KR102559673B1 - Universal gripper - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a universal gripper, and the universal gripper according to the present invention is characterized in that it includes a housing with one end open and having a space therein, an elastic body disposed inside the housing, a pin having a long bar shape with one end fixed to the elastic body, and a plurality of horizontally disposed pins in contact with an object to elastically move, and a pressing part that presses the pins inward in a horizontal direction to fix the object.

Description

Universal Gripper {UNIVERSAL GRIPPER}

The present invention relates to a universal gripper, and more particularly, to a universal gripper capable of gripping an object regardless of the size or shape of the object and performing operations such as bolting.

In the automation process using industrial robots, bolting is one of the most important processes. However, since bolts vary widely in size and shape, a dedicated tool is used according to the shape or size of the bolt. In other words, depending on the shape or size of the bolt, the dedicated tool at the end is replaced and used, which acts as a major disadvantage from the point of view of automation.

Conventionally, a product called a universal socket (universal socket) is known that enables a bolting operation by gripping bolts of various sizes and shapes. However, universal sockets are not universally used because it is difficult to fix the bolts strongly, so there are many cases where the bolts are idle. In particular, the closer the head shape of the bolt is to a circular shape, the more easily a problem of idle rotation may occur during the bolting operation.

Therefore, a technique capable of handling various bolts by holding the bolts strongly is required.

US Patent No. 5,806,385

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems, and to provide a universal gripper in which at least some of a plurality of pins arranged in a horizontal direction according to the shape of an object are elastically moved and their positions are changed, and in a state where the pins are elastically moved according to the shape of an object, the pins that are not elastically moved are pressed in the horizontal direction to strongly hold the bolting or the like.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

The above object, according to the present invention, one end is open and the housing formed with a space therein; an elastic body disposed inside the housing; Pins having one end fixed to the elastic body in the shape of a long rod, and a plurality of pins arranged in a horizontal direction to elastically move at least some of them in contact with the target object; And it can be achieved by a universal gripper including a pressing unit for fixing the target object by pressing the pin inward in a horizontal direction.

Here, it is preferable that the pins are spaced apart.

Here, the pressing unit may include a pressing plate disposed outside the plurality of pins and moving in a horizontal direction by an external force to press the pins.

Here, the upper end of the pressure plate may be fixed to the elastic body.

Here, the plurality of pins may be arranged in a circular shape.

Here, the pressing plate may be formed in a circular arc surface and arranged in plurality in a circumferential direction.

Here, the pressing unit may further include a pressing bar that is disposed obliquely toward the pressing plate and moves up and down in an oblique direction to press the pressing plate.

Here, the lower end of the pressure bar contacting the outer surface of the pressure plate may be formed to make surface contact with the outer surface of the pressure plate.

Here, the pressing unit accommodates the elastic body therein, is disposed inside the housing, rotates by an external force, and further includes a rotation unit having an inclined surface having a screw thread formed in a central axis direction on an outer surface of the lower end portion.

Here, an inclined groove for guiding the movement of the pressure bar may be formed in the housing.

Here, the pressing unit is fixed on the rotation center shaft of the rotation unit to rotate the rotation unit first gear; a second gear geared to the first gear; and a driving shaft that rotates the second gear and protrudes from an upper end of the housing.

Here, a rotation knob for a user to rotate the drive shaft may be formed at an upper end of the drive shaft.

As described above, according to the universal gripper of the present invention, there is an advantage in that operations such as bolting can be performed by strongly gripping the object regardless of various sizes or shapes.

1 is a perspective view of a universal gripper according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of FIG. 1 cut in different directions.
Fig. 4 is a view showing the arrangement of the pressure plate around the pin.
5 to 7 are diagrams illustrating bolting operations using the universal gripper according to the present invention.

The specific details of the embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and methods of achieving them, will become clear with reference to the detailed description of the following embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and only these embodiments are provided to complete the disclosure of the present invention and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the invention to which the present invention belongs, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numbers designate like elements throughout the specification.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to drawings for explaining a universal gripper according to embodiments of the present invention.

1 is a perspective view of a universal gripper according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of FIG. 1 cut in different directions, and FIG. 4 is a view showing the arrangement of a pressure plate around a pin.

A universal gripper according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a housing 110, an elastic body 120, a pin 130, and a pressing part.

