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EP-4572912-B1 - ASSEMBLY METHOD, ASSEMBLY PLANT AND ASSEMBLY LINE

EP4572912B1EP 4572912 B1EP4572912 B1EP 4572912B1EP-4572912-B1

Inventors

  • VISCARDI, GIANLUIGI CARLO

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230809

Claims (17)

  1. A method for assembling sub-assemblies (412, 434) to a receiving component (401) in an assembly plant (9), the sub-assemblies (412, 434) being suitable for being assembled to each other to form a joint assembly (402), and the receiving component (401) comprising a receiving seat (40) suitable for accommodating said joint assembly (402); wherein said method comprises the following steps: a) providing, in said assembly plant (9), at least one assembly station, one or more sub-stations (91, 92) proximal to said assembly station, and at least one assembly device (1), wherein a receiving component (401) temporarily stops in said assembly station; b) picking, by means of said at least one assembly device (1), at least two sub-assemblies (412, 434) from said one or more sub-stations (91, 92) of said assembly plant (9); c) keeping said receiving component (401) in stationary status at least during the successive step of the method; d) assembling, by means of said at least one assembly device (1), said at least two sub-assemblies (412, 434) with said receiving component (401); wherein in the stationary status, the receiving component (401) remains in the same assembly status and/or in the same position and/or does not undergo other operations until it receives said at least two sub-assemblies (412, 434), said method for assembling sub-assemblies being characterized in that step b) of the method comprises the following sub-steps: b1) picking, by means of said at least one assembly device (1), the first sub-assembly (412) and the second sub-assembly (434) and bringing them to a mutual assembly position, wherein said first sub-assembly (412) is in an assembly position with said second sub-assembly (434); b2) assembling, by means of said at least one assembly device (1), the first sub-assembly (412) with the second sub-assembly (434) in spaced apart manner with respect to the receiving component (401), for forming a joint assembly (402); and wherein step d) of the method consists in moving said at least one assembly device (1) towards the receiving seat (40) for bringing said joint assembly (402) to the receiving seat (40) and assembling the joint assembly (402) with the receiving component (401) .
  2. Assembly method according to claim 1, wherein also step b) occurs while the receiving component (401) is kept in stationary status.
  3. Assembly method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first sub-assembly (412) comprises at least a first (41) and a second component (42), and the second sub-assembly (434) comprises at least a third component (43) and a fourth component (44), wherein the sub-stations (91, 92) comprise a first pre-assembly group (91) and a second pre-assembly group (92), respectively, and wherein the method comprises, prior to step b), the following steps: a1) assembling at least a first component (41) and a second component (42) to each other in the first pre-assembly group (91) for forming the first sub-assembly (412); a11) assembling at least a third component (43) and a fourth component (44) to each other in the second pre-assembly group (92) for forming the second sub-assembly (434) .
  4. Assembly method according to the preceding claim, wherein also steps a1) and a11) occur while the receiving component (401) is kept in stationary status.
  5. Assembly method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein steps b1) and b2) are performed while keeping the first sub-assembly (412) and the second sub-assembly (434) in suspended-in-air position, that is avoiding contact with any support other than said at least one assembly device (1).
  6. Assembly method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one assembly device (1) comprises a first manipulator arm (1) and a second manipulator arm (2), and wherein during step b), the first manipulator arm (1) picks the first sub-assembly (412) and the second manipulator arm (2) picks the second sub-assembly (434), and said manipulator arms (1, 2) cooperate for mutually assembling said first and second sub-assemblies (412, 434) for forming a joint assembly (402), and during step d), at least one of said first and second manipulator arms (1, 2) is moved to bring said joint assembly (402) in assembly with the receiving component (401), and wherein the receiving component (401) remains in stationary status during step b), that is it does not undergo assembly operations during the mutual assembly between the first and second sub-assembly (412, 434).
  7. Assembly method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising step a2) of providing a grabbing device (70), for example, a pallet (70) or a rotating table, located on a work surface (700) which is substantially parallel to a ground surface, on which the receiving component (401) is positioned in such a manner that step d) consists in positioning said at least two sub-assemblies (412, 434) from the top in the receiving component (401) in stationary status, and in the assembly of said sub-assemblies (412, 434) with the receiving component (401).
  8. Assembly method according to claim 7, wherein the receiving component (401) is positioned on the grabbing device (70) with the receiving seat (40) facing upwards, that is on the opposite side with respect to the work surface (700), and wherein during step d), the assembly device (1) translates towards the receiving seat (40) at least along a vertical direction (Z), perpendicular to said work surface (700), for placing from the top the joint assembly (402) in the receiving seat (40).
