JP4353426B2 - Industrial robot control device and control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an industrial robot control apparatus and control method.

  For example, in an industrial robot such as a molded product take-out machine that takes out a molded product from a resin molding machine, when setting various data such as the moving position and moving speed of the chuck and hand, the chuck and hand are actually moved to a predetermined position. This is done by teaching input that is set while confirming the moving position and moving speed. At that time, since it is necessary to actually check the moving state and moving position of the chuck and hand, the setting operation is performed away from the main controller and close to the position where the chuck and hand are moved in the industrial robot. Carrying a portable operation box connected to.

  On the other hand, the Labor Safety and Sanitation Law, Article 150-3 of the Enforcement Regulations and JIS B 9960-1 based on this, for example, immediately when the chuck or hand is abnormally operated during the above teaching setting operation, It stipulates that emergency stop means connected by hard wires such as electric cables must be provided in the main controller and portable operation box in order to stop the movement and ensure the safety of the operator.

  However, when teaching and setting while carrying a portable operation box, the electrical cable gets caught by surrounding members, equipment, other workers, etc. as it moves, making it difficult to move, making workability worse, Forcibly pulling the electric cable may cause other members and equipment to fall over and may impair the safety of the operator. Further, when an electric cable is caught when an operator moves, there is a risk that the portable operation box carried by the bounce will be dropped and damaged.

  Further, after the work, the electric cable is wound up and accommodated around the main controller, but there is a problem that it takes time for the take-up work and requires a space for accommodating the wound electric cable. ing.

  In order to solve these problems, a robot control device shown in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. The robot control device stores information for controlling the operation of the robot, controls the operation of the robot based on the information, a teaching device that outputs the information or information for correcting the information, and the controller And a two-way wireless communication means that enables exchange of information with the teaching device, and the controller and the teaching device have a wireless configuration.

However, even in the controller and the teaching device, in order to clear the above JIS B 9960-1, it is necessary to provide an emergency stop button for each of the controller and the teaching device. It was necessary to connect to the controller with an electric cable, and the wireless configuration could not be substantially achieved. For this reason, when the operator carrying the teaching device sets various information while confirming the operation state of the robot, the electric cable of the emergency stop button extending from the carrying teaching device may interfere with the work or move. Along with this, there is a risk that the same problem as described above may occur due to being caught by another member or device.

  The problem to be solved is that when using the portable setting means to input various data, the electric cable connecting the main controller and the emergency stop means is caught by another member or device and the input work It is in the point of making sex worse. Even when the portable setting means and the main controller are input and set by transmitting and receiving various information wirelessly, the portable setting means must be provided with an emergency stop means and connected to the main controller by an electric cable. Therefore, the workability is deteriorated.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a main control means for controlling the industrial robot to perform a predetermined operation based on the operation data, and an emergency stop button connected to the main control means by an electric cable having a length corresponding to the work range. In the control device for setting various operation data in the main control means by transmitting and receiving various data via a wireless communication medium between the emergency stop means and the portable setting means that can be remotely operated with respect to the main control means. Distance signal output means for always outputting a distance signal for determining the distance from the portable setting means to the emergency stop means electrically connected to the means via an electric cable and provided with an emergency stop button The portable setting means is provided with a distance determination means for determining the distance between the two based on a distance signal from the emergency stop means, and the distance between the emergency stop means and the portable setting means is an emergency stop. When the distance is within the operable range, various data settings can be made using the portable setting unit. On the other hand, when the distance is within the inoperable distance of the emergency stop button, various data settings cannot be made using the portable setting unit. It is characterized by doing.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, various data are transmitted / received via a wireless communication medium between a main control unit of an industrial robot for causing the hand unit to perform a predetermined operation based on operation data and a portable setting unit for setting and inputting the operation data. When setting the operation data, it is possible based on the distance signal output from the emergency stop means connected to the main control means via an electric cable with a length corresponding to the work range and provided with an emergency stop button. When the distance to the portable setting means is within the operable distance of the emergency stop button, various data settings can be made by the portable setting unit. On the other hand, when the distance is greater than the inoperable distance of the emergency stop button, the portable type is set. It is characterized by making various data settings by the setting unit impossible.

  The present invention efficiently performs input setting work without interfering with the electric cable connecting the emergency stop means and the main controller when various data is set and input using the portable setting means. Enable. Only when the portable setting means and the emergency stop means are located within a predetermined distance, the input setting work can be performed, the emergency stop means can be located nearby, and the emergency stop operation is reliably performed in an emergency. Make it possible.

  According to the present invention, the emergency stop means is provided with a distance signal output means for always outputting a distance signal for determining the distance from the portable setting means, and the portable setting means is based on the distance signal from the emergency stop means. While providing a distance discrimination member for discriminating the distance between the two, when the distance between the emergency stop means and the portable setting means is within the operable range of the emergency stop button, while enabling various data settings by the portable setting unit, When the distance is within the inoperable distance of the emergency stop button, it is best to make various data settings impossible by the portable setting unit.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings showing embodiments.
1 and 2, a molded product take-out machine 1 as an industrial robot reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the central axis of the resin molding machine 3 on a main body frame 7 attached on a fixed platen 5 of the resin molding machine 3. A traveling body 9, a front / rear traveling body 13 that reciprocates on a front / rear frame 11 that extends in the central axis direction of the resin molding machine 3 by the traveling body 9, and a lower part of an elevating unit 15 that is attached to the front / rear traveling body 13. The chuck 17 is attached and enters between the molds of the resin molding machine 3 to hold the molded product. The resin molding machine 3 is a conventionally known injection molding machine and will not be described in detail.

  The chuck 17 is arranged in the direction of the central axis of the resin molding machine 3 by a main control device 21 constituting a main control means housed in a main control box 19 installed on the floor surface on the operation side or the non-operation side of the resin molding machine 3. The molded product molded by the resin molding machine 3 is taken out to a release position set on the operation side or the non-operation side of the resin molding machine 3.

  On the panel surface of the main control box 19, an emergency stop button 19b and the like are provided in addition to the main power switch 19a. In addition, a portable operation box 23 constituting a portable operation means is detachably mounted on the surface of the main control box 19. Furthermore, a portable emergency stop unit 25 constituting an emergency stop means provided with an emergency stop button 25 a is electrically connected to the main control box 19 by an electric cable 27. The main control box 19 may be installed at the main body frame 7 and the traveling body 9 of the molded product take-out machine 1.

The emergency stop unit 25 is configured to be temporarily fixed to the resin molding machine 3 or the molded product take-out machine 1 by, for example, a permanent magnet or a hook. The electric cable 27 that connects the main control device 21 and the emergency stop unit 25 uses the portable operation box 23 to output various data such as the movement position, movement speed, and movement time of the chuck 17 and the movement state of the chuck 17. When teaching is input for setting while actually checking, the length is set to an appropriate length extending to a position where the operator can directly check the movement state of the chuck 17.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a program memory 31 and a work memory 33 are connected to the CPU 29 of the main control device 21 described above, and in the program memory 31, the product take-out operation program data and set or set are set. Various program data such as communication program data for transmitting and receiving fetch data and emergency stop program data for executing an emergency stop operation are stored.

  In the work memory 33, an operation data area 33a for storing operation data such as the set movement position and movement speed of the chuck 17, a position data area 33b for storing position data relating to the current position of the chuck 17, and the portable type described above. From a reception data buffer area 33c for temporarily storing various setting data transmitted from the operation box 23, a transmission data buffer area 33d for temporarily storing operation data to be transmitted to the portable operation box 23, an emergency stop flag 33e, etc. Composed.

A communication control circuit 35 is connected to the CPU 29, and a transmission device 37 and a reception device 39 for wireless communication media such as electromagnetic waves and light such as infrared rays are connected to the communication control circuit 35. The communication control circuit 35 transmits various data transferred from the operation data area 33 a and the position data area 33 b and stored in the transmission data buffer area 33 d to the portable operation box 23 via the antenna 41 of the transmission device 37. Further, the communication control circuit 35 transfers various data from the portable operation box 23 received by the receiving device 39 via the antenna 41 to the received data buffer area 33c and stores it therein.

  A drive control circuit 43 is connected to the CPU 29. The drive control circuit 43 controls the driving of the traveling body driving device 47, the front and rear traveling body driving device 49, the lifting / lowering driving device 51, and the like, respectively, so that the chuck 17 is moved to a predetermined position. And the holding control of the molded product by the chuck 17 is performed.

This drive control circuit 43 is provided in each drive device 47, 49, 51 for position detection signals from position detectors 47a, 49a, 51a such as rotary encoders and various operation data stored in the operation data area 33a. Based on this, the traveling body driving device 47, the front and rear traveling body driving device 49, and the lifting and lowering driving device 51 are controlled in a closed loop so as to move the chuck 17 to a desired position. The CPU 29 stores the current position of the chuck 17 as position data in the position data area 33b based on the position detection signals from the position detectors 47a, 49a, 51a.

