Abstract:
A portable panel position detector for determining the orientation of panels being serially moved on a transfer line into a downstream panel treatment facility comprising a pair of support towers laterally spaced to allow the passage of line supported panels therethrough. The spaced support towers operatively mount elongated and vertically extending sensor strips in opposing spaced relationship that defines clearance-determining gating between the towers. In the event a panel moving through the restricted gate is not properly orientated on the transfer line, at least one sensor strip or a portion thereof will be deflected by physical contact with the panel moving therethrough. The displaced strip effects the triggering of an alarm that advises a transfer line attendant that the panel is improperly loaded. The panel can be appropriately repositioned on the transfer line so that it can successfully pass through the treatment facility without damage.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to a detection system which detects the orientation of articles such as automotive body panels as loaded and positioned onto hanger racks of a conveyer which subsequently moves the articles through a treatment facility to prevent damage to the facility or articles by physical contact therebetween. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Prior to the present invention, panels and other components for automobiles bodies have been produced by equipment such as forming dies operatively mounted in a press. These components are generally mass-produced and put on transfer lines and serially transmitted through cleaning stations or other facilities for addition treatment. For example, body panels may be formed from metal sheet stock in a forming die procedure and then removed from the dies and loaded on a transfer line and moved through a wash station where foreign substances such as lubricants are removed from the panels. After leaving the wash station, the panels can be further handled and worked for eventual use as an automotive body part. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In the present invention, a portable panel position detector is positioned at a selected station along the transfer line and between a panel production facility and a downstream panel treatment station. The detector in one preferred embodiment of this invention has a base formed with a lower guide way that guides line transfer hangers with panels loaded thereon through gating operatively supported by a pair of upright towers. The gating incorporates a pair of opposing and vertically extending panel position sensor or detection strips. The sensor strips define clearance space therebetween that is substantially equal to the minimum clearance needed by the panel to go through the treatment station. The strips are pivotally supported on the towers and movable by contact with a panel improperly positioned on a hanger to an alarm triggering position. A line attendant reacting to the alarm can correctly reposition the panel on the hanger so that it can readily go through the station. A panel successfully negotiating the detection clearance space can successfully negotiate and be treated by the downstream treatment station without damage. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved panel detector for a panel transfer line so that panels improperly oriented on the transfer line will physically contact at least one pair of sensor strips defining a predetermined clearance effecting the deflection thereof which triggers signals advising of the panel misorientation so that it can be repositioned on the line for successful treatment by a downstream panel treatment facility. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved article position detector which reduces or eliminates the transfer of improperly hung articles through an article treatment station where damage to the articles and components of the facility could otherwise occur because of physical contact between the panels and components of the treatment facility. 
     Still another object of the invention to provide a new and improved panel position detector which provides for damage avoidance to panels when transmitted through a panel treatment station. The detector is portable and self-contained with a battery-energized alarm system carried thereon. 
     These and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and drawings in which: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of the panel position detector positioned along an article transfer line that leads through a panel treatment station; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged pictorial view of a portion of the detector of FIG. 1 illustrating panel position-detecting parts thereof; 
     FIG. 3 is a top view of the parts of FIG. 2 being actuated by a misorientated panel moving through the position detector; 
     FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram utilized with the position detector constructions of FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Turning now in detail to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a portable part position detector  10  located in operative alignment with an overhead part transfer line  12 . The line has hangers  14 , which operatively attach to a powered chain or cable  16  movable through an overhead stationary guide  18 . Each hanger comprises an upper elongated support plate  20  operatively attached to the chain and oriented in alignment therewith. The support plates  20  have vertically suspended support rods  22  depending therefrom which terminate in cylindrical guide end portion  24  that are guided through the part position detector as described hereinafter. 