  9. Assembly method according to claims 6 and 8, wherein step d) consists of the synchronous descent of each manipulator arm (1, 2) along said vertical direction (Z) towards said grabbing device (70) and in the placement, from the top, of the joint assembly (402) in the receiving seat (40).
  10. Assembly method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein when assembled, the at least two sub-assemblies (412, 434) and the receiving component (401) form one or more rivet insertion seats suitable for receiving one or more rivets (45) for connecting said at least two sub-assemblies (412, 434) in articulated manner to the receiving component (401), and wherein the assembly method comprises, after step d), the following operating steps: h) providing a riveting apparatus (8) comprising a riveting machine (81), and feeding said riveting apparatus (8) with one or more rivets (45); i) connecting, by means of said riveting machine (81), the at least two sub-assemblies (412, 434) in articulated manner to the receiving component (401) by means of the insertion of said one or more rivets (45) in said one or more rivet insertion seats.
  11. Assembly method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the receiving component (401) is kept in the stationary status by keeping the grabbing device (70) in the same position, preferably temporarily immobile, at the assembly station, while the steps of the method according to one or more of the preceding claims occur.
  12. An assembly plant (9) for assembling multicomponent items (4) starting from a first sub-assembly (412), a second sub-assembly (434) and a receiving component (401), wherein the first sub-assembly (412) and the second sub-assembly (434) are suitable for being assembled to each other for forming a joint assembly (402), said assembly plant (9) comprising: - at least one assembly station; - one or more sub-stations (91, 92) proximal to said assembly station; - at least one assembly device suitable for picking at least two sub-assemblies (412, 434) from said one or more sub-stations (91, 92) of the plant and for assembling them in the assembly station with a receiving component (401), - a grabbing device (70) on which a receiving component (401), having a receiving seat (40) suitable for receiving said joint assembly (402) formed by said first sub-assembly (412) and said second sub-assembly (434), is accommodable, and characterized in that the at least one assembly device comprises a first manipulator arm (1) and a second manipulator arm (2) suitable for assembling said sub-assemblies (412, 434) for forming the joint assembly (402) in spaced apart manner with respect to the receiving component (401) and suitable for bringing said joint assembly (402) to the receiving seat (40) of said receiving component (401), and wherein the receiving component (401) is suitable for remaining in stationary status during the assembly of the joint assembly (402) and at least until the joint assembly (402) is placed in the receiving seat (40), said assembly plant (9) being configured to perform the assembly method according to any one of the preceding claims.
  13. Assembly plant (9) according to claim 12, wherein said one or more sub-stations (91, 92) comprise a first pre-assembly group (91) suitable for pre-assembling a first component (41) and a second component (42) for making the first sub-assembly (412), and a second pre-assembly group (92) suitable for pre-assembling a third component (43) and a fourth component (44) for making the second sub-assembly (434), and wherein the receiving component (401) is suitable for remaining in the stationary status also during the pre-assembly of said first and second sub-assemblies (412, 434).
  14. Assembly plant (9) according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the grabbing device (70) is positioned on a work surface (700) parallel to a ground surface and wherein the first (1) and second manipulator arm (2) are suitable for mutually integrally translating along a vertical direction (Z) perpendicular to said work surface (700).
  15. Assembly plant (9) according to claim 12 or 13 or 14, wherein the grabbing device (70) comprises a support seat (71) suitable for firmly accommodating a receiving component (401) in such a manner that the receiving seat (40) faces upwards, that is, on the opposite side with respect to the work surface (700).
  16. An assembly line comprising an assembly plant (9) according to any one of claims 12 to 15.
  17. Assembly line according to the preceding claim and comprising: - a transport system suitable for allowing the advancement, along an advancing axis (X) parallel to the ground surface, of a succession of pallets (70) each suitable for transporting at least one receiving component (401); - an electronic control unit suitable for sending a stop signal to said transport system so that the transport system allows the grabbing device (70) to stop at the assembly station so as to keep the respective receiving component in stationary status, and said electronic control unit being suitable for sending a restart signal to said transport system only at the end of the assembly operations in the assembly station so that the transport system activates the advancement of the grabbing device (70) for bringing the receiving component (401) out of the stationary status and along the advancing axis (X) only once the assembly of the at least two sub-assemblies (412, 434) with the receiving component (401) in the assembly station is complete.

Description

Field of application The present invention relates to a method for assembling multicomponent items, an assembly plant, and an assembly line comprising said assembly plant. The present invention is applied, in particular but not exclusively, in the assembly of hinges for furniture doors. In the field of plants for assembling multicomponent items, it is necessary for the machines to be capable of manufacturing increased volumes in a short time. Indeed, only in the presence of such features may be the cost of the plant be amortized in a short time and the investment be remunerative. Therefore, in the field of manufacturing machines for such plants, the tendency exists to create increasingly fast lines, at times capable of manufacturing tens of thousands of items a day. It is thus essential to improve the individual assembly plants of a line so as to optimize the assembly processes to obtain improved productivity of the individual plant, which has a positive effect on the production capacity of the entire line. Disadvantageously, assembly plants for multicomponent items of the background art do not allow achieving increased levels of productivity, which are required today to meet the current market needs. An example of such a plant is known from document CN 112247554 A. Moreover, disadvantageously assembly plants for multicomponent items of the background art are capable of performing one assembly operation alone for each stationary status of the component receiving the assembly, where stationary status means the status in which the receiving component, e.g., the wing of a hinge, for example placed on a grabbing device (e.g., a pallet or a laying base) remains available for a same assembly station without undergoing operations and/or moving. In other words, the stationary status of a component (and hence preferably also of the related grabbing device) indicates the same remaining in the same assembly station. For example, without losing in generality, in the stationary status, the component actually remains stationary in the assembly station, for example, when this is placed on a pallet which slides along an assembly line, and stops at the station, or it is kept in movement, for example, when the receiving component is placed on a rotary table or on a laying station, but it remains in the same assembly status. Therefore, known assembly lines generally provide several series of individual assembly stations, each being associated with a respective stationary status in which the component receives in assembly one single component at a time and is involved in each assembly operation. This disadvantageously affects the length of the assembly line and the use of excessive resources to create each station/plant, with apparent disadvantages in terms of overall volumes within the production sites, clearly in addition to the production times of each individual multicomponent item which must cross many stations before being terminated. In the present disclosure, for convenience and generality of definition, reference will be generally made to a grabbing device for a multicomponent item to preferably, but not exclusively, indicate a pallet suitable for be moved on an assembly line, or a laying on a rotary table or, in general, any laying base, suitable for remain fixed or moving while the receiving component is in its stationary status. Solution of the invention Therefore, the need is strongly felt to provide an assembly method, an assembly plant and an assembly line for multicomponent items capable of overcoming the drawbacks typical of the background art and which meet the production needs of the industry. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to accelerate the assembly operations of a multicomponent item, e.g., a hinge. Moreover, it is the object of the present invention to also simplify the assembly operations so as to increase the production volumes, time of the multicomponent item assembly stations according to the background art being equal. It is a further object of the present invention to increase the flexibility of the line, i.e., to adapt the assembly line quickly and automatically to construction variants of the multicomponent item, thus only affecting the sub-steps of the assembly, without acting on the development of the main line. Such a need is met by a method for assembling multicomponent items, by an assembly plant and by an assembly line according to the appended independent claims. The claims dependent thereon describe preferred or advantageous embodiments of the invention, involving further advantageous aspects. Description of the drawings The features and advantages of the present invention will however become apparent from the following description of some preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of non-limiting indication, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a multicomponent item which can be assembled according to an embo