JP2006326715A - Chuck unit for industrial robot with fall prevention function - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a gripped workpiece from falling in the middle of supply due to an insufficient adsorption force by gripping the workpiece with a chuck having a fall prevention mechanism in a chuck unit for gripping the workpiece, transferring it to a processing machine, and mounting it. <P>SOLUTION: This industrial robot mounts a workpiece 1 to a predetermined processing machine after adsorbing and gripping it using an adsorption plate 21. A falling prevention mechanism 30 is inserted in the workpiece, and at the same time, the workpiece is adsorbed and gripped by the adsorption plate. A falling prevention pawl 34 is engaged with a groove provided inside a core, and a falling prevention mechanism for disengaging the pawl when the core of the workpiece is inserted in a shaft is incorporated in the chuck unit 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a chuck unit for an industrial robot that sucks and conveys a workpiece mounted on the industrial robot.

  In a processing line, when gripping a workpiece, carrying it to a processing machine, and mounting it, a means for mechanically gripping the workpiece and a means for gripping using a suction force such as a vacuum or an electromagnet are known techniques. Known as. In the case of a conventional chuck unit, a gripping device that grips a workpiece is often a mechanical device that operates a gripping claw using hydraulic pressure, or a workpiece that is attracted using a suction force such as a vacuum or an electromagnet. A gripper is used. In particular, in the case of a gripping device using a suction force such as the vacuum or electromagnet, if the vacuum force to the gripping device or the suction force of the electromagnet is interrupted for some reason, the gripping force is lost and the chuck grips the workpiece. There is a danger of dropping the work. The drop of the work not only damages the work but also damages the peripheral equipment, causing the line to stop and causing a problem.

  Conventionally, when a workpiece is transported using a gripping device such as an industrial robot, it has been desired to consider the prevention of the workpiece from falling during the transportation from the viewpoint of safety. However, for the fall prevention mechanism used in these gripping devices, various methods are adopted depending on factors such as the gripping means of the robot and the shape of the workpiece, as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2 presented next.

JP 2004-209554 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-207284

  The present invention is a chuck unit that is mounted on an industrial robot, grips a workpiece, transports and mounts it on a processing machine, grips the workpiece with a chuck (grip device) having a fall prevention mechanism, and the suction force is insufficient. The purpose is to prevent the picked-up workpiece from dropping during the supply.

Further, the fall prevention mechanism is inevitably operated in the work adsorption work process or the process of attaching the work to the processing machine. If the fall prevention mechanism is not activated, the work is not attracted or attached, and the worker is conscious. It is intended that the fall prevention mechanism works as a safety device without any problems.

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is an industrial robot in which a workpiece having a cylindrical hollow portion at the center is sucked and held using a chuck, and then the workpiece is mounted on a predetermined processing machine. The workpiece is prevented from falling from the suction plate by inserting the workpiece drop prevention mechanism into the cavity and at the same time engaging the workpiece with the fall prevention claw inside the cavity. The problem is solved by providing a chuck unit for an industrial robot with a fall prevention function.

Further, according to the present invention, in the present invention, the fall prevention claw and the workpiece are engaged with each other by a circumferential groove provided inside the cylindrical cavity and a claw driven by the link mechanism. Constitute.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a link mechanism in which a fall prevention claw is incorporated in a housing into which a fall prevention claw is inserted, and the link mechanism includes a link driving member driven by a cylinder, It consists of a link which has a nail | claw, the drive member and the link are connected with the pin, and the link which has a nail | claw is comprised so that it may arrange | position radially at a guide member.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the present invention, the housing having the fall prevention claw is substantially the same shape as the cylindrical shape of the cavity portion of the workpiece, and is mounted on the arm by a plurality of support rods and driven by the cylinder. And configured to be movable with respect to the arm.

Further, according to the present invention, in the present invention, the cylindrical hollow portion is a core, and a circumferentially-shaped rectangular groove in which a claw of a link engages with a central position in the longitudinal direction on the inner surface of the core. Configure as provided.

In addition, as described in claim 6, when the chuck unit that adsorbs the workpiece approaches the processing machine, a sensor provided in the housing is activated to release the engagement between the workpiece and the fall prevention mechanism, and the workpiece is mounted on the processing machine. To be configured.

Further, according to the present invention, the present invention is configured such that the means for attracting the work to the chuck is a vacuum or electromagnet attracting method.

Further, according to the present invention, the present invention is a non-magnetic flat plate roll in which a work having a cylindrical hollow portion in the center is wound with a film around a core having a predetermined groove on the inner surface of the core. It is characