Method and apparatus for transporting vehicle bodies, and vehicle assembling system
First Claim
1. A method for transporting vehicle bodies by use of a plurality of transporting means in a vehicle assembling line, comprising the steps of:
- placing a vehicle body onto a pallet in a relatively positioned manner; and
transporting said body sequentially on each of said plurality of transporting means in a manner positioned relative to each transporting means through interposition of the pallet, while transferring said body from one transporting means onto another transporting means together with said pallet.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a vehicle assembling line in which parts are assembled to a vehicle body while the body is passed through each of working stations by a plurality of transporting means, the vehicle body is positioned and supported by a pallet and transported by each of the transporting means, wherein transferring of the body between the transporting means is carried out through the pallet. A transporting path, on which a self-travel carriage as the transporting means travels, is laid within a pit concavely provided below a floor plate of a working floor. Arranged above the floor plate are a carriage frame, a lift table and a turn rest for supporting the pallet, which constitute an upper portion of the self-travel carriage. The transporting path is disposed substantially along the assembling line from its starting point to its terminal point, and an automated assembling zone and a manually assembling zone are coexistently disposed along the assembling line. An automatic machine is disposed in a working station of the automated assembling zone for advancing and retreating movement, and there is provided means for positioning and fixing the self-travel carriage together with the pallet in such working station. An overhead conveyor for transporting the self-travel carriage separated from the pallet in a hung manner is used as one of the transporting means.
43 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for transporting vehicle bodies by use of a plurality of transporting means in a vehicle assembling line, comprising the steps of:
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placing a vehicle body onto a pallet in a relatively positioned manner; and transporting said body sequentially on each of said plurality of transporting means in a manner positioned relative to each transporting means through interposition of the pallet, while transferring said body from one transporting means onto another transporting means together with said pallet. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. An apparatus for transporting vehicle bodies, comprising:
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a pallet which is constructed to be capable of being mounted in a relatively located relation to a plurality of transporting means disposed in a vehicle assembling line and which is adapted to be loaded with a vehicle body thereon; and means provided on the pallet and in the body for positioning the body and the pallet relative to each other, said positioning means comprising a plurality of engaging means provided on the pallet and selectively used in response to a plurality of vehicle body types.
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4. An apparatus for transporting vehicle bodies, comprising:
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a pallet which is constructed to be capable of being mounted in a relatively located relation to a plurality of transporting means disposed in a vehicle assembling line and which is adapted to be loaded with a vehicle body thereon; and means provided on the pallet and in the body for positioning the body and the pallet relative to each other comprising a plurality of engaging means provided on the pallet and selectively used in response to a plurality of vehicle body types, said pallet including a pair of pallet halves and said positioning means including a pin hole perforated in one of said pallet halves and said body, and a body-positioning pin on the other of said pallet halves and said body and adapted to be inserted into said pin hole. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus for transporting vehicle bodies, comprising:
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a pit concavely provided in a working floor; a transporting path laid within said pit; a self-travel carriage and self-travellable on said transporting path; and a floor path covering an upper opened face of said pit and having slits opened therein along said transporting path, wherein said self-travel carriage is travellably supported on the transporting path and comprises a carriage frame having an upper portion projecting above the floor plate through the slits, travel-drive means mounted between said carriage frame and said transporting path for driving said carriage frame to travel along said transporting path, a lift table liftably supported on the upper portion of the carriage frame, and a turn rest turnably supported on said lift table for supporting a vehicle body thereon. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for transporting vehicle bodies, comprising:
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a pit concavely provided in a working floor; a transporting path laid within said pit; a self-travel carriage self-travellable on said transporting path; a floor path covering an upper opened face of said pit and having slits opened therein along said transporting path, wherein said self-travel carriage is travellably supported on the transporting path and includes a carriage frame having an upper portion projecting above the floor plate through the slits, travel-drive means mounted between said carriage frame and said transporting path for driving said carriage frame to travel along said transporting path, a lift table liftably supported on the upper portion of the carriage frame, and a turn rest turnably supported on said lift table for supporting a vehicle body thereon, including a lifting mechanism wherein driving units are provided for raising and lowering said lift table and driving units for the lift table and the turn rest are mounted on the carriage frame within said pit. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A vehicle assembling system comprising:
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a transporting path disposed substantially along an assembling line from a starting point thereof to a terminal point thereof; an automated assembling zone and a manually assembling zone coexistently disposed along said assembling line; an automatic machine disposed in each of automated assembling stations in said automated assembling zone for advancing and retreating movement; a self-travel carriage self-travellable along said transporting path and including a liftable and rotatable turn rest; a pallet releasably connected on said turn rest and adapted to support a vehicle body on an upper surface thereof in an integrally positioned manner; body-positioning means for positioning and fixing said self-travel carriage at each of the automated assembling stations together with the pallet; and an overhead conveyor mounted on said assembling line for transporting the body separated from the self-travel carriage in a hung manner together with the pallet over a partial section of said assembling line. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for transporting vehicle bodies, comprising:
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a transporting path; a self-travel carriage which is self-travellable along said transporting path and which is equipped with a lift means for liftably carrying thereon a vehicle body and a pallet detachably mounted on the lift means for determining a position of said vehicle body relative to said lift means; wherein said self-travel carriage travels along the transporting path selectively between a running mode wherein the carriage runs continuously on the path and a running mode wherein the carriage is stopped on the path intermittently between running operations. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification