Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Chitoshi Kato

Takeshi Nakamura

Masayuki Fukumori

Tadashi Tobita

Yukihiro Yaguchi

Teiji Miwa

Tetsuro Yamanobe

Keizaburo Otaki

Ken Kushizaki

Masaaki Tanaka

Makoto Urano

Kenji Kusumegi

Kazunao Uchiyama

Nagahisa Kitamura

Satoru Matsuo

Takatoshi Hattori

Takeshi Endo

Takashi Nakanishi

Hideo Saito

Hidetaka Murai

Shoji Doi

Yuki Mori

Shinji Ikeda

Yuichi Hirata

Masashi Koike

A car side panel assembly line capable of increasing a productivity by shortening an operation time and having a set station ST, a welding station ST, and a next operation station STdisposed in series in this order, comprising a set carriagehaving, thereon, a set jigcapable of holding the side panel W in upright attitude from the side and installed reciprocatingly between the set station STand the welding station STand a frame carriagehaving a lower frameand an upper frame, capable of holding, between both frames, the side panel W in upright attitude through clamp members () mounted on the frames, installed reciprocatingly between the welding station STand the next operation station ST, and allowing to exchange the side panel W with the set carriage.

Side panel assembly line

On a setting cart which is movable back and forth between a setting station and a vehicle body assembly station, there are provided floor panel setting members, side sill receiving members and side panel forcing members which force side panels toward a floor panel from a lateral outward. In the setting station, the floor panel and the side panels which are set in position on the setting cart are transferred to a jig which is disposed in a side portion of the vehicle body assembly station. The side panels are welded to the floor panel by welding robots which are disposed at a level below the jig. In the above-described arrangement, the side sill receiving members and the side panel forcing members are set on the setting cart so as to be retractable into shunted positions free from interference with the welding robots in welding operation. The welding work by the welding robots can thus be started without waiting for the returning of the setting cart to the setting station.

Apparatus for assembling vehicle body

The floor of a motor vehicle which is assembled in a floor assembly station is transported to a subsequent station using at least two welding robots on each lateral side of the floor assembly station. These welding robots are constituted into dual-purpose welding robots for performing both welding work and transporting work. After the assembling of the floor has been finished, the floor is supported at four lateral and longitudinal jack-up points through the workpiece receiving member by the cooperation of these dual-purpose welding robots, and is transported from the floor assembly station to the subsequent station.

Apparatus for assembling floor of vehicle

In a method of manufacturing multiple kinds of products in an arbitrarily selected order in one manufacturing apparatus, the rate of operation of the welding robots to be disposed in each of assembly lines for each of parts is improved, the cost for equipment investment is reduced, and the time required to introduce a new kind of motor vehicle into the manufacturing apparatus is shortened, whereby the productivity is improved. The manufacturing apparatus is made up of: a plurality of part assembly lines for assembling a plurality of parts; a combining station for tack-welding these parts to thereby assemble a product; and a reinforce-welding line for reinforce-welding the product. The number of welding points for welding each of the parts in the respective assembly lines is made equal to one another for all kinds of vehicles. Those welding points of each of the parts which fall short of a required number of welding points are welded in the reinforce-welding line.

Method of manufacturing multiple kinds of products in arbitrarily selected order in one manufacturing line

A roof unit for an automobile is composed of a roof panel and stiffeners welded thereto. One roof panel is unloaded from a stack of roof panels stored in a carriage, and fed to a working station. The stiffeners which are coated with a sealer are also fed to the working station. The roof panel and the stiffeners are then welded into a roof unit in the working station. An apparatus for manufacturing a roof unit includes a first feed mechanism for unloading a roof panel from a stack of roof panels and feeding the unloaded roof panel to the working station, a second feed mechanism for feeding sealed stiffeners to the working station, a third feed mechanism for feeding a jig to the working station to assemble the roof panel and the stiffener into a roof unit in the working station, and a fourth feed mechanism for feeding the roof unit from the working station. The first through fourth feed mechanisms are disposed around the working station and oriented in respective different four directions therearound.

Method of manufacturing an automobile roof unit

Growing community of inventors

Tochigi-ken, Japan

Chitoshi Kato