Patent Description:
At a manufacturing site of vehicles or industrial machinery, automation of work of applying a viscous material to a joining part of two components is underway. For example, PTL <NUM> discloses a viscous material coating apparatus that can be applied to an automobile manufacturing site. This apparatus includes a mixing head attached to a robot hand and discharging a sealant while moving along a predetermined locus.

PTL <NUM> discloses a bonding device and bonding method comprising a process for setting a work, a process for coating the work with a first adhesive, a process for coating the work with a second adhesive at a position different from the position to which the first adhesive is applied, a process for stirring the first and the second adhesives applied to the work and a process for placing a part to be bonded on the stirred adhesives.

PTL <NUM> discloses an application device for applying and spreading an application liquid to and on a predetermined application area of a target surface, which is capable of smearing the application liquid on the application area.

In some situations, air may get inside the applied viscous material. In order to improve or stabilize construction quality, in viscous material coating work, work of bleeding air that has entered inside the viscous material may be performed incidentally.

This incidental work is performed manually by a worker at the manufacturing site, which places a heavy burden on the worker. In order to stably maintain the construction quality under such circumstances, it is essential to train workers skilled in the incidental work, but this requires a great deal of time and money.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method that contribute to labor saving of work accompanying viscous material coating work.

A viscous material stirring apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is defined in claim <NUM>.

A viscous material stirring method according to one aspect of the present invention is defined in claim <NUM>.

According to the above-described apparatus and method, the stirring member moves in the coating direction of the viscous material while eccentrically rotating with the tip of the stirring member immersed in the viscous material. The applied viscous material is stirred by the tip of the stirring member. Thus, even if air enters inside the viscous material, the air can be extracted from a periphery of the eccentrically rotating stirring member to the outside of the viscous material. In this way, air bleeding work can be automated by operating the rotary actuator and the moving mechanism.

According to the present invention, an apparatus and a method which contribute to labor saving of work accompanying viscous material coating work can be provided.

The same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference signs throughout the drawings, and redundant detailed description will be omitted.

<FIG>and <FIG> show a manufacturing site to which a viscous material stirring apparatus <NUM> (hereinafter, simply referred to as "stirring apparatus <NUM>") according to Embodiment <NUM> is applied. In this manufacturing site, a viscous material <NUM> is applied to a joining part <NUM> of workpieces <NUM> and <NUM> formed by overlapping or abutting the two workpieces <NUM> and <NUM>.

As an example of a manufacturing site, a manufacturing site of a vehicle (for example, an aircraft or an automobile) or industrial machinery (for example, a construction machine, an agricultural machine, or a machine tool) can be cited.

In the present embodiment, as an example, the workpieces <NUM> and <NUM> are plate-shaped, and the joining part <NUM> is formed by overlapping the workpieces <NUM> and <NUM>. The joining part <NUM> is formed by a surface of the first workpiece <NUM> and a side end surface of the second workpiece <NUM>, forms a right angle, and extends along the side end surface of the second workpiece <NUM>. At an aircraft manufacturing site, the workpieces <NUM> and <NUM> may be segments constituting a cylindrical fuselage.

The viscous material <NUM> is a material having viscosity such as a sealant or an adhesive. As an example, the viscous material <NUM> has a viscosity of <NUM> to <NUM> Pa · s when applied under a normal temperature environment (for example, <NUM> to <NUM>). However, both the sealant and the adhesive harden (the viscosity increases) with the lapse of time after being applied to the joining part <NUM> due to influence of moisture or heating at the manufacturing site.

<FIG> shows work of applying the viscous material <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, a discharge head <NUM> that discharges the viscous material <NUM> is used in the work of applying the viscous material <NUM>. By a head moving mechanism (not shown), the discharge head <NUM> can be moved close to or away from the joining part <NUM>, and can be moved in an extending direction of the joining part <NUM>. In the coating work, while the discharge head <NUM> is operated to discharge the viscous material <NUM> to the joining part <NUM>, the head moving mechanism is operated to move the discharge head <NUM> in the extending direction of the joining part <NUM> while appropriately maintaining a clearance between the discharge head <NUM> and the joining part <NUM>. By adjusting discharge speed and moving speed, an amount (a volume or weight) of the viscous material <NUM> applied to the joining part <NUM> while the discharge head <NUM> moves by the unit distance is adjusted to fall within a range required for a product. Hereinafter, the amount is referred to as "coating amount".

