a first robot arm 12A, and the robot arm 12B of the second painting robot 1B is referred to as a second robot arm 12B. The robot base 13A of the first coating robot 1A is referred to as a first robot base 13A, and the robot base 13B of the second coating robot 1B is referred to as a second robot base 13B.

In the present embodiment, as the arrangement positions of the first coating robot 1A and the second coating robot 1B of the respective coating units PU1 to PU4, the first coating robot 1A is arranged on the downstream side (lower side in fig. 1) of the second coating robot 1B in the conveyance direction of the vehicle body 150, as shown in fig. 1.

As one of the features of the present embodiment, the installation position of the support column 14A of the first painting robot 1A is set to be closer to the conveyor 5 than the installation position of the support column 14B of the second painting robot 1B in each of the painting units PU1 to PU 4. In other words, when a virtual plane (a virtual plane passing through the center of the vehicle body 150) extending in the vertical direction along the conveyance direction of the vehicle body 150 conveyed by the conveyor 5 is used as the reference plane L, the distance (the distance in the horizontal direction) between the installation position of the pillar 14A of the first painting robot 1A and the reference plane L of each of the painting units PU1 to PU4 is set to be shorter than the distance between the installation position of the pillar 14B of the second painting robot 1B and the reference plane L. Specifically, the installation position of the support column 14A of the first coating robot 1A is located slightly outside the discharge port 22a in the width direction as the installation position of the support columns 14A and 14B. That is, the support column 14A is disposed at a position not overlapping with the inlet port 21a and the outlet port 22a in a plan view (a position shifted from the inlet port 21a and the outlet port 22 a). The installation position of the support column 14B of the second painting robot 1B is arranged outside the discharge port 22a in the width direction by a predetermined dimension. That is, the support column 14B of the second coating robot 1B is disposed outside the installation position of the support column 14A of the first coating robot 1A. That is, the support columns 14A, 14B of the coating robots 1A, 1B (the coating robots 1A, 1B disposed on the same side with respect to the reference plane L) are disposed at positions not overlapping the inlet port 21A and the outlet port 22a in a plan view (positions offset from the inlet port 21A and the outlet port 22 a), and are disposed outside the predetermined region Ro, and the installation position of the support column 14B of the second coating robot 1B is set to be outside the installation position of the support column 14A of the first coating robot 1A.

Since the coating robots 1A and 1B have the robot bases (the first robot base and the second robot base) 13A and 13B attached to the upper ends of the support columns 14A and 14B as described above, the distance between the first robot base 13A and the reference plane L of each of the coating units PU1 to PU4 is set to be shorter than the distance between the second robot base 13B and the reference plane L by setting the installation positions of the support columns 14A and 14B as described above.

As another feature of the present embodiment, the height dimension of the support column 14A of the first painting robot 1A of each of the painting units PU1 to PU4 is set to be longer than the height dimension of the support column 14B of the second painting robot 1B. Therefore, the arrangement height position of the first robot base 13A is set to be higher than the arrangement height position of the second robot base 13B. As a result, the installation position of the first robot arm 12A is also higher than the installation position of the second robot arm 12B, and the first coating robot 1A performs a function of coating an upper region of the vehicle body 150, and the second coating robot 1B performs a function of coating a lower region than the coating region of the first coating robot 1A. In particular, the first painting robot 1A paints the roof of the vehicle body 150, and thus paints the center portion of the roof (the center portion in the vehicle width direction), and as a result, the painted region (particularly the roof) of the vehicle body 150 painted by the first painting robot 1A includes a region closer to the reference plane L than the painted region of the vehicle body 150 painted by the second painting robot 1B.

Since the respective coating robots 1A and 1B are provided in this manner, as shown in fig. 2, the first coating robots 1A and 1A of the first coating unit PU1 and the second coating unit PU2 are arranged to face each other across the passage area Rp of the vehicle body 150 in the width direction, and similarly, the second coating robots 1B and 1B of the first coating unit PU1 and the second coating unit PU2 are arranged to face each other across the passage area Rp of the vehicle body 150 in the width direction. The first painting robots 1A and 1A of the third painting unit PU3 and the fourth painting unit PU4 are also arranged to face each other across the passage area Rp of the vehicle body 150 in the width direction, and similarly, the second painting robots 1B and 1B of the third painting unit PU3 and the fourth painting unit PU4 are also arranged to face each other across the passage area Rp of the vehicle body 150 in the width direction.

In each of the coating robots 1A and 1B, the width dimension (dimension in the X direction) of the robot bases 13A and 13B is set to be longer than the width dimension of the support columns 14A and 14B. Further, the robot bases 13A, 13B are mounted on the upper portions of the support columns 14A, 14B in a state where the outer ends in the width direction of the robot bases 13A, 13B and the outer ends in the width direction of the support columns 14A, 14B are aligned. That is, the robot bases 13A and 13B extend from the upper portions of the support columns 14A and 14B toward the center side in the width direction. Therefore, the support columns 14A and 14B are not present in the lower regions of the extending portions of the robot bases 13A and 13B, and the range (space) below the extending portions is secured as a passage range (robot arm passage range in the present invention) MS of the second robot arm 12B during the painting operation in the first painting robot 1A. Specifically, the arrangement height position of the first robot base 13A is arranged above the upper end of the fender panel of the vehicle body 150, and the passage range MS is thereby enlarged to the upper side of the fender panel.

Here, the spray guns 11A and 11B provided in the coating robots 1A and 1B will be described. Since the spray guns 11A and 11B of the respective coating robots 1A and 1B have the same configuration, the description will be given here by taking the spray gun 11A included in the first coating robot 1A as a representative example.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the lance 11A. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the tip of the swivel head 51 of the spray gun 11A. Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining electrostatic atomization of the coating material.

The spray gun 11A is configured to: the linear paint P1 is discharged from the spin head 51, and the linear paint P1 is electrostatically atomized, whereby paint particles (atomized paint) P2 are formed and the paint particles P2 are applied to the vehicle body 150.

As shown in fig. 3, the spray gun 11A includes: a rotary head 51; an air motor (not shown) for rotating the rotary head 51; a cover 52 covering the outer circumferential surface of the rotary head 51; a paint supply pipe 53 for supplying paint to the spin head 51; and a voltage generator 54 (see fig. 5) for applying a negative high voltage to the spin head 51.

The spin head 51 is configured to be supplied with paint of liquid and discharge the paint by centrifugal force. In the spin head 51, a paint space S to which paint is supplied from a paint supply pipe 53 is formed by fitting a bush (hub) 511. A plurality of outflow holes 511a for allowing the paint to flow out from the paint space S are formed in the outer edge portion of the bushing 511.

A diffusion surface 51a for diffusing the paint by a centrifugal force is formed on the outer side of the spin head 51 in the radial direction with respect to the outflow hole 511 a. The diffusing surface 51a is formed to have a diameter that increases toward the distal end side of the spin head 51, and is arranged to form the paint flowing out of the outflow hole 511a into a film shape. As shown in fig. 4, a groove 51c for discharging the film-like coating material in a linear shape is formed in the outer edge 51b of the diffusing surface 51 a. In fig. 3, the groove 51c is not shown in view of visibility.

The groove portion 51c is formed to extend in the radial direction when viewed from the axial direction, and is provided in plurality in the circumferential direction. That is, the groove 51c is formed in the outer edge 51b of the diffusing surface 51a so as to extend in the direction in which the diffusing surface 51a is inclined. The groove 51c is formed to reach the outer end of the rotary head 51 in the radial direction. Therefore, the distal end of the rotary head 51 has an uneven shape when viewed from the outer peripheral surface side.

In the spray gun 11A, as shown in fig. 5, a negative high voltage is applied to the spin head 51 by the voltage generator 54, the linear paint P1 discharged from the groove portion 51c of the spin head 51 is charged, and the linear paint P1 is split into paint particles P2 by a repulsive force generated by the charged electric charges. That is, the linear paint P1 discharged from the groove 51c of the spin head 51 is electrostatically atomized into paint particles P2. That is, since the coating robots 1A and 1B are not provided with an air discharge portion for discharging the shaping air, the paint particles P2 are formed without the aid of the shaping air. Therefore, the coating robots 1A and 1B are of an electrostatic atomization system without forming air, and the paint particles do not fly up due to the forming air, so that the generation of excessive spray is suppressed, and the generation range of the excessive spray is narrowed.

The painting booth 100 includes a cartridge storage 205(206) that stores paint cartridges, not shown, loaded in the spray guns 11A and 11B of the painting robots 1A and 1B, respectively. Each of the paint cartridges stored in the cartridge stockers 205 and 206 has a plurality of types corresponding to the types of paints used for painting in the painting system PS. When the remaining amount of paint in the paint cartridges loaded in the spray guns 11A and 11B is small, or when the type of paint used for painting the vehicle body 150 that is to be carried into the paint system PS is changed (for example, color change) after the paint operation in the paint system PS is completed, a desired paint cartridge is transported from the cartridge storage 205(206) to the spray guns 11A and 11B in order to replace the paint cartridge loaded in the spray guns 11A and 11B. The paint cartridge is transported by a transport robot, not shown, for example.

Although details are omitted, paint supply pipes for individually injecting (supplying) a predetermined paint into each of the paint cartridges stored in the cartridge storages 205 and 206 are connected to the cartridge storages 205 and 206, and the paint used for the next coating is injected into the paint cartridge stored in the cartridge storage 205 and 206.

Auxiliary room

The auxiliary booths 201 and 202 are disposed on both outer sides (both outer sides in the horizontal direction) of the coating booth 100. Here, the auxiliary room 201 on the right side in fig. 2 is referred to as a first auxiliary room, and the auxiliary room 202 on the left side in fig. 2 is referred to as a second auxiliary room.

The auxiliary rooms 201 and 202 are configured as spaces surrounded by frames 203 and 204. The respective sub bays 201 and 202 are provided with control devices 303A, 303B, 303C, and 303D for controlling the respective devices provided in the paint units PU1 to PU 4. That is, the first control device 303A for controlling the respective devices included in the first paint unit PU1 and the third control device 303C for controlling the respective devices included in the third paint unit PU3 are disposed in the first sub room 201. Further, a second control device 303B for controlling each equipment provided in the second paint unit PU2 and a fourth control device 303D for controlling each equipment provided in the fourth paint unit PU4 are disposed in the second sub booth 202. In the present embodiment, the control devices 303A to 303D are supported by side surfaces of the frames 203 and 204 (side surfaces of the auxiliary rooms 201 and 202 facing inward).

In this manner, the control devices 303A to 303D are provided corresponding to the respective paint units PU1 to PU 4. Each of the coating units PU1 to PU4 includes two coating robots 1A and 1B. Therefore, each of the control devices 303A to 303D has a function of controlling both the coating robots 1A and 1B. In other words, the control devices 303A to 303D are single (single for each of the paint units PU1 to PU4) control devices 303A (303B, 303C, 303D) that control both the operation of the first paint robot 1A and the operation of the second paint robot 1B. Since the painting robots 1A and 1B … … are pneumatically driven articulated robots as described above, the control devices 303A, 303B, 303C, and 303D are each configured to include a pneumatic plate (pneumatic plate) for controlling the painting robot 1A (1B). Each of the control devices 303A, 303B, 303C, and 303D may have a circuit board.

Construction of control system

Next, a control system of the coating unit will be explained. Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system in the coating system PS according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 6, in the control system of the coating system PS, a central processing unit 300, a start switch 301, a conveyor controller 302, the first to fourth control devices 303A to 303D, and the first to fourth coating units PU1 to PU4, which generally control the coating system PS, are electrically connected so as to be able to transmit and receive various signals such as command signals.

The start switch 301 sends a start command signal of the coating system PS to the central processing unit 300 according to an operation by an operator. The coating system PS starts (starts) upon receiving the start command signal, and starts a coating operation described later.

The conveyance device controller 302 controls conveyance of the vehicle body 150 by the conveyance device 5. Specifically, the conveying device 5 is caused to operate as follows: the conveyor 5 is operated until the vehicle body 150 reaches a predetermined position (position shown in fig. 1) of the paint booth 100, and the vehicle body 150 is moved at a predetermined speed (preset speed suitable for the painting operation) from this point in time. After a predetermined time has elapsed after the completion of the painting of the vehicle body 150, the vehicle body 150 is conveyed from the paint booth 100 to the next station at a speed for carrying out the vehicle body, and the vehicle body 150 to be painted next is conveyed toward the paint booth 100.

The control devices 303A to 303D receive command signals from the central processing unit 300, and output control command signals to the respective paint units PU1 to PU4 in accordance with the command signals. That is, the first control device 303A outputs a control command signal to each coating robot (the first coating robot 1A and the second coating robot 1B) of the first coating unit PU1, the second control device 303B outputs a control command signal to each coating robot 1A, 1B of the second coating unit PU2, the third control device 303C outputs a control command signal to each coating robot 1A, 1B of the third coating unit PU3, and the fourth control device 303D outputs a control command signal to each coating robot 1A, 1B of the fourth coating unit PU 4. Then, the coating robots 1A and 1B of the coating units PU1 to PU4 that have received the control command signal perform coating on the vehicle body 150 in accordance with the information of the teaching (teaching) performed in advance.

Operation at the time of coating

Next, a coating operation (coating method) of the coating system PS will be described. The coating operation is performed in a state where no person is present in the coating booth 2.

First, the coating system PS is started as the start switch 301 is operated. With the start-up of the coating system PS, air whose temperature and humidity have been adjusted flows from an air conditioner (not shown) into the air supply chamber 3 through the air supply duct 7 before the start of the coating operation. The air volume in the air supply chamber 3 is adjusted by the air volume adjusting mechanism 31, and the air is introduced into the coating chamber 2 through the filter 23 of the inlet 21 a.

In the coating booth 2, air traveling from the air supply chamber 3 to the recovery chamber 4 flows through a predetermined area Ri. That is, a downward flow of air is formed in the predetermined region Ri from the inlet 21a to the outlet 22 a.

The air that has passed through the predetermined region Ri of the coating chamber 2 is discharged to the collection chamber 4 through the grid plate 24 of the discharge port 22 a. The air volume in the recovery chamber 4 is adjusted by the air volume adjusting mechanism 42, and the air is discharged to the outside through the exhaust duct 8.

Next, the conveyor 5 is operated in accordance with the command signal from the conveyor controller 302, moves the vehicle body 150 to be painted until the vehicle body 150 reaches a predetermined position (position shown in fig. 1) of the paint booth 100, conveys the vehicle body 150 at a predetermined speed, and operates the painting robots 1A and 1B of the painting units PU1 to PU4 in accordance with the command signals from the control devices 303A to 303D, thereby painting the vehicle body 150.

At the time of painting the vehicle body 150, the area of the upper portion of the vehicle body 150 is painted by the first painting robots 1A of the painting units PU1 to PU4, and the area of the lower side of the upper portion of the vehicle body 150 is painted by the second painting robots 1B of the painting units PU1 to PU 4. Specifically, the first painting robots 1A, 1A in the first painting unit PU1 and the second painting unit PU2 mainly paint the front half and the hood of the roof of the vehicle body 150, and the second painting robots 1B, 1B in the first painting unit PU1 and the second painting unit PU2 mainly paint the front fender and the front door of the vehicle body 150. Further, the first painting robots 1A, 1A in the third painting unit PU3 and the fourth painting unit PU4 mainly paint the rear half portion of the roof of the vehicle body 150, and the second painting robots 1B, 1B in the third painting unit PU3 and the fourth painting unit PU4 mainly paint the rear fender and the rear door of the vehicle body 150. In the coating operation by each of the coating robots 1A and 1B, each of the coating robot arms 12A and 12B coats the vehicle body 150 while operating so that the spray guns 11A and 11B face the coating target areas in charge of the coating robots 1A and 1B and move on predetermined trajectories (predetermined trajectories according to the teaching information).

At this time, the second robot arm 12B of the second coating robot 1B, which is positioned below the position of the second robot base 13B at the installation height of the first robot base 13A, coats a region below the coating region of the first coating robot 1A while passing through the passage range MS provided below the first robot base 13A. Fig. 7 is a plan view for explaining the movable range of the robot arms 12A and 12B of the respective coating robots 1A and 1B at the time of coating (the movable range of the robot arms 12A and 12B with the base end positions of the robot arms 12A and 12B as base points, including the movable range of the respective spray guns 11A and 11B). Fig. 8 is a front view for explaining movable ranges of the spray guns 11A and 11B of the respective coating robots 1A and 1B at the time of coating. The regions inside the broken lines in the drawing indicate the respective movable ranges. As shown in fig. 7 and 8, the movable range of the second robot arm 12B and the movable range of the spray gun 11B include a passage range MS provided below the robot base 13A of the first coating robot 1A, and the second robot arm 12B and the spray gun 11B coat a lower region of the vehicle body 150 (a region below the coating region of the first coating robot 1A) while passing through the passage range MS.

In this way, even if the position of the first robot base 13A is set to a position close to the conveyance path (a position closer to the reference plane L than the position of the second robot base 13B), the second robot arm 12B performs coating in a region below the coating region of the first coating robot 1A without interfering with the first coating robot 1A and with a sufficient movable range.

More specifically, the coating operation is performed by electrostatic atomization without forming air in each of the coating robots 1A and 1B. Specifically, as shown in fig. 5, a negative high voltage is applied to the rotary head 51 by the voltage generator 54, and the rotary head 51 is rotated by an air motor (not shown) in a state where the vehicle body 150 is grounded. The distance between the rotary head 51 and the vehicle body 150 is adjusted by the robot arms 12A and 12B. Further, as shown in fig. 3, the liquid paint is supplied from the paint supply pipe 53 to the paint space S, and the paint flows out from the outflow hole 511a by a centrifugal force.

The paint flowing out of the outflow hole 511a flows radially outward along the diffusion surface 51a by centrifugal force. The paint flowing along the diffusion surface 51a is formed into a film shape, reaches the outer edge portion 51b, and is supplied to the plurality of groove portions 51c (see fig. 4). The paint in each groove 51c is separated from the paint in the adjacent groove 51c, and the paint passing through the groove 51c is linear and discharged from the outer end of the rotary head 51 in the radial direction (the groove 51c appearing on the outer circumferential surface of the rotary head 51).

As shown in fig. 5, the linear paint P1 discharged from the spin head 51 is electrostatically atomized to form paint particles P2. An electric field is formed between the spin head 51 and the vehicle body 150, and the negatively charged paint particles P2 are attracted to the vehicle body 150. Accordingly, the paint particles P2 are applied to the vehicle body 150, and a paint film (not shown) is formed on the surface of the vehicle body 150.

Further, in each of the coating robots 1A and 1B, as shown in fig. 1, the spray guns 11A and 11B are moved along the surface of the vehicle body 150 by the robot arms 12A and 12B while coating is performed by the spray guns 11A and 11B. Therefore, each of the coating robots 1A and 1B coats each region of the surface of the vehicle body 150. Thereby, the entire surface of vehicle body 150 is coated.

At the time of this coating, paint particles (excessive spray) that are not applied to the vehicle body 150 are generated. The generation range of the excess spray is included in the prescribed region Ri. Therefore, the excessive spray generated at the time of coating is carried to the lower side by the downward flow and discharged to the recovery chamber 4. In the recovery chamber 4, the excess spray is recovered by the filter 41. That is, paint particles not applied to the vehicle body 150 are removed from the air by the filter 41, and the air sent out to the exhaust duct 8 is purified.

When the entire surface of the vehicle body 150 is painted and the painting operation is completed in this way, the vehicle body 150 is carried out from the painting booth 100 by the conveyor 5, and the vehicle body 150 to be painted next is carried into the painting booth 100 and is subjected to the same painting operation. When the remaining amount of paint in the paint cartridges loaded in the spray guns 11A and 11B is reduced or when the paint used for painting the vehicle body 150 is changed in accordance with the start of the painting operation on the new vehicle body 150, a desired paint cartridge is conveyed from the cartridge storages 205 and 206 to the spray guns 11A and 11B in order to replace the paint cartridge loaded in the spray guns 11A and 11B.

Effects of the embodiments

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the distance between the reference plane L and the first robot base 13A of the first coating robot 1A that coats the upper region of the vehicle body 150 is set to be shorter than the distance between the reference plane L and the second robot base 13B of the second coating robot 1B that coats the lower region of the vehicle body 150 than the upper region, and the passage range MS through which the second robot arm 12B of the second coating robot 1B passes is provided below the first robot base 13A. That is, the position of the first robot base 13A is set to be close to the conveyor 5 (closer to the base than the position of the second robot base 13B)The position of the plane L), the second robot arm 12B can perform coating in a region below the coating region of the first coating robot 1A without interfering with the first coating robot 1A and with a movable range sufficiently secured. That is, the length of the first robot arm 12A is shortened by setting the position of the first robot base 13A to a position close to the reference plane L and shortening the distance between the first robot base 13A and the vehicle body 150, but the movable range of the second robot arm 12B can be sufficiently secured. Therefore, it is possible to achieve both downsizing of the coating robot (particularly, the first coating robot 1A) and enlargement of the movable range of the robot arm (particularly, the second robot arm 12B). As a result, the coating system PS can be downsized in accordance with the downsizing of the coating robot, and the facility cost and the running cost can be reduced. In addition, CO can be expressed by downsizing the coating system PS₂The effect of the reduction is improved. Further, by expanding the movable range of the second robot arm 12B, the coating of the lower region than the coating region of the first coating robot 1A can be performed favorably. Further, by shortening the length of the first robot arm 12A, the coating robots 1A and 1B can be configured in the same manner as described above, and thus the facility cost can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, since the second robot arm 12B passes through the passage range MS provided below the first robot base 13A, interference with the first coating robot 1A can be avoided, and the arrangement position of the first coating robot 1A and the arrangement position of the second coating robot 1B in the longitudinal direction (Y direction) of the coating booth 2 can be brought close to each other. Therefore, the internal space required for the coating booth 100 can be reduced. As described above, in the coating booth 100, the downward flow is formed as the air flow so that the flow of the paint particles in the interior of the coating booth 100 can be favorably obtained, and the space for generating the downward flow can be reduced by reducing the interior space of the coating booth 100, and the air conditioning apparatus for generating the downward flow can be downsized and the energy consumption can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, a single control device 303A (303B, 303C, 303D) is provided that controls both the operation of the first coating robot 1A and the operation of the second coating robot 1B. Therefore, as compared with the case where a plurality of control devices are provided for individually controlling the operation of each of the coating robots 1A and 1B, the entire control unit (the unit for controlling the coating robots including the control devices 303A to 303D) can be downsized, which can contribute to downsizing of the coating system PS.

In the present embodiment, the control devices 303A to 303D are housed in auxiliary rooms 201 and 202 disposed outside the painting booth 100. Therefore, the internal space required for the paint booth 100 can be reduced as compared with the case where the control device is disposed inside the paint booth 100. This also reduces the space for generating the aforementioned down flow, and makes it possible to reduce the size and reduce the energy consumption of the air conditioning apparatus for generating the down flow.

The coating system PS of the present embodiment is configured such that a plurality of coating units PU1 to PU4 are disposed on both sides with the reference plane L interposed therebetween. Therefore, the coating robots 1A and 1B … … of the coating units PU1 to PU4 can satisfactorily coat the one side region and the other side region of the vehicle body 150 with respect to the reference plane L, respectively, and the coated surface of the vehicle body 150 can be satisfactorily finished.

In the present embodiment, the spray guns 11A and 11B electrostatically atomize the paint and spray the paint toward the vehicle body 150. Therefore, the coating efficiency of the paint on vehicle body 150 can be improved, and the range in which the paint ejected toward vehicle body 150 rebounds can be reduced. Therefore, the arrangement position of the coating robots 1A and 1B can be set to a position close to the vehicle body 150 without arranging the coating robots 1A and 1B at a position very far from the vehicle body 150 in order to avoid adhesion of the rebounded paint to the coating robots 1A and 1B. As a result, the length of the coating system PS in the width direction can be shortened, and the coating system PS can be downsized. In addition, CO can be expressed by downsizing the coating system PS₂The effect of the reduction is improved.

Second embodiment

Next, a second embodiment will be explained. The arrangement of the coating robots 1A and 1B of the coating units PU1 to PU4 in the present embodiment is different from the arrangement of the coating robots 1A and 1B of the coating units PU1 to PU4 in the first embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing a coating system PS according to the present embodiment. Fig. 10 is a front view showing a coating system PS according to the present embodiment. As shown in the drawing, in each of the coating units PU1 to PU4 in the coating system PS according to the present embodiment, the first coating robot 1A is disposed upstream of the second coating robot 1B in the conveyance direction of the vehicle body 150 as the arrangement positions of the first coating robot 1A and the second coating robot 1B. In the present embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment described above, the distance between the installation position of the support column 14A of the first painting robot 1A and the reference plane L of each of the painting units PU1 to PU4 is set to be shorter than the distance between the installation position of the support column 14B of the second painting robot 1B and the reference plane L. Further, the arrangement height position of the first robot base 13A is set to be higher than the arrangement height position of the second robot base 13B, and thus the range provided below the first robot base 13A is secured as the passing range MS of the second robot arm 12B at the time of the coating operation.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the length of the first robot arm 12A is shortened by setting the position of the first robot base 13A to a position close to the reference plane L and shortening the distance between the first robot base 13A and the vehicle body 150, but the movable range of the second robot arm 12B can be sufficiently secured. As a result, the paint robot (particularly, the first paint robot 1A) can be downsized and the robot arm (particularly, the second robot arm 12B) can be expanded in movable range at the same time.

Third embodiment

Next, a third embodiment will be explained. In each of the above embodiments, the coating operation is performed while the vehicle body 150 is conveyed by the conveyor 5. In the present embodiment, instead, the coating units PU1 to PU4 perform the coating operation while moving in the horizontal direction.

Fig. 11 is a plan view showing a coating system PS according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 11, in the present embodiment, as the arrangement positions of the first coating robot 1A and the second coating robot 1B in the respective coating units PU1 to PU4, the first coating robot 1A is arranged on the downstream side of the second coating robot 1B in the conveying direction of the vehicle body 150 (the same arrangement mode as in the case of the first embodiment), and the respective coating robots 1A, 1B are movable on the rails 15A, 15B (see arrow B in fig. 11). Specifically, an example is a configuration in which wheels, not shown, disposed below the support columns 14A and 14B of the coating robots 1A and 1B are placed so as to be able to travel on the rails 15A and 15B, and electric motors for applying power for travel to the wheels are provided. Other configurations are the same as those of the above embodiments.

In the painting operation of the present embodiment, at the time point when the vehicle body 150 reaches the predetermined position (the position shown in fig. 11) of the paint booth 100 by the operation of the conveyor device 5, the conveyor device 5 is stopped, and in this state, the painting robots 1A and 1B travel on the rails 15A and 15B (for example, travel from the front side to the rear side of the vehicle body 150), and the painting robots 1A and 1B of the painting units PU1 to PU4 operate in accordance with the command signals from the control devices 303A to 303D to paint the vehicle body 150.

The present embodiment can also provide the same effects as those of the above-described embodiments.

Fourth embodiment

Next, a fourth embodiment will be explained. In the present embodiment, the coating units PU1 to PU4 perform the coating operation while moving in the horizontal direction.

Fig. 12 is a plan view showing a coating system PS according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 12, in the present embodiment, the first painting robot 1A is disposed upstream of the second painting robot 1B in the conveyance direction of the vehicle body 150 as the arrangement positions of the first painting robot 1A and the second painting robot 1B in the painting units PU1 to PU4 (the same arrangement as in the second embodiment), and the painting robots 1A and 1B are movable on the rails 15A and 15B as in the third embodiment (see arrow B in fig. 12). Other configurations are the same as those of the above embodiments. The coating operation of the present embodiment is the same as that of the third embodiment described above.

The present embodiment can also provide the same effects as those of the above-described embodiments.

Fifth embodiment

Next, a fifth embodiment will be described. In the above embodiments, a case where the object to be coated is the vehicle body 150 and the first coating robot 1A coats a horizontal surface such as a roof is described as an example. In the present embodiment, the first coating robot 1A and the second coating robot 1B are used instead of the above-described case in which both the first coating robot 1A and the second coating robot 1B coat the vertical surface, and the area where the first coating robot 1A coats is located above the area where the second coating robot 1B coats.

Fig. 13 is a front view showing a coating system PS according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 13, the object 151 to be coated in the present embodiment includes a main body 151a and a protrusion 151b protruding upward from the upper surface of the main body 151a, and the width of the main body 151a is longer than the width of the protrusion 151 b. The side surface of the main body 151A is coated by the second coating robot 1B, and the side surface of the protrusion 151B is coated by the first coating robot 1A.

The present embodiment can also provide the same effects as those of the above-described embodiments.

Other embodiments

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be modified and applied to all the modifications and applications included in the scope of claims and equivalent to the claims.

For example, in the first to fourth embodiments, the vehicle body 150 is used as the object to be coated, and in the fifth embodiment, the object to be coated 151 including the main body 151a and the protruding portion 151b is coated.

In the above embodiments, the coating system PS including eight coating robots 1A and 1B … … is described as an example, but the number of coating robots 1A and 1B … … is not limited to this. In the above embodiments, the case where two coating robots 1A and 1B are provided for one coating unit PU1 to PU4 has been described, but three or more coating robots may be provided for one coating unit. In this case, the relationship of the present invention also applies to the relationship of at least two of the three or more coating robots that constitute the coating unit (a configuration in which the distance between the first robot base 13A and the reference plane L is set to be shorter than the distance between the second robot base 13B and the reference plane L, and the passage range MS through which the second robot arm 12B passes is provided below the first robot base 13A).

In each of the above embodiments, the painting is performed while the object to be painted (the vehicle body 150 or the object to be painted 151) and the paint units PU1 to PU4 are moving relative to each other. The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a system in which the objects to be coated 150 and 151 and the coating units PU1 to PU4 are coated without relative movement.

In the above embodiments, the following configuration is adopted: the first coating robots 1A and 1A of the first coating unit PU1 and the second coating unit PU2 face each other across the passage area Rp, and the second coating robots 1B and 1B face each other across the passage area Rp. Likewise, the following constitution is adopted: the first coating robots 1A, 1A of the third coating unit PU3 and the fourth coating unit PU4 face each other across the passage area Rp, and the second coating robots 1B, 1B also face each other across the passage area Rp. The present invention is not limited to this, and may be configured such that the first coating robots 1A and 1A do not face each other across the passage area Rp, and the second coating robots 1B and 1B do not face each other across the passage area Rp. For example, the following configuration is possible: the first coating unit PU1 and the third coating unit PU3 are laid out as in the first embodiment (a layout in which the first coating robot 1A is disposed on the downstream side of the second coating robot 1B in the conveyance direction of the vehicle body 150; see fig. 1), and the second coating unit PU2 and the fourth coating unit PU4 are laid out as in the second embodiment (a layout in which the first coating robot 1A is disposed on the upstream side of the second coating robot 1B in the conveyance direction of the vehicle body 150; see fig. 9). Further, the following configuration is also possible: the first coating unit PU1 and the third coating unit PU3 are set to the layout in the second embodiment (the layout in which the first coating robot 1A is disposed on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the vehicle body 150 relative to the second coating robot 1B), and the second coating unit PU2 and the fourth coating unit PU4 are set to the layout in the first embodiment (the layout in which the first coating robot 1A is disposed on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the vehicle body 150 relative to the second coating robot 1B). This reduces the possibility that the first coating robots 1A and 1A interfere with each other when coating the center portion of the roof or the like.

In each of the above embodiments, the coating material may be a water-based coating material or a solvent-based coating material.

The present invention is applicable to a coating system including a plurality of coating units in which a first coating robot that coats an upper region of a vehicle body and a second coating robot that coats a lower region of the vehicle body than the upper region are disposed on the same side with respect to a predetermined reference plane.