Welding and conveying integrated vehicle body production line control system and debugging method

Abstract

The invention discloses a welding and conveying integrated automobile body production line control system and a debugging method, and belongs to the technical field of automobile manufacturing. The mechanical driving module comprises a walking driving mechanism, a lifting driving mechanism and a flexible lifting appliance of the trolley; the intelligent control module comprises a main PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), a remote I / O (Input / Output) station, an IO-Link main station module and an IO-Link substation module; the industrial network communication module comprises an EtherNet / IP network; and the comprehensive safety module comprises an emergency stop circuit, a safety relay, an energy locking device, a safety protection fence and a grating. According to the welding and conveying integrated vehicle body production line control system, air cylinder driving is changed into electric cylinder driving, the motor power is improved, the lifting and walking speed of a trolley is remarkably increased, and the production takt is stably larger than or equal to 55 JPH; and the design of the flexible lifting appliance supports rapid and automatic switching of multiple vehicle types, so that the adaptability of a production line is greatly improved, and the advantages of high efficiency and high flexibility are achieved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of automobile manufacturing, in particular to a welding and conveying integrated body production line control system and a debugging method. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the field of automobile manufacturing, the body production workshop is the core area to realize the assembly and welding of the body-in-white and conveying, and its running efficiency and quality control are directly related to the rhythm and performance of the whole vehicle production. At present, the mainstream production line generally uses a self-propelled trolley conveying system (Skid) to carry large parts such as the underbody, side wall, and roof, and to complete high-precision transfer and positioning operations between multiple welding stations. However, the traditional body production line control system, especially between the welding system and the conveying system, usually adopts a relatively independent design architecture and control mode. This mode gradually exposes many systematic defects and bottlenecks under the production demand of modern high rhythm and multi-model mixed line:

[0003] 1. Low system integration, difficult to coordinate control: The welding robot and the conveying trolley often belong to different control subsystems, and the information exchange between them depends on a large number of complex hard-wired signals or basic network communication methods. This low-level connection mechanism leads to high response delay and poor synchronization accuracy, which seriously restricts the further improvement of the production rhythm, making it difficult for the whole system to stably reach the high-efficiency operation requirement of more than 55 JPH (Jobs Per Hour).

[0004] 2. Insufficient production flexibility, high cost of model change: The lifting device of the traditional self-propelled trolley is usually designed for special purposes, and the compatibility of the mechanical structure and control logic is poor. When the production line needs to switch to produce different models, heavy mechanical adjustment or complete replacement of the lifting device is often required. This process not only consumes time and effort, but also significantly increases the downtime of the production line, making the adjustment efficiency extremely low and unable to meet the flexible and co-line production demand of high frequency and rapid switching of multiple models such as E110C and CE110M.

[0005] 3. Outdated control architecture, inconvenient maintenance and diagnosis: The signal acquisition and control of a large number of sensors and actuators on site still highly depend on traditional discrete I / O (input / output) modules and are connected through point-to-point hard-wired methods. This method not only causes the electrical cabinet to be large, the wiring to be complex, and the material and installation costs to be high, but also makes the troubleshooting process extremely tedious when the system fails. In addition, due to the lack of effective data integration and remote monitoring capabilities, the real-time status of the equipment cannot be fully obtained, and the predictive maintenance capability is weak, further affecting the usability of the system.

[0006] 4. Inefficient Power and Drive Methods: Currently, some lifting mechanisms of conveyor trolleys still use pneumatic drives. Pneumatic cylinders suffer from poor positioning accuracy, unstable speed control, high energy consumption, and large performance fluctuations under varying loads, making it difficult to meet the lifting and positioning process requirements of current high-precision, high-cycle production. Their performance bottlenecks often limit horizontal operating speed, thus becoming a key factor restricting the improvement of overall production line efficiency.

[0007] 5. Inadequate Safety and Reliability Design: Traditional systems lack a comprehensive systemic safety design philosophy. When equipment malfunctions, the system often fails to automatically enter a safe state, and even after emergency stop system reset, there is still a risk of accidental restart or unexpected movement. Furthermore, the system has poor recoverability; PLC program backups, parameter settings, and related technical documentation are poorly managed, lacking effective version control and disaster recovery mechanisms. Once a system-level crash occurs, the recovery period is long, severely impacting production.