By this coating work, the viscous material <NUM> is applied along the extending direction of the joining part <NUM>. In the present embodiment, the viscous material <NUM> is provided so as to straddle the surface of the first workpiece <NUM> and the side end surface of the second workpiece <NUM>, and is provided in a bead shape along the extending direction of the joining part <NUM>. Thus, the viscous material <NUM> fills a gap between the workpieces <NUM> and <NUM>. Hereinafter, the extending direction of the viscous material applied in the bead shape is also referred to as "coating direction".

As shown in a cross section of the viscous material <NUM> in <FIG>, when viewed from outside, even if the viscous material <NUM> is provided so as to straddle the two workpieces <NUM> and <NUM> as described above, air <NUM> may enter an inside thereof. In that case, a contact area of the viscous material <NUM> with the workpieces <NUM> and <NUM> becomes smaller than expected. Then, the viscous material <NUM> is easily peeled off from the workpieces <NUM> and <NUM>, and a period in which required performance (for example, sealing performance or joining performance) can be obtained satisfactorily may be shorter than expected. Note that, as an example of a situation in which the air <NUM> enters, a case where a coating amount required for a product is large can be cited.

At this manufacturing site, after the work of applying the viscous material <NUM>, work of bleeding the air <NUM> that has entered the inside of the viscous material <NUM> is performed incidentally. Previously, the air bleeding work has been manually performed by an operator using a comb tool made of wood or synthetic resin, but the stirring apparatus <NUM> is applied to the manufacturing site for automation of the air bleeding work.

The stirring apparatus <NUM> includes a stirring member <NUM>. The stirring member <NUM> rotates around a rotation axis A, and its tip is radially separated from the rotation axis A. The stirring apparatus <NUM> causes the tip of the stirring member <NUM> to be immersed in the viscous material <NUM> applied to the joining part <NUM> in the coating work, and in this state, causes the stirring member <NUM> to turn around the rotation axis A and move the stirring member <NUM> along the coating direction. Here, the "turn" includes not only rotation about the rotation axis A but also revolution about the rotation axis A or eccentric rotation about the rotation axis A. Thereby, the air <NUM> that has entered the inside of the viscous material <NUM> can be removed, whereby the viscous material <NUM> properly contacts the workpieces <NUM> and <NUM>, and a service life of the viscous material <NUM> is extended (a repair frequency is reduced). Hereinafter, a configuration and operation of the stirring apparatus <NUM> will be described in more detail.

<FIG> is a conceptual view showing the stirring apparatus <NUM>, and <FIG> is a block diagram showing the stirring apparatus <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the stirring apparatus <NUM> includes a rotary actuator <NUM>, a moving mechanism <NUM>, and a control device <NUM>, in addition to the stirring member <NUM> described above. The rotary actuator <NUM> rotates the stirring member <NUM> around the rotation axis A. The rotary actuator <NUM> is configured by, for example, an electric motor. The moving mechanism <NUM> moves the stirring member <NUM>. The moving mechanism <NUM> is, for example, a vertical articulated robot, and includes a robot arm <NUM> having a plurality of (e.g., six) joints and a plurality (the same number of joints) of moving actuators <NUM> (see <FIG>) each driving each of the plurality of joints.

In the present embodiment, the stirring member <NUM> and the rotary actuator <NUM> are unitized by being held by a holding member <NUM>, and the stirring member <NUM>, the rotary actuator <NUM>, and the holding member <NUM> constitute a stirring head <NUM>. The holding member <NUM> is detachably attached to a tip of the robot arm <NUM>. When the robot arm <NUM> of the moving mechanism <NUM> operates, the holding member <NUM> and the stirring member <NUM> held by the holding member <NUM> move together with the rotary actuator <NUM>.

As an example, a base of the robot arm <NUM> is installed on a floor of a work site. The workpieces <NUM> and <NUM> are held by a jig <NUM> installed on the floor of the manufacturing site, and positioned within a movable range of the robot arm <NUM>. However, the base of the robot arm <NUM> may be slidably supported by a traveling rail installed on the floor of the manufacturing site, in which case the moving mechanism <NUM> includes the traveling rail and a traveling actuator that causes the robot arm <NUM> to travel along the traveling rail. The base of the robot arm <NUM> may be supported by a pedestal installed on the floor of the manufacturing site.

