Clip fitting tool and clip fitting method

Abstract

To provide a clip fitting tool that actively simplifies a process of gripping and opening a clip, and that allows the clip to be fitted to an interior part simply by moving the clip fitting tool, when fitting the clip to a clip boss of the interior part.SOLUTION: A clip fitting tool 100 has two gripping parts 110 disposed on both sides so that a clip housing part 120 is formed, in a clip fitting tool for fitting a clip to a clip boss. The clip housing part 120 can store at least a swollen part of the clip. A tip of the gripping part 110 is formed with an inward bend such that an inner face of the tip engages with the swollen part in order to prevent the clip from being omitted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a clip installation tool and a clip installation method for installing a clip, which is used mainly when installing an automobile interior part to a body panel or the like, to a clip boss. [Background technology]

[0002] Generally, interior materials used in the interior of an automobile are often attached to the body panel of the automobile body using clips or the like. Many types of clips for attaching interior materials have been proposed. Among such clips for attaching interior materials, there are some that are used by providing a clip boss on the interior material and attaching the clip to this clip boss (for example, Patent Document 1). Such clips have the advantageous effect that they can be applied to various interior parts by providing a clip boss on the interior part. In addition, since the clip is attached to the interior part in advance and assembled to the body panel, there is no need to take out the clips one by one from the parts box and attach them during assembly, which also has the effect of contributing to the efficiency of assembly to the body panel.

[0003] However, when attaching a clip to a clip boss of an interior part, the process of grasping the clip, moving the clip, attaching it to the clip boss, and releasing the clip is required, making it difficult to automate with a robot, and therefore the process has had to be performed manually by humans. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2014-506982 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide a clip installation device that simplifies the process of gripping and releasing a clip when attaching a clip to a clip boss of an interior part, and allows a clip to be attached to an interior part simply by moving the clip installation device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means. The clip applicator of the present invention comprises: A clip attachment device for attaching a clip to a clip boss, the clip attachment device having: a bulging portion having an Ω-shape in side view with front and rear surfaces bulging in the front-rear direction relative to upper and lower ends; a clip boss guide portion for guiding a clip boss of a component; and a clip boss fitting portion formed in the clip boss guide portion and fitted into a fitting hole formed in the clip boss, The clip has two gripping portions arranged on both sides so as to form a clip housing portion therebetween, and the clip can be inserted between the two gripping portions and housed in the clip housing portion, thereby housing at least the bulging portion of the clip; The tip of the gripping portion has a curved portion whose inner surface is curved inwardly so as to engage with the bulge portion in order to prevent the clip from falling off.

[0007] According to the clip application device of the present invention, the clip can be held without falling off by simply inserting the device between the gripping parts, without the need to narrow the gripping parts to actively clamp the clip. Therefore, the clip can be held by simply moving the clip application device closer to the clip. After the clip application device is attached to the clip boss, the clip boss fitting part is fitted into the fitting hole of the clip boss and fixed to the clip boss, so the clip can be released by simply moving the clip application device away.

[0008] In the clip applicator according to the present invention, the clip housing may be provided with a guide restriction portion that restricts movement of the clip boss guide portion of the clip. By adopting such a configuration, when removing the clip applicator from the clip attached to the clip boss, the guide restriction portion prevents the clip boss fitting portion from moving out of the fitting hole of the clip boss, thereby reducing the risk of the clip coming off the clip boss.

[0009] Furthermore, in the clip applier according to the present invention, the guide restriction portion may be provided with a gap of about 0.05 mm to 1.0 mm between it and the clip boss guide portion. By setting the gap in this range, the clip is not hindered from being attached to the clip boss, and the clip boss fitting portion of the clip is prevented from coming out of the fitting hole when the clip applier is removed from the clip, allowing the clip to be effectively fixed to the clip boss.

