JP2000167793A - Industrial robot having harness set - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the assembly man hour and mis-assembly by wiring and piping from a main body base controller to each shaft and the input means and output means of an end effector, taking around by one hearness set and forming this harness set along a robot arm. SOLUTION: The wirings 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 are taken around by one wire connected with each other without relaying from a main body base controller to each shaft motor, the position detector such as encoder, brake, limit switch and end effector. Further, air pipings 47,48 are taken around by a pipe connected without relaying. Oneside harness set 21 is formed by penetrating a flexible tube 41 while making these wirings 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 and pipings 47, 48 to a bundle. The connectors 22 of the branch parts of this harness set 21 and the fixed parts on the way are tightened to the fixing parts with Japanese letter U shape of a robot arm and the harness set 21 is fixed to the robot arm.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a harness set which is a bundle of wiring and piping to each axis of an industrial robot and an end effector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The drive control of an electric industrial robot is as follows.
Since it is performed by an electric motor of each joint, a position detector such as an absolute encoder, a brake, and a limit switch, cable wiring is required for these. In addition, the hand has an end effector, and, for example, an electric drill, a limit switch, wiring for a solenoid valve, and pneumatic piping controlled by a solenoid valve are routed as needed.

As an example of a conventional industrial robot, as shown in FIG. 5, a rotating shaft (first axis) 3 can be rotated by a one-axis motor 2 with respect to a base 1, and a two-axis motor 4 can rotate the rotating shaft (first axis). The second shaft 5 is rotated by the three-axis motor 6, and the third shaft 7 is rotated by the three-axis motor 6.
The wrist axis (fourth axis) of the distal end portion 9 is driven by a four-axis motor (wrist motor) 8, and a control signal line and a power line are wired in the first axis 3 to supply power. Of the terminal block, a printed board, a connector, and the like.

In this case, wiring is performed between the terminal block from the collecting unit 10 to the one-axis motor 2, from the terminal block of the one-axis motor 2 to the terminal block of the two-axis motor 4, and Wiring is performed between the terminal blocks up to the shaft motor 6 and from the three-axis motor 6 to the four-axis motor (wrist motor) 24. This means that the harness 11 which is a wiring bundle is divided and connected between the terminal blocks.
When the wiring in the movable part between the fixed part units is broken, the harness of the other part can be left as it is if the harness of that part is replaced.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, a wiring 13 and a pipe 13 to the end effector are routed together with the rotation of the wrist shaft 12 to an end effector (not shown) attached to the end of the wrist shaft 12 at the distal end portion 9. become. in this case,
Since the wrist shaft 12 can be rotated about ± 360 ° for convenience, (a) a vertical winding method such as a coil, and (b) an outer winding method such as a spiral winding between flanges 14 as shown in FIG. A winding method, (c) a vertical winding method using a support plate 15 and the like can be considered, and the structure of the wiring and piping 13 that can cope with a rotation of ± 360 ° is considered.

[0006]

However, in the robot shown in FIG. 5 described above, when connecting a plurality of divided harnesses 11 with a printed board or a terminal block, a print which is necessarily a relay section is necessarily provided. A board and a terminal block are required, and a mounting bracket is also required, which requires assembling man-hours and increases costs. In addition, mistakes in assembling workers, such as forgetting to tighten the screws of the relay portion and poor insertion of the connector, and quality problems have occurred. In addition, vibration and impact during robot operation,
There is a danger that heat and the like will be generated, and the screws and the connection portion of the connector will be loosened, which also has a quality problem.

The rotation angle of the distal end portion 9 of the wrist shaft 12 is ± 360 °. In order to enable the rotation of ± 360 °, the wiring 13 is vertically wound around the structure shown in FIG. However, a large space is required, the cost is increased, and a complicated routing is unavoidable even if the winding method is the outer winding or the vertical winding method using the support plate 15.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has the problems that divided harnesses have problems, that is, they require assembling man-hours, may cause assembly errors, increase costs,
Provided is an industrial robot having a harness assembly that solves the problem of quality problems and also reduces the problem of requiring a large space for the wrist, increasing the cost, and causing complicated wiring. With the goal.

[0009]

The present invention that achieves the above object has the following matters specifying the invention. In the first invention, wiring and piping are performed from the main body base control unit to the input means and output means of each axis and the end effector, and the wiring and piping are routed by one harness set, and the harness set is arranged along the robot arm. It is characterized by the following.

A second invention is based on the first invention, and
As the above-mentioned wiring, each individual wiring from the main body base control unit to the input means and the output means is grouped in a flexible tube, and fixed at the outlet of each axis with a connector which is a fixture having an extraction opening. It is characterized by the following.

In the third invention, the connector for fixing the flexible tube at the end effector has a swing structure in accordance with the movement of the end effector, and the end of the flexible tube is fixed to the wrist flange over the entire circumference in the circumferential direction. It is characterized in that it is attached to a fixing tap provided for each.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a robot having a configuration substantially the same as that of FIG. 5, in which a rotating shaft (first axis) 32 can be rotated by a one-axis motor 31 with respect to a base 40, and a second axis 34 is rotated by a two-axis motor 33. 3-axis motor 35
, The third shaft 36 is rotated, and the distal end 39 is driven by a four-axis motor (wrist motor) 37. In this robot, the harness that is routed to each axis and the end effector is constituted by a single harness set 21 as shown in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the main body base control unit 20 shown in FIG. 1 connects wirings 42, 43, and end detectors to the respective axis motors 35, 37, position detectors such as encoders, brakes, limit switches, and end effectors. 44, 45,
46 is routed by one line connected without a relay, and air pipes 47 and 48 are routed by pipes connected by a relay. These wirings 42, 43, 44, 45,
The bundle 46 and the pipes 47 and 48 are passed through the flexible tube 41 to form one harness set 21.