As shown in <FIG>, the rotary actuator <NUM> and the moving actuator <NUM> of the moving mechanism <NUM> are controlled by the control device <NUM>. The control device <NUM> is, for example, a computer having a memory such as a ROM or a RAM and a CPU, and a program stored in the ROM is executed by the CPU. The control device <NUM> may be a single device or may be divided into a plurality of devices.

In the present embodiment, the program stored in the ROM includes a program that teaches a movement locus and moving speed of the tip of the robot arm <NUM>, and execution of the program (i.e., playback) can cause the holding member <NUM> and the stirring member <NUM> held by this to move as taught in advance. The program stored in the ROM includes a program for deriving a command value of rotation speed of the rotary actuator <NUM>, and the rotation speed of the rotary actuator <NUM> and thus the stirring member <NUM> is controlled by executing the program.

The control device <NUM> is connected to an operation panel <NUM>. The operation panel <NUM> is operated by an operator at the manufacturing site. When a command to start the air bleeding work is input by the operator at the operation panel <NUM>, the CPU of the control device <NUM> executes the above-described program, and the stirring member <NUM> is turned and moved.

<FIG>is a cross-sectional view of the holding member <NUM> according to Embodiment <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the holding member <NUM> has a holding unit <NUM> for holding the stirring member <NUM> and the rotary actuator <NUM> and a mounting unit <NUM> integrated with the holding unit <NUM>. Although not shown in detail, the mounting unit <NUM> is formed in a disk shape and is detachably attached to the tip of the robot arm <NUM>. The holding unit <NUM> is formed in a tubular shape with both ends opened. The holding unit <NUM> may be a cylinder other than the illustrated rectangular tube.

When the rotary actuator <NUM> is configured by the electric motor as described above, the rotary actuator <NUM> includes a housing <NUM> containing a rotor and a stator, a flange <NUM> provided at one end of the housing <NUM>, and an output shaft <NUM> protruding from the flange <NUM> to a side opposite to the housing <NUM>. The rotary actuator <NUM> is held by the holding member <NUM> by fastening the flange <NUM> to one end of the holding unit <NUM> in a state in which the output shaft <NUM> is inserted into the holding unit <NUM> through one end opening of the holding unit <NUM>. A spacer <NUM> may be interposed between the holding unit <NUM> and the flange <NUM>.

The stirring member <NUM> includes a driven body <NUM> and a stirring body <NUM>. In the present embodiment, the driven body <NUM> has a driven shaft <NUM> and a disk body <NUM>. The driven shaft <NUM> is partially accommodated in the holding unit <NUM> through another end opening of the holding unit <NUM>, and one end of the driven shaft <NUM> is connected to the output shaft <NUM> of the rotary actuator <NUM> via a shaft coupling <NUM> in the holding unit <NUM>. Another end of the driven shaft <NUM> is located outside the holding unit <NUM>. The driven shaft <NUM> is rotatably supported by bearings <NUM> and <NUM> provided in the holding unit <NUM>. The disk body <NUM> is fixed to the other end of the driven shaft <NUM>, and is positioned outside the holding unit <NUM>. The stirring body <NUM> is attached to the disk body <NUM> of the driven body <NUM> and protrudes from the disk body <NUM> to a side opposite to the driven shaft <NUM> and the rotary actuator <NUM>. The stirring body <NUM> forms a tip of the stirring member <NUM>.

In the present embodiment, the output shaft <NUM>, the driven shaft <NUM>, and the disk body <NUM> are coaxially arranged, and a central axis thereof forms the rotation axis A of the stirring member <NUM>. However, the output shaft <NUM> does not have to be arranged coaxially with the driven shaft <NUM>. For example, the two shafts <NUM> and <NUM> may be connected via an orthogonal shaft gear or a staggered shaft gear. In this case, the gear can be provided with a speed reducing function. However, even in a case of the coaxial arrangement, the speed reducing function may be provided by interposing a strain wave gearing.

