Tube Assembly Device

Abstract

To provide a tube assembling device which improves operation efficiency by increases a ratio of automation of operation such as cutting of a lead wire in assembly of an insulation tube on each outer periphery of a plurality of lead wires which are derived from a winding wire body.SOLUTION: The tube assembling device is provided with: a dedicated pallet which has a clamping mechanism to have the lead wire held at a determined position and on which the winding wire body is mounted; a transferring mechanism which transfers the winding wire body in a state mounted on the dedicated pallet among a plurality of operation positions; a cutting correction mechanism which performs cutting operation of the lead wire at a cut operation position of the winding wire body and also performs correction operation to linearly correct the lead wire; and a tube insertion mechanism which performs insertion of the insulation tube to the lead wire at an insertion operation position of the winding wire body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a tube assembly device that assembles insulating tubes around a plurality of lead wires extending from a winding body. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, when manufacturing a stator for a motor, after inserting and shaping a winding into a stator core, the lead wires extending from the winding are cut to a predetermined length and an insulating tube is attached to each lead wire. The lead wires are formed by bundling a plurality of wires made of enameled wire. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an assembly device that automatically assembles insulating tubes to the lead wires of a stator. This assembly device includes a gripping member having three rollers arranged in a staggered pattern so as to sandwich the lead wire, and is configured to move the gripping member while the lead wire is sandwiched between the three rollers to insert the insulating tube. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4713288 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the above-mentioned conventional assembly device had the following problems. Immediately after the windings were inserted into the stator core, the lead wires were unstable, with their orientations being random, and so it was necessary to cut the lead wires or straighten them before setting them into the assembly device. Cutting and straightening the lead wires required preliminary manual work by an operator, resulting in a low rate of automation. In addition, because the gripping member was configured to clamp the lead wires between three rollers, the rollers got in the way, making it difficult to insert the insulating tube all the way to the coil end at the back of the lead wire.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention provides a tube assembly device that assembles insulating tubes around the outer periphery of multiple lead wires extending from a winding body, which can increase the automation rate of operations such as cutting the lead wires, thereby improving work efficiency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The tube assembly device of the embodiment assembles insulating tubes around the outer periphery of multiple lead wires derived from a winding body, and is equipped with a dedicated pallet on which the winding body is mounted and has a clamping mechanism that holds the lead wires in a predetermined position, a transfer mechanism that transfers the winding body mounted on the dedicated pallet between multiple work positions, a cutting and straightening mechanism that cuts the lead wires at a cutting work position of the winding body and straightens them into a straight line, and a tube insertion mechanism that inserts the insulating tubes into the lead wires at an insertion work position of the winding body. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the tube assembly device. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic overall configuration of a tube assembly device; [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the state in which the stator is transferred to a dedicated pallet. [Figure 4]A perspective view of the robot [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a gripping tool; [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a gripping tool having a cutter unit; [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a tube insertion unit; [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the first to fourth steps of the process of inserting an insulating tube into a lead wire in order. [Figure 9] 5A to 5C are diagrams sequentially showing the fifth to eighth steps of the process of inserting an insulating tube into a lead wire. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a stator of a three-phase AC motor as a winding body will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration of a stator 1 as a winding body will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 3. This stator 1 is configured by mounting a three-phase winding 3 on a stator core 2 having a ring shape as a whole and a plurality of slots, for example 24 slots, on the inner circumference. The stator 1 is provided with a plurality of lead wires 4 that are led out from the winding 3. In this case, the lead wires 4 are made of a bundle of wires, for example enameled wires, and in this case, there are six power wires connected in pairs and six neutral wires, and the power wires are cut and then bundled in pairs to form three wires.

[0009] 1 and 2, the windings 3 are assembled to the stator 1 in a winding line 10, and then the stator 1 is sent to a tube assembly line 11, which serves as a tube assembly device according to this embodiment. Then, in the tube assembly line 11, an insulating tube 5 (see FIGS. 8 and 9) is inserted into each of the lead wires 4. The stator 1 is then sent to a next assembly line 12, where the next assembly work is performed. The winding line 10, the tube assembly line 11, and the next assembly line 12 form part of a motor manufacturing line.

[0010] 1 and 2 show a schematic diagram of the overall configuration of a tube assembly line 11 of this embodiment. Here, the tube assembly line 11 is provided with a carry-in stage 13 at the rear of the left end in the drawing, where the stator 1 is carried in from the winding line 10. At the same time, a carry-out stage 14 is provided at the front of the left end in the drawing, where the stator 1, to which the insulating tube 5 has been assembled, is carried out toward the next assembly line 12. The stator 1 carried out from the winding line 10 is carried into the carry-in stage 13 by a transfer unit (not shown) and transferred to a dedicated pallet 15 (to be described later). Thereafter, the stator 1 is transported while being held on the dedicated pallet 15, and work is carried out. After work is completed, the stator 1 is removed from the dedicated pallet 15 at the carry-out stage 14 and carried out.

[0011] The tube assembly line 11 is provided with a rear conveying path 16 that extends from the carry-in stage 13 to the right in the figure and conveys the dedicated pallet 15 holding the stator 1 to the right in the figure. A buffer 17 that conveys the dedicated pallet 15 forward in the figure is provided at the right end of the rear conveying path 16, and a front conveying path 18 that extends from the front end of the buffer 17 to the left in the figure and conveys the dedicated pallet 15 holding the stator 1 toward the carry-out stage 14 is provided. Although not shown in detail, a transfer unit 19 that transfers the stator 1 to the dedicated pallet 15 is provided at the carry-in stage 13. A transfer mechanism 20 is also provided to transfer the dedicated pallet 15 holding the stator 1 over the rear conveying path 16, the buffer 17, and the front conveying path 18.

[0012] A plurality of work positions where the stator 1 is stopped and work is performed are provided along the front transport path 18. In this embodiment, five work stages 21 to 25, numbered first to fifth, are arranged in sequence from the right in the drawing as work positions. The stator 1 is sent through these first to fifth work stages 21 to 25 in order. As shown in FIG. 2, a tube supply mechanism 26 is provided on the right side of the buffer 17.

[0013] Although detailed description will be omitted, this tube supply mechanism 26 includes a robot 55 and is configured to supply insulating tubes 5 to a tube insertion mechanism described later through a conveying pipe by an air pressure feeding method. At this time, the tube supply mechanism 26 is provided with a plurality of types of insulating tubes 5 with different lengths and inner diameters, and supplies the necessary insulating tubes 5 to each tube insertion unit described later. In this case, the length of the insulating tubes 5 corresponds to the length of each lead wire 4. Also, in accordance with the thickness of the lead wire 4, an insulating tube 5 for a power line, which has a relatively large diameter, and an insulating tube 5 for a neutral wire, which has an even smaller diameter, are supplied.

[0014] The first work stage 21 is a work position where the neutral wire of the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 is cut and straightened, and a first cutting and straightening mechanism 27 is provided behind the first work stage 21. The second work stage 22 is a work position where the power wire of the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 is cut and straightened, and a second cutting and straightening mechanism 28 is provided behind the second work stage 21. Therefore, the first work stage 21 and the second work stage 22 are each a cutting work position.

[0015] The third work stage 23 is a work position where an insulating tube 5 is inserted for three predetermined neutral wires of the lead wire 4 of the stator 1, and a first tube insertion mechanism 29 is provided behind the third work stage 23. The fourth work stage 24 is a work position where an insulating tube 5 is inserted for the remaining three neutral wires of the lead wire 4 of the stator 1, and a second tube insertion mechanism 30 is provided behind the fourth work stage 24. The fifth work stage 25 is a work position where an insulating tube 5 is inserted for the power wires of the lead wire 4 of the stator 1, and a third tube insertion mechanism 31 is provided behind the fifth work stage 25. Therefore, the third to fifth work stages 23 to 25 are insertion work positions, respectively.

