Process arrangement for carrying out a fully automatic setting process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12447567-B2
Application number	US-202218551625-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2022
Priority date	Jun 15, 2021
Publication date	Oct 21, 2025
Grant date	Oct 21, 2025

Abstract

A process arrangement for carrying out a fully automatic setting process, in which a setting device drives a clip element into a component pilot hole. The process arrangement has a transfer unit, in particular a robot, to which the setting device is attached, and the transfer unit is adjustable between a pickup position, in which the setting device grabs the clip element, and a setting position, in which the setting device drives the clip element into the component pilot hole.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process arrangement for carrying out a fully automatic setting process, in which a setting device drives a clip element into a component pilot hole, wherein the process arrangement has a transfer unit, a robot, to which the setting device is attached, and wherein the transfer unit is adjustable between a pickup position, in which the setting device grabs the clip element, and a setting position, in which the setting device drives the clip element into the component pilot hole; wherein the setting process starts after a transfer process, and, in order to carry out the setting process, the transfer unit is initially moved into its setting position and remains stationary there, and a setting piston with the clip element held thereon is moved from a retracted end position along a setting stroke into an extended end position in which the clip element is driven in by the setting piston, and, after the clip element has been driven into the component pilot hole, the setting piston is returned into its retracted end position, and the setting piston has a centering element by which a transverse movement of the clip element at a setting piston contact surface is prevented during the transfer process, and during the setting process in the course of the setting stroke, the centering element is brought out of centering engagement with the clip element, whereby the transverse movement of the clip element at the setting piston contact surface is allowed in order to realize a floating clip element support, by which a positional deviation between the component pilot hole and the clip element is compensated.

2. The process arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the process arrangement has a supply station in which clip elements are stored as bulk material, and clip element separation takes place by the supply station, in which at least one clip element is supplied in the pickup position, so that an automatic clip element transfer to the setting device is carried out, and the setting piston which is adjusted linearly along an adjustable stroke which is adjusted between the retracted end position and the extended end position in which the clip element is driven into the component pilot hole, and in the transfer unit pickup position, the setting piston grabs the clip element, by negative pressure, so that the clip element is transferred with the transfer unit to the setting position, and the setting piston has at least one suction opening which is connected to a vacuum source and by which the clip element is brought into suction contact with the setting piston contact surface.

3. The process arrangement according to claim 2 , wherein the centering element is a centering sleeve which is elastically resiliently supported on the setting piston in the setting direction, and, during the transfer process and at the start of the setting process, the centering sleeve projects beyond the setting piston with an axial projection, and in the course of the setting stroke, the centering sleeve comes into contact with an opening edge region of the component pilot hole, while the stroke of the setting piston is further adjusted, using up an axial protrusion, until the extended setting piston end position is reached, and, in the pickup position, the clip element is deposited on a ground surface of the supply station, and a positioning aid has a positioning aid head and a positioning aid shaft, and the positioning aid extends over a component length which corresponds to the sum of the setting stroke and a clip element component length, so that for determining the spatial coordinates of the industrial robot in the pickup position the positioning aid is held with its positioning aid head on the setting piston and is centered by a centering tip and a centering hole, and the industrial robot places the positioning aid without program control, by a programmer, with its shaft tip on a base surface of the supply station in the correct position, and the spatial coordinates thereby assumed by the industrial robot is stored in the program control as pickup position coordinates.

4. The process arrangement according to claim 3 , wherein the clip element has an element head which is extended by an element shaft, and, in the assembled state, the element shaft projects into the component pilot hole and the element head is supported on the opening edge region of the component pilot hole, and the positioning aid shaft is inserted into the component pilot hole with a small hole clearance, and a ring collar is formed on the positioning aid shaft, wherein the ring collar is spaced apart from the positioning aid head in an axial direction by an axial offset which corresponds to a setting stroke travel, so that, for determining the spatial coordinates of the industrial robot in the setting position, the positioning aid is held with its positioning aid head on the setting piston and is centered by the centering tip and the centering hole, in suction contact, and the industrial robot positions the positioning aid without program control, by a programmer, with its shaft tip into the component pilot hole until the ring collar is in contact with the opening edge region of the component pilot hole, and the spatial coordinates thereby assumed by the industrial robot is stored as setting position coordinates in the program control.

5. The process arrangement according to claim 4 , wherein the clip element is equipped with a sealing ring which, in the assembled state, is positioned between an element head underside and the opening edge region of the pilot hole, and in the setting process, a setting force is dimensioned in such a way that, on the one hand, a retaining mechanism, of the clip element is reliably triggered and, on the other hand, the sealing ring is elastically deformed, building up a sealing effect.

6. The process arrangement according to claim 3 , wherein the positioning aid held by the setting piston projects axially beyond the centering sleeve by an oversize, so that when the positioning aid is inserted into the component pilot hole, a free annular gap remains between the centering sleeve and the component, so that the position of the positioning aid is checked by visual inspection.

7. The process arrangement according to claim 2 , wherein, in order to carry out a pickup process, the transfer unit is initially moved into the pickup position and remains stationary there, and the setting piston is then moved from its retracted end position along the setting stroke into the extended end position, in which the setting piston grabs the clip element, and at the end of the pickup process, the setting piston with the clip element held thereon is returned to the retracted end position, and the transfer process starts after the pickup process has been completed.

8. The process arrangement according to claim 2 , wherein the setting process starts after the transfer process, and, in order to carry out the setting process, the transfer unit is initially be moved into its setting position and remains stationary there, and the setting piston with the clip element held thereon is then moved from the retracted end position along the setting stroke into the extended end position in which the clip element is driven in by the setting piston, and, after the clip element has been driven into the component pilot hole, the setting piston is returned into its retracted end position, and the setting piston has a centering element by which a transverse movement of the clip element at the setting piston contact surface is prevented during the transfer process, and during the setting process in the course of the setting stroke, the centering element is brought out of centering engagement with the clip element, whereby a transverse moveme

Assignees

• Audi Ag

Inventors

• Hornbostel Norbert
• Wrede Frank

Classifications

• H01M10/0404

  Machines for assembling batteries · CPC title

• B65G47/91

  incorporating pneumatic, e.g. suction, grippers · CPC title

• B23P19/08

  Machines for placing washers, circlips, or the like on bolts or other members · CPC title

• B23P19/007

  Picking-up and placing mechanisms · CPC title

• B23P19/04 Primary

  for assembling or disassembling parts · CPC title