One end of the housing 110 is open and a space is formed therein, and components such as an elastic body 120, a pin 130, and a pressing part are disposed therein.

The housing 110 forms one end open for the convenience of assembly, and the lower housing 111, which is disposed of the elastic body 120, pin 130, and the pressurized part 143, and the lower housing 111 to finish the upper end of the lower housing 111 and finish the upper end of the lower housing 111 and the first gear 145 and the second stage consisting of the pressure portion in the inside and the second. The upper housing 115 may be separated by the upper housing 115 where the word 146 is arranged.

An inclined surface 1111 inclined downward in an axial direction may be formed on an inner surface of the lower end of the lower housing 111 to correspond to an inclined surface 1431 of a rotation unit 143 described below.

The hollow space inside the housing 110 is preferably formed in a substantially cylindrical shape so that the rotation unit 143 to be described later can rotate. Of course, since the lower end of the lower housing 111 is formed as an inclined surface 1111 inclined in the axial direction, the inner space of the lower end of the housing may have the shape of a truncated cone.

As shown, a step is formed at the upper end of the lower housing 111, and the lower housing 111 and the upper housing 115 may be assembled by screwing through the step.

The elastic body 120 is disposed inside the housing 110 to elastically move the pin 130 . In more detail, the fixing part 150 is fixed to the inner center of the housing 110, and the elastic body 120 may be disposed in the inner space of the lower end of the fixing part 150.

The upper end of the fixing part 150 may be fixed together with the upper housing 115 by screwing. The upper end of the fixing part 150 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the first gear 145 can be rotatably coupled to the outer circumferential surface. In addition, the bearing 160 is fixed to the outside of the middle part of the fixing part 150, so that the rotating part 143 to be described later can rotate around the fixing part 150. In addition, the lower end of the fixing part 150 is empty and a hollow having an open lower end is formed, and the elastic body 120 is disposed inside the hollow.

The pin 130 is formed in a long bar shape, and an upper end thereof may be fixed to the elastic body 120 . At this time, the pin 130 is disposed in plurality. As shown in FIG. 4 , a plurality of pins 130 may be disposed in a horizontal direction to form a circular surface, but the arrangement shape is not necessarily limited to a circular shape.

In this case, the elastic body 120 may be formed of a spring fixed to the rear end of the pin 130, but in this embodiment, it is formed of an elastic material such as rubber.

When the object is pressed, the pin 130 in contact with the object may be elastically moved by the elastic body 120 . The target object may be, for example, the bolt 200. In the following description, a case in which the object is the bolt 200 will be described as an example.

In a state in which the pins 130 in contact with the bolt head 201 among the plurality of pins 130 are moved upward, the pin 130 is pressed in the horizontal direction by the pressing unit to strengthen the frictional force between the pin 130 and the bolt 200, so that the bolt head 201 can be gripped strongly. At this time, by disposing the plurality of pins 130 at a predetermined interval, the pins 130 can move a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction, thereby further increasing the gripping force. Of course, if the separation distance between the pins 130 is too large, damage may occur to the pins 130 due to pressurization, so it is preferable to set the separation distance in consideration of this.

In addition, the separation distance between the pins 130 may vary depending on the position of the pins 130 . For example, the separation distance between the pins 130 at the center of the contact with the bolt head 201 is relatively small, and the separation distance between the pins 130 at the outer portion in the radial direction is relatively large, so that the range of movement in the horizontal direction of the pins 130 can be widened.

The pressing unit fixes the object by pressing the pin 130 inward in a horizontal direction. The pressing unit may include a pressing plate 141, a pressing bar 142, and a rotation unit 143.

The pressing plate 141 is disposed outside the plurality of pins 130 and moves in a horizontal direction by an external force to press the pins 130 . An upper end of the pressure plate 141 may also be fixed to the elastic body 120 . At this time, since the lower end of the pressurizing plate 141 is not fixed, the pin 130 may be pressed by elastically moving inward around the upper end fixed as a free end.

As shown in FIG. 4 , when a plurality of pins 130 are arranged in a circular shape, a plurality of pressing plates 141 may be formed in an arc shape and arranged in a circumferential direction. In this embodiment, three pressing plates 141 are formed in the circumferential direction, but are not necessarily limited thereto.

The lower end of the pressing plate 141 is preferably formed at the same position as the lower end of the pin 130 or slightly shorter than the lower end of the pin 130 . This is because when the lower end of the pressure plate 141 is located below the lower end of the pin 130, the lower end of the pressure plate 141 may contact the bottom surface to be bolted and interfere with bolting.

The pressure bar 142 moves toward the pressure plate 141 from the outside of the pressure plate 141 and presses the pressure plate 141 . At this time, the pressing bar 142 is disposed obliquely downward in the axial direction toward the pressing plate 141 and can move up and down in the oblique direction.

The pressing bar 142 can be moved up and down in an oblique direction by the rotation of the rotation unit 143 by screwing with a screw thread formed at the lower end of the rotation unit 143 to be described later.

An inclined groove 1112 obliquely passing through the housing 110 may be formed in the housing 110 to guide the movement of the pressure bar 142 . Therefore, the pressure bar 142 is guided along the inclined groove 1112 in a state of being inserted into the inclined groove 1112 and can move up and down.

As shown in FIG. 4 , when a plurality of pressing plates 141 are formed, a plurality of pressing bars 142 may be disposed along the circumferential direction.

The lower end of the pressure bar 142 contacting the outer surface of the pressure plate 141 is preferably formed according to the shape of the outer surface of the pressure plate 141 so as to make surface contact with the outer surface of the pressure plate 141 . For example, when the outer surface of the pressing plate 141 is formed in an arcuate surface, the contact surface at the lower end of the pressing bar 142 is also formed in an arcuate surface to correspond thereto to widen the contact area by surface contact to pressurize the pressure plate 141 in a wide area. It is preferable to press.

The rotating part 143 accommodates the elastic body 120 therein, is disposed inside the housing 110, and rotates by an external force. More specifically, it is disposed between the fixing part 150 accommodating the elastic body 120 therein and the lower housing 111 . A bearing 160 may be disposed between the outside of the middle part of the fixing part 150 and the rotating part 143 so that the rotating part 143 can rotate on the outside of the fixing part 150 .

An inclined surface 1431 inclined downward toward the central axis is formed on the outer surface of the lower end of the rotating part 143, and a screw thread is formed on the inclined surface 1431. Therefore, the screw thread is screwed with the screw thread formed on the inner surface of the gripper of the pressure bar 142, so that the pressure bar 142 can be moved up and down in an inclined direction according to the direction of rotation of the rotation unit 143.

The first gear 145 is fixed on the rotation center axis of the rotating part 143 to rotate the rotating part 143 . As shown, the first gear 145 may be coupled to surround the upper end of the fixing part 150 inside the upper housing 115 and may be screwed to the rotating part 143 . Therefore, when the first gear 145 rotates around the fixing part 150, the rotating part 143 outside the fixing part 150 can be rotated together.

A second gear 146 for gear coupling with the first gear 145 is disposed on one side of the first gear 145, and the center of the second gear 146 rotates the second gear 146. A drive shaft 147 may be coupled. The driving shaft 147 may extend upward and protrude to the top of the housing 110 .

A rotation knob 148 for rotating the driving shaft 147 by holding by the user may be fixed to the upper end of the driving shaft 147 . When the user grabs and rotates the rotation knob 148, the second gear 146 is rotated by the rotation of the driving shaft 147, and the second gear 146 rotates. As the second gear 146 rotates, the first gear 145 and the rotating part 143 that are gear-coupled with the second gear 146 can be rotated. Accordingly, the direction of rotation of the rotation unit 143 can be differently controlled according to the direction of rotation of the rotation handle 148, and accordingly, the direction of movement of the pressure bar 142 can be controlled up and down.

In this embodiment, the rotation handle 148 is coupled to the drive shaft 147 so that the user manually rotates the rotation handle 148 to control the movement of the pressure bar 142, but a motor (not shown) may be fixed to the drive shaft 147 to automatically control the movement of the pressure bar 142 according to the operation of the motor.

A bearing 170 may also be disposed between the driving shaft 147 and the upper housing 115 so that the driving shaft 147 protruding upward from the housing 110 can rotate.

Hereinafter, a bolting operation using the universal gripper according to the present invention will be described.

5 to 7 are diagrams illustrating bolting operations using the universal gripper according to the present invention.

The operation using the universal gripper according to the present invention is not limited to bolting, and other operations performed by gripping objects of various sizes and shapes may be performed.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, in the initial state, all of the plurality of pins 130 are not elastically moved, and the pressure bar 142 does not press the pressure plate 141, so that the pressure plate 141 does not press the pin 130 in the horizontal direction.

As shown in FIG. 6 , when the pin 130 is pressed on the bolt head 201 , the pin 130 in contact with the bolt head 201 may elastically move upward. At this time, if the bolt head 201 has an angular shape, the bolting operation is possible even in this state. However, as the shape of the bolt head 201 becomes closer to a circular shape, when the housing 110 is rotated for bolting, the bolt head 201 easily rotates within the pin 130, making it impossible to smoothly perform the bolting operation.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotation knob 148 is rotated in one direction to sequentially rotate the driving shaft 147, the second gear 146, the first gear 145, and the rotating part 143. At this time, the pressing bar 142 screwed on the outer inclined surface 1431 of the lower end of the rotating part 143 can be moved up and down in the inclined direction.

As the pressure bar 142 is moved downward in an oblique direction, the pressure bar 142 contacts and presses the pressure plate 141, so that the pressure plate 141 whose lower end is formed as a free end moves in the horizontal direction. The pin 130 is pressed in the horizontal direction. Therefore, while the separation distance between the pins 130 is reduced, the pins 130 can strongly support the outer surface of the bolt head 201 with frictional force.

In this way, the bolting operation can be performed by moving the pressing bar 142 downward in an oblique direction and rotating the housing 110 while the bolt head 201 is strongly supported by the pin 130 .

When the bolting operation is finished, the coupling between the pin 130 and the bolt head 201 may be released by rotating the rotation knob 148 in the other direction to move the pressure bar 142 upward in an inclined direction.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but may be implemented in various forms of embodiments within the scope of the appended claims. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the art to which the invention pertains without departing from the subject matter of the invention claimed in the claims is considered to be within the scope of the claims of the present invention to various extents that can be modified.

110: housing
111: lower housing
1111: slope
1112: inclined groove
115: upper housing
120: elastic body
130: pin
141: pressure plate
142: pressure bar
143: rotating part
1431: slope
145: first gear
146: second gear
147: drive shaft
148: rotation knob
150: fixing part
160: bearing
170: bearing
200: bolt
201: bolt head

Claims (12)

A housing having one end open and having a space formed therein;
an elastic body disposed inside the housing;
Pins having one end fixed to the elastic body in the shape of a long rod, and a plurality of pins arranged in a horizontal direction to elastically move at least some of them in contact with the target object; and
A pressing unit for fixing the object by pressing the pin inward in a horizontal direction;
The pressing part
a pressure plate disposed outside the plurality of pins and moving in a horizontal direction by an external force to press the pins;
a pressure bar disposed obliquely toward the pressure plate and moving up and down in an oblique direction to press the pressure plate; and
A rotating part accommodating the elastic body therein, disposed inside the housing, rotated by an external force, and having an inclined surface having a screw thread formed in a central axis direction on an outer surface of the lower end,
The universal gripper of claim 1 , wherein the pressing bar disposed outside the rotation unit is screwed with the lower end of the rotation unit to move up and down in an oblique direction by rotation of the rotation unit. According to claim 1,
A universal gripper spaced between the pins. delete According to claim 1,
The upper end of the pressure plate is a universal gripper fixed to the elastic body. According to claim 1,
A universal gripper in which the plurality of pins are arranged in a circular shape. According to claim 5,
The universal gripper is formed with a circular arc surface and a plurality of pressure plates are disposed in a circumferential direction. delete According to claim 1,
The universal gripper wherein the lower end of the pressure bar in contact with the outer surface of the pressure plate is formed to make surface contact with the outer surface of the pressure plate. delete According to claim 1,
A universal gripper in which an inclined groove for guiding the movement of the pressure bar is formed in the housing. According to claim 1,
The pressing part
a first gear that is fixed on the rotation center axis of the rotation unit and rotates the rotation unit;
a second gear geared to the first gear; and
The universal gripper further comprises a drive shaft that rotates the second gear and protrudes from an upper end of the housing. According to claim 11,
A universal gripper having a rotation handle for allowing a user to rotate the drive shaft at an upper end of the drive shaft.

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