WO2026004438A1 - Irradiation device - Google Patents

Abstract

An irradiation device (6) comprises an irradiation part (30) that emits rays of light (104) in a prescribed direction, and a reflection part (40) that reflects the rays of light. The reflection part (40) has a recess part (43) that is recessed in the prescribed direction to allow an irradiation target (103) to be disposed in a groove, and specular parts (44a, 45a) that are provided on groove inner surfaces (44, 45) of the recess part (43) to reflect the rays of light. The recess part (43) has the shape of a V-shaped groove.

Description

Irradiation device

The present invention relates to an irradiation device that irradiates a light beam onto an irradiation target.

Electric wires with terminals have been proposed for use in communication between devices mounted on vehicles, power supply, etc. For example, in one conventional electric wire with terminals, the connection between the conductor core wire of the electric wire and the terminal is covered with an anticorrosive agent to prevent corrosion due to water exposure (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-129067

One method for covering the connection point between the conductor core of an electric wire and a terminal with an anticorrosion agent is, for example, to apply a liquid anticorrosion agent (hereinafter also referred to as an application agent) to the connection point and then allow the application agent to harden. An example of such an anticorrosion agent is an ultraviolet-curing resin. When ultraviolet-curing resin is applied to the contact point between the conductor core of an electric wire and a terminal, the resin may wet and spread not only over the top surface of the contact point, but also near the side and bottom surfaces of the contact point. In this case, simply irradiating ultraviolet light onto the top surface of the terminal may not properly harden the entire resin.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an irradiation device that can irradiate an object with light rays from multiple directions.

In one aspect of the present invention, the irradiation device comprises:
An irradiation device that irradiates an irradiation target with a light beam,
an irradiation unit that irradiates the light beam in a predetermined direction;
a reflecting section that is arranged to receive the light beam emitted by the irradiating section and that reflects the light beam,
The reflecting portion is
The light source has a recess that is recessed in the direction so that the irradiation target can be placed in the groove, and a mirror surface that is provided on the inner surface of the groove of the recess and reflects the light beam.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a corrosion prevention treatment device incorporating an irradiation device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a rear view of the conveying section shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a top view of the conveying section shown in FIG. FIG. 4A is a first diagram for explaining the flow of processing when the corrosion prevention processing is performed on the electric wire with terminal by the corrosion prevention processing device shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 4B is a second diagram for explaining the flow of processing when the corrosion prevention processing is performed on the electric wire with terminal by the corrosion prevention processing device shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 4C is a third diagram for explaining the flow of processing when the corrosion prevention processing is performed on the electric wire with terminal by the corrosion prevention processing device shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 4D is a fourth diagram for explaining the flow of processing when the corrosion prevention processing is performed on the electric wire with terminal by the corrosion prevention processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the entire UV irradiation unit shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of part A in FIG. FIG. 7 is a side view of part A in FIG. 5 as seen from the side. FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 7, showing a state in which the irradiation portion and the reflection portion constituting the UV irradiation unit have each moved from their original positions to the irradiation positions. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. For ease of explanation, "front," "rear," "left," "right," "upper," and "lower" will be defined as shown in Figure 1, etc. The "front-to-rear direction," "left-to-right direction," and "up-to-down direction" are perpendicular to one another.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a corrosion prevention treatment device 1 incorporating an application device (application unit 5) of the present invention. The corrosion prevention treatment device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a device that applies a coating agent (corrosion prevention agent) 101 composed of an ultraviolet-curable resin (UV-curable resin) to the end of a terminal-attached electric wire 100 (the so-called workpiece; see also FIGS. 4A to 4D). As shown in FIG. 4A, the terminal-attached electric wire 100 comprises an electric wire 102 and a terminal 103 attached to the end of the electric wire 102. The electric wire 102 has its end coated with a coating 102A, exposing the conductor core 102B. The terminal 103 is crimped to the coating 102A and the conductor core 102B exposed at the end. The corrosion prevention treatment device 1 covers the connection between the conductor core 102B and the terminal 103 with coating agent 101, thereby preventing corrosion at the connection between the conductor core 102B and the terminal 103.

The corrosion prevention treatment device 1 includes a conveying unit 2, a wire supplying unit 3 that sets terminal-attached wires 100 on the conveying unit 2, an imaging unit 4 that images the terminal-attached wires 100 conveyed by the conveying unit 2, an application unit 5 (see also Figure 4B) that applies coating agent 101 to the ends of the terminal-attached wires 100 conveyed by the conveying unit 2, a UV irradiation unit 6 (see also Figure 4C) that irradiates the applied coating agent 101 with ultraviolet light 104, a control unit 7 that controls each of these units, and a display unit 8.

The above-mentioned electric wire supply unit 3, imaging unit 4, application unit 5, and UV irradiation unit 6 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction. From right to left, they are arranged in the order of electric wire supply unit 3, imaging unit 4, application unit 5, and UV irradiation unit 6.

The configuration of the conveying unit 2 will now be described. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the conveying unit 2 has four rear wire chucks 21 and four front wire chucks 22. The four rear wire chucks 21 are arranged side by side at equal intervals in the left-right direction. The four rear wire chucks 21 are arranged so that they can move freely in the left-right direction between a first position and a second position.

In the first position, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, each of the four rear wire chucks 21 faces the wire supply unit 3, imaging unit 4, application unit 5, and UV irradiation unit 6 in the front-to-rear direction. In the second position, the rightmost rear wire chuck 21 faces the imaging unit 4 in the front-to-rear direction, the second rightmost rear wire chuck 21 faces the application unit 5 in the front-to-rear direction, the second leftmost rear wire chuck 21 faces the UV irradiation unit 6 in the front-to-rear direction, and the leftmost rear wire chuck 21 is located to the left of the UV irradiation unit 6.

As shown in Figure 3, the four front wire chucks 22 are arranged further forward in the front-to-rear direction than the four rear wire chucks 21 (closer to the wire supply unit 3, imaging unit 4, application unit 5, and UV irradiation unit 6). The four front wire chucks 22 are arranged at equal intervals in the left-to-right direction and face the wire supply unit 3, imaging unit 4, application unit 5, and UV irradiation unit 6 in the front-to-rear direction. The four front wire chucks 22 do not move in the left-to-right direction.

Next, the configuration of the rear wire chuck 21 and front wire chuck 22 will be described. All four rear wire chucks 21 have the same configuration. Each rear wire chuck 21 has a cubic main body 23 and a pair of chucks 24, 24 that are attached to the main body 23 so as to be able to open and close freely, and that clamp and hold the terminal-attached wire 100 from the left and right.

The chuck portion 24 has an arm 24A attached to the main body 23 so that its first end can rotate freely around an axis along the front-to-rear direction, and a chuck claw 24B attached to the second end of the arm 24A. When the second ends of the pair of arms 24A, 24A are rotated so that they protrude left and right from the main body 23, the pair of chuck claws 24B, 24B open, releasing their hold on the terminal-attached wire 100. When the second ends of the pair of arms 24A, 24A are rotated so that they protrude upward from the main body 23, the pair of chuck claws 24B, 24B close, allowing them to clamp and hold the terminal-attached wire 100 from the left and right.

The front wire chuck 22 has a similar configuration to the rear wire chuck 21, so a detailed description of the front wire chuck 22 will be omitted here. The main body 23 of the rear wire chuck 21 is attached to a slider (not shown) that moves left and right.

The conveying operation of the conveying unit 2 configured as described above will now be described. The wire supply unit 3 sets the terminal-attached wire 100 in the rightmost rear wire chuck 21 and front wire chuck 22 (holding it in the correct position). Next, the front wire chuck 22 is opened, and the rear wire chuck 21 is moved from the first position to the second position. This transports the terminal-attached wire 100 to the imaging unit 4, where it can be held by the front wire chuck 22, which is second from the right and positioned opposite the imaging unit 4. Thereafter, the rear wire chuck 21 is opened and returned from the second position to the first position, allowing the terminal-attached wire 100 to be held by the rear wire chuck 21, which is second from the right. By repeating this process, the terminal-attached wire 100 can be transported in order to the wire supply unit 3, imaging unit 4, coating unit 5, and UV irradiation unit 6.

The wire supply unit 3 has a work set jig (not shown). When an operator inserts the end of the terminal-attached wire 100 into the work set jig and it abuts against the positioning wall inside the work set jig, the front wire chuck 22 closes. This allows the front-to-rear position of the terminal 103 of the terminal-attached wire 100 to be determined.

The imaging unit 4 has a camera (not shown) and a ring-shaped illumination unit (not shown) located below the camera. The camera is attached facing downwards. When the terminal-attached wire 100 is transported to the imaging unit 4 and held by the front wire chuck 22, which faces the imaging unit 4 in the front-to-rear direction, the terminal 103 comes within the imaging range of the camera.

The applicator unit 5 has a nozzle unit (not shown) that ejects the coating material 101 toward the object to be coated (the terminal 103 of the terminal-attached electric wire 100), a tank unit (not shown) that stores the coating material 101, and a piping unit (not shown) that connects the tank unit and the nozzle unit. The liquid coating material 101 stored in the tank unit is supplied to the nozzle unit via the piping unit and ejected from the nozzle unit. The nozzle unit is movable left and right and front and rear by left and right cylinders (not shown) and front and rear cylinders (not shown). When the terminal-attached electric wire 100 is transported to the applicator unit 5 and held by the front electric wire chuck 22 that faces the applicator unit 5 in the front and rear directions, the terminal 103 comes within the ejection range of the nozzle unit. The applicator unit 5 may further include an ultraviolet light source (not shown) that temporarily irradiates ultraviolet light. If the coating material 101 cannot be transported to the UV irradiation unit 6 within a predetermined time after being dispensed onto the terminal-attached electric wire 100, ultraviolet light may be temporarily irradiated from an ultraviolet light source to prevent dripping of the coating material 101.

As shown in Figure 5, the UV irradiation unit 6 has an irradiation unit 30 that irradiates ultraviolet rays 104 (see Figure 4C) downward toward the irradiation target (terminals 103 of the terminal-attached wire 100), and a reflection unit 40 that is positioned below the irradiation unit 30 and reflects the ultraviolet rays 104. The detailed configuration of the UV irradiation unit 6 will be described later. When the terminal-attached wire 100 is transported to the UV irradiation unit 6 and held by the front wire chuck 22 that faces the UV irradiation unit 6 in the front-rear direction, the terminals 103 come within the irradiation range of the irradiation unit 30.

The control unit 7 is composed of a microcomputer that operates according to a program stored in the memory unit, and is responsible for controlling the entire corrosion prevention treatment device 1. The control unit 7 transports the terminal-attached electric wire 100 through the electric wire supply unit 3, the imaging unit 4, the coating unit 5, and the UV irradiation unit 6 in this order, and sequentially sets the terminal-attached electric wire 100 (see Figure 4A), applies the coating agent 101 (see Figure 4B), and irradiates with ultraviolet light (see Figure 4C). The coating agent 101, which is made of a UV-curable resin, is hardened by the ultraviolet light irradiation. The control unit 7 measures the terminal position from the image of the terminal 103 captured by the imaging unit 4, determines the application position of the coating agent 101 based on the measured terminal position, and controls the movement of the nozzle of the applicator 5 to apply the coating agent 101 to the determined application position (i.e., the position that covers the exposed conductor core wire 102B). The display unit 8 sequentially displays the control status of the corrosion prevention treatment device 1 by the control unit 7 on a monitor or the like (not shown).

Next, the configuration of the UV irradiation unit 6 will be described in more detail with reference to Figures 5 to 9. As shown in Figure 5, the irradiation unit 30 and the reflecting unit 40 located below the irradiation unit 30 that make up the UV irradiation unit 6 are arranged facing each other with a gap between them in the vertical direction. The irradiation unit 30 is movable vertically between its original position (see Figures 5 to 7) and an irradiation position below the original position (see Figure 8) by means of an upper and lower cylinder 31 (see Figure 5). The reflecting unit 40 is movable vertically between its original position (see Figures 5 to 7) and an irradiation position above the original position (see Figure 8) by means of an upper and lower cylinder 41 (see Figure 5).