When the rotary actuator <NUM> operates and the output shaft <NUM> rotates, the stirring member <NUM> (the driven body <NUM> and the stirring body <NUM>) is driven to rotate around the rotation axis A. The stirring body <NUM> is attached to the disk body <NUM> via an eccentric amount adjusting mechanism <NUM>, and as shown in <FIG>, a tip of the stirring body <NUM> (that is, the tip of the stirring member <NUM>) is radially away from the rotation axis A. When the stirring member <NUM> rotates around the rotation axis A, if the tip of the stirring body <NUM> is focused, this tip revolves or rotates eccentrically around the rotation axis A. Hereinafter, a radial distance of the tip of the stirring member <NUM> from the rotation axis A is referred to as "eccentric amount e". The eccentric amount adjusting mechanism <NUM> can adjust a mounting position of the stirring body <NUM> to the driven body <NUM> (disk body <NUM>), which thereby can adjust the eccentric amount e [mm]. As an example, the eccentric amount e can be adjusted within a range of <NUM> to <NUM>.

<FIG> is an exploded perspective view of the eccentric amount adjusting mechanism <NUM>, and <FIG> is a perspective view showing the eccentric amount adjusting mechanism <NUM> in an assembled state. As an example, the eccentric amount adjusting mechanism <NUM> includes a slider <NUM> and a male screw <NUM> provided on the stirring body <NUM>, and a groove <NUM> provided on the disk body <NUM>. The eccentric amount adjusting mechanism <NUM> further includes a washer <NUM> and nuts <NUM>.

The stirring body <NUM> is formed in a rod shape and extends linearly, for example. The tip of the stirring body <NUM> is tapered. In the illustrated example, it is formed in a hemispherical shape and rounded, but may be formed in a conical shape and sharpened.

The slider <NUM> is fixed to a base end of the stirring body <NUM>. In other words, the stirring body <NUM> is provided so as to protrude from a center of the slider <NUM>. As an example, the slider <NUM> is formed in a square block shape when viewed in a direction of the rotation axis A. The male screw <NUM> is located at the base end of the stirring body <NUM> and slightly closer to the tip side thereof than the slider <NUM>, and is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the stirring body <NUM>.

The groove <NUM> is formed linearly along a diameter direction of the disk body <NUM> (one direction orthogonal to the rotation axis A). The groove <NUM> includes a penetrating part 28a that extends linearly inside the disk body <NUM> and opens through a peripheral surface of the disk body <NUM> and an opening part 28b formed on an end surface of the disk body <NUM> to open the penetrating part 28a outside the disk body <NUM>. The penetrating part 28a and the opening part 28b are parallel. The slider <NUM> is received inside the penetrating part 28a through an opening formed on the peripheral surface of the disk body <NUM>, and is slidable in an extending direction of the groove <NUM> in the penetrating part 28a. A height h28b of the opening part 28b is smaller than a height h26 of the slider <NUM> and larger than an outer diameter ϕ22 of the stining body <NUM>. Therefore, when the slider <NUM> is received by the penetrating part 28a, the stirring body <NUM> can protrude out of the disk body <NUM> through the opening part 28b, whereas the slider <NUM> is prevented from falling off.

When the slider <NUM> is received inside the penetrating part 28a, the male screw <NUM> is positioned outside the disk body <NUM> and near the end surface of the disk body <NUM>. The washer <NUM> is inserted through the stirring body <NUM> from the tip side of the stirring body <NUM>, and then the nuts <NUM> are fastened to the male screw <NUM>. By this fastening, the disk body <NUM> is sandwiched between the slider <NUM> and the washer <NUM>, and the stirring body <NUM> is fixed to the driven body <NUM>. A through bolt type fastening structure is employed, and the slider <NUM> has the same function as a bolt head in the fastening structure. Before the fastening a position of the slider <NUM> in the penetrating part 28a is adjusted while sliding the slider <NUM>, thereby adjusting the eccentric amount e (see <FIG>). The eccentric amount e can be changed in accordance with a coating amount of the viscous material <NUM> to be subjected to air bleeding work, and air can be removed regardless of the coating amount of the viscous material <NUM>. Since a double nut type fastening structure is employed, the screw is not easily loosened, and the eccentric amount e after the fastening can be prevented from undesirably changing.

Air bleeding work using the stirring apparatus <NUM> having the above configuration starts when a command is input by an operator on the operation panel <NUM>. Note that operation of the actuator described below is based on the control of the control device <NUM>. When the command is input, the moving actuator <NUM> operates, a posture of the robot arm <NUM> and a position and a posture of the stirring member <NUM> change, and the tip of the stirring member <NUM> faces a stirring start position of the viscous material <NUM> applied to the joining part <NUM> as a result of the coating work (see <FIG> or <FIG>). When the viscous material <NUM> is applied in a line segment shape having both ends, the stirring start position is any end of the viscous material <NUM>. The viscous material <NUM> may be applied in a closed loop shape. In this case, the stirring start position is an arbitrary position of the viscous material <NUM> or a starting point/end point position of the coating work.