[0016] Thus, in the tube assembly line 11, the stator 1 is transferred to a dedicated pallet 15 at the carry-in stage 13, and is sent in order through the first to fifth work stages 21 to 25, where the work of cutting and straightening each lead wire 4 and the work of inserting the insulating tube 5 are performed. At this time, although not shown, the tube assembly line 11 is provided with a control device mainly composed of a computer. This control device is configured to control the entire line, including the actuators and robots of each mechanism, based on pre-input work programs and teaching data, as well as various sensor signals, and to automatically perform work.

[0017] 3 to 9, the configuration of the main parts of each mechanism of the tube assembly line 11 will be described below. First, Fig. 3 shows the configuration of the dedicated pallet 15, which includes a base plate 32, a workpiece rotating table 33, a holding plate 34, and a clamping mechanism 35. Of these, the base plate 32 has a rectangular plate shape, and is sent along the conveying paths 16 to 18 from the carry-in stage 13 to the carry-out stage 14 by the transfer mechanism 20. Also, it is stopped at a predetermined position, i.e., at each of the work stages 21 to 25 of the front conveying path 18, by a positioning pin (not shown) or the like.

[0018] The workpiece rotating table 33 is rotatably provided on the base plate 32, and the stator 1 is held on the workpiece rotating table 33 in a mounted state at a predetermined rotation position with the axial direction being the up-down direction. The workpiece rotating table 33 is detachably connected to a rotation drive mechanism (not shown) provided on the equipment side in a state where the dedicated pallet 15 is stopped at each of the work stages 21-25, i.e., each work position, and is configured so that the stator 1 is rotated by the rotation drive mechanism to a predetermined rotation angle according to the work.

[0019] At this time, the holding plate 34 is provided in a semicircular ring shape on the upper part of the work rotating table 33 so as to surround the periphery of the stator 1 in accordance with the height of the coil end of the stator 1. The clamp mechanism 35 is provided on this holding plate 34. This clamp mechanism 35 is located in the semicircular part of the holding plate 34 and is configured to hold the multiple lead wires 4 led out from the upper coil end portion of the winding 3 of the stator 1 at intervals in a state in which they extend in the radial direction. At this time, the holding and release of the lead wires 4 by the clamp mechanism 35 is performed by a holding release mechanism (not shown) provided on the equipment side.

[0020] As a result, the stator 1 carried into the carry-in stage 13 is mounted on the dedicated pallet 15. At this time, even if the shape of the lead wires 4 is unstable immediately after the windings 3 are inserted into the stator core 2 of the stator 1, the clamp mechanism 35 holds the lead wires 4 in a predetermined position, i.e., in a state where they are drawn out radially to the outer periphery. In each of the subsequent steps, the transfer mechanism 20 moves the stator 1 together with the dedicated pallet 15, so that the stator 1 can be moved to each work position while the holding position of the lead wires 4 relative to the dedicated pallet 15 is maintained in a predetermined position.

[0021] Next, the cutting and straightening mechanisms 27, 28 and the tube insertion mechanisms 29-31 provided in each of the work stages 21-25 will be described. In this embodiment, the two cutting and straightening mechanisms 27, 28 each have the same configuration, and each includes two robots 36, 37. The three tube insertion mechanisms 29-31 also all have the same configuration, and each includes two robots 36, 37. Figure 4 shows the first cutting and straightening mechanism 27 as a representative of these, and includes the robots 36, 37 lined up on the left and right.

[0022] Both of the robots 36 and 37 are constituted by, for example, a six-axis articulated robot having a well-known configuration. A gripping tool 38 for gripping the lead wire 4 near the clamp mechanism 35 is attached to the tip of the arm of one of the robots 36, as shown in Fig. 5. A cutting tool 39 for cutting the lead wire 4 at a predetermined position is attached to the tip of the arm of the other robot 37, as shown in Fig. 6.