[0010] The present invention further provides a method for attaching a clip to a clip boss using the clip attachment tool described above. The attachment method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: (1) a clip placement step of placing the clip with the tip side facing upward; (2) A step of inserting the clip applier from above into the clip accommodating portion between the two gripping portions of the clip applier with respect to the arranged clip. (3) a fitting step of moving the accommodated clip to insert a clip boss guide portion into the clip boss and fit the clip boss fitting portion into the fitting hole of the clip boss. (4) A release step in which the clip attachment tool is pulled up to release the clip. The present invention is characterized in that it includes:

[0011] According to the attachment method of the present invention, when gripping a clip, it is not necessary to narrow the width of the gripping parts of the clip attachment device to clamp the clip, and the clip can be grasped by simply inserting it into the clip housing part. The clip can then be fixed to the clip boss by moving the clip above the clip boss and inserting the clip boss into the clip boss guide part. When removing the clip attachment device, it is possible to detach the clip from the clip by simply pulling it away from the clip without widening the gripping parts. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view and a side view of a clip 200 according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view and a side view of the clip applicator 100 according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a clip boss 300 according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mounting process for mounting the clip 200 on the clip boss 300. As shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a mounting process for mounting the clip 200 on the clip boss 300. As shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a mounting process for mounting the clip 200 on the clip boss 300. As shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] The clip applier 100 according to the embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments and drawings described below are intended to illustrate a portion of the embodiment of the present invention, and are not intended to be used to limit the present invention to these configurations. Appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. In each drawing, corresponding components are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

[0014] First, an embodiment of a clip 200 used in a clip installation device 100 according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view (FIG. 1A) and a side view (FIG. 1B) of a clip according to the embodiment. For convenience of explanation, the directions of the arrows in FIG. 1 will be described as up-down, left-right, and front-rear directions, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, the clip 200 has an apex 210 at the upper end that is triangular in side view from the left-right direction, and an open portion 220 at the lower side. Near the center of the top and bottom, it has a bulging portion 230 that bulges in the front-rear direction, and is generally formed in an Ω shape with the center bulging from the top and bottom ends in side view. In addition, a clip boss guide portion 240 is formed at the center of the left-right direction of the clip 200, which is arranged inside the Ω shape of the clip 200. The clip boss guide 240 is made slightly narrower than the thickness of the clip boss 300 (see FIG. 3) to be attached, so that the clip boss 300 is naturally guided by being inserted from the open portion 220 side, and when the clip 200 is attached to the clip boss 300, the clip boss 300 is firmly pinched and difficult to move. Furthermore, the clip boss guide 240 is provided with a clip boss fitting portion 250 that fits into a fitting hole 330 formed in the clip boss 300, which will be described later, in order to prevent the clip 200 from being easily removed when attached to the clip boss 300. The clip 200 thus made is fitted into the clip boss 300 from the open portion 220 side, as shown in FIG. 6B, and fixed by fitting the clip boss fitting portion 250 into the fitting hole 330 of the clip boss 300. The clip 200 may be made of plastic or metal.

[0015] Next, a clip installation device 100 for automatically installing the above-mentioned clip 200 to the clip boss 300 by a robot or the like will be described. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view (FIG. 2A) and a side view (FIG. 2B) of the clip installation device 100. The clip installation device 100 is manufactured so that two gripping parts 110 protrude from the tip at an interval, and a clip storage part 120 is formed between the gripping parts 110. The clip storage part 120 stores at least the bulging part 230 of the clip 200 and a part above it. The clip storage part 120 has a shape inverted with respect to the outer peripheral side surface of the clip 200, and is formed so that the part above the bulging part 230 of the clip 200 is in contact with the clip 200 by a substantially flat surface. The inner surface side of the tip of the gripping part 110 is formed to be curved inward so that the clip 200 does not easily fall off once it has been caught, and supports the bulging part 230 of the clip 200. In addition, the clip storage section 120 is provided with a guide section regulating section 130 at the center of the inner lateral direction at a position corresponding to the clip boss guide section 240 when the clip is gripped. The guide section regulating section 130 regulates the position of the clip boss guide section 240 so that the clip boss guide section 240 does not get in the way of passing through the clip boss 300 when the clip 200 is gripped, and once the clip boss fitting section 250 is attached to the clip boss 300 and fitted into the fitting hole 330 of the clip boss 300, the guide section regulating section 130 does not easily come out of the fitting hole 330 of the clip boss 300. Specifically, depending on the size and shape of the clip 200, it is preferable to form a gap of about 0.05 mm to 1.0 mm between the clip boss guide section 240 and the guide section regulating section 130. By adopting such a configuration, when removing the clip attachment device 100 from the clip 200 attached to the clip boss 300, the clip boss fitting portion 250 is prevented from coming out of the fitting hole 330 of the clip boss 300, thereby preventing the clip from accidentally coming off the clip boss.

[0016] The clip installation tool 100 manufactured as described above is attached to the clip boss 300 as follows. As shown in FIG. 3, the clip boss 300 is a part formed on which the clip 200 is attached, and has a standing plate 310, wall surfaces 320 formed on both sides of the standing plate 310, and a fitting hole 330 formed in the standing plate 310. First, a plurality of clips 200 are arranged in a position where a robot can easily pick them up, with the apex 210 facing upward. The clips 200 may be set automatically by a known technique. As shown in FIG. 4A, the clip installation tool 100 fits the arranged clip 200 from above so that it is accommodated in the clip housing 120. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, the upper part including the bulging portion 230 of the clip 200 is fitted into the clip housing 120, and the clip 200 is firmly held by supporting the bulging portion 230 of the clip 200 with the curved portion on the inner side of the tip of the gripping portion 110, as shown in FIG. 5A. Then, in this state, as shown in FIG. 5B, the clip 200 is moved so that the opening portion 220 is located above the standing plate 310 of the clip boss 300. By lowering the clip attaching device 100 from this state, as shown in FIG. 6A, the standing plate 310 of the clip boss 300 is guided by the clip boss guide portion 240 into the clip 200, and the clip boss fitting portion 250 is fitted into the fitting hole 330 of the clip boss 300 and fixed. Then, as shown in FIG. 6B, by raising the clip attaching device 100, the clip 200 is released from the clip attaching device 100 and attached to the clip boss 300. Thus, according to the clip attaching device 100 of the present invention, when gripping the clip 200, the step of narrowing the width of the gripping portion 110 of the clip attaching device 100 to clamp it is not necessary, and the clip 200 can be gripped by only the action of inserting it into the clip housing portion 120. Thereafter, the clip 200 can be fixed by moving the clip 200 above the clip boss 300 and inserting the clip boss 300 into the clip boss guide 240. Furthermore, when removing the clip applicator 100, the clip can be detached from the clip 200 by simply pulling the gripping portions 110 away from each other without spreading them apart.

[0017] It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be embodied in various forms within the technical scope of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0018] As shown in the above-described embodiment, the present invention can be industrially utilized as a method for attaching clips to automobile-related parts. [Explanation of symbols]

[0019] 100...clip attachment device, 110...gripping portion, 120...clip storage portion, 130...guide portion restriction portion, 200...clip, 210...apex, 220...opening portion, 230...bulging portion, 240...clip boss guide portion, 250...fitting portion, 300...clip boss, 310...standing plate, 320...wall surface, 330...fitting hole

Claims

1. A clip attachment device for attaching a clip to a clip boss, the clip attachment device having: a bulging portion having an Ω-shape in side view with front and rear surfaces bulging in the front-rear direction relative to upper and lower ends; a clip boss guide portion for guiding a clip boss of a component; and a clip boss fitting portion formed in the clip boss guide portion and fitted into a fitting hole formed in the clip boss, a clip receiving portion for receiving the clip from the clip receiving portion; a clip receiving portion for receiving the clip from the clip receiving portion; A clip application device characterized in that the tip of the gripping portion has a curved portion whose inner surface is curved inward so as to engage the bulge portion to prevent the clip from falling off.

2. 2. The clip applier according to claim 1, wherein the clip housing portion is provided with a guide portion restricting portion that restricts movement of the clip boss guide portion of the clip.

3. 3. The clip applier according to claim 2, wherein a gap of about 0.05 mm to 1.0 mm is provided between the guide restriction portion and the clip boss guide portion.

4. A method for attaching a clip to a clip boss using the clip attachment tool according to any one of claims 1 to 3, (1) A clip placement step of placing the clip with the tip side facing upward. (2) A step of inserting the clip applier from above into the clip accommodating portion between the two gripping portions of the clip applier for the arranged clip. (3) a fitting step of moving the accommodated clip to insert the clip boss guide portion into the clip boss and fitting the clip boss fitting portion into the fitting hole of the clip boss. (4) A release step in which the clip installation tool is pulled up to release the clip A method for attaching a clip to a clip boss, comprising:

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