Vehicle body assembly system

Abstract

A vehicle body assembly system defines a preset pre-buck section and a preset main-buck section along a conveying route of a floor assembly, and may include: i) pre-buck units which are installed at both sides of the conveying route in the pre-buck section, respectively, restrict lower portions of side assemblies, which vary in accordance with a type of vehicle, with respect to both sides of the floor assembly, and preassemble the lower portions of the side assemblies to the floor assembly by a first welding robot; and ii) main-buck units which are installed at both sides of the conveying route in the main-buck section, respectively, restrict upper portions of the side assemblies preassembled by the pre-buck unit, and post-assemble vehicle body components to the upper portions of the side assemblies by a second welding robot.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle body assembly system which defines a preset pre-buck section and a preset main-buck section along a conveying route of a floor assembly, the vehicle body assembly system comprising:
 pre-buck units which are installed at both sides of the conveying route in the pre-buck section, respectively, restrict lower portions of side assemblies, which vary in accordance with a type of vehicle, with respect to both sides of the floor assembly, and preassemble the lower portions of the side assemblies to the floor assembly by a first welding robot; and   main-buck units which are installed at both sides of the conveying route in the main-buck section, respectively, restrict upper portions of the side assemblies preassembled by the pre-buck unit, and post-assemble vehicle body components to the upper portions of the side assemblies by a second welding robot.   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the main-buck unit includes a loading unit which restricts a cowl, a roof rail, and a package tray, which are the vehicle body components, and exactly positions the vehicle body components on the upper portions of the side assemblies.   
     
     
         3 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the pre-buck unit restricts a vehicle body conveying direction and a height direction of the side assembly, and   the main-buck unit restricts a vehicle width direction of the side assembly.   
     
     
         4 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 1 , wherein the pre-buck unit includes:
 a side hanger which is detachably provided on a handling robot and restricts the lower portion of the side assembly; and   a guide post which is coupled with the side hanger by the handling robot, and exactly positions the side hanger at each of both sides of the floor assembly.   
     
     
         5 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the pre-buck unit includes a robot hanger which unloads the side assembly conveyed to the pre-buck section by a conveying hanger and loads the side assembly to the side hanger, and the robot hanger includes an alignment jig for aligning the side assembly.   
     
     
         6 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the main-buck unit includes: a plurality of side jigs which restricts the upper portion of the side assembly that varies in accordance with the type of vehicle; and a four-station rotary indexer which fixes the side jig, and the side jig is attached to and detached from the rotary indexer by a handling robot.   
     
     
         7 . A vehicle body assembly system which defines a pre-buck section and a main-buck section along a conveying route of a floor assembly, the vehicle body assembly system comprising:
 a side hanger which is mounted on a handling robot in the pre-buck section and restricts a lower portion of a side assembly that varies in accordance with a type of vehicle;   a guide post which is coupled with the side hanger, which restricts the side assembly in the pre-buck section, and installed to be reciprocally movable in a vehicle width direction at each of both sides of the conveying route;   at least one first welding robot which is installed in the pre-buck section and welds the lower portion of the side assembly and the floor assembly;   a plurality of side jigs which is provided to be mountable on a handling robot in the main-buck section and restricts an upper portion of the side assembly that varies in accordance with the type of vehicle;   a rotary indexer which is coupled with the side jigs in the main-buck section, provided to be rotatable at a preset angle, and installed to be reciprocally movable in the vehicle width direction at each of both sides of the conveying route; and   at least one second welding robot which is installed in the main-buck section and welds the upper portion of the side assembly and vehicle body components.   
     
     
         8 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a robot hanger which unloads the side assembly conveyed to the pre-buck section by a conveying hanger and loads the side assembly to the side hanger, wherein the robot hanger includes an alignment jig for aligning the side assembly.   
     
     
         9 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a loading unit which is provided above the conveying route so as to be movable along the conveying route, and installed to be movable upward and downward in the main-buck section,   wherein the loading unit restricts a cowl, a roof rail, and a package tray, which are the vehicle body components, and positions the vehicle body components on the upper portion of the side assembly.   
     
     
         10 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 7 , wherein:
 a storage unit for storing the plurality of side jigs is provided in the main-buck section.   
     
     
         11 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 7 , wherein the side hanger includes:
 a hanger frame which is mounted at a tip of an arm of the handling robot in the pre-buck section;   at least one reference pin which is installed on the hanger frame and fitted with a reference hole of the side assembly;   a plurality of first clampers which is installed on the hanger frame, clamps the lower portion of the side assembly, and restricts a vehicle body conveying direction and a height direction of the side assembly; and   a plurality of first coupling pins which is installed on the hanger frame and coupled to the guide post.   
     
     
         12 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the first dampers, which correspond to front, center, and rear pillars of the side assembly among the plurality of first clampers, are installed to be reciprocally movable in the vehicle body conveying direction by a drive unit.   
     
     
         13 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 11 , wherein:
 a plurality of mounting seats is formed on the hanger frame in order to additionally mount the first clampers.   
     
     
         14 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the first coupling pin has a first ball coupling groove that is formed in a circumferential direction of the first coupling pin and has a rounded shape.   
     
     
         15 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 7 , wherein the guide post includes:
 a first movable member which is installed on a pre-buck frame at each of both sides of the conveying route so as to be reciprocally movable in the vehicle width direction by a drive unit;   a pair of post frames which is installed on the first movable member so as to be spaced apart from each other; and   a plurality of hanger coupling units which is installed on the post frame and is pin-coupled to the side hanger.   
     
     
         16 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 15 , wherein the hanger coupling unit includes:
 a first pin housing with which a first coupling pin provided on the side hanger is fitted; and   a first ball clamp which is installed in the first pin housing and clamps the first coupling pin by a plurality of balls.   
     
     
         17 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the first ball clamp includes a pair of first race members which is provided such that the balls roll, and installed to be movable from the outside to the center of the first coupling pin in the circumferential direction by the drive unit.   
     
     
         18 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 17 , wherein:
 the first coupling pin has a first ball coupling groove that is formed in the circumferential direction of the first coupling pin and has a rounded shape, and the balls are coupled to the first ball coupling groove by the first race members.   
     
     
         19 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the handling robot is moved by being synchronized with the first movable member in a state in which the side hanger is coupled to the hanger coupling unit by the handling robot.   
     
     
         20 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the handling robot is separated from the side hanger in a state in which the side hanger is coupled to the hanger coupling unit by the handling robot.   
     
     
         21 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 20 , wherein:
 a driving power supply unit for providing driving power to the side hanger is installed on the post frame.   
     
     
         22 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 15 , wherein:
 a plurality of second clampers, which clamps a lowest end portion of the side assembly separately from the side hanger in a state in which the side hanger is coupled to the hanger coupling unit, is installed on the first movable member.   
     
     
         23 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 22 , wherein:
 the second damper is installed to be reciprocally movable by the drive unit in three-axis directions including the vehicle body conveying direction, the vehicle width direction, and a height direction.   
     
     
         24 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 23 , wherein:
 a first position sensor, which detects a position of the side assembly and controls the drive unit based on a detection signal, is installed on the second clamper.   
     
     
         25 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 7 , wherein the side jig includes:
 a jig frame which is mounted at a tip of an arm of the handling robot in the main-buck section;   a plurality of third clampers which is installed on the jig frame, clamps the upper portion of the side assembly, and restricts the vehicle width direction of the side assembly; and   a plurality of second coupling pins which is installed on the jig frame and coupled to the rotary indexer.   
     
     
         26 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 25 , wherein:
 the second coupling pin has a second ball coupling groove that is formed in a circumferential direction of the second coupling pin and has a rounded shape.   
     
     
         27 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 7 , wherein the rotary indexer includes:
 a second movable member which is installed on a main-buck frame at each of both sides of the conveying route so as to be reciprocally movable in the vehicle width direction by a drive unit;   a pair of indexer frames which is installed on the second movable member so as to be spaced apart from each other;   a rotating body which has four sides at which the side jigs, which vary in accordance with the type of vehicle, are attached and detached, and are installed on the indexer frames so as to be rotatable by a drive unit;   a plurality of jig coupling units which is provided at the respective sides of the rotating body and pin-coupled to the side jigs; and   a plurality of fourth clampers which is installed at the respective sides of the rotating body and fixes the side jigs to the rotating body.   
     
     
         28 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 27 , wherein the jig coupling unit includes:
 a second pin housing with which a second coupling pin provided on the side jig is fitted; and   a second ball clamp which is installed in the second pin housing and clamps the second coupling pin by a plurality of balls.   
     
     
         29 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 28 , wherein the second ball clamp includes a pair of second race members which is provided such that the balls roll, and installed to be movable from the outside to the center of the second coupling pin in the circumferential direction by the drive unit. 
     
     
         30 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 29 , wherein:
 the second coupling pin has a second ball coupling groove that is formed in the circumferential direction of the second coupling pin and has a rounded shape, and the balls are coupled to the second ball coupling groove by the second race members.   
     
     
         31 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 27 , wherein:
 a second position sensor, which detects a position of the side assembly and controls the drive unit of the second movable member based on a detection signal, is installed on the indexer frame.   
     
     
         32 . The vehicle body assembly system of  claim 27 , wherein:
 a vehicle type tag is mounted on the side jig, and tag readers are mounted at the respective sides of the rotating body.