The moving actuator <NUM> continues to operate, and the tip of the stirring member <NUM> is immersed at the above-described stirring start position of the applied viscous material <NUM> (see <FIG> or <FIG>). The tip of the stirring member <NUM> (stirring body <NUM>) forms an immersion part 2a immersed inside the viscous material <NUM> (see <FIG>).

Referring to <FIG>, after this immersion step, the rotary actuator <NUM> operates, and the stirring member <NUM> turns around the rotation axis A At the same time, the moving actuator <NUM> operates, and the stirring member <NUM> moves along the coating direction of the viscous material <NUM> while the tip of the stirring member <NUM> is immersed in the viscous material <NUM>. The immersion part 2a moves in the coating direction from the stirring start position while rotating eccentrically with respect to the rotation axis A A movement locus T of the immersion part 2a is a series of a plurality of ellipses arranged in the coating direction.

The turning and moving steps of the stirring member <NUM> are performed until the immersion part 2a reaches a stirring end position of the viscous material <NUM>. When the viscous material <NUM> is applied in a line segment shape, the stirring end position is an end of the viscous material <NUM> opposite to the stirring start position. When the viscous material <NUM> is applied in a closed loop shape, the stirring end position is the same as the stirring start position. When the immersion part 2a moves to the stirring end position, the moving actuator <NUM> operates to retreat the stirring member <NUM> from the viscous material <NUM>. In this retreat step, before or during the retreat movement by the moving actuator <NUM>, the rotary actuator <NUM> stops and the turn of the stirring member <NUM> stops.

When the stirring member <NUM> is turned and moved while the tip of the stirring member <NUM> is immersed in the viscous material <NUM>, the immersion part 2a moves along the movement locus T while pushing away the viscous material <NUM>. Accordingly, the viscous material <NUM> is stirred by the immersion part 2a. In the viscous material <NUM>, a passage mark 95a of the immersion part 2a is formed on a downstream side of the movement locus T with respect to the immersion part 2a. The air that has entered the inside of the viscous material <NUM> flows out of the viscous material <NUM> around the immersion part 2a, particularly through the passage mark 95a.

The rotary actuator <NUM> rotates the stirring member <NUM> at a constant rotation speed n [rpm] (an angular velocity ω [rad/s] of the stirring member <NUM> is 2πn/<NUM>). The moving actuator <NUM> moves the stirring member <NUM> at a constant moving speed v [mm/s]. In this case, when a two-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system in which the coating direction is an x direction and a direction orthogonal to the coating direction and the direction of the rotation axis A is a y direction is assumed, the movement locus T of the immersion part 2a is represented in the following equation (<NUM>).

Here, t is elapsed time [s] from the start of rotation and movement of the immersion part 2a, and x is an x coordinate and y is a y coordinate after t seconds from the start of rotation and movement of the immersion part 2a Note that e, ω, and v are the above-described eccentric amount [mm], angular velocity [rad/s], and moving speed [mm/s].

As an example, the rotation speed n is set within a range of <NUM> to <NUM> rpm. By setting the speed relatively low in this way, the applied viscous material <NUM> is not disturbed, and the viscous material <NUM> can be stirred while maintaining a state in which the viscous material <NUM> is applied to the joining part <NUM>. In this case, if the moving speed v is too low, the movement locus T will be like a plurality of ellipses overlapping one another, and the viscous material <NUM> will be disturbed. If the moving speed v is too high, a plurality of ellipses will be arranged at a large interval in the coating direction, and an unstirred region will be created Therefore, the moving speed v is set so that a plurality of ellipses constituting the movement locus T circumscribes each other, overlaps with a small amount of overlap, or is arranged with a small clearance. As an example, the moving speed v is set in a range of <NUM> to <NUM>/min (<NUM> to <NUM>/s). Thereby, the air <NUM> can be uniformly discharged without disturbing the viscous material <NUM> regardless of the position in the coating direction.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the air bleeding work that has been performed manually until now can be automated. For this reason, it contributes to labor saving of work accompanying the viscous material coating work.