As shown in Figures 5 and 6, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped mirror arrangement section 42 is disposed in the reflecting section 40. A downwardly recessed recess 43 (see Figure 6) is formed on the upper surface of the mirror arrangement section 42. The recess 43 is defined by a pair of left and right groove inner surfaces 44 parallel to the front-to-rear direction and a front groove inner surface 45 parallel to the left-to-right direction, with the rear side open. The pair of left and right groove inner surfaces (flat surfaces) 44 are each inclined upward (so as to form a V when viewed from the front-to-rear direction) (see also Figure 9), and the front groove inner surface 45 is also inclined upward. A flat mirror 44a is detachably provided on each of the pair of left and right groove inner surfaces 44, and a flat mirror 45a is detachably provided on the front groove inner surface 45. Each of the mirrors 44a, 45a is capable of reflecting ultraviolet light 104.

As shown in Figure 9, the UV irradiation unit 6 is further provided with a shielding plate 50 that blocks ultraviolet rays 104 leaking from a gap G (see Figure 9) on the right side (i.e., the application unit 5 side) between the irradiation unit 30 and the reflection unit 40. This prevents the ultraviolet rays 104 leaking from the gap G from unintentionally hitting the terminals 103 (i.e., the terminals 103 from the previous process) of the terminal-attached electric wire 100 that is arranged opposite the application unit 5 (see Figure 1, etc.) in the front-to-back direction. The configuration of the UV irradiation unit 6 has been described above.

As shown in Figures 5 to 7, the terminal 103 of the terminal-attached electric wire 100 transported by the transport unit 2 to the UV irradiation unit 6 is positioned within the irradiation range of the irradiation unit 30, between the irradiation unit 30 in its original position and the reflecting unit 40 in its original position. Next, as shown in Figure 8, the irradiation unit 30 is moved downward from its original position to the irradiation position by the upper and lower cylinders 31 so as to approach the terminal 103, and the reflecting unit 40 is moved upward from its original position to the irradiation position by the upper and lower cylinders 41 so as to approach the terminal 103. As a result, as shown in Figure 9, the lower part of the irradiation unit 30 is positioned adjacent to the upper side of the terminal 103, and the terminal 103 is positioned within the groove of the recess 43 of the reflecting unit 40. Here, because the rear side of the recess 43 is open as described above, even when the terminal 103 is positioned within the groove of the recess 43, the electric wire 102 extending rearward from the terminal 103 does not interfere with the reflecting unit 40 (more specifically, the mirror positioning unit 42). Next, ultraviolet light 104 is emitted downward from the lower part of the irradiation unit 30 toward the upper surface of the terminal 103 (see Figure 9). As a result, the liquid coating material 101 applied to the terminal 103 is irradiated with ultraviolet light 104, and the coating material 101, which is made of a UV-curable resin, is cured.

When the liquid coating material 101 is applied to the terminals 103, the liquid coating material 101 may spread not only onto the top surface of the terminals 103 but also onto the sides and back of the terminals 103. The UV irradiation unit 6 of this embodiment not only irradiates the top surface of the terminals 103 with ultraviolet light 104, but also irradiates the entire coating material 101, thereby properly hardening the entire coating material 101.

Specifically, in the UV irradiation unit 6 according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9 , ultraviolet light 104 emitted downward from the irradiation unit 30 is directed not only toward the top surface of the terminal 103, but also toward the pair of left and right mirrors 44a and 45a of the reflecting unit 40. The ultraviolet light 104 directed toward the top surface of the terminal 103 directly strikes the top surface of the terminal 103. The ultraviolet light 104 directed toward the pair of left and right mirrors 44a and the front mirror 45a of the reflecting unit 40 is reflected by the pair of left and right mirrors 44a and the front mirror 45a and strikes the side and back surfaces of the terminal 103. In this way, the ultraviolet light 104 strikes the entire outer periphery of the terminal 103. As a result, even if the liquid coating material 101 has spread to the side and back surfaces of the terminal 103, the entire coating material 101 applied to the terminal 103 can be properly cured.

The tilt angles of the pair of left and right mirrors 44a and the front mirror 45a are set so that the ultraviolet rays 104 hit the entire outer periphery of the terminal 103 evenly (i.e., so that the entire coating material 101 applied to the terminal 103 can be properly cured), taking into consideration, for example, the shape and size of the terminal 103, the irradiation angle of the ultraviolet rays 104 from the irradiation unit 30, the distance between the terminal 103 and the irradiation unit 30, and the distance between the terminal 103 and the pair of left and right mirrors 44a and the front mirror 45a. Furthermore, while the mirrors 44a and 45a have a planar shape in this example, the mirrors 44a and 45a may have a quadratic curved surface shape in the cross section shown in Figure 9 to improve the light-focusing performance on the terminal 103.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications, improvements, etc. are possible as appropriate. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiments are arbitrary and not limited as long as they achieve the present invention.

Here, in the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the irradiation device (6)
An irradiation device (6) that irradiates an irradiation target (103) with a light beam (104),
an irradiation unit (30) that irradiates the light beam (104) in a predetermined direction;
a reflecting section (40) that is arranged to receive the light beam (104) emitted by the irradiating section (30) and that reflects the light beam (104),
The reflecting portion (40) is
The device has a recess (43) that is recessed in the direction so that the irradiation target (103) can be placed in the groove, and mirror surfaces (44a, 45a) that are provided on the inner groove surfaces (44, 45) of the recess (43) and reflect the light ray (104).

With the above-described irradiation device, when an irradiation target (for example, the terminal portion of a terminal-equipped electric wire) is placed in the groove of the recess in the reflector and light rays (for example, ultraviolet light) are irradiated from the irradiation unit, the irradiated light rays not only hit the irradiation target directly, but also hit the irradiation target after being reflected by the mirrored surface of the reflector. Therefore, this irradiation device can irradiate the irradiation target with light rays from multiple directions.

Furthermore, the recess (43)
The groove may have a V-shaped cross section intersecting the direction.

In the illumination device configured as described above, the recess has a V-shaped groove shape. This allows the mirrored surface to reflect light rays so that they are focused toward the illumination target.

Furthermore, the irradiation device (6)
The device may further include a shielding section (50) that blocks the light rays (104) leaking from a gap (G) between the irradiating section (30) and the reflecting section (40).

With the irradiation device configured as described above, light rays leaking from the gap between the irradiation unit and the reflection unit are blocked by the shielding unit. This prevents leaking light rays from unintentionally hitting an irradiation target when there is an irradiation target near the irradiation device.

This application is based on a Japanese patent application (patent application No. 2024-102896) filed on June 26, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The irradiation device of the present invention is capable of irradiating the irradiation target with light rays from multiple directions. This effect of the present invention can be used, for example, in the production of electrical wires with terminals.

6 UV irradiation section (irradiation device)
30 Irradiation part 40 Reflection part 43 Recessed part 44 Groove inner surface 44a Mirror (mirror surface part)
45 Groove inner surface 45a Mirror (mirror surface)
50 Shielding plate (shielding part)
103 Terminal (irradiation target)
104 Ultraviolet rays (light)
G Gap

Claims (3)

An irradiation device that irradiates an irradiation target with a light beam,
an irradiation unit that irradiates the light beam in a predetermined direction;
a reflecting section that is arranged to receive the light beam emitted by the irradiating section and that reflects the light beam,
The reflecting portion is
a recessed portion recessed in the direction so that the irradiation target can be placed in the groove; and a mirror surface portion provided on an inner surface of the groove of the recessed portion to reflect the light beam.
Irradiation device. 2. The irradiation device according to claim 1,
The recessed portion is
A cross section intersecting the direction has a V-shaped groove shape.
Irradiation device. 2. The irradiation device according to claim 1,
Further provided is a shielding portion that blocks the light beam leaking from a gap between the irradiating portion and the reflecting portion.
Irradiation device.