[0023] 5, the gripping tool 38 has a mounting portion 38b at a base end of a frame 38a to be attached to the robot 36, and has a pair of gripping claws 40 at a tip end. A drive mechanism 41 using a motor or the like as a drive source for driving the gripping claws 40 to open and close is provided within the frame 38a. At this time, the drive mechanism 41 is configured to be capable of controlling the movement stroke and gripping force of the gripping claws 40. In this way, the gripping tool 38 performs the operation of gripping and bundling the lead wires 4.

[0024] 6, the cutting tool 39 is configured by mounting a cutter unit 42 on the gripping tool 38 at a side surface of the frame 38a. The cutter unit 42 is configured to include a cutting blade 43 and a drive mechanism 44 that reciprocates the cutting blade 43 to perform a cutting operation. Thus, the cutting tool 39 provided on the other robot 37 is configured to cut the lead wire 4 gripped by the gripping tool 38 with the cutter unit 42.

[0025] In this way, the cutting and straightening mechanisms 27 and 28 are configured to automatically perform a cutting operation in which each lead wire 4 held by the clamp mechanism 35 of the dedicated pallet 15 is gripped at a predetermined position, tensioned, and cut at a predetermined position by cooperation of the two robots 36 and 37 and the gripping tools 38 and cutting tools 39 provided thereto. At the same time, the cutting and straightening mechanisms 27 and 28 also perform a straightening operation in which the cut lead wires 4 are gathered together and made to extend linearly in the outer circumferential direction. This straightening operation is performed, for example, by bundling the lead wires 4 and sliding the gripping jaws 40 linearly in the outer circumferential direction of the stator 1 while gripping them with a relatively weak force by the gripping jaws 40.

[0026] At this time, the first cutting and straightening mechanism 27 cuts and straightens the neutral wire of the lead wires 4 at a predetermined length for the stator 1 transported to the cutting position of the first work stage 21. Next, the second cutting and straightening mechanism 28 cuts and straightens the power wire of the lead wires 4 at a predetermined length for the stator 1 transported to the cutting position of the second work stage 22. In this case, the positions at which the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 are held by the clamp mechanism 35 at each work position, that is, the gripping positions to be targeted by the robots 36 and 37, etc. are taught in advance.

[0027] The first to third tube insertion mechanisms 29 to 31 all have the same configuration, and each also includes two robots 36, 37. In this case, a gripping tool 38 that grips the lead wire 4 after straightening is attached to one of the robots 36. Meanwhile, an insertion tool 45 that inserts an insulating tube 5 into the lead wire 4 from the tip to the coil end portion is provided at the tip of the arm of the other robot 37, as shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9.

[0028] As shown in Fig. 7, the insertion tool 45 is configured by mounting a tube insertion unit 46 on the gripping tool 38 at a side surface of the frame 38a. The tube insertion unit 46 is configured as follows. That is, as shown in Figs. 7 to 9, the tube insertion unit 46 is configured to include a base 47 fixed to the frame 38a, a cylindrical portion 48 attached to the base 47 and elongated in the vertical direction in the figure, and an insertion guide 49 provided at the lower part of the cylindrical portion 48.

[0029] 8 and 9, the cylindrical portion 48 has a hollow portion penetrating in the vertical direction in the drawings, and a conveying pipe 50 is connected to the upper end of the hollow portion. Although not shown in detail, the conveying pipe 50 is connected to the tube supply mechanism 26, and the necessary insulating tubes 5 are supplied into the hollow portion of the cylindrical portion 48 through the conveying pipe 50 by an air pressure supply method. In addition, a tube gripper 51 for gripping the supplied insulating tube 5 is provided at a position slightly toward the lower part of the cylindrical portion 48 so as to be capable of opening and closing.

[0030] The insertion guide 49 is provided at the bottom of the cylindrical portion 48 so as to be vertically movable between an elevated position and a lowered position. The first to third steps in Fig. 8 show the elevated position of the insertion guide 49, and the fourth step in Fig. 8 and the steps in Fig. 9 show the lowered position of the insertion guide 49. This insertion guide 49 is configured to include a guide portion 52 that guides the lead wire 4 upward, a tube tip gripper 53 that is located at the upper end portion of the guide portion 52 and holds the lower end of the insulating tube 5, and the like.

[0031] The guide portion 52 has a large-diameter entrance portion on the lower surface side in FIG. 8, into which the tip end of the lead wire 4 is inserted from below, and has a thin-walled tubular portion 52a (see the first step in FIG. 8) located at the lower end opening of the cylindrical portion 48 at the upper end via a tapered surface narrowing toward the top. This tubular portion 52a is inserted relatively to the inner periphery side of the tip end of the insulating tube 5, and is located on the inner periphery side of the tube tip gripper 53. In addition, by passing the lead wire 4 from the bottom to the top through the guide portion 52, the outer diameter of the lead wire 4 is narrowed to a predetermined diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the insulating tube 5, and the lead wire 4 is inserted into the cylindrical portion 48 through the tubular portion 52a. The inner diameter of the cylindrical portion 48, etc. corresponds to the outer diameter of the insulating tube 5 to be supplied, and the inner diameter of the tubular portion 52a at the upper end of the guide portion 52 also corresponds to the outer diameter of the lead wire 4, in other words, the inner diameter of the insulating tube 5.

[0032] The guide section 52 is composed of two parts, including the cylindrical section 52a, which are split into two parts on the left and right in the figure, and can be opened and closed by a drive mechanism (not shown) between a first closed position where the parts are butted together, a second closed position slightly open to the left and right from the first closed position, and an open position separated to the left and right. The first and second steps in Fig. 8 show the first closed position of the guide section 52, the third and fourth steps in Fig. 8 show the second closed position of the guide section 52, and each step in Fig. 9 shows the open position of the guide section 52. Although not shown in detail, the tube insertion unit 46 is provided with an air cylinder 54 which serves as a drive source for opening and closing the tube gripper 51, an air cylinder which serves as a drive source for opening and closing the tube tip gripper 53, an air cylinder which serves as a drive source for opening and closing the guide section 52, a sensor for detecting the insulating tube 5, and the like.

[0033] At this time, in this embodiment, the first tube insertion mechanism 29 performs an operation of inserting insulating tubes 5 into three neutral wires among the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 transported to the insertion operation position of the third work stage 23. Next, the second tube insertion mechanism 30 performs an operation of inserting insulating tubes 5 into the remaining three neutral wires among the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 transported to the insertion operation position of the fourth work stage 24. Furthermore, the third tube insertion mechanism 31 performs an operation of inserting insulating tubes 5 into three power wires among the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 transported to the insertion operation position of the fifth work stage 25. Details of the tube insertion operation will be described in the following action description.

[0034] Next, the operation of the tube assembly line 11 configured as above will be described. The control device provided in the tube assembly line 11 controls the above-mentioned mechanisms to perform the work of assembling the insulating tube 5 to the lead wire 4 of the stator 1 as follows. That is, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, first, the stator 1 supplied from the winding line 10 is transferred to a dedicated pallet 15 at the carry-in stage 13. Thereafter, the dedicated pallet 15 holding the stator 1 is sent via the rear conveying path 16 and the buffer 17 to the front conveying path 18, in that order, to the first to fifth work stages 21 to 25.

[0035] At this time, the stator 1 supplied from the winding line 10 to the carry-in stage 13 has an unstable shape, i.e., lead-out direction, of the lead wires 4 immediately after the windings 3 are inserted into the stator core 2. However, as shown in Fig. 3, while the stator is held on the dedicated pallet 15, the clamp mechanism 35 can hold each lead wire 4 in a predetermined position, i.e., in an aligned state drawn out in the outer circumferential direction, i.e., in the radial direction. Therefore, in the subsequent steps, the transfer mechanism 20 moves the stator 1 together with the dedicated pallet 15, so that the stator 1 can be moved to each work position while the holding position of the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 relative to the dedicated pallet 15 is kept constant.

[0036] As described above, in the first work stage 21, the first cutting and straightening mechanism 27 cuts the neutral wire of the lead wire 4 of the starter 1 and also straightens it to a straight line. These cutting and straightening operations are performed by the robot 36 having the gripping tool 38 and the robot 37 having the cutting tool 39 in cooperation with each other. In this case, the cutting operation can be performed reliably while applying tension to the lead wire 4, and the straightening operation can be easily performed by relatively moving the lead wire 4 in a sliding manner while gripping it with a relatively weak force by the gripping claws 40 of the gripping tool 38.

[0037] When the work on the first work stage 21 is completed, the dedicated pallet 15 is sent to the next, second work stage 22. On the second work stage 22, the second cutting and straightening mechanism 28 performs a cutting operation for cutting the power lines of the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 to a predetermined length, and also performs a straightening operation for straightening the cut lead wires 4 in a bundled state. At this time, on both the first and second work stages 21 and 22, the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 are held in a predetermined position with respect to the dedicated pallet 15, so that the cutting and straightening operations can be easily automated.

[0038] When the cutting and straightening operations for the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 are completed, the dedicated pallet 15 is sent to the next, third work stage 23. In the third work stage 23, the first tube insertion mechanism 29 performs an operation of inserting insulating tubes 5 into three neutral wires among the lead wires 4 of the stator 1. The tube insertion operation is performed by cooperation between a robot 36 having a gripping tool 38 and a robot 37 having an insertion tool 45. Figures 8 and 9 show each step of this tube insertion operation in order.

[0039] 8, which shows the first to fourth steps, in the first step, the necessary insulating tube 5 is pressure-fed from the tube supply mechanism 26 by air pressure feeding to the tube insertion unit 46 of the insertion tool 45, and is supplied to the cylindrical portion 48 through the conveying pipe 50. At this point, the tube gripper 51 and the tube tip gripper 53 are in an open state, the insertion guide 49 is in an elevated position close to the cylindrical portion 48, and the guide portion 52 is in a blocked state at the first blocked position.

[0040] When the tip of the insulating tube 5 is detected by a sensor (not shown), in the next second step, the tube tip gripper 53 is closed and the tip of the insulating tube 5 is sandwiched between the cylindrical portion 52a and the tube tip gripper 53 and held in that position. At the same time, the tube gripper 51 is closed and the insulating tube 5 is fixed. Meanwhile, the lead wire 4 to be inserted is gripped by a gripping tool 38 (not shown) and inserted into the guide portion 52 from below in the figure, and pushed upward. At this time, the lead wire 4 has already been cut to a predetermined length and straightened, so that the insertion operation into the guide portion 52 can be easily performed.

[0041] In the third step, the tube tip gripper 53 is moved to the open position, and the guide portion 52 is positioned at the second closed position to slightly expand the tip of the insulating tube 5, thereby reducing the insertion resistance of the lead wire 4 and allowing the lead wire 4 to be inserted further upward. In this case, the guide portion 52 narrows the outer diameter of the lead wire 4 to a predetermined diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the insulating tube 5, so that the lead wire 4 can be inserted reliably and smoothly into the insulating tube 5. In the next fourth step, the insertion guide 49 is slid to a lowered position relative to the cylindrical portion 48, and the insertion guide 49 is further pushed into the winding 3 side.

[0042] 9 shows steps 5 to 8, and in step 5, guide portion 52 is displaced to an open state. This reduces the resistance when inserting lead wire 4 into insulating tube 5, so that in step 6, lead wire 4 is inserted further in, and insulating tube 5 can be inserted up to the coil end at the back of lead wire 4. When insertion of lead wire 4 into insulating tube 5 is complete, in step 7, tube gripper 51 is released. In step 8, the tube insertion tool 46 retracts from stator 1, and the insertion of insulating tube 5 is completed.