<FIG> is a perspective view showing a holding member <NUM> of a stirring apparatus <NUM> according to Embodiment <NUM>. In the present embodiment, the stirring head <NUM> (unit including the stirring member <NUM>, the rotary actuator <NUM>, and the holding unit <NUM> of the holding member <NUM>) according to Embodiment <NUM> is mounted on a base <NUM> of the holding member <NUM>. A discharge head <NUM> is mounted on the base <NUM> adjacent to the stirring head <NUM>. The discharge head <NUM> has a housing <NUM>, a discharge actuator <NUM>, and a nozzle <NUM>. Although not shown in detail, the housing <NUM> has a storage unit that stores a viscous material, a plunger that pushes the viscous material stored in the storage unit to the nozzle <NUM>, and the like. The nozzle <NUM> discharges the viscous material supplied from the storage unit. The discharge actuator <NUM> is a power source of the plunger. When the discharge actuator <NUM> operates, the viscous material is discharged from the nozzle <NUM>. The discharge actuator <NUM> is configured by, for example, an electric motor.

A mounting unit <NUM> of the holding member <NUM> is integrated with the base <NUM>, and is detachably attached to a moving mechanism (for example, a tip of a robot arm of a vertical articulated robot) in the same manner as in Embodiment <NUM>.

In the stirring apparatus <NUM> according to the present embodiment, the stirring head <NUM> for performing air bleeding work and the discharge head <NUM> for discharging the viscous material are unitized. Therefore, coating work and the air bleeding work can be performed in parallel.

Although not shown in detail, the stirring apparatus <NUM> according to Embodiment <NUM> also includes a control device <NUM> and an operation panel <NUM> (see <FIG>) in the same manner as in Embodiment <NUM>. When a work start command is input on the operation panel <NUM>, the control device <NUM> performs the viscous material coating work and the air bleeding work.

In other words, the control device <NUM> drives the moving mechanism to move the holding member <NUM> so that the discharge head <NUM> is on a front side in a moving direction of the holding member <NUM> and the stirring member <NUM> is on a rear side in the moving direction of the holding member <NUM>. In a process of moving the holding member <NUM>, the control device <NUM> drives the discharge head <NUM> (discharge actuator <NUM>) to apply the viscous material to workpieces, and drives the rotary actuator <NUM> to rotate the stirring member <NUM> around a rotation axis A. This allows the viscous material to be stirred in the same manner as in Embodiment <NUM> by immersing a tip of the stirring member <NUM> in the viscous material immediately after being applied while performing the work of applying the viscous material to a joining part of the workpieces. Since the coating work and the air bleeding work can be performed in parallel, production efficiency at a manufacturing site is improved.

The embodiments have been described above, but the above configurations can be appropriately changed, added, and/or deleted within the scope of the present invention.

The stirring member <NUM> only needs to have its tip radially away from the rotation axis A, and a shape of the stirring body <NUM> is not limited to a rod shape. As an example, the stirring body <NUM> may have a crank shape. In the steps of turning and moving the stirring member <NUM>, the rotation speed n and the moving speed v may be changed.

Claim 1:
A viscous material stirring apparatus (<NUM>) that is an apparatus for stirring a viscous material (<NUM>) applied to workpieces (<NUM>, <NUM>) to remove air that has entered an inside of the viscous material (<NUM>), the viscous material stirring apparatus (<NUM>) comprising:
a stirring member (<NUM>) that rotates around a rotation axis (A) and has a tip radially separated from the rotation axis (A);
a rotary actuator (<NUM>) that rotates the stirring member (<NUM>) about the rotation axis (A);
a moving mechanism (<NUM>) that moves the stirring member (<NUM>); and
a control device (<NUM>),
wherein the control device (<NUM>) is configured so that
the moving mechanism (<NUM>) is driven to immerse the tip of the stirring member (<NUM>) in the applied viscous material (<NUM>), and
the rotary actuator (<NUM>) is driven to rotate the stirring member (<NUM>) about the rotation axis (A), and the moving mechanism (<NUM>) is driven to move the stirring member (<NUM>) along a coating direction with the tip of the stirring member (<NUM>) immersed in the viscous material (<NUM>), the coating direction being an extending direction of the viscous material (<NUM>) applied in a bead shape.