  When the emergency stop unit 25 is connected to the CPU 29 via the interface 53 and an emergency stop instruction signal is input from the emergency stop unit 25 by operating the emergency stop button 25a, the emergency stop flag 33e is set and chucked. Interruption control is performed so that the movement of 17 is emergency stopped.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the portable operation box 23, a mode changeover switch 23a for switching to a manual setting mode, a teaching setting mode or the like when setting operation data of the chuck 17, and an input for inputting operation data of the chuck 17 are provided. There are provided a key 23b, a movement instruction button 23c, a data request button 23d, a registration button 23e, and a display member 23f such as an LCD for displaying the switched setting mode, various input data, the current position of the chuck 17, the moving direction, and the like. ing.

The display member 23f displays, for example, the above-described switches, keys, and buttons 23a, 23b, 23c, 23d, and 23e, and inputs predetermined data and instruction signals when these displayed images are touched. A so-called touch panel structure may be used.

  A sub-control device 55 is built in the portable operation box 23. A program memory 59 and a work memory 61 are connected to the CPU 57 of the sub-control device 55, and data setting program data when inputting operation data, that is, the moving position and moving speed of the chuck 17 are directly input to the program memory 59. Data setting program data for executing a manual input mode for inputting numerical values and setting, a teaching input mode for actually moving the chuck 17 to a predetermined position and inputting operation data, and the main control device 21 Setting permission that enables or prohibits data setting by the portable operation box 23 according to the set operation data of the chuck 17 and communication program data for transmitting and receiving the position data of the chuck 17 and the distance from the emergency stop unit 25 Various program data such as program data is stored.

  The work memory 61 stores an operation data area 61a for storing the operation data of the chuck 17 transferred from the operation data area 33a of the main controller 21, and a position for storing the position data of the chuck 17 transferred from the position data area 33b. A data area 61b, a buffer area 61c for temporarily storing manually set operation data of the chuck 17, and a permission flag 61d for determining the permission state of the operation data setting input by the portable operation box 23, and the like.

  A setting control circuit 63 is connected to the CPU 57. The setting control circuit 63 detects the operation state of the connected mode changeover switch 23a, input key 23b, movement instruction button 23c, data request button 23d, and registration button 23e, and performs predetermined processing. The instruction signal is output. Further, a display control circuit 65 is connected to the CPU 57, and the display control circuit 65 transfers the operation data of the chuck 17 transferred from the operation data area 33a and the position data area 33b to the connected display member 23f. The set position data and the set operation data at the time of manual setting are displayed.

  The CPU 57 is connected to a distance detection circuit 67 as a distance determination means for detecting the distance (interval) between the portable operation box 23 and the emergency stop unit 25 via an interface 69, and the distance detection circuit 67 is connected to the reception. If the distance (interval) between the portable operation box 23 and the emergency stop unit 25 is equal to or less than a predetermined value based on the strength of the signal received by the member 71, the permission signal that enables setting input by the portable operation box 23 is reversed. If it exceeds a predetermined value, a prohibition signal is output.

Further, a communication control circuit 73 is connected to the CPU 57, and a transmission device 75 and a reception device 77 for wireless communication media such as electromagnetic waves and light such as infrared rays are connected to the communication control circuit 73. The communication control circuit 73 transmits the operation data of the chuck 17 transferred from the buffer area 61c at the time of manual setting, and the movement instruction signal of the chuck 17 to the main control device 21 via the antenna 79 of the transmission device 75 at the time of teaching setting input. The communication control circuit 73 transfers various data from the main control device 21 received by the receiving device 77 via the antenna 79 to the operation data area 61a and the position data area 61b to be stored.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the emergency stop unit 25 outputs an emergency stop signal to the main controller 21 via the electric cable 27 when the emergency stop button 25a is operated. Further, the emergency stop unit 25 is provided with a constant transmission member 81 as a distance signal output means, and the constant transmission member 81 always outputs a signal having a constant intensity toward the portable operation box 23.

The constant transmission member 81 is configured to always output radio waves of a certain intensity or light such as infrared rays as a transmission medium. When the transmission medium always output from the transmission member 81 is light, it may be composed of a plurality of light emitting members in order to enable light irradiation in all directions because it is necessary to make it non-directional.

  Next, an operation and an emergency stop operation when teaching and inputting operation data using the portable operation box 23 will be described. The detailed description of the operation when manually setting the operation data by the portable operation box 23 is omitted.