[0043] When the tube insertion work in the third work stage 23 is completed, the dedicated pallet 15 is sent to the next, fourth work stage 24. In the fourth work stage 24, the second tube insertion mechanism 30 inserts the insulating tubes 5 into the remaining three neutral wires of the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 in the same manner as described above. When the tube insertion work in the fourth work stage 24 is completed, the dedicated pallet 15 is sent to the next, fifth work stage 25, where the third tube insertion mechanism 31 inserts the insulating tubes 5 into the power wires of the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 in the same manner as described above.

[0044] The above-mentioned operations are performed in parallel and in sequence at all of the first to fifth work stages 21-25. At this time, the operation time at each work stage 21-25 is approximately equal, for example 90 seconds, and there is no unnecessary downtime in each mechanism, and the operations are performed efficiently. The dedicated pallet 15 on which the tube insertion operation has been completed is sent to the carry-out stage 14, where only the stator 1 is sent to the next assembly line 12, and the dedicated pallet 15 is collected and sent to the carry-in stage 13.

[0045] According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. That is, since the dedicated pallet 15 having the clamp mechanism 35 is used for transporting the stator 1, the stator 1 can be transported to each of the work stages 21-25 with the lead wires 4 of the stator 1 held at a predetermined position relative to the dedicated pallet 15. The cutting and straightening mechanisms 27, 28 can easily automate the work of cutting and straightening the lead wires 4. Furthermore, the tube insertion mechanisms 29-31 can easily automatically insert the insulating tubes 5 into the lead wires 4 that have already been cut and straightened.

[0046] As a result, according to this embodiment, in assembling the insulating tube 5 around the outer periphery of a plurality of lead wires 4 extending from the stator 1, it is possible to increase the automation rate of operations such as cutting the lead wires 4, thereby obtaining the excellent effect of improving the work efficiency. At this time, in this embodiment, it is possible to insert the insulating tube 5 deep into the lead wires 4 near the coil ends of the windings 3.

[0047] Particularly in this embodiment, the cutting and straightening mechanisms 27, 28 include a gripping tool 38 that grips the lead wire 4 near the clamping mechanism 35 and a cutting tool 39 that cuts the lead wire 4 at a predetermined position, and are configured to perform the cutting operation by cooperation of these two tools 38, 39. As a result, the gripping tool 38 and the cutting tool 39 cooperate to reliably perform the cutting operation while applying tension to the lead wire 4. Moreover, the gripping tool 38 is configured to have a variable force for gripping the lead wire 4, so that the lead wire 4 can be straightened with a simple configuration in addition to the cutting operation, without the need for a dedicated tool for straightening.

[0048] In this embodiment, the tube insertion mechanisms 29 to 31 are configured to include a gripping tool 38 and an insertion tool 45 that inserts the insulating tube 5 from the tip of the lead wire 4 to the coil end portion. With this, the gripping tool 38 and the insertion tool 45 cooperate to automatically and reliably perform the insertion work up to the vicinity of the coil end of the insulating tube 5. Furthermore, since the insertion tool 45 is provided with a guide portion 52, the insertion work can be performed reliably and smoothly in a state in which the outer diameter of the lead wire 4 is narrowed by the guide portion 52 to be smaller than the inner diameter of the insulating tube 5. In particular, since the tube insertion mechanisms 29 to 31 are configured to perform the insertion work using two robots 36 and 37, the insertion work can be performed well with few restrictions on the relative position and orientation of the stator 1 to be operated.

[0049] Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the tube supply mechanism 26 is provided to supply the insulating tubes 5 to the tube insertion mechanisms 29-31 by an air pressure feeding method, the necessary insulating tubes 5 can be freely supplied from the tube supply mechanism 26 to the tube insertion mechanisms 29-31, improving workability. At this time, the necessary insulating tubes 5 can be supplied from among a plurality of types of insulating tubes 5 having different lengths and inner diameters from the tube supply mechanism 26, so that the assembly work related to the plurality of types of insulating tubes 5 can be performed automatically and easily, improving convenience and enabling more efficient work.

[0050] In the above embodiment, a motor stator is given as a specific example of a winding body, but the present invention can be applied to various winding bodies, such as generator coils, transformer coils, and transformer coils. In the above embodiment, the cutting and correcting mechanism and the tube insertion mechanism are configured with two six-axis robots, but various modifications are possible, such as configuring one of the two robots as a horizontal articulated robot, or configuring the mechanism from a single robot. In addition, various modifications are possible with respect to the configuration of the dedicated pallet and the transport path, the configuration of the tube supply mechanism, and the like. Needless to say, various additions and modifications are possible with respect to the configuration and combination of the work stages, and the like.

[0051] The above-described embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] In the drawings, 1 is a stator (winding body), 3 is a winding, 4 is a lead wire, 5 is an insulating tube, 11 is a tube assembly line (tube assembly device), 13 is an input stage, 14 is an output stage, 15 is a dedicated pallet, 16 is a rear conveying path, 17 is a buffer, 18 is a front conveying path, 20 is a transfer mechanism, 21 to 25 are work stages (working positions), 26 is a tube supply mechanism, 27 and 28 are cutting and correction mechanisms, 29 to 31 are tube insertion mechanisms, 35 is a clamp mechanism, 36 and 37 are robots, 40 is a gripping claw, 42 is a cutter unit, 45 is an insertion tool, 46 is a tube insertion unit, 48 is a cylindrical portion, 49 is an insertion guide, 50 is a conveying tube, 51 is a tube gripper, 52 is a guide portion, and 53 is a tube tip gripper.

Claims

1. A tube assembly device that assembles insulating tubes around a plurality of lead wires extending from a winding body, a dedicated pallet having a clamping mechanism for holding the lead wires in a predetermined position and on which the winding body is mounted; a transfer mechanism that transfers the winding body mounted on the dedicated pallet between a plurality of work positions; a cutting and straightening mechanism that cuts the lead wire at a cutting operation position of the winding body and straightens the lead wire into a straight line; a tube insertion mechanism for inserting the insulating tube onto the lead wire at the winding body insertion position.

2. 2. The tube assembly device according to claim 1, wherein the cutting and correcting mechanism includes a gripping tool that grips the lead wire near the clamping mechanism and a cutting tool that cuts the lead wire at a predetermined position, and the cutting operation is performed by cooperation of both tools.

3. 3. The tube assembly device according to claim 2, wherein the gripping tool is configured to have a variable gripping force for the lead wire, and the cutting and correction mechanism performs the correction work by moving the gripping tool relative to the lead wire in a sliding manner while gripping the lead wire with a relatively weak force.

4. 4. The tube assembly device according to claim 1, wherein the tube insertion mechanism includes a gripping tool that grips the straightened lead wire and an insertion tool that inserts the insulating tube into the lead wire from the tip to the coil end portion, and the tube insertion operation is performed by cooperation of both tools.

5. 5. The tube assembly device according to claim 4, wherein the tube insertion mechanism is provided with a guide portion for narrowing the outer diameter of the lead wire to a predetermined diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the insulating tube.

6. 6. The tube assembly device according to claim 4, wherein in said tube insertion mechanism, said gripping tool and said insertion tool are attached to separate robots and are moved while performing the insertion work.

7. 7. The tube assembly device according to claim 1, further comprising a tube supply mechanism that supplies the insulating tube to the tube insertion mechanism by an air pressure feeding method.

8. 8. The tube assembly device according to claim 7, wherein the tube supply mechanism is provided with a plurality of types of insulating tubes having different lengths and inner diameters, and supplies a required insulating tube.

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