Mazda Motor Corporation

Shigeo Okamizu

Shunji Sakamoto

Tuyoshi Watanabe

Hirotaka Kanazawa

Yoshimi Shimbara

Yasuhiro Nakashima

Hisaaki Katsuki

Yoshiaki Mukai

Koushun Note

Yuji Ota

Yukio Munenaga

Masanobu Komatsu

A method of mounting a window glass on a vehicle body comprises the steps of attaching a positioning member for defining a position of the window glass to a window frame portion of the vehicle body in such a manner that a difference in brightness of color perceptible for an image sensor is made between the window frame portion and at least a part of the positioning member, detecting a location of the positioning member on the window frame portion by means of the image sensor, and fitting the window glass to the window frame portion by means of a robot operative to move along a working path which is modified in response to a detection output of the image sensor.

Method of mounting a window glass on a vehicle body

In order to check four-wheel steering characteristics of a four-wheeled vehicle provided with a four-wheel steering system in which both the front wheels and the rear wheels are turned in response to operation of the steering wheel according to preset four-wheel steering characteristics, the steering wheel is turned to turn the front wheels and the rear wheels, and the actual turning angle of the front wheels and the actual turning angle of the rear wheels are measured, thereby detecting the actual relation between the turning angles of the front and rear wheels. Whether the actual four-wheel steering characteristics of the vehicle deviates from the preset four-wheel steering characteristics is determined through comparison of the actual relation between the turning angles of the front and rear wheels with the preset four-wheel steering characteristics.

Method of and apparatus for checking four-wheel steering characteristics

A four-wheel steering system has a front wheel turning mechanism for turning front wheels in response to operation of a steering wheel, a rear wheel turning mechanism for turning rear wheels, a controller for controlling the rear wheel turning mechanism to turn the rear wheels according to preset four-wheel steering characteristics and a relay shaft which is connected to the controller to transmit turning of the front wheels to the controller. The front wheel turning mechanism and the rear wheel turning mechanism are caused to bring the front wheels and the rear wheels to the respective straight-ahead positions while the relay shaft is disconnected from the controller. Then the controller is brought into the state corresponding to the straight-ahead positions of the front and rear wheels on the basis of the preset four-wheel steering characteristics. Thereafter, the relay shaft is connected to the controller.

Method of incorporating four-wheel steering system in vehicle and

A plate member locating-and-feeding system comprises a locating system for locating a plate member fed to a locating station, a position sensor for detecting the position of the plate member located by the locating system, a suction feeding system for holding the locating plate member under a suction force and feeding it to a working station, a working robot provided at the working station for performing a predetermined process and a controller which stores regular working position data, and corrects the regular working position data on the basis of difference between the position data represented by the output signal of the position sensor and the regular working position data, and controls the working robot to perform the predetermined process according to the corrected working position data.

Plate member locating-and-feeding system

A vehicle assembling-and-feeding system comprises an engine/suspension feeding line which travels through an engine assembly line and a first suspension assembly line for assembling one of front and rear suspensions to feed the engine and said one suspension, a suspension feeding line which travels through a second suspension assembly line for assembling the other suspension to feed the suspension, a body feeding line for feeding a vehicle body in indexed feed fashion, a slippage detecting station which is provided midway along the body feeding means to detect slippage in the position of the vehicle body fed by the body feeding means in indexed feed fashion, a mounting station disposed downstream of the slippage detecting station, and a mingling feed line which alternately feeds to the mounting station the material fed by the engine/suspension feeding means and the material fed by the suspension feeding means. An automatic mounting device is provided at the mounting station. The automatic mounting device has a pair of mounting tables which are three-dimensionally movable, one being adapted to receive the engine and said one suspension and the other being adapted to receive said other suspension. The automatic mounting device is controlled to compensate for the slippage of the position of the vehicle body detected at the slippage detecting station.

Vehicle assembling-and-feeding system

A weighty object mounting system includes a mounting table provided in a mounting station established in an assembly line for supporting a weighty object placed thereon to be mounted on a transportable object transported into the mounting station, a lifting device for lifting the mounting table to move the weighty object thereon into a mounting position provided on the transportable object, a position adjusting device for shifting the position of the mounting table so as to compensate for misalignments arising between the transportable object and the weighty object, a mounting table releasing device operative to cause the position adjusting device to make the mounting table movable in a plane along the direction of transportation of the transportable object in the mounting station, and a positioning device attached to the mounting table and having a tapered portion provided for engaging with a receiving portion provided on the transportable object when the mounting table ascends. A sensor is also provided for detecting such a condition that the tapered portion of the positioning device comes into engagement with the receiving portion of the transportable object, and the mounting table releasing device is controlled by a controller to operative in response to a detection output from the sensor.

Weighty object mounting systems

A weighty object mounting system comprises tact-transporting means for transporting a transportable object so as to have the same stop temporarily at each working stations, position detecting means for detecting a stop position of the transportable object stopped at one of the stations, a lifter provided in a mounting station and including a mounting portion provided for supporting a weighty object placed thereon and arranged to be movable forward and backward, right and left, and up and down in relation to the transportable object in the mounting station and a driving portion for moving the mounting portion so as to cause the weighty object to engage with the transportable object and to be automatically mounted to the same, and control means operative to supply the driving portion with control commands which direct the driving portion to cause the mounting portion to have each of predetermined movements at a predetermined timing, and operative also to calculate a misalignment between the transportable object and the weighty object in the mounting station on the strength of a detection output of the position detecting means and to cause the driving means to amend the movements of the mounting portion in response to the calculated misalignment.

Growing community of inventors

Hiroshima, Japan

Shigeo Okamizu