The wirings 42 of the harness set 21
A connector 22 is provided at a branch portion or an intermediate fixed portion which is an outlet of the pipes 43, 44, 45, 46 and the pipes 47, 48, and is fixed to the main body fixing bracket 23 shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the harness set 21 is fixed to the robot body (robot arm) by fastening the connector 22 to a U-shaped fixing bracket 23 attached to the robot arm. In FIG. 1, the harness set 21 is provided outside along the arm without passing through the inside of the robot as much as possible, so that the trouble of replacing cables and the like can be omitted. For this reason, maintenance is realized without changing from the conventional one shown in FIG.

Further, a portion of the arm distal end which is located ahead of the rotation shaft 50 has the configuration shown in FIGS. That is,
As shown in FIG. 4, the distal end portion 39 from the rotating shaft 50 has an L-shaped frame 24, has a wrist motor 25 on the L-shaped frame 24, and has a speed reducer 26 on a lower side thereof. A wrist flange 27 is provided at the tip of the speed reducer 26 so as to be rotatable with the rotation of a four-axis motor (wrist motor) 25, and the entire tip portion rotates about a rotation shaft 50.

Here, the wiring and piping to the end effector have a length that allows rotation of ± 180 °. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the conventional end effector that rotates in the range of ± 360 ° is actually sufficient in the operating range of ± 180 °, but only in the range of ± 180 ° and its reference point O changes. You need to follow what you do. In the conventional example shown in FIG. 6, ± 360 ° is set in order to compensate for the change of the reference point O. In this example, however, as shown in FIG. A fixing tap 28 is formed, and a reference point is set to one in accordance with the operation range with a fixing bracket 29 for fixing the connector 22 at the flexible tube end of the wiring and piping.
It can be fixed so that it can be changed every 5 °. That is, the end of the actual operation range is confirmed during the teaching test, and the fixing tap 28 of the wrist flange 27 is selected so that the connector 22 of the end of the flexible tube on the end effector side is fixed at the center angle. This is for fixing the bracket 29.

For this reason, the flexible tube 41 to which the rotary connector 22 at the end is fixed to the wrist flange 27.
Should be long enough to withstand a rotation of ± 180 °, and the length of the cable from the front connector 22 fixed to the fixing bracket 23 to the connector 22 at the end of the flexible tube fixed to the fixing bracket 29. The cable length can be made shorter than the conventional cable length.

The connector 22 is fixed by tightening the main body fixing bracket 23. The connector 22 at the distal end 9 (the end of the flexible tube) is rotated by ± 180 ° as shown by a dashed line in FIG. The connector has a so-called swing-type connector rotation structure such that the flexible tube 41 and the connector 22 at the distal end portion 9 move smoothly even when the flexible tube 41 goes under the L-shaped frame 24 in the vicinity. That is, in the illustrated example, the connector 22 at the end of the flexible tube is connected to the fixing bracket 29.
The connector 22 at the end of the flexible tube together with the fixing bracket 29 is freely rotatably fitted to the connector 22.
Is rotated to about ± 180 °, the connector 22 at the end of the flexible tube rotates as shown by an arrow E in FIG.
4 smoothly goes under.

Thus, the wrap height of the cable (flexible tube) can be minimized, and the wrist and the hand can be brought closer.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the harness is routed without dividing the harness without dividing, the number of assembling steps can be reduced, assembling errors can be reduced, the cost can be reduced, and the robot can be manufactured at low cost. Troubles such as loosening of the screw during operation are reduced and the quality is greatly improved.
Also, when arranging the end effector, the cable routing to a range where operation is not required is omitted, and ± 180
°, and the entire wrist can be made compact, the wrist load capacity can be increased, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing an example of a robot according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG.
(B) is an enlarged view of a portion C in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an overall view showing an example of a harness set.

FIG. 4A is a configuration diagram of a distal end portion of a robot arm,
(B) is a view in the direction of arrow D in (a).

FIG. 5 is an overall view of a conventional robot.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a state of wiring and piping.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an operation range of an end effector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 body base control unit 21 harness set 22 connector 23 body fixing bracket 27 wrist flange 28 fixing tap 41 flexible tube 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 wiring 47, 48 air piping

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Wiring and piping from a main body base control section to input means and output means of each axis and an end effector are routed by one harness set, and the harness set is arranged along a robot arm. An industrial robot having a harness set characterized by the following. 2. A connector as the above-mentioned wiring, wherein each individual wiring from the main body base control unit to the input means and the output means is integrated in a flexible tube, and a connector having a take-out opening is provided at a take-out opening of each shaft. 2. The industrial robot having a harness set according to claim 1, wherein the industrial robot is fixed by: 3. The connector for fixing the flexible tube at the end effector has a swing structure in accordance with the movement of the end effector, and the ends of the flexible tube are provided on the wrist flange at regular intervals over the entire circumference in the circumferential direction. An industrial robot having a harness set, wherein the industrial robot is attached to a fixing tap.