[0008] Therefore, in the face of the trend of intelligent and flexible development in the automotive manufacturing industry, there is an urgent need in this field for a new generation of body production line control system that deeply integrates welding process and conveying control, and has high flexibility, high intelligence, high safety and high reliability, so as to fundamentally solve the above-mentioned technical pain points with a systematic architecture and achieve a significant improvement in production efficiency and responsiveness. Summary of the Invention

[0009] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides a welding and conveying integrated body production line control system and debugging method, which has the advantages of high cycle time, high flexibility, intelligent control and high safety and reliability. It effectively solves the problems in existing technologies, such as low system integration leading to substandard cycle time, insufficient equipment flexibility making it difficult to be compatible with multi-model co-production, outdated control methods leading to maintenance difficulties, and imperfect safety design posing potential hazards.

[0010] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution: a welding and conveying integrated body production line control system, comprising an interconnected intelligent control module, an industrial network communication module, multiple self-propelled vehicles, a mechanical drive module, and a comprehensive safety module;

[0011] The intelligent control module includes a main PLC controller, a remote I / O station, and IO-Link master station and substation modules; the IO-Link master station and substation modules are used to connect field sensors and actuators to realize digital signal acquisition and equipment diagnosis.

[0012] The industrial network communication module includes an EtherNet / IP network, which is used to connect the main PLC controller, remote I / O station and IO-Link master station to realize control data exchange;

[0013] The multiple self-propelled trolleys are respectively a lower body trolley, a side panel upper part trolley, a side panel lower part trolley, and a top cover trolley;

[0014] The mechanical drive module includes a walking drive mechanism, a lifting drive mechanism, and a flexible lifting device for driving multiple self-propelled trolleys. The walking drive mechanism uses a motor to drive a gear and rack transmission through a gearbox, and the lifting drive mechanism uses an electric cylinder drive.

[0015] The integrated safety module includes an emergency stop circuit, safety relays, energy locking devices, safety fencing, and light curtains.

[0016] Furthermore, the motor power of the walking drive mechanism is not less than 2.2kW, and the electric cylinder of the lifting drive mechanism is driven by an AC servo motor.

[0017] Furthermore, the control systems of the upper and lower side panel trolleys utilize IO-Link communication to acquire and control IO signals.

[0018] Furthermore, the main PLC controller is a Rockwell ControlLogix series, and its rack is equipped with at least one independent EtherNet / IP network adapter module for integrating the stripped I / O box on the main line and communicating with the newly added dimming system.

[0019] Furthermore, the flexible spreader is configured to be compatible with body parts of two different models, E110C and CE110M, supporting non-stop automatic model switching on the production line.

[0020] Furthermore, the system also includes a centralized monitoring and maintenance unit, which includes:

[0021] Human-machine interface, used to display system status and fault information;

[0022] The program backup and restore tool stores the complete program image of the system, parameter settings, and device EDS files;

[0023] The diagnostic interface based on IO-Link is used to remotely access the parameters and status data of field smart devices.

[0024] Furthermore, the energy locking device includes isolation points for electrical, pneumatic and potential energy sources, and is equipped with visual energy locking point signs, energy locking point distribution maps and energy locking point summary lists.

[0025] Furthermore, all field switch signals are transferred through electronic junction boxes or distribution boxes and then connected to the IO-Link substation or remote I / O module in the I / O box via multi-core cables; and all wiring terminals and cables in the I / O boxes and operation boxes have a margin of no less than 20%.

[0026] Furthermore, the system is configured to have a fail-safe mode, which can automatically trigger the system to shut down and maintain a safe state when signal loss, power interruption or mechanical failure is detected, until the fault is manually reset and cleared.

[0027] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention also provides the following technical solution:

[0028] A debugging method for a welding and conveying integrated body production line control system, which employs the aforementioned welding and conveying integrated body production line control system, includes the following steps:

[0029] S1. Hardware Installation and Initial Inspection: Verify the installation accuracy of the walking drive gear rack, lifting cylinder and flexible lifting device in the mechanical drive mechanism of each trolley, and confirm that the meshing clearance of the gear rack, the stroke limit of the electric cylinder and the fit tolerance of the positioning pin of the lifting device meet the design requirements; check the wiring of the emergency stop circuit of the integrated safety module, the firmness of the safety fence installation and whether the detection range of the light grating covers the dangerous area.

[0030] S2. Industrial Network Communication Debugging: Test the communication connectivity between the main PLC and the remote I / O station and IO-Link master station through the EtherNet / IP network adapter module of the main PLC controller, and verify that the data transmission delay is ≤10ms; diagnose the connection between the IO-Link substation and the field position sensor, pressure sensor and actuator to ensure that there is no packet loss in the digital signal acquisition.

[0031] S3. Intelligent control module function debugging: Load the control program image of the main PLC controller, simulate input and output signals through the remote I / O station, and verify whether the walking and lifting action logic of the self-propelled trolley matches the preset process; use the IO-Link diagnostic interface to read the operating parameters of the field equipment and confirm that the equipment diagnostic function is normal.

[0032] S4. Single-step debugging of self-propelled trolleys: Single-action tests were conducted on various types of trolleys, such as the lower body trolley and the side panel mounting trolley, to verify the smoothness of the gear and rack transmission of the walking drive mechanism, the speed response of the electric cylinder of the lifting drive mechanism, and the gripping and switching accuracy of the flexible lifting device for E110C and CE110M model parts.

[0033] S5. System integration and collaborative testing: Simulate the component transport process between welding stations, verify the connection sequence of each trolley unit between different stations, ensure that the transport of body parts is collision-free and the positioning error is ≤±0.5mm; test the automatic switching function of the flexible spreader for multiple vehicle models, and record the switching time ≤15s;

[0034] S6. Comprehensive safety module verification: Trigger the emergency stop button, block the light grid, or operate the energy lock device to check whether the system stops immediately and maintains a safe state, and verify the trigger logic of the fail-safe mode; test the electrical and pneumatic isolation effect of the energy lock point to ensure that the energy is completely cut off;

[0035] S7. Production cycle time and adaptability verification: The system is continuously run for ≥8 hours, and the stable value of the production cycle time is statistically analyzed to confirm that it reaches ≥55 JPH (vehicles / hour); E110C and CE110M model parts are transported alternately to verify the adaptability of the production line and the reliability of the lifting device switching.

[0036] S8. Data Backup and Documentation: After completing all debugging steps, perform a complete backup of the main PLC program, IO-Link parameters, and device EDS files; organize the debugging records and archive the debugging report.

[0037] Compared with the prior art, the present invention provides a body production line control system that integrates welding and conveying, which has the following advantages:

[0038] 1. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system significantly improves the lifting and traveling speed of the trolley by changing the cylinder drive to an electric cylinder drive and increasing the motor power, making the production cycle stable at ≥55 JPH; the flexible lifting fixture design supports rapid automatic switching between multiple models, greatly improving the adaptability of the production line and achieving the advantages of high efficiency and high flexibility.

[0039] 2. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system adopts IO-Link communication instead of traditional hard wiring, realizing digital signal acquisition and remote equipment diagnosis, which greatly simplifies wiring and shortens troubleshooting time; the control program is modularly designed, easy to read, modify and expand, and achieves the advantages of intelligence and easy maintenance.

[0040] 3. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system has a complete fault-safe mode, and can automatically shut down in case of any abnormality; it has established a standardized energy locking system and multiple safety protections, effectively ensuring the safety of personnel and equipment, and achieving the advantages of high safety and high reliability.

[0041] 4. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system has a 20% margin in all electrical interfaces to facilitate future modifications and upgrades; it uses highly flexible cables, high-efficiency components and LED lighting, making the system durable, energy-efficient, and with significant cost advantages throughout its entire life cycle, achieving the advantages of strong scalability and long lifespan. Attached Figure Description

[0042] Figure 1 This is a schematic block diagram of a body production line control system that integrates welding and conveying, as proposed in this invention. Detailed Implementation

[0043] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0044] Example 1:

[0045] Please see Figure 1 This embodiment provides a body production line control system that integrates welding and conveying. Specifically, this system is applied to the lower body, side panel, and roof workstations on the E-line of the body shop in automobile manufacturing. Through deep integration of conveying and welding processes, this system aims to achieve a production cycle of no less than 55 JPH and supports flexible co-line production of both the E110C and CE110M models.

[0046] The system includes interconnected intelligent control modules, industrial network communication modules, multiple self-propelled vehicles, mechanical drive modules, integrated safety modules, and a centralized monitoring and maintenance unit, as detailed below:

[0047] 1. Intelligent control module:

[0048] Main PLC Controller: As the control core of the entire automated conveyor system, it adopts a Rockwell ControlLogix series high-performance programmable logic controller. This PLC rack is specially configured to house two physically independent EtherNet / IP network adapter modules for network isolation and load sharing. The first adapter integrates the distributed I / O box separated from the main line, enabling centralized acquisition and control of field signals; the second is specifically used for real-time data communication with the newly added Dark Warehouse System, ensuring seamless integration of production information.

[0049] The IO-Link system represents a digital upgrade to the signal transmission between the side panel loading and unloading trolleys, completely transforming the original discrete I / O wiring method into the IO-Link intelligent communication protocol. The system utilizes high-performance Balluff IO-Link master modules, such as the BNI006A model, and is equipped with a series of compatible terminal modules and IO-Link device protocol conversion substations, such as the BNI007Z and BNI0035. Various field sensors, including temperature, position, proximity switches, and status detectors, are directly connected to the IO-Link substations. This system not only achieves high-precision digital signal acquisition but also supports remote parameter configuration, real-time status monitoring, and fault diagnosis of terminal devices, significantly improving maintenance efficiency.

[0050] 2. Industrial network communication module:

[0051] The system constructs a hierarchical industrial Ethernet network architecture, divided into upper and lower layers:

[0052] The upper information layer adopts the standard EtherNet / IP protocol and is responsible for the exchange of production data and status monitoring between the PLC and the shop floor manufacturing execution system (MES), monitoring computer, and human-machine interface (HMI).

[0053] The lower-level device layer is also based on the EtherNet / IP network bus, used to connect the main PLC with Siemens ET200SP remote I / O stations, IO-Link master modules, frequency converters, and other intelligent actuators distributed at the workstations. This network features high real-time performance and anti-interference capabilities, ensuring stable and efficient transmission of control commands and equipment status data.

[0054] 3. Multiple bicycles:

[0055] The system integrates four types of functional self-propelled trolleys: one underbody transport trolley, one side panel loading trolley, one side panel unloading trolley, and three roof conveying trolleys. All trolleys operate on high-precision H-beam rails and achieve multi-trolley collaborative operation through servo positioning and frequency conversion control. They are responsible for precisely transporting the corresponding body-in-white components—including the floor assembly, side panels, and roof—to designated welding stations according to production cycle requirements, supporting flexible production under high-cycle conditions.

[0056] 4. Mechanical drive module:

[0057] Walking drive mechanism: Each trolley is equipped with a 2.2kW three-phase asynchronous motor from SEW as the walking drive unit. Torque is transmitted through a hardened gear reducer, driving the gears at the bottom of the trolley to mesh with the rack fixed to the side of the track, achieving smooth and reliable horizontal movement. This drive solution significantly improves the trolley's running speed and positioning accuracy, ensuring that its horizontal movement speed fully meets the production cycle requirement of 55 JPH (55 units per hour).

[0058] Lifting drive mechanism: For the lifting action of the rear frame trolley, the original 3.0kW motor was upgraded to a 7.5kW high-power motor from SEW, and the matching frequency converter and gearbox were replaced simultaneously, thereby significantly improving the lifting speed and load capacity. For the top cover trolley, the original pneumatic lifting mechanism was completely transformed into a high-precision electric cylinder from Thomson. The electric cylinder is directly driven by an Omron AC servo motor and equipped with a corresponding servo driver and control module, achieving high speed, high-precision positioning, and high repeatability in the lifting process, effectively reducing vibration and impact during production.

[0059] Flexible Spreader System: All spreader units on the trolleys have undergone mechanical structure optimization and flexibility upgrades. By introducing programmable hydraulic or servo-driven positioning pins and multi-functional clamping mechanisms, the same spreader can automatically adapt to the body clamping points of two different vehicle models, E110C and CE110M. This system supports automatic vehicle model recognition and switching on the production line without stopping, greatly improving production flexibility and equipment utilization.

[0060] 5. Integrated Security Module:

[0061] Emergency Stop and Safety Circuit: Schneider emergency stop buttons with LED indicators are installed on all control panels, critical workstations, and the trolley itself. All emergency stop signals are connected to a centralized safety control system, which constructs a safety circuit conforming to ISO 13849-1 standards through PILZ safety relays to ensure that the drive power and pneumatic actuators are immediately cut off when any emergency stop signal is triggered, achieving rapid system shutdown.

[0062] Energy Lockout (LOTO) System: Standardized energy lockout points are set up for all types of energy in the system, including electrical, compressed air, and potential energy. Each lockout point is equipped with a highly visible PVC sign clearly indicating the energy type, number, and locking procedure. A complete energy lockout point distribution map and list are posted around the equipment to guide maintenance personnel in performing safe operating procedures. For lifting mechanisms with gravitational potential energy, additional mechanical safety pin devices are installed to effectively prevent the lifting equipment or load from accidentally falling.

[0063] Physical safety measures: High-strength rigid protective fences are installed along the entire high-speed self-propelled vehicle track area to prevent personnel from accidentally entering dangerous areas. Sick brand safety light curtain systems are installed at locations where personnel activity areas may intersect with the equipment's movement trajectory. Upon detecting personnel intrusion, the system immediately triggers a deceleration or stop command to ensure human-machine collaboration safety.

[0064] 6. Centralized monitoring and maintenance unit:

[0065] The workshop engineering station is equipped with a high-performance human-machine interface (HMI) that centrally displays the real-time operating status, workstation information, current location, fault alarm details, and health status data of IO-Link smart devices for all self-propelled vehicles.

[0066] The system is also equipped with dedicated program and parameter backup tools, storing PLC programs, inverter parameters, servo drive configurations, HMI interface projects, and EDS (electronic datasheet) files for all network devices. This ensures rapid recovery of operation after equipment failure or replacement.

[0067] With the diagnostic functions integrated into the IO-Link master module, maintenance personnel can directly access the internal parameters of terminal sensors (such as temperature drift, signal strength, number of switching operations, etc.) and the cumulative action cycle of actuators remotely on the HMI, thereby enabling early warning and predictive maintenance of potential faults and significantly improving overall equipment efficiency (OEE).

[0068] The workflow of this system is as follows:

[0069] After a vehicle body component (such as a side panel) is precisely hoisted and placed onto the flexible lifting device of the side panel mounting trolley, the vehicle model recognition sensor immediately activates. Using high-precision scanning technology, it acquires the specific vehicle model information of the component and transmits this data in real-time to the programmable logic controller (PLC) via an IO-Link substation. Upon receiving the vehicle model information, the PLC quickly processes and analyzes it. Based on preset program logic, it controls the positioning mechanism of the lifting device to make adaptive adjustments, including horizontal alignment, height fine-tuning, and precise setting of clamping force, to ensure the component is securely fixed. Subsequently, the PLC sends control commands to the main controller via a high-efficiency EtherNet / IP industrial Ethernet network. The main controller then transmits the travel commands to the trolley's travel inverter via a reliable fieldbus network (such as Profibus or DeviceNet). The travel inverter adjusts the motor output according to an optimization algorithm, driving the trolley to move towards the target welding station at a high speed and smoothly, considering path efficiency and energy minimization during the process. Upon reaching the designated welding station, the lifting mechanism (using a high-precision electric cylinder or a high-power servo motor) performs a precise positioning operation. A closed-loop control system ensures accurate docking between the component and the robot, ultimately seamlessly delivering the component to the welding robot for automated welding. Throughout the entire process, a safety network system operates continuously, using multiple sensors and redundant design to monitor equipment status, environmental parameters, and potential faults in real time, ensuring absolute safety and reliability in the production process.

[0070] Example 2:

[0071] This embodiment provides a debugging method for a welding and conveying integrated body production line control system, using the welding and conveying integrated body production line control system described in Embodiment 1, including the following steps:

[0072] S1. Hardware Installation and Initial Inspection: Verify the installation accuracy of the walking drive gear rack, lifting cylinder, and flexible lifting device in the mechanical drive mechanism of each trolley. Use a laser tracker and feeler gauge to confirm that the gear rack meshing clearance is within the range of 0.1–0.15mm, the cylinder stroke limit error is not greater than ±0.2mm, and the fit tolerance between the lifting device positioning pin and the vehicle body parts meets the design requirement of ±0.5mm. Check the wiring firmness of each emergency stop circuit in the integrated safety module, the installation strength and seismic performance of the safety fence, and confirm that the detection range of the grating completely covers the dangerous area and the blind zone is less than 50mm.

[0073] S2. Industrial Network Communication Debugging: Using the EtherNet / IP network adapter module of the main PLC controller, and with Wireshark or similar network analysis tools, test the communication connectivity and stability between the main PLC and each remote I / O station and IO-Link master station, verifying that the data transmission delay of key workstations is ≤10ms and the jitter rate is less than 5%; using the PortClass diagnostic function of IO-Link Master, monitor the signal connection status of the position sensors, pressure sensors and pneumatic actuators connected to the substations in real time, ensuring that all digital signal acquisitions are packet-free and the error frame rate is less than 0.01%;

[0074] S3. Intelligent Control Module Function Debugging: Load the control program image of the main PLC controller from the server to the running memory, simulate high / low level input signals and load output through remote I / O stations, and verify whether the self-propelled trolley's walking start / stop, acceleration / deceleration smoothness, lifting synchronization control, and multi-level position holding actions strictly match the preset process logic flow; read the operating current, temperature, and fault codes of field devices such as servo drives and photoelectric switches in real time through the IO-Link diagnostic interface to confirm that the predictive maintenance function of the equipment is normal;

[0075] S4. Single-step debugging of self-propelled trolleys: Perform single-action tests on various types of trolleys, such as the lower body trolley and the side panel mounting trolley, including both unloaded and loaded conditions. Verify whether the gear and rack transmission of the walking drive mechanism is smooth and without squealing, and whether the electric cylinder of the lifting drive mechanism has the speed response and positioning accuracy under different loads. Use a laser rangefinder to verify that the repeatability error of the flexible lifting tool in grabbing the parts of the E110C and CE110M models is no greater than ±0.3mm, and that the switching action is smooth and without interference.

[0076] S5. System Integration and Collaborative Testing: Simulate the entire process of component transport between actual welding stations, verify the connection timing and cycle time matching of each trolley unit between different stations, monitor the vehicle body components for collision and vibration during transport using a high-precision UWB positioning system, and finally control the positioning error within the range of ≤±0.5mm; perform dual composite verification of pressure and position for automatic switching of flexible lifting tools for multiple vehicle models, use a stopwatch to record the fully automatic switching time, and ensure that the average switching time is ≤15s;

[0077] S6. Comprehensive Safety Module Verification: Trigger the emergency stop button on the entire line, manually block the safety light curtain, and simulate the operation of the energy lock device to confirm that the system immediately enters the shutdown state within 200ms and maintains mechanical locking and pneumatic depressurization. Verify the correctness of the fault safety mode trigger logic and status indicator lights. Use a multimeter and a barometer to test the electrical circuit continuity resistance, pneumatic circuit sealing and isolation effect of the energy lock point to ensure that the energy is completely cut off and cannot be restarted unexpectedly.

[0078] S7. Production Cycle Time and Adaptability Verification: The system is operated continuously for ≥8 hours in continuous production mode. Production data is collected in real time through the MES system, and the stable value of the production cycle time is statistically analyzed and confirmed to reach ≥55 JPH (vehicles / hour). Parts of E110C and CE110M models are alternately and randomly transported to verify the adaptability of the production line equipment and scheduling system under mixed model production conditions, the reliability of the pneumatic and electric quick-change interface of the lifting device, and the system's fault-free operation time.

[0079] S8. Data Backup and Documentation: After completing all debugging steps, perform a complete backup of the main PLC program, IO-Link master and substation device parameters, network configuration data, and device EDS electronic description files, and generate a verification code; organize the debugging records, waveform screenshots, and fault handling lists of each stage to form a standardized debugging report for archiving.

[0080] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0081] Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A vehicle body production line control system integrating welding and conveying, characterized in that: Includes interconnected intelligent control modules, industrial network communication modules, multiple self-propelled vehicles, mechanical drive modules, and integrated safety modules: The intelligent control module includes a main PLC controller, a remote I / O station, and IO-Link master station and substation modules; the IO-Link master station and substation modules are used to connect field sensors and actuators to realize digital signal acquisition and equipment diagnosis. The industrial network communication module includes an EtherNet / IP network, which is used to connect the main PLC controller, remote I / O station and IO-Link master station to realize control data exchange; The multiple self-propelled trolleys are respectively a lower body trolley, a side panel upper part trolley, a side panel lower part trolley, and a roof trolley; they are used to transport body parts between welding stations; The mechanical drive module includes a walking drive mechanism, a lifting drive mechanism, and a flexible lifting device for driving multiple self-propelled trolleys. The walking drive mechanism uses a motor to drive a gear and rack transmission through a gearbox, and the lifting drive mechanism uses an electric cylinder drive. The integrated safety module includes an emergency stop circuit, safety relays, energy locking devices, safety fencing, and light curtains.

2. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The motor power of the walking drive mechanism is not less than 2.2kW, and the electric cylinder of the lifting drive mechanism is driven by an AC servo motor.

3. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control systems of the upper and lower side panel trolleys use IO-Link communication to acquire and control IO signals.

4. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main PLC controller is a Rockwell ControlLogix series, and its rack is equipped with at least one independent EtherNet / IP network adapter module for integrating the IO box stripped from the main line and communicating with the newly added dimming system.

5. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flexible spreader is configured to be compatible with body parts of two different models, E110C and CE110M, supporting non-stop automatic model switching on the production line.

6. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The system also includes a centralized monitoring and maintenance unit, which comprises: Human-machine interface, used to display system status and fault information; The program backup and restore tool stores the complete program image of the system, parameter settings, and device EDS files; The diagnostic interface based on IO-Link is used to remotely access the parameters and status data of field smart devices.

7. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The energy locking device includes isolation points for electrical, pneumatic and potential energy sources, and is equipped with visual energy locking point signs, energy locking point distribution maps and energy locking point summary lists.

8. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: All field switch signals are transferred through electronic junction boxes or distribution boxes and then connected to the IO-Link substation or remote I / O module in the I / O box via multi-core cables; and all wiring terminals and cables in the I / O boxes and control boxes have a margin of no less than 20%.

9. The integrated welding and conveying body production line control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The system is configured to have a fail-safe mode, which can automatically trigger the system to shut down and maintain a safe state when signal loss, power interruption or mechanical failure is detected, until the fault is manually reset and cleared.

10. A debugging method for a welding and conveying integrated body production line control system, employing a welding and conveying integrated body production line control system as described in any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that: Includes the following steps: S1. Hardware Installation and Initial Inspection: Verify the installation accuracy of the walking drive gear rack, lifting cylinder and flexible lifting device in the mechanical drive mechanism of each trolley, and confirm that the meshing clearance of the gear rack, the stroke limit of the electric cylinder and the fit tolerance of the positioning pin of the lifting device meet the design requirements; check the wiring of the emergency stop circuit of the integrated safety module, the firmness of the safety fence installation and whether the detection range of the light grating covers the dangerous area. S2. Industrial Network Communication Debugging: Test the communication connectivity between the main PLC and the remote I / O station and IO-Link master station through the EtherNet / IP network adapter module of the main PLC controller, and verify that the data transmission delay is ≤10ms; diagnose the connection between the IO-Link substation and the field position sensor, pressure sensor and actuator to ensure that there is no packet loss in the digital signal acquisition. S3. Intelligent control module function debugging: Load the control program image of the main PLC controller, simulate input and output signals through remote I / O station, and verify whether the walking and lifting action logic of the self-propelled car matches the preset process; Use the IO-Link diagnostic interface to read the operating parameters of the field equipment and confirm that the equipment's diagnostic functions are normal. S4. Single-step debugging of self-propelled trolleys: Single-action tests were conducted on various types of trolleys, such as the lower body trolley and the side panel mounting trolley, to verify the smoothness of the gear and rack transmission of the walking drive mechanism, the speed response of the electric cylinder of the lifting drive mechanism, and the gripping and switching accuracy of the flexible lifting device for E110C and CE110M model parts. S5. System integration and collaborative testing: Simulate the component transport process between welding stations, verify the connection sequence of each trolley unit between different stations, ensure that the transport of body parts is collision-free and the positioning error is ≤±0.5mm; test the automatic switching function of the flexible spreader for multiple vehicle models, and record the switching time ≤15s; S6. Comprehensive safety module verification: Trigger the emergency stop button, block the light grid, or operate the energy lock device to check whether the system stops immediately and maintains a safe state, and verify the trigger logic of the fail-safe mode; test the electrical and pneumatic isolation effect of the energy lock point to ensure that the energy is completely cut off; S7. Production cycle time and adaptability verification: The system is continuously run for ≥8 hours, and the stable value of the production cycle time is statistically analyzed to confirm that it reaches ≥55 JPH (vehicles / hour); E110C and CE110M model parts are transported alternately to verify the adaptability of the production line and the reliability of the lifting device switching. S8. Data Backup and Document Organization: After completing all debugging steps, perform a complete backup of the main PLC program, IO-Link parameters, and device EDS files; Organize and debug records, and archive them as a debug report.

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