     Each of the support rods  22  has upper and lower panel support jaws  26 ,  28  for supporting automotive body panel  30  thereon. As shown in FIG. 1, the lower jaw  28  includes an extending support plate with an inboard sleeve which slidably receives the support rod  22 . Stops  31  fixed to the rods  22  adjacent to guide end portions  24  establish the lower position of the bottom or lower jaws  28 . The lower jaws are formed with a plurality of V-shaped panel retainer notches in the jaw plate thereof, either of which may receive the lower or bottom edge of the panel. Multiple V notches are used to accept various size and shaped panels for support and transfer through the wash station. 
     The upper support jaw  26  is generally similar in construction to the lower jaw. The upper jaw  26  has a flattened upper jaw plate, which extends from an inboard sleeve  34 , which slidably receives the associated support rod  22 . Stops  36  fixed to the support rod and below sleeve  34  establish the limit of travel of the upper jaw toward the lower jaw. The upper jaw plate is formed with at least one downwardly-extending V-notch therein for operatively engaging and retaining the top edge of the automotive body panel  30 . 
     The body panel  30  is loaded onto the hanger  14  by engaging the upper edge thereof with the V-notches in the plate of the upper jaws  26  and displacing the upper jaws on the associated support rods  22  until the lower jaws are cleared by the lower edge of the panel. After alignment with the appropriate V-notches in the lower jaws, the panel  30  is simply lowered so that the lower edge engages the selected V-shaped retainer notch. The upper jaws maintain engagement with the upper edge of the panel and follow the lowering of the panel  30  by force of gravity. The panel is accordingly gripped in a proper vertical orientation by the hangers for subsequent transfer through the washing station  40 . 
     However, in the event that the panel is misarranged on the carrier (such as being placed cross-wise in the notches of the lower jaws, for example), it may project therefrom to interfere with its transfer through the wash station and be damaged by such interference. Accordingly, the panel position detector  10  can be employed at any selected position along the transfer line where it can detect misoriented panels being transferred through a downstream treatment facility  40 . 
     The chain  16  of the transfer line  12  carries the hangers  14  past a part production facility where the panels are serially loaded thereon and then sent through the part position detector  10  and subsequently through the part treatment station  40 , such as a panel washing station. The station is defined by an enclosure or housing  42  which has a plurality of spray nozzles  44  mounted on the opposing internal walls thereof that direct pressurized sprays of cleaning fluid on the panels as they pass through the confines of the housing to clean the panels of foreign materials including lubricants that are employed in the manufacture of the panels. 
     The lateral space or clearance between opposing spray nozzles  44  is limited, and unless the panels are carefully positioned in appropriate orientation on the hangers  14 , the nozzles may contact the panels as they are being transferred therethrough. This contact can cause damage to the panels, nozzles, transfer equipment or other associated components, resulting in scraped parts and downtime of the line for repair. Such scrappage and downtime is costly and inefficient, particularly where mass production lines are employed to effectively move panels from a forming station to a cleaned and finished panel delivery station as rapidly as practical. 
     Accordingly, the panel position detector  10  is designed to quickly and accurately advise line attendants as to the alignment or orientation of the panels being transferred by the transfer line and in particular with respect to the clearance space existing between the opposing spray nozzles  44  in the wash station  40 . 
     In one preferred embodiment of this invention, the part position detector  10  is a portable unit that can be positioned in any selected location along the transfer line  12 . The detector  10  comprises a flattened support base plate  46  of metal to which upstanding forward hanger guide walls  48  are welded or otherwise attached. As shown in FIG. 1, the guide walls  48  are configured as a weir or funnel leading into a centralized entrance  50  that leads into an elongated lower and straight guide way  52  formed between laterally-spaced interior walls  54  that receives and guides the lower ends  24  of the hangers  14  as they pass through the detector. The lower guideway may be dimensioned and designed to duplicate the lower guideway of the entrance of the wash station. The detector  10  further comprises a pair of laterally-spaced uprights  58  of angle iron or other suitable material securely fastened at their lower ends to the upstanding peripheral side and end walls  60 ,  62  of the base. Internal support or reinforcing walls  63  operatively extend between walls  60  and  54  as desired. 
