JPS60201845A - Tool support device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To receive rotational reaction force and vibration with a floating arm of a robot so that a heavy work may be carried out with a simple mechanism, by moving the floating arm in a plane orthogonal to the rotary axis of a tool, for positioning and securing of the arm, so that the tool is axially moved to carry out the work. CONSTITUTION:By driving a drive arm 16 of a robot 2 to move a dril 7 to a predetermined position, the drill 7 is rotated after a floating arm 5 is locked by operating brakes 10, 11 in accordance with a signal indicating the completion of a positioning operation, and an air cylinder 21 is operated to lower the drill 7 for drilling. After the drilling at that section is completed, the drill 7 is lifted up by means of the air cylinder 21, and as well the brakes 10, 11 are released to move the drill 7 to the other desired position for drilling in substantially the same manner. Accordingly, rotational reaction force and vibration which are effected during drilling, are transmitted to the arm 5 through a guide mechanism 6 and are received by the rigidity of the arm 5 and the brakes 10, 11 thereby no large rigidity is required for any part of the robot 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a tool support device, and more particularly to a tool support device suitable for performing heavy-load work such as drilling using a robot.

(Prior Art) In drilling operations using a drill or the like, reaction forces and vibrations act on the working device in the rotational and axial directions of the drill. Therefore, when attempting to perform such work using various robots, it is necessary to provide sufficient rigidity to the robot body in order to support the reaction force and vibrations mentioned above, and the entire device must be large-sized. It must be made sturdy. However, if the device were to have the above-mentioned rigidity, the robot would be expensive, and its maneuverability (operating speed) would decrease, making it difficult to obtain sufficient work efficiency. The disadvantage is that it becomes impossible. Moreover, since the above-mentioned vibrations directly act on the operating parts of the robot, there is a problem in that the accuracy deteriorates over time of use.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above, and its object is to provide a tool support device that can prevent vibrations from directly acting on the operating part of a robot, and as a result, provide a tool support device that can prevent vibrations from directly acting on the operating part of a robot. The object of the present invention is to enable a robot having a simple structure with high performance to carry out heavy-load work such as drilling, and to prevent a decrease in the accuracy of the robot due to vibrations or the like.

(Structure and operation of the invention) The tool support device of the present invention, which achieves the above object, attaches a rotary tool such as a drill to a floating arm supported by a base via a guide mechanism, and the guide mechanism has a rotary tool such as a drill. The tool is held slidably in the axial direction thereof, and the rotary arm is held movably in a plane substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis, and furthermore, in this moving position, the floating arm It is characterized by providing a fixing means for fixing.

As a result of the above, the rotary tool is positioned by driving the free arm by the robot, the free arm is fixed at this position by the fixing means, and in this state the rotary tool is moved in the axial direction by the robot to perform drilling etc. It becomes possible to perform work. At this time, the reaction force and vibration in the rotation direction that act on the rotating tool are affected by the rigidity of the floating arm and the rigidity!
Only the reaction force in the axial direction of the rotary tool acts on the robot side. Since this axial reaction force is usually small and not vibratory, the robot does not need to have great rigidity, and even a robot with a simple configuration can perform heavy load operations such as drilling.

(Embodiments) Next, specific embodiments of the tool support device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, 1 indicates the entire tool support device, and 2 indicates the entire robot. The tool support device 1 is
It has a base 4 erected on a base 3 such as a floor surface, a floating arm 5 supported by the base 4, and a guide mechanism 6 attached to the tip of the floating arm 5. 6
A rotary tool, for example a drill 7, is attached to the holder. The base 4 has a rail 8 extending in the vertical direction, and the rear end portion of the floating arm 5 is slidably held on the rail 8. 9 is a balancer, and by providing this balancer 9, it is possible to smoothly move the floating arm 5 in the vertical direction with respect to the base 4. Note that a brake (not shown) is provided between the base 4 and the floating arm 5 to fix the floating arm 5 at a predetermined vertical position with respect to the base 4. do.

The floating arm 5 has a first arm 5a, a second arm 5b, and a third arm 5C arranged in order from the base 4 side.
The sections C are pivotally connected to each other so as to be freely rotatable in the horizontal direction.

Further, a brake 10.11 as a fixing means is attached to each pivot portion of each arm sa%sb%5C, so that each arm 5as5b, 5C can be fixed at any rotational position. There is. And the third arm 5C
As mentioned above, the guide mechanism 6 is attached to the tip of the third arm 5G. A tool holder 13 is held in a state where it can freely slide on the tool holder 12, and its movement in directions other than this sliding direction is restricted.
The drill 7 is rotatably mounted on the tool holder 13 facing downward. A gripping protrusion 14 is provided at the upper end of the tool holder 13 to be gripped by a clamp of the robot 2, which will be described later.

Although not shown, stoppers are provided at the upper and lower ends of the rail 12, respectively, and the vertical movement range of the tool holder 13 is regulated by these stoppers.

On the other hand, the robot 2 is a square-shaped robot in the case of the figure, and has a main body frame 15 extending upward from the base 3.
and a drive arm 16 held by the main body frame 15. The main body frame 15 is provided with a rail 17 extending in the vertical direction, and a support bracket 18 is slidably held on the rail 17. It is assumed that this support bracket 18 is driven in the vertical direction by a drive source (not shown). The drive arm 16 is supported by the support bracket 18, and the drive arm 16 is connected to the first
It has a drive arm 16a and a second drive arm 16b pivotally attached to the tip of the first drive arm 16a,
Each arm 16a, 16b is arranged so as to be freely rotatable in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, motors 19 and 20 for driving the arms 16a and 16b are attached to each of the pivot points. An air cylinder 21 is attached downwardly to the tip of the second drive arm 17b, and a clamp 22 is attached to the tip of the rond of the air cylinder 21. This clamp 22 is for gripping the gripping protrusion 14 of the tool holder 13 described above. Note that 23 is a work table placed on the base 3, and a clamp jig 24 is disposed on this work table 23, and the workpiece A can be clamped by this jig 24. .

In the robot 2, preferably the drive arm 16
By making the tip part a double hand, it is possible to carry out not only drilling work with the drill 7 but also carrying in and out of the workpiece. That is, although not shown, the drive arm 1
6 is formed to be rotatable around a horizontal axis, and in one rotational position, the lamp 22 is in the downward operating state as described above, and in the other rotational position, the lamp 22 is in the downward operating state, and in the other rotational position, the lamp 22 is in the downward operating state. , the handling operating section for carrying out is positioned in a downward operating state. Further, a force sensor is attached to the clamp 22, and the flow rate of the air cylinder 21 is adjusted based on this signal, so that the drill 7 can come into contact with the workpiece A without impact.

Next, a procedure for drilling a hole in the workpiece A using the above-mentioned apparatus will be explained. First, the workpiece A is gripped by the handling unit of the robot 2, placed on a predetermined position on the work table 23, and fixed by the clamp jig 24. At this time, the floating arm 5 of the tool support device 1 is located at a predetermined retracted position and is fixed in this state by the brake 10.11. Next, the robot 2 positions its clamp 22 downward, and
This clamp 22 is moved to the position of the gripping protrusion 14 of the tool support device 1, and the clamp 22 is moved to the position of the gripping protrusion 14.
Grasp 4. At this time, the brakes 10.11 are released and the floating arm 5 is in a state where it can freely rotate in the horizontal direction.

