WO1992007749A1

WO1992007749A1 - Assembly method for motor vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO1992007749A1
Application number: PCT/FI1991/000319
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joel Majurinen
Original assignee: Insinooritoimisto Joel Majurinen Ky
Current assignee: Insinooritoimisto Joel Majurinen Ky
Priority date: 1990-10-24
Filing date: 1991-10-23
Publication date: 1992-05-14
Anticipated expiration: 1993-04-24
Also published as: FI905244A7; FI905244A0

Abstract

The invention concerns an assembly method for motor vehicles, particularly personal cars, in which method into a front part (1) of a vehicle, said front part being prefabricated to a desired degree of completion and having an open rear (3), are mounted a dashboard (5) and other interior components (6, 7, 8) of the vehicle body via its open rear by robotic means; and correspondingly, into a rear part (2) of said vehicle, said rear part being prefabricated to a desired degree of completion and having an open front (9), are mounted interior components (11, 12, 13) of the vehicle body via its open front by robotic means; and subsequently, the open rear (3) of the front part of the vehicle and the open front (9) of the rear part are aligned and joined.

Description

Assembly method for motor vehicles

The present invention concerns an assembly method for motor vehicles, particularly personal cars.

In modern automobile factories widely automated methods are employed in the assembly of the different parts of the vehicle. The various components of the vehicle body, that is, the floor, front wall, side panels, rear wall and roof are welded together to form a monocoque body, to which then the hinged parts such as doors and hood are mounted. Next, the body with its attached components is painted, after which the doors are dismantled and the body is complemented with the dashboard, windshield, rear windshield prior to its mounting onto another unit, which is assembled on a separate assembly line and comprises the components remaining below the body such as the engine, transmission chain, steering, suspension and brake systems. At the end, the wiring harness, cables, bumpers, wheels, seats and finally the doors are mounted. The conventional assembly techniques are not, however, compatible with an integrated automation of all production stages. Thus, e.g., the dashboard, wiring harness and cables, and often also the seats, have to be manually mounted. _{. ;}

It is an object of the present invention to achieve an assembly method for motor vehicles that facilitates an extremely advanced automation of the assembly line.

The principal characterizing attributes of the invention are evident from the claims disclosed hereinafter. The invention is based on the concept of producing a separate front part of the vehicle and a separate rear part of the vehicle, whereby the interior components of the body can easily be assembled by robotic means via the open rear of the front part, and correspondingly, the open front of the rear part. After the assembly of said components, the front part and rear part of the vehicle can be joined by, e.g., gluing or welding, or any other joining method such as flanges joined by bolting.

The technique in accordance with the invention makes it possible to fabricate on a separate assembly line such a front unit intended for mounting to the front part of the vehicle which unit comprises the dashboard, front seats, wiring and cabling; and correspondingly, a rear unit intended for mounting to the rear part of the vehicle which unit comprises the rear seats, wiring and cabling. These units are then easy to mount by robotic means to the front part and rear part of the vehicle, respectively.

Besides personal cars, the assembly technique in accordance " with the invention can be applied to trucks and busses.

In the following the invention is described in more detail with reference to the attached illustration in which

Fig. 1 shows diagram atically the assembly of a personal car according to the invention, and

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically the assembly of a truck according to the invention.

In Fig. 1, the front part of the personal car is designated by reference number 1. This front part 1 is prefabricated to a desired degree of completion comprising the front section of the body, which can have as preasse bled compo¬ nents the hood, front doors, windshield, engine, trans¬ mission chain, steering, suspension and brake systems, bumper and front wheels; further, it can be ready-painted.

Correspondingly, the rear part 2 of the vehicle is prefabricated to a desired degree of completion comprising the rear section of the body, which can have as preassembled components the rear doors, rear windshield, suspension, brake system, bumper and rear wheels; moreover, it can be, like the front section, ready-painted.

Into the front part 1, via its open rear 3, is assembled by robotic means a unit 4 comprising a dashboard 5, front seats 6 and a floor 7 of the front section of the body, complemented with a cabling and wiring harness 8.

Equally by robotic means, into the rear part 2, via its open front 9, is assembled a unit 10 comprising rear seats 6 and a floor 7 of the rear section of the body, complemented with a cabling and wiring harness 13.

After this, the front part 1 and rear part 2 are aligned in an automat and joined together by, e.g., gluing.

According to Fig. 2, the robotic assembly of a truck is performed by mounting a dashboard and a wiring/cabling harness into the front part 14 via its open rear 16, while the seats and a wiring/cabling harness are mounted into the rear part 15 via its open ront 17 using robotic means. Then, the parts are aligned and joined by, e.g., gluing. Printed-circuit connection techniques are appropriately employed for the extensive cabling and wiring.

Claims

Claims :

1. An assembly method for motor vehicles, characterized in that into a front part (1, 14) of a vehicle, said front part being prefabricated to a desired degree of completion and having an open rear (3, 16) , are mounted a dashboard

(5) and other interior components (6, 1, 8) of the vehicle body via its open rear by robotic means; and correspond¬ ingly, into a rear part (2, 15) of said vehicle, said rear part being prefabricated to a desired degree of completion and having an open front (9, 17) , are mounted interior components (11, 12, 13) of the vehicle body via its open front by robotic means; and subsequently, the open rear (3, 16) of the front part of the vehicle and the open front (9, 17) of the rear part are aligned and joined together.

2. An assembly method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the vehicle is a personal car and into a front part (1) of the car is mounted by robotic means a unit (4) comprising a dashboard (5) , front seats

(6) and a wiring harness (8) , and into a rear part (2) of the car is mounted by robotic means a unit (10) comprising rear seats (11) and a wiring harness (13) .

3. An assembly method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the joining is performed by gluing.