  The operator first removes the chuck 17 of the molded product take-out machine 1 to a desired position by the portable operation box 23 and inputs various data related to the movement of the chuck 17 from the main controller 21. The mode changeover switch 23a of the portable operation box 23 is changed or the mode changeover switch 23a displayed on the display member 23f is touched to change the setting mode to the teaching input mode. In this state, the portable operation box 23 is carried and moved to a place where the movement state of the chuck 17 can be directly confirmed. Prior to the teaching setting work, the operator operates the data request button 23d to the main controller 21 to store the operation data of the chuck 17 stored in the operation data area 33a and the chuck 17 stored in the position data area 33b. An instruction is given to transmit the position data to the portable operation box 23.

When main controller 21 transmits operation data and position data transferred from operation data area 33a and position data area 33b and stored in transmission buffer area 33d based on the data request signal, from transmission apparatus 37 to portable operation box 23. The portable operation box 23 stores the received operation data and position data in the operation data area 61a and the position data area 61b, respectively, and then outputs these data to the display control circuit 65 for display on the display member 23f.

  When the operator operates the movement instruction button 23c for moving the chuck 17 in a desired direction while referring to the operation data and position data of the chuck 17 displayed on the display member 23f, the CPU 57 uses the movement instruction button 23c. The designated instruction data for driving the chuck 17 is output to the main controller 21 via the transmission member 75. The main control device 21 outputs the received drive instruction signal to the drive control circuit 43, and selectively drives the drive devices 47, 49, 51 instructed by the drive instruction signal to move the chuck 17 in a predetermined direction.

  When the chuck 17 moves based on the drive instruction signal, the CPU 29 moves the position data of the chuck 17 stored in the position data area 33b based on the position detection signals from the corresponding position detectors 47a, 49a, 51a. After rewriting the position data of the position, the rewritten position data is transmitted to the portable operation box 23. As a result, position data relating to the actual movement position of the chuck 17 is always displayed on the display member 23 f of the portable operation box 23.

  The operator actually moves the chuck 17 to a desired position while transmitting and receiving various data, signals, and the like between the portable operation box 23 and the main controller 21, and then moves the chuck 17 to a desired position. The operation of directly confirming visually is performed, and when the movement position of the chuck 17 is confirmed, the registration button 23e is operated to transmit a registration instruction signal to the main controller 21. As a result, the main controller 21 rewrites the operation data stored in the operation data area 33a with the current position data of the chuck 17 stored in the position data area 33b to set and register the operation data of the chuck 17.

By repeating the above operation, the chuck 17 is actually moved to each desired position, and the operation data of the chuck 17 is set while checking the movement state.
In addition, since the operation data of the chuck 17 previously set together with the actual position data of the chuck 17 are respectively displayed on the display member 23f, the operator displays the previously set state and the chuck 17 newly input with teaching. The setting data can be compared.

  At the time of teaching input of the operation data of the chuck 17 described above, the worker carrying the portable operation box 23 can operate the emergency stop unit 25 while operating the emergency stop button 25a while operating the portable operation box 23. It is necessary to place in the place. The emergency stop unit 25 always outputs radio waves or light with a constant signal intensity from the transmission member 81 toward the portable operation box 23. On the other hand, the receiving member 71 of the portable operation box 23 always receives a signal from the transmission member 81, and based on the signal strength from the constant transmission member 81 received by the distance detection circuit 67, the portable operation box 23 and the emergency stop. The distance (interval) of the unit 25 is detected.

In FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not the strength of the signal constantly received from the transmission member 81 is greater than or equal to a certain level by the distance detection circuit 67 in step 91, and the distance between the portable operation box 23 and the emergency stop unit 25 is determined by the operator. When the step 91 is YES at a distance within the range in which the emergency stop switch 25a can be pressed in an emergency, the permission flag 61d is set in step 93, and then the operation of the chuck 17 described above by the portable operation box 23 in step 95. Data teaching input is enabled, and the process returns to step 91.

On the other hand, when the signal intensity from the constant transmission member 81 is below a certain level and the above step 91 is NO, the distance between the portable operation box 23 and the emergency stop unit 25 indicates that the operator presses the emergency stop switch 25a in an emergency. After determining that the distance is inoperable, the permission flag 61d is reset in step 97, and in step 99, the teaching input of the operation data of the chuck 17 by the portable operation box 23 is disabled. Return to.

  As a result, the operator teaches by the portable operation box 23 only when the emergency stop unit 25 is disposed within a range in which the emergency stop switch 25a can be immediately operated from the portable operation box 23 as shown in FIG. While making the input possible and disabling the teaching input by the portable operation box 23, the portable operation box 23, that is, the worker and the emergency stop unit 25 cannot move the emergency stop switch 25a immediately. You can notice that you are away.

  When the molded article take-out machine 1 operates abnormally when the operation data is input, when the operator operates the emergency stop switch 25a of the emergency stop unit 25 disposed within the reachable range, the main controller 21 The emergency stop flag 33e is set by the stop signal and interrupt processing is executed so as to stop the chuck 17 in an emergency manner, thereby ensuring the safety of the operator.

  The above description is based on the description that the portable operation box 23 and the emergency stop unit 25 are transported when the operator carrying the portable operation box 23 is far away from the distance at which the emergency stop switch 25a cannot be pressed immediately. 23, the emergency stop unit 25 is not close to the operator by disabling teaching input. However, the distance between the portable operation box 23 and the emergency stop unit 25 is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance described above. In the case of leaving, the teaching input by the portable operation box 23 described above is prohibited and alarm means such as an alarm lamp and an alarm buzzer are operated to prompt the operator to immediately press the emergency stop switch 25a. It is good also as a structure which alert | reports that it is not in the range which can be performed.

  Moreover, although the said description demonstrated the molded product extraction machine 1 as an example as an industrial robot, the industrial robot of this invention is not limited to this, For example, an assembly robot, a painting robot, a processing robot, a welding robot, etc. It can also be applied to various industrial robots.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline of the molded product extraction machine as an industrial robot. It is a perspective view which expands and shows a main controller, a portable setting device, and an emergency stop unit. It is an electrical block diagram of the main controller. It is an electrical block diagram of a portable operation box. It is an electrical block diagram of an emergency stop unit. It is a processing flow for enabling or disabling data setting by a portable operation box. It is explanatory drawing which shows the input possible or impossible state by the space | interval of a portable operation box and an emergency stop unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mold take-out machine 21 as industrial robot Main control circuit 23 as main control means Portable operation box 25 as portable operation means Emergency stop unit 25a as emergency stop means Emergency stop button 67 Distance detection as distance discrimination means Circuit 81 Constant transmission member as distance signal output means

Claims (9)

Main control means for controlling the industrial robot to perform a predetermined operation based on the operation data, and emergency stop means connected to the main control means by an electric cable having a length corresponding to the work range and provided with an emergency stop button; in the control device for setting various operation data of various data to the main control means is transmitted and received in the wireless communication medium between the remote operable portable setting means to the main control unit,
A distance signal that is electrically connected to the main control means via an electric cable and that constantly outputs a distance signal for determining the distance from the portable setting means to the emergency stop means provided with an emergency stop button In addition to the output means, the portable setting means is provided with distance determining means for determining the distance between the two based on the distance signal from the emergency stop means,
When the distance between the emergency stop means and the portable setting means is within the operable distance of the emergency stop button, various data settings can be made by the portable setting unit, while the distance is within the inoperable distance of the emergency stop button. Is an industrial robot controller that makes it impossible to set various data using a portable setting unit. 2. The industrial robot control device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication medium transmitted and received between the main control means, the emergency stop means, and the portable setting means is at least one of electromagnetic waves, light, and ultrasonic waves. The distance discriminating member according to claim 1 is an industrial robot control device capable of discriminating the distance between the portable setting means and the emergency stop means based on the intensity of the received distance signal. The portable setting means according to claim 1, wherein at least a button corresponding to the mode switching member and the input member is displayed, and a control device for an industrial robot comprising a touch panel that allows predetermined data to be input when these buttons are touched. . The portable type setting means according to claim 1 is provided with a warning means, and when various data setting by the portable setting unit becomes impossible, the warning means is actuated so that the operator can be notified. . Various data is transmitted / received via a wireless communication medium between the main control unit of the industrial robot for causing the hand unit to perform a predetermined operation based on the operation data and the portable setting unit for setting and inputting the operation data, thereby setting desired operation data. When
It is connected to the main control means via an electric cable having a length corresponding to the work range, and the distance from the portable setting means is emergency based on the distance signal output from the emergency stop means provided with the emergency stop button. When the stop button is within the operable distance, various data settings can be made by the portable setting unit. On the other hand, when the distance is longer than the inoperable distance of the emergency stop button, various data settings by the portable setting unit are not allowed. An industrial robot control method to be made possible. 7. The method of controlling an industrial robot according to claim 6, wherein the wireless communication medium transmitted / received among the main control means, the emergency stop means, and the portable setting means is at least one of electromagnetic waves, light, and ultrasonic waves. 7. The industrial robot control method according to claim 6, wherein the distance between the emergency stop means and the portable setting means is determined based on a distance signal intensity received by the portable setting means. 7. A control method for an industrial robot, wherein the portable setting means according to claim 6 is provided with display means having a touch panel structure in which desired data can be input by operating various displayed keys and buttons.

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