Next, the drive arm 16 of the robot 2 is driven to move the drill 7 to a predetermined position, for example, a position predetermined by teaching. Then, based on the signal indicating the completion of the positioning operation at this time, the brake 10.11 is operated again to fix the floating arm 5 at this position. In this state, the drill 7 is rotated, the air cylinder 21 is activated, the drill 7 is lowered, and drilling work is performed. When the drilling work in this part is completed, the drill 7 is pulled up by the air cylinder 21, the brake 10.11 is released, the drill 7 is moved to another required location, and the drilling work is carried out in the same manner as above. . After completing these operations, drive arm 1
6, the drill 7 is moved to a predetermined retracted position, and at this position, the brakes 1o and 11 are activated to fix the floating arm 5. Thereafter, the clamp 22 is removed from the gripping protrusion 14, the clamp jig 24 is released, the workpiece A is removed from the work table 23 by the handling actuator, and carried out to a predetermined position to perform a series of operations. finish.

In the above apparatus, if it is necessary to change the vertical position of the floating arm 5 due to a change in the height dimension of the workpiece A, the position is changed as follows. First, the brake between the floating arm 5 and the rail 8 is released, the tool holder 13 is moved upward or downward by the drive arm 16, and the tool holder 13 is brought into contact with a stopper at the upper or lower end of the rail 12. By moving the drive arm 16 further upward or downward from this state, this force moves the floating arm 5 to a predetermined position.

In the above-mentioned device, the reaction force and vibration in the rotational direction acting on the drill 7 during drilling work are transmitted to the floating arm 5 via the guide mechanism 6, and are received by the rigidity of the floating arm 5 and the brake 10S11. will be supported. Therefore, the above-mentioned reaction force and vibration are not transmitted to the drive arm 16 of the robot 2, and only the reaction force in the axial direction of the drill 7 acts. This axial reaction force is usually small and not vibratory, so each part of the robot 2 does not require large rigidity. It becomes possible to perform heavy-load work such as drilling using the excellent robot 2. Moreover, since it is possible to prevent reaction force and vibration in the rotational direction from being transmitted to the drive arm 16 of the robot 2, the positioning accuracy of the robot 2 will decrease even if such heavy load work continues for a long time. There's no need to put it away.

In addition, as mentioned above, the tip of the drive arm 17 of the robot 2 has a double hand, and the relatively lightweight workpiece A can be carried out.
If the transport is also carried out, one robot 2 can perform multiple tasks, which is economical and convenient.

Although one embodiment of the tool support device of the present invention has been described above, the tool support device of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications.

For example, in the above example, a so-called square-shaped system in which the tool support device and the robot are pivoted with multiple arms is used, but various types such as orthogonal and cylindrical coordinate systems are also used. It is possible to do so. Furthermore, although the above example shows an example in which an air cylinder is used to drive the drill in its axial direction, it is possible to use other liquid cylinders, or even without providing such a cylinder. , it is also possible to drive the drill by driving the drive arm of the robot downwards. Further, in the above example, a drill is used as the rotary tool, but it is of course possible to use other tools such as a reamer.

(Effects of the Invention) The tool support device of the present invention is configured as described above, and therefore, according to the tool support device of the present invention,
In heavy-load work such as drilling using a drill, it becomes possible to effectively absorb reaction forces and vibrations in the rotational direction that occur during the work.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the above-mentioned forces from acting directly on the operating parts of the robot, and as a result, a robot with a simple configuration with sufficient mobility can perform heavy-load work such as drilling. becomes possible. Furthermore, since it is possible to prevent a decrease in the accuracy of the robot due to vibrations, etc., it is also possible to improve the durability of the robot.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the tool supporting device of the present invention together with an example of a robot. 4... Base, 5... Floating arm, 6... Guide mechanism, 7... Drill, 10.11... Brake. Patent applicant Daikin Industries, Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotating tool (7) such as a drill is attached to the floating arm (5) supported by the base (4) via a guide mechanism (6), and the rotating tool (7) is attached to the guide mechanism (6). 7) is held slidably in its axial direction, while the floating arm (5) holds the rotary tool (7) so as to be movable in a plane substantially orthogonal to the rotation axis; A tool support device characterized in that it is provided with fixing means (10) (11) for fixing the floating arm (5) in this moving position.