Protective shield device for a travel rail

Abstract

A protective shield device for a travel rail is provided, the travel rail including at least one robot with an application element coupled thereon. The protective shield device comprises at least one protective shield component for protecting the travel rail from the application medium, e.g. paint, dispensed by the application element of the at least one robot. The protective shield device is configured to extend over a portion of the travel rail and to move relative to the travel rail.

Claims

1. A coating installation assembly comprising: a laterally extending travel rail; a first and a second robot mounted for lateral movement on the travel rail in a spaced relationship; at least one of the first and second robots including an application element for dispensing a coating, and; a protective shield coupled to the travel rail to slidably move on the travel rail, the protective shield being located between the first and second robots, the protective shield not rigidly connected to either the first or second robots, the protective shield having a height spanning the travel rail such that the travel rail is substantially entirely shielded, and the protective shield including slide contacts.

2. The coating installation assembly of claim 1 wherein the protective shield further comprises an upper flange and a lower flange, the upper and lower flanges shaped toward the travel rail.

3. The coating installation assembly of claim 2 wherein the protective shield includes an elastic buffer.

4. The coating installation assembly of claim 1 wherein the protective shield is freely mounted to the travel rail.

5. The coating installation assembly of claim 4 wherein the protective shield is connected to the first robot with a pliable tensile force transmitting part.

6. The coating installation assembly of claim 5 wherein the pliable tensile force transmitting part is a rope.

7. The coating installation assembly of claim 1 wherein the protective shield further comprises a drive device.

8. The coating installation assembly of claim 7 wherein the driving device includes a frictional wheel.

9. The coating installation assembly of claim 1 wherein the protective shield further comprises a dispensing unit for dispensing a lubricant.

Description

DRAWINGS

(1) Other features of the disclosure are disclosed in t the following description in association with the attached figures, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a front view of a travel rail with two robots and a protective shield device according to an embodiment of the disclosure,

(3) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the robots and the protective shield device of FIG. 1,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the protective shield device of FIGS. 1 and 2,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a partial perspective rear view of the protective shield device of FIGS. 1 to 3, with protective shield component removed,

(6) FIG. 5 shows a partial perspective front view of the protective shield device of FIGS. 1 to 4,

(7) FIG. 6 shows a front view of a travel rail with two robots and several protective shield devices according to an embodiment of the disclosure,

(8) FIG. 7 shows an enlarged view of the robots along with protective shield devices of FIG. 6,

(9) FIG. 8 shows a perspective rear view of the robots along with protective shield devices of FIGS. 6 and 7, and

(10) FIG. 9 shows an enlarged perspective rear view of a robot along with protective shield device of FIGS. 6 to 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(11) FIG. 1 shows a travel rail (robot travel axis) 10 having two robots R, preferably of identical construction, which are movable along the travel rail 10, said movability being indicated schematically by two double arrows in FIG. 1. The travel rail 10 is supported on pillars, but alternatively can also be mounted on a booth wall, particularly a paint booth wall.

(12) The robots R each have an application element A for applying an application medium. The application element A is configured as schematically represented atomizer A. The application medium is paint. The atomizers A are used particularly for coating not shown motor vehicle bodies and/or attachment parts therefor.

(13) The robots R are configured as multi-axis robots with preferably 6 movement axes, in addition to the movement axis provided by the travel rail 10.

(14) The robots R comprise a mounting base M, with which they are movably mounted on the travel rail 10.

(15) FIG. 1 further shows an exemplary protective shield device 1.1 according to the disclosure. The protective shield device 1.1 is arranged between the two robots R and mounted on the travel rail 10 freely movably, which is indicated schematically in FIG. 1 by the double arrow. The protective shield device 1.1 comprises a protective shield 2.1, which is used to protect the travel rail 10 from the paint dispensed by the atomizer A. The protective shield device 1.1 consequently is used as protection, particularly screening, for the travel rail 10 from overspray and direct spraying with paint during a painting process.

(16) The protective shield 2.1 is, in some embodiments, configured to be panel and/or planar shaped.

(17) The protective shield device 1.1 is driveless and freely mounted, relative to the travel rail 10, between the robots R in order to be positioned by the robots R during the painting process by sliding, through drive contacts of the robots R, along the travel rail 10. However, alternatively to the driveless embodiment, it is possible to provide the protective shield device 1.1 with its own drive device, e.g. a frictional wheel drive or a pneumatic cylinder drive, by which the protective shield device 1.1 can be driven and thus moved along the travel rail 10.

(18) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the robots R and particularly the protective shield device 1.1 in FIG. 1.

(19) The protective shield 2.1 is configured so that it spans the travel rail 10 in height or vertical direction. The protective shield 2.1 is provided above with a flange section F1 shaped towards the travel rail 10 and below with a flange section F2 shaped towards the travel rail 10.

(20) The protective shield device 1.1 itself has no drive such as a motor, etc. The protective shield device 1.1 is movable along the travel rail 10 through drive contacts of the robots R, e.g. can be slid to and fro or thrust to and fro. This even enables sections of the travel rail 10 to be protected from soiling, to which the robots R are not themselves moved.

(21) In some embodiments, the sliding of the protective shield device 1.1 can be controlled to predefined positions along the travel rail 10.

(22) In some embodiments, the protective shield 2.1 has a width B of between 200 mm-600 mm, and, in some such embodiments, particularly 400 mm+/50 mm.

(23) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the protective shield device 1.1 of FIGS. 1 and 2. It can be seen from FIG. 3, for example, that the protective shield 2.1 is constructed from a relatively thin-walled part, e.g. a metal or plastic part. It can also be seen from FIG. 3 that the protective shield device 1.1 is a separate component from the robots R. Furthermore, FIG. 4 partially shows a dispensing unit 4.1 for dispensing lubricant onto the travel rail 10, a lubricant device 5.1, which receives the lubricant and pushes it to the dispensing unit 4.1 with a pressing device. A supporting structure 6.1 and a buffer 7.1 are described in more detail below.

(24) FIG. 4 shows an exemplary rear view of the protective shield device 1.1.

(25) Referring to FIG. 4, three mounting devices 3.1, particularly 3 guide carriages, are provided, which mounting devices 3.1 are configured to be movably mounted on the travel rail 10. The mounting devices 3.1 are each provided with a dispensing unit 4.1 for dispensing the lubricant (e.g. grease) onto the travel rail 10. The dispensing units 4.1 are each connected to a lubricant device 5.1 for admitting the lubricant. Use of the lubricant on the travel rail 10 may provide, e.g., reduced friction and that, if paint lands on the travel rail 10 despite the protective shield device 1.1, it adheres less well, or not at all, to the travel rail 10.

(26) The protective shield device 1.1 is provided with an elastic buffer 7.1 (e.g. one or more absorbing elements). The buffer 7.1 is used to buffer at least slightly the drive contacts, i.e. partially absorb forces from push and impact contacts of the robots R onto the protective shield device 1.1.

(27) With continued reference to FIG. 4, the protective shield device 1.1 comprises a panel-shaped supporting structure 6.1, which directly or indirectly supports the protective shield 2.1, the mounting devices 3.1 including the dispensing units 4.1, the lubricant devices 5.1 and the buffer 7.1.

(28) FIG. 5 shows a partial front view of the protective shield device 1.1 of FIGS. 1 to 4, with the protective shield 2.1 removed for presentation purposes.

(29) It can be seen from FIG. 5, for example, that the buffer 7.1 includes portions at two laterally opposing sides on the protective shield device 1.1. In such embodiments, the two buffer elements may partially absorb, i.e. buffer, drive contacts from left and right, i.e. from either lateral direction along the travel rail 10.

(30) In some embodiments of the disclosure, the protective shield device 1.1 can be connected to a robot R via a rope or another pliable, tensile force-transmitting part (not shown). With such a configuration, the protective shield device 1.1 is bi-directionally movable along the travel rail 10 by one robot R, namely, on the one side, via push contacts and, on the other side, via pull contacts.

(31) FIG. 6 shows a travel rail 10 with two robots R and a protective shield device 1.1, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

(32) In such embodiments as shown in FIG. 6 the robots R are each provided with a protective shield device 1.1 and an additional protective shield device 1.2. It should be understood that the robots R and the additional protective shield devices 1.2 are configured in substantially identical construction so that the following description is not repeated for each of the robots, i.e. it refers to only one robot R and only one protective shield device 1.2, but it applicable to each.

(33) The protective shield device 1.2 is fixedly mounted on the robot R so that it is moved along the travel rail 10 together with the robot R if the robot R moves along the travel rail 10. The protective shield device 1.2 comprises two protective shields 2.2, which protrude laterally on both sides, virtually to the left and right, from the robot R and are used to protect the travel rail 10 from the paint dispensed by the atomizer A. The protective shield device 1.2 is consequently used as protection, particularly screening, for the travel rail 10 from overspray and direct spraying with paint during a painting process.

(34) FIG. 7 shows an enlarged view of the robots R and particularly the protective shield devices 1.2 of FIG. 6.

(35) The protective shields 2.2 are configured so that they span the travel rail 10 in height or vertical direction. The protective shields 2.2 are provided above with a flange section F1 shaped towards the travel rail 10 and below with a flange section F2 shaped towards the travel rail 10.

(36) FIG. 8 shows a perspective rear view of the robots R and the protective shield devices 1.2 of FIGS. 6 and 7.

(37) FIG. 8 shows in particular the mounting base M for the movable mounting of the robot R onto the travel rail 10. The mounting base M is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 9.

(38) It can be seen from FIG. 8 that the protective shield device 1.2 is used not only as soiling protection for the travel rail 10 but also as soiling protection for the robot R, particularly its mounting base M.

(39) Furthermore, FIG. 8 shows the mounting devices 3.2, by which the protective shields 2.2 are mounted on the robot R. The mounting devices 3.2 are coupled to, or mounted on, the mounting base M and configured as flange-screw connections.

(40) FIG. 9 shows an enlarged view of the mounting base M and the protective shield device 1.2 of FIG. 8.

(41) With particular reference to FIG. 9, the mounting base M is mountable on the travel rail 10 through four mounting devices (guide carriages) 8.2. The mounting devices 8.2 are each provided with a dispensing unit 4.2 for dispensing lubricant onto the travel rail 10. The dispensing units 4.2 can be connected to lubricant devices, not visible in FIG. 9, for storing and admitting the lubricant, similar to the description above with reference to the protective shield device 1.1.

(42) In some embodiments, the protective shield device 1.2 and/or the robot R can also be provided with a lateral buffer, such as disclosed herein.

(43) In some embodiments, the disclosure is applied in a painting installation for motor vehicle bodies and/or attachment parts therefor.

(44) It should be understood that the disclosure is exemplary and, thus, not limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, a plurality of variants and modifications are possible, which also make use of the inventive concepts and thus fall within the scope of protection.