Tape material application device

Abstract

To provide a tape application device which is not subject to restrictions on the application position. [Solution] A tape application device comprising a multi-joint robot and an end effector provided at the tip of the arm of the multi-joint robot, the end effector 20 comprising a reel 40 on which tape material T having an adhesive layer on one side is wound, a payout device 50 which pays out the tape material T from the reel 40, a blowing device 60 which blows gas from a nozzle portion 62 onto one side of the paid-out tape material T to guide the tip of the tape material T, a pressing section 71 which presses the guided tip of the tape material T against the adhesion surface of an adherend, and a cutting device 80 which cuts the tape material T, and the pressing section 71 is moved along the tape material T after pressing the tip of the tape material T, thereby applying the tape material T to the adhesion surface.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a tape application device. [Background technology]

[0002] As an apparatus capable of applying a tape material to a surface of an adherend using an articulated robot, for example, there is known a tape application apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this apparatus, an end effector provided at the tip of the arm of the articulated robot includes a conveying device that conveys the tape material unwound from a reel, and a pressing member that presses the conveyed tape material against a workpiece to apply it. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7378190 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the conventional tape application device described above, the conveying device clamps the tape material with a clamping part and conveys the leading end of the tape material from the retracted position to the application position, thereby reliably supplying the tape material to the vicinity of the pressing member and quickly and easily applying it to the workpiece. However, when applying the tape material to a narrow or recessed part of the adherend or when the adherend has a large unevenness on its surface, there is a risk that the clamping part will interfere with the adherend, making application difficult.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE An object of the present invention is to provide a tape application device that is not subject to restrictions on the application position. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a tape tape having an adhesive layer on one side thereof, comprising: a multi-joint robot; and an end effector provided at a tip of an arm of the multi-joint robot, the end effector comprising: a reel around which a tape material having an adhesive layer on one side is wound; a payout device for paying out the tape material from the reel; a blowing device for blowing gas from a nozzle portion onto the one side of the paid-out tape material to guide a tip end of the tape material; a pressing portion for pressing the guided tip end of the tape material against an adherend surface of an adherend; and a cutting device for cutting the tape material. the nozzle portion is disposed opposite the tape material, and the plate- or block-shaped holding member is disposed to hold the other side of the tape material onto which gas has been sprayed, the pressing portion being provided at the lower end of the holding member, and the spraying device bends the tip of the tape material so that the pressing portion faces inward by spraying gas at an acute angle to the payout direction of the tape material with the tip of the payout tape material positioned below the pressing portion, the lower portion of the holding member being provided with a pair of protruding pieces whose spacing widens downward, the pressing portion protruding from between the pair of protruding pieces, and the pair of protruding pieces being disposed on the nozzle portion side and the opposite side of the nozzle portion, respectively, with the pressing portion being sandwiched therebetween; This is achieved by a tape application device that applies the tape to a surface to be adhered by moving the pressing portion along the tape after pressing the tip of the tape, thereby applying the tape to the surface to be adhered. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a tape application device that is not subject to restrictions on application position, and can easily and reliably apply tape even to application positions that are significantly uneven, application positions set on surfaces that rise to an angle of approximately 120 degrees with the horizontal plane, and application positions near structural components that protrude significantly. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a tape application device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 2 is a front view showing a main part of the tape joining device shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] 3 is a side view of the main part shown in FIG. 2 as viewed in the direction of arrow A. [Figure 4] 3 is a side view of the main part shown in FIG. 2 as viewed in the direction of arrow B. [Diagram 5] FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the main part shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 6] 2A and 2B are a perspective view and a side view of a main part for explaining the operation of the tape joining device shown in FIG. [Figure 7] 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view and a side view of a main part for explaining another operation of the tape joining device shown in FIG. [Figure 8] 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view and a side view of a main part for explaining still another operation of the tape joining device shown in FIG. [Figure 9] 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view and a side view of a main part for explaining still another operation of the tape joining device shown in FIG. [Figure 10] 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view and a side view of a main part for explaining still another operation of the tape joining device shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a tape material application device (hereinafter, simply referred to as "application device") according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the application device 1 includes an articulated robot 10 and an end effector 20 attached to the articulated robot 10, and can apply a tape material T to an application surface 101 of an adherend 100 by operation control of a control device (not shown). In this embodiment, a wire harness 102 is placed on the application surface 101, and the tape material T is applied so as to straddle the wire harness 102, thereby fixing the wire harness 102 to the adherend 100. However, the application device 1 can also be used for other purposes other than fixing the wire harness 102, such as simply applying the wire harness to the application surface 101.

[0011] The articulated robot 10 has a multi-axis (e.g., 4- to 7-axis) structure in which multiple arms 11 are rotatably connected via joints, and an end effector 20 is detachably attached to a rotation mechanism 12 at the tip of the arm 11.

[0012] Fig. 2 is a front view of the end effector 20 shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are side views of the end effector 20 shown in Fig. 2 as seen in the directions of arrows A and B, respectively. As shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the end effector 20 includes a bracket 21 attached to the rotation mechanism 12 shown in Fig. 1 by a bolt or the like, a reel 40 supported by the bracket 21, a payout device 50, a spraying device 60, a holding member 70, and a cutting device 80.

[0013] The reel 40 has a tape material T having an adhesive layer on one side wound thereon so as to be reeled out. The tape material T used in this embodiment is an insulating tape made of polyvinyl chloride or the like. The type of tape material T is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a felt material or a sponge material, and can be appropriately selected depending on the application.

[0014] The unwinding device 50 includes guide rolls 51a and 51b, a driving motor 52, driving rolls 53a, 53b, and 53c, and a pressing roll 55 facing the driving roll 53c. The driving force of the driving motor 52 is transmitted to the driving roll 53a via gears 56a, 56b, and 56c, and is also transmitted to the driving roll 53b via gears 56a, 56b, 56d, and 56e, and is further transmitted to the driving roll 53c via an endless belt 54 wound between the driving rolls 53b and 53c. The leading end of the tape material T wound around the reel 40 is guided by the guide rolls 51a and 51b, and is unwound downward by the driving of the driving rolls 53a and 53c. The pressing roll 55 is a driven roll biased toward the driving roll 53c by a spring material (not shown), and holds the tape material T between the driving roll 53c and the pressing roll 55.

[0015] The spraying device 60 includes a flexible pipe 61 connected to a pressurized gas supply source (not shown) and a nozzle portion 62 connected to the tip of the pipe 61, and guides the tip of the tape material T by maintaining a state in which pressurized gas such as compressed air is sprayed onto one side (the side having the adhesive layer) of the tape material T paid out by the operation of the pay-out device 50. Note that in Figures 3 and 4, part of the pipe 61 is not shown and is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

[0016] The holding member 70 is a plate-like or block-like member arranged to face the nozzle section 62 across the tape material T being fed from the feeding device 50, and holds the other side of the tape material T onto which gas is blown from the nozzle section 62 (the side opposite to the side having the adhesive layer).

[0017] A pressing portion 71 and a pair of overhanging pieces 72, 73 are provided at the bottom of the holding member 70. The pressing portion 71 is made of a cylindrical roller supported rotatably around a rotation axis parallel to the width direction of the tape material T. The pressing portion 71 may be formed of a block-shaped member or the like that slides along the tape material T. The pair of overhanging pieces 72, 73 are disposed on the nozzle portion 62 side and the opposite side to the nozzle portion 62, respectively, with the pressing portion 71 in between, and are disposed such that the distance between them increases downward. The pressing portion 71 is disposed such that its lower portion protrudes from the pair of overhanging pieces 72, 73.

[0018] The cutting device 80 includes a cutting blade 81 that cuts the tape material T, and a driving device 82 such as an air cylinder that horizontally reciprocates the cutting blade 81. The cutting blade 81 has a V-shaped cutting edge, and can cut the tape material T by moving the cutting blade 81 in the thickness direction of the tape material T. The driving device 82 may be another actuator such as a linear actuator.

[0019] 5 is an enlarged view showing the vicinity of the nozzle 62 in FIG. 3, and shows a state in which the pressurized gas is being sprayed from the nozzle 62. As shown in FIG. 5, the nozzle 62 is set in a position and a spray direction so as to spray the pressurized gas toward the lower part of the holding member 70, and by spraying the pressurized gas in a state in which the tip of the tape material T paid out by the operation of the pay-out device 50 is located below the pressing part 71, the tip of the tape material T can be curved so that the pressing part 71 faces inward and guided to immediately below the pressing part 71. In this way, by guiding the tip of the tape material T by utilizing the blowing of the pressurized gas from the nozzle 62, the tape material T is less subject to restrictions when being attached, and the tape material T can be easily and reliably attached to the attachment surface 101.

[0020] It is preferable that the angle α between the payout direction of the tape material T and the spray direction of the nozzle 62 be an acute angle, which allows the tip of the tape material T to be smoothly curved while reliably maintaining the state in which the tape material T is held by the holding member 70. It is more preferable that the angle α be set in the range of 30 to 80 degrees.

[0021] When the end effector 20 is moved in the direction of arrow C by operation of the articulated robot 10 (see FIG. 1) from the state shown in Fig. 5, the tip of the tape material T is guided directly below the pressing part 71 by the curvature, so that the pressing part 71 can reliably press the tip of the tape material T against the adhesion surface 101 of the adherend 100. Thereafter, the spray of pressurized gas from the nozzle 62 is stopped, and the pressing part 71 is moved along the tape material T toward the base end side of the tape material T, whereby the tape material T can be adhered to the adhesion surface 101 while being unwound.

[0022] The length of the tape material T to be applied to the adhesion surface 101 can be set to a desired length by operating the cutting device 80 at an appropriate timing while the pressing unit 71 is moving, and moving the cutting blade 81 fixed to the rod 82a of the driving unit 82 from the retracted position shown in Fig. 5 in the direction of arrow D to cut the tape material T. After cutting the tape material T and application is completed, the unwinding device 50 is operated to unwind the tip end of the tape material T to below the pressing unit 71, so that the next tape material T can be applied.

[0023] Next, a method for fixing a wire harness to an attachment surface of an adherend using the attachment device 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to Fig. 6 to Fig. 10. In Fig. 6 to Fig. 10, (a) is an overall perspective view of the attachment device 1, (b) is a side view of a main part of (a), and only the wire harness is shown without illustrating the adherend.

[0024] First, in the state shown in FIG. 5, the end effector 20 is moved to the vicinity of the application position of the wire harness, and then lowered in the direction of arrow C, so that the tip of the tape material T is pressed against the adhesion surface by the pressing portion 71, as shown in FIG. 6.

[0025] Next, the pressing portion 71 is moved along the adherend surface to the wire harness 102, so that the portion of the tape material T pressed by the pressing portion 71 is attached to the adherend surface as shown in FIG.

[0026] Next, while the end effector 20 is slightly raised so that the pressing portion 71 passes over the wire harness 102, the pressing portion 71 is continued to move in the same direction, whereby the tape material T is attached to the wire harness 102 in the circumferential direction as shown in Fig. 8. Around this time, the tape material T is cut by the operation of the cutting blade 83.

[0027] After the pressing portion 71 has climbed over the wire harness 102, the pressing portion 71 is continued to move along the adherend surface, so that the portion of the tape material T pressed by the pressing portion 71 is attached to the adherend surface as shown in Fig. 9. Then, by pressing the pressing portion 71 up to the cut portion of the tape material T, the entire cut tape material T is attached to the adherend surface so as to straddle the wire harness 102, so that the wire harness 102 can be fixed as shown in Fig. 10.

[0028] 5, a pair of overhanging pieces 72, 73 are provided on both sides of the pressing portion 71 in the moving direction, so that at a position where the pressing portion 71 is adjacent to the wire harness 102 as shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 9, the pair of overhanging pieces 72, 73 can push the tape material T so as to fill the gap between the wire harness 102 and the attachment surface. This increases the adhesion between the tape material T and the wire harness 102, and allows the wire harness 102 to be fixed more reliably. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1 Tape material application device 10 Articulated Robot 11 Arm 20 End Effector 40 Reels 50 Payout device 60 Spraying Equipment 62 Nozzle section 70 Retaining member 71 Pressing part 72,73 Overhang piece 80 Cutting device 100 Adherent 101 Adhering surface 102 Wire harness T Tape Material

Claims

1. Articulated robots and an end effector provided at a tip of an arm of the articulated robot, The end effector includes: a reel on which a tape material having an adhesive layer on one surface is wound; a payout device that pays out the tape material from the reel; a blowing device that blows gas from a nozzle onto the one surface of the tape material being fed out to guide the leading end of the tape material; A pressing portion that presses the leading end of the guided tape material against the adherend surface of the adherend; a cutting device for cutting the tape material, a plate-shaped or block-shaped holding member arranged to face the nozzle portion across the tape material and holding the other side of the tape material onto which the gas is blown, The pressing portion is provided at a lower end portion of the holding member, the blowing device blows gas in a direction at an acute angle to the payout direction of the tape material while the tip of the payout tape material is positioned below the pressing portion, thereby bending the tip of the tape material so that the pressing portion is on the inside; A pair of protruding pieces whose spacing increases downward are provided on the lower portion of the holding member, The pressing portion protrudes from between the pair of protruding pieces, The pair of protruding pieces are disposed on the nozzle portion side and the opposite side to the nozzle portion with the pressing portion interposed therebetween, The tape application device applies the tape to a surface to be adhered by moving the pressing portion along the tape after pressing the tip of the tape.

2. A method for fixing a wire harness to an adherend, comprising applying a tape material across the wire harness placed on a surface of the adherend using the tape material application device according to claim 1, thereby fixing the wire harness to the adherend.

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