Application device

Abstract

An application device 5 comprises a tank part (40), a nozzle part (30), a pipeline part (50), a relay part (60), and a control unit (7). The nozzle part, the tank part, and the relay part each have a temperature acquisition part (30B, 40B, 60B) and a temperature adjustment part (30A, 40A, 60A). The control unit operates the temperature adjustment parts so that temperatures of a coating material (101) acquired by the temperature acquisition parts of the nozzle part, tank part, and relay part match with respective target temperatures.

Description

Coating Equipment

[0001] The present invention relates to a coating device that applies a liquid coating agent to a coating target.

[0002] Electric wires with terminals have been proposed for use in communication between devices mounted on vehicles, power supply, etc. For example, in one conventional electric wire with terminal, a connection point between a conductor core wire of the electric wire and a terminal is covered with an anticorrosive agent to prevent the connection point from being corroded by water (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-129067

[0004] One example of a method for covering a connection between a conductor core wire and a terminal of an electric wire with an anticorrosive agent is to apply a liquid anticorrosive agent (hereinafter also referred to as an anticorrosive agent) to the connection and then harden the anticorrosive agent. In an applicator used in such a method, the liquid anticorrosive agent is generally supplied from a tank storing the liquid anticorrosive agent to a nozzle that dispenses the agent. To ensure proper application of the agent, the temperature of the agent in the tank is maintained by a heater or the like at a temperature at which the agent has an appropriate viscosity. However, depending on the ambient temperature in which the applicator is actually used, the temperature of the agent may decrease while being supplied from the tank to the nozzle, increasing the viscosity of the agent, which may result in the agent not being properly applied to the connection.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a coating device that can properly apply a coating agent to a coating object.

[0006] In one aspect of the present invention, an application device is an application device that applies a liquid application agent to an application target, and includes: a tank section that stores the application agent; a nozzle section that ejects the application agent toward the application target; a piping section that supplies the application agent from the tank section to the nozzle section; a relay section that is arranged to relay between the piping section and the nozzle section and transfers the application agent that has passed through the piping section to the nozzle section; and a control unit that controls the temperature of the application agent, wherein each of the tank section, the nozzle section, and the relay section has a temperature acquisition section that acquires the temperature of the application agent and a temperature adjustment section that adjusts the temperature of the application agent, and the control unit is configured to operate the temperature adjustment section in each of the tank section, the nozzle section, and the relay section so that the temperature of the application agent acquired by the temperature acquisition section in each of the tank section, the nozzle section, and the relay section matches the respective target temperatures.

[0007] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a corrosion prevention treatment apparatus incorporating an application device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a rear view of the conveying unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a top view of the conveying unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4A is a first diagram for explaining the process flow when corrosion prevention treatment is performed on an electric wire with a terminal by the corrosion prevention treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4B is a second diagram for explaining the process flow when corrosion prevention treatment is performed on an electric wire with a terminal by the corrosion prevention treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4C is a third diagram for explaining the process flow when corrosion prevention treatment is performed on an electric wire with a terminal by the corrosion prevention treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4D is a fourth diagram for explaining the process flow when corrosion prevention treatment is performed on an electric wire with a terminal by the corrosion prevention treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the entire application unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the portion surrounded by the dashed square in FIG. 5 from a different angle. FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing each device included in the application unit shown in FIG. 1, which is electrically connected to the control unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 7 in a modified example.

[0008] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, "front," "rear," "left," "right," "upper," and "lower" are defined as shown in Fig. 1 etc. The "front-rear direction," "left-right direction," and "upper-lower direction" are mutually orthogonal.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a corrosion prevention treatment device 1 incorporating an application device (application unit 5) of the present invention. The corrosion prevention treatment device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a device that applies a coating agent (corrosion prevention agent) 101 made of an ultraviolet-curable resin (UV-curable resin) to the end of a terminal-attached electric wire 100 (a so-called workpiece; see also FIGS. 4A to 4D ). As shown in FIG. 4A , the terminal-attached electric wire 100 includes an electric wire 102 and a terminal 103 attached to the end of the electric wire 102. The electric wire 102 has a coating 102A stripped from the end to expose a conductor core 102B. The terminal 103 is crimped to the coating 102A and the conductor core 102B exposed at the end. The corrosion prevention treatment device 1 covers the connection point between the conductor core 102B and the terminal 103 with the coating agent 101, thereby preventing corrosion at the connection point between the conductor core 102B and the terminal 103.

[0010] The corrosion prevention treatment device 1 includes a conveying unit 2, an electric wire supplying unit 3 that sets the electric wire with terminal 100 on the conveying unit 2, an imaging unit 4 that images the electric wire with terminal 100 conveyed by the conveying unit 2, an application unit 5 (see also Figure 4B) that applies an application agent 101 to the end of the electric wire with terminal 100 conveyed by the conveying unit 2, a UV irradiation unit 6 (see also Figure 4C) that irradiates the applied application agent 101 with ultraviolet light 104, a control unit 7 that controls each of these units, and a display unit 8.

[0011] The above-described electric wire supply unit 3, image capture unit 4, coating unit 5, and UV irradiation unit 6 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction, that is, from right to left, the electric wire supply unit 3, image capture unit 4, coating unit 5, and UV irradiation unit 6 are arranged in this order.

[0012] The configuration of the transfer unit 2 will be described. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the transfer unit 2 has four rear electric wire chucks 21 and four front electric wire chucks 22. The four rear electric wire chucks 21 are arranged side by side at equal intervals in the left-right direction. The four rear electric wire chucks 21 are provided so as to be movable in the left-right direction between a first position and a second position.

[0013] 2 and 3 , at the first position, the four rear electric wire chucks 21 face the electric wire supply unit 3, the imaging unit 4, the coating unit 5, and the UV irradiation unit 6 in the front-rear direction. At the second position, the rightmost rear electric wire chuck 21 faces the imaging unit 4 in the front-rear direction, the second rightmost rear electric wire chuck 21 faces the coating unit 5 in the front-rear direction, the second leftmost rear electric wire chuck 21 faces the UV irradiation unit 6 in the front-rear direction, and the leftmost rear electric wire chuck 21 is located to the left of the UV irradiation unit 6.

[0014] 3, the four front electric wire chucks 22 are arranged further forward in the front-rear direction than the four rear electric wire chucks 21 (on the side of the electric wire supply unit 3, the imaging unit 4, the coating unit 5, and the UV irradiation unit 6). The four front electric wire chucks 22 are arranged side by side at equal intervals in the left-right direction and face the electric wire supply unit 3, the imaging unit 4, the coating unit 5, and the UV irradiation unit 6 in the front-rear direction. The four front electric wire chucks 22 do not move in the left-right direction.

[0015] Next, the configurations of the rear electric wire chuck 21 and the front electric wire chuck 22 will be described. The four rear electric wire chucks 21 have the same configuration. Each rear electric wire chuck 21 has a cubic main body 23 and a pair of chucks 24, 24 that are attached to the main body 23 so as to be able to open and close freely and that clamp and hold the terminal-attached electric wire 100 from the left and right directions.

[0016] The chuck portion 24 has an arm 24A attached to the main body 23 so that a first end thereof is rotatable about an axis along the front-rear direction, and chuck claws 24B attached to a second end of the arm 24A. When the second ends of the pair of arms 24A are rotated so that they protrude in the left-right direction from the main body 23, the pair of chuck claws 24B open, releasing the hold of the terminal-attached electric wire 100. When the second ends of the pair of arms 24A are rotated so that they protrude upward from the main body 23, the pair of chuck claws 24B close, allowing the terminal-attached electric wire 100 to be clamped and held from the left-right direction.

[0017] The front wire chuck 22 has a similar configuration to the rear wire chuck 21, and therefore a detailed description of the front wire chuck 22 will be omitted here. The main body 23 of the rear wire chuck 21 is attached to a slider (not shown) that moves in the left-right direction.

[0018] The conveying operation of the conveying unit 2 configured as described above will be described. The wire supplying unit 3 sets the terminal-fitted wire 100 in the rightmost rear wire chuck 21 and front wire chuck 22 (holding it in the correct position). Next, the front wire chuck 22 is opened and moved from the first position to the second position. This causes the terminal-fitted wire 100 to be conveyed to the imaging unit 4, where it can be held by the front wire chuck 22, which is the second from the right and arranged opposite the imaging unit 4. Thereafter, the rear wire chuck 21 is opened and returned from the second position to the first position, whereby the terminal-fitted wire 100 can be held by the rear wire chuck 21, which is the second from the right. By repeating this process, the terminal-fitted wire 100 can be conveyed in order to the wire supplying unit 3, the imaging unit 4, the coating unit 5, and the UV irradiation unit 6.

[0019] The wire supply unit 3 has a work setting jig (not shown). When an operator inserts an end of the terminal-fitted wire 100 into the work setting jig and the end abuts against a positioning wall within the work setting jig, the front wire chuck 22 closes. This allows the terminal 103 of the terminal-fitted wire 100 to be positioned in the front-rear direction.

[0020] The imaging unit 4 has a camera (not shown) and a ring-shaped illumination unit (not shown) disposed below the camera. The camera is attached facing downward. When the terminal-fitted wire 100 is conveyed to the imaging unit 4 and held by the front wire chuck 22 facing the imaging unit 4 in the front-rear direction, the terminal 103 comes within the imaging range of the camera.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 5 , the applicator 5 has a nozzle portion 30 (see also FIGS. 4B and 6 ) that ejects the coating agent 101 toward an object to be coated (i.e., a connection point between the terminal 103 of the terminal-attached electric wire 100 and the conductor core wire 102B), a tank portion 40 that stores the coating agent 101, a piping portion 50 having one end connected to the tank portion 40, and a relay portion 60 (see also FIG. 6 ) that connects the other end of the piping portion 50 to the nozzle portion 30. The relay portion 60 is fixed integrally to an upper portion of the nozzle portion 30. The liquid coating agent 101 stored in the tank portion 40 is supplied to the nozzle portion 30 via the piping portion 50 (hollow portion) and the relay portion 60 (hollow portion) in this order, and is configured to be ejected from the nozzle portion 30. The nozzle unit 30 (more specifically, the relay unit 60 integrated with the nozzle unit 30) is provided so as to be movable in the left-right and front-rear directions by a left-right cylinder 31 and a front-rear cylinder 32. When the terminal-fitted electric wire 100 is transported to the coating unit 5 and held by the front electric wire chuck 22 facing the coating unit 5 in the front-rear direction, the terminal 103 enters the discharge range of the nozzle unit 30. Note that the coating unit 5 may further include an ultraviolet light source (not shown) that provisionally irradiates ultraviolet light. If the terminal-fitted electric wire 100 cannot be transported to the UV irradiation unit 6 within a predetermined time after the coating material 101 is discharged onto the terminal-fitted electric wire 100, ultraviolet light may be provisionally irradiated by the ultraviolet light source to prevent dripping of the coating material 101.

[0022] The UV irradiation unit 6 has an ultraviolet light source (not shown) that irradiates ultraviolet light 104 (see FIG. 4C ). When the electric wire with terminal 100 is transported to the UV irradiation unit 6 and held by the front electric wire chuck 22 that faces the UV irradiation unit 6 in the front-rear direction, the terminal 103 comes within the irradiation range of the ultraviolet light source.

[0023] The control unit 7 is composed of a microcomputer that operates according to a program stored in the memory unit and controls the entire corrosion prevention treatment device 1. The control unit 7 transports the terminal-attached electric wire 100 through the electric wire supply unit 3, the imaging unit 4, the coating unit 5, and the UV irradiation unit 6 in this order, sequentially setting the terminal-attached electric wire 100 (see FIG. 4A), applying the coating agent 101 (see FIG. 4B), and irradiating with ultraviolet light (see FIG. 4C). The coating agent 101, which is made of a UV-curable resin, is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet light. The control unit 7 measures the terminal position from an image of the terminal 103 captured by the imaging unit 4, determines the application position of the coating agent 101 based on the measured terminal position, and controls the movement of the nozzle unit 30 of the applicator 5 to apply the coating agent 101 to the determined application position (i.e., the position that covers the exposed conductor core wire 102B). The display unit 8 sequentially displays the control status of the corrosion prevention treatment device 1 by the control unit 7 on a monitor or the like (not shown).

[0024] Next, a description will be given of the heat retention function of the coating agent 101 in the applicator 5. As described above, the coating agent 101 applied to the electric wire with terminal 100 is solid at room temperature. Therefore, in the applicator 5, the temperature of the tank 40 storing the coating agent 101 is controlled to be maintained at a temperature (e.g., about 40°C) at which the coating agent 101 is a liquid with an appropriate viscosity. The applicator 5 according to this embodiment prevents a problem that occurs when the temperature of the coating agent 101 drops and the viscosity of the coating agent 101 increases while the coating agent 101 is being supplied from the tank 40 to the nozzle 30, regardless of the environmental temperature at which the applicator 5 is actually used, making it impossible to properly apply the coating agent 101 to the electric wire with terminal 100.

[0025] Specifically, in the applicator 5 according to the present embodiment, the control unit 7 controls the temperature of the coating agent 101 not only in the tank 40 that stores the coating agent 101, but also in the piping 50, the relay 60, and the nozzle 30. As shown in Fig. 7 , in the applicator 5, the nozzle 30 is provided with a heater 30A and a temperature sensor 30B, the tank 40 is provided with a heater 40A and a temperature sensor 40B, the piping 50 is provided with a heater 50A and a temperature sensor 50B, and the relay 60 is provided with a heater 60A and a temperature sensor 60B. Each of the heaters 30A, 40A, 50A, and 60A is made of, for example, a heat insulating sheet material in which an electric heating wire is embedded, and is provided so as to cover the surface of each temperature control target (the nozzle 30, the tank 40, the piping 50, and the relay 60). Each of the temperature sensors 30B, 40B, 50B, and 60B is, for example, a thermocouple and is attached to the surface of the corresponding temperature-control target. Based on information from each of the temperature sensors 30B, 40B, 50B, and 60B, the control unit 7 controls each of the heaters 30A, 40A, 50A, and 60A so that the temperature of each temperature-control target (i.e., the temperature of the coating material 101 located within each temperature-control target) coincides with each target temperature.

[0026] As a result, along the path of the coating material 101 from the tank 40 through the piping 50 and relay 60 to the nozzle 30, the temperature of the coating material 101 can be adjusted to a temperature suitable for discharge at each of the tank 40, piping 50, relay 60, and nozzle 30. Here, the nozzle 30 is generally small in size, making it difficult to provide a heater 30A with a high output. However, by adjusting the temperature of the coating material 101 in advance in the relay 60, it is not necessary to provide a heater 30A with an excessively high output in the nozzle 30. The target temperatures of the nozzle 30, tank 40, piping 50, and relay 60 may be the same or different. The target temperature of the tank 40 (e.g., 40°C) may be set lower than the target temperatures of the nozzle 30, piping 50, and relay 60 (e.g., 60°C). This allows the target temperature of the tank section 40, which has a relatively small external contact area, to be lower than the target temperatures of the nozzle section 30, the piping section 50, and the relay section 60, thereby reducing the power, etc. required to control the temperature of the coating material 101.

[0027] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be adopted within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications, improvements, etc. are possible as appropriate. Furthermore, the material, shape, dimensions, number, location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiments are arbitrary as long as they can achieve the present invention, and are not limited thereto.

[0028] According to the above-described embodiment, in the coating unit 5, as shown in Fig. 7, the nozzle unit 30 is provided with a heater 30A and a temperature sensor 30B, the tank unit 40 is provided with a heater 40A and a temperature sensor 40B, the piping unit 50 is provided with a heater 50A and a temperature sensor 50B, and the relay unit 60 is provided with a heater 60A and a temperature sensor 60B. In contrast, as shown in Fig. 8, the heater 50A and the temperature sensor 50B in the piping unit 50 may be omitted from the embodiment shown in Fig. 7. In this way, although the temperature of the coating material 101 may decrease while passing through the piping unit 50, the heater 60A in the relay unit 60 and the heater 30A in the nozzle unit 30 can adjust the temperature of the coating material 101 to a temperature suitable for discharge.

[0029] Here, in the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the coating device (5) is a coating device (5) that applies a liquid coating agent (101) to a coating target (100), and includes: a tank section (40) that stores the coating agent (101); a nozzle section (30) that ejects the coating agent (101) toward the coating target (100); a piping section (50) that supplies the coating agent (101) from the tank section (40) toward the nozzle section (30); a relay section (60) that is arranged to relay between the piping section (50) and the nozzle section (30) and that transfers the coating agent (101) that has passed through the piping section (50) to the nozzle section (30); and a control section (7) that controls the temperature of the coating agent (101), and each of the tank section (40), the nozzle section (30), and the relay section (60) The control unit (7) includes temperature acquisition units (30B, 40B, 60B) that acquire the temperature of the coating agent (101) and temperature adjustment units (30A, 40A, 60A) that adjust the temperature of the coating agent (101), and is configured to operate the temperature adjustment units (30A, 40A, 60A) in the tank unit (40), the nozzle unit (30), and the relay unit (60), respectively, so that the temperatures of the coating agent (101) acquired by the temperature acquisition units (30B, 40B, 60B) in the tank unit (40), the nozzle unit (30), and the relay unit (60) each match the respective target temperatures.

[0030] According to the coating device having the above configuration, the coating material stored in the tank section is supplied to the nozzle section via the piping section and the relay section and then dispensed from the nozzle section onto the coating target. In this coating device, not only is the temperature of the coating material controlled in the tank section where the coating material is stored, but the temperature of the coating material is also controlled in the nozzle section and the relay section. As a result, even if the temperature of the coating material drops while passing through the piping section, the temperature adjustment section of the relay section and the temperature adjustment section of the nozzle section can adjust the temperature of the coating material to match a target temperature suitable for dispensing. Generally, the nozzle section is small in size, making it difficult to provide a high-output temperature adjustment section. However, by adjusting the temperature of the coating material in advance in the relay section, it is not necessary to provide an excessively high-output temperature adjustment section in the nozzle section. Therefore, the temperature of the coating material can be adjusted more easily and reliably in the nozzle section than when the temperature of the coating material is not adjusted in the relay section. Therefore, the coating device having this configuration can properly apply the coating material to the coating target.

[0031] Furthermore, the piping section (50) may have the temperature acquisition section (50B) and the temperature adjustment section (50A), and the control section (7) may be configured to operate the temperature adjustment sections (30A, 40A, 60A, 50A) in the tank section (40), the nozzle section (30), the relay section (60), and the piping section (50), respectively, so that the temperatures of the coating agent (101) acquired by the temperature acquisition sections (30B, 40B, 60B, 50B) in the tank section (40), the nozzle section (30), the relay section (60), and the piping section (50) each match the respective target temperatures.

[0032] According to the coating device having the above configuration, the piping section is also provided with a temperature acquisition section and a temperature adjustment section, which allows the temperature of the coating material to be adjusted in the piping section as well, thereby enabling the coating material to be applied more appropriately to the coating target.

[0033] Furthermore, the target temperature in the tank section (40) may be lower than the target temperatures in the nozzle section (30) and the relay section (60).

[0034] Furthermore, the target temperature in the tank section (40) may be lower than the target temperatures in the nozzle section (30), the relay section (60), and the piping section (50).

[0035] According to the coating device having the above configuration, the target temperature of the tank section, which has a relatively small contact area with the outside, can be set lower than the target temperatures of the nozzle section, relay section, and piping section, thereby reducing the power, etc. required to control the temperature of the coating agent.

[0036] This application is based on a Japanese patent application (Patent Application No. 2024-102894) filed on June 26, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0037] The coating device of the present invention can properly apply a coating agent to a coating object. The present invention having this effect can be used, for example, in the production of electric wires with terminals.

[0038] 5 Coating section (coating device) 7 Control section 30 Nozzle section 30A Heater (temperature adjustment section) 30B Temperature sensor (temperature acquisition section) 40 Tank section 40A Heater (temperature adjustment section) 40B Temperature sensor (temperature acquisition section) 50 Piping section 50A Heater (temperature adjustment section) 50B Temperature sensor (temperature acquisition section) 60 Relay section 60A Heater (temperature adjustment section) 60B Temperature sensor (temperature acquisition section) 100 Terminal-attached electric wire (coating object) 101 Coating agent

Claims

1. A coating device that applies a liquid coating agent to a coating object, comprising: a tank section that stores the coating agent; a nozzle section that ejects the coating agent toward the coating object; a piping section that supplies the coating agent from the tank section to the nozzle section; a relay section that is arranged to relay between the piping section and the nozzle section and transfers the coating agent that has passed through the piping section to the nozzle section; and a control section that controls the temperature of the coating agent, wherein the tank section, the nozzle section, and the relay section each have a temperature acquisition section that acquires the temperature of the coating agent and a temperature adjustment section that adjusts the temperature of the coating agent, and the control section is configured to operate the temperature adjustment section in the tank section, the nozzle section, and the relay section so that the temperature of the coating agent acquired by the temperature acquisition section in each of the tank section, the nozzle section, and the relay section matches the respective target temperatures.

2. A coating device according to claim 1, wherein the piping section has the temperature acquisition section and the temperature adjustment section, and the control section is configured to operate the temperature adjustment section in each of the tank section, the nozzle section, the relay section and the piping section so that the temperature of the coating agent acquired by the temperature acquisition section in each of the tank section, the nozzle section, the relay section and the piping section matches the respective target temperatures.

3. A coating device according to claim 1, wherein the target temperature in the tank section is lower than the target temperatures in the nozzle section and the relay section.

4. A coating device according to claim 2, wherein the target temperature in the tank section is lower than the target temperatures in the nozzle section, the relay section, and the piping section.

Images