     The uprights  58  are further supported by a pair of elongated and angled braces  64 , each of which angularly extends from connection with an upper portion of the associated upright  58  to the connection with the aligned peripheral side wall  60  of the base as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     Horizontally-extending and vertically-spaced support members  66 ,  66 ′ and  66 ″ extend from attachment with each of the uprights  58  to attachment with the associated angled brace  64  as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. This construction accordingly provides two laterally-spaced and upright support tower structures A- 1  and A- 2  that are substantially identical and flank the centralized guide way  52 . The space between the towers is restricted by a pair of laterally-spaced and elongated panel contact or sensor strips  70  that extend vertically and are secured on the outboard end of swing arms  72 . These strips are adjustably mounted on the swing arms by bolt and slot connections  73  so that the clearance “c” can be readily adjusted to suit various sized panels and treatment stations. Preferably, the strips  70  are made from a thin resilient metal material, but other material can be employed as desired. The swing arms  72  are in turn pivotally supported by vertical pivots  74  extending upwardly from base plate  76  secured by fasteners  78  to an associated horizontal support member  66 ,  66 ′ or  66 ″. 
     The outboard end of each of the swing arms  72  is provided with an opening  80  which receives an end hook of a helical coil spring  82  that also has its other end formed with a hook  84  which is received in an opening in the outboard end of an arm  86  extending laterally from the main body of the base plate  76 . 
     The spring  82  normally contracts to turn the swing arms  72  on pivots  74  to a stop position against the head  88  of an adjustable stop  90 . This stop comprises an adjustable shank that threads through the head  92  of a vertically-extending attachment bolt  93  secured to the base plate  76 . A knurled nut  94  threaded on the end of the shank holds the shank in an adjusted position to establish the position of stop head  88  and thereby the position of vertically-extending sensor strips  70  and the clearance “c” between the two sensor strips supported by towers A- 1  and A- 2 . 
     As shown best in FIGS. 2 and 3, each of the swing arms  72  carries a protruding contact  98  on the outboard side thereof located between the pivot  74  and the associated sensor strip  70 . The contact is adapted to engage an elongated switch arm  100  here provided by a flexible coiled member operatively extending from the body of an electric switch  102  fastened to the associated support member  66 ,  66 ′ and  66 ″ of the associated tower A- 1  or A- 2 . 
     When the switch arm  100  is displaced by the contact  98  in response to a panel  30  going through the pivotal gating provided by the strips  70  (see directional arrow A in FIG.  3 ), one or more of the switches will close to complete a circuit  106  shown in FIG. 4 that is energized by battery  108 . The circuit  106  including the six illustrated switches S- 1  through S- 6  (each corresponding to switch  102 ) and the battery  108  are entirely supported on the detector  10  and thereby form a part thereof to provide a self-contained unit which can be positioned along the transfer line. When the circuit  106  is completed, the relay is energized to effect closure of the relay coil  110  switch K- 1  in parallel with the relay coil  110 . On closure of the relay switch K- 1 , the relay circuit is completed to effect the sounding of speaker or buzzer  112  in the relay circuitry. This audible signal notifies a line attendant that a panel is out of position on hangers  14  and repositioning is required before the panel  30  can be successfully sent through the wash station  40  without physically contacting the spray nozzles. 
     After panels  30  pass between the sensor or detection strips in a manner that one on them displaces the strips to turn the associated swing arm or arms to sound the buzzer, springs  82  contract to swing the arms  72  against stop  88 . This again establishes the allowable clearance “c” between the sensor strips needed for successful panel transfer through the wash station. The relay circuit, however, remains energized until the reset button  114  is depressed to break the relay circuit and de-energize the relay coil  110 . When relay coil  110  is de-energized, relay switch K- 1  is moved to an open position by a spring or other mechanism not shown. The horn or buzzer, of course, terminates sounding of the audible signal so that the panel position indicator is again set to determine the position of panels being transferred therethrough by transfer line  12 . 
     It is readily apparent that the above-described constructions have potential for wide commercial utility. It should therefore be understood that the specific form of the invention hereinabove described is intended to be representative only, as other modifications within the scope of these teachings will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following claims setting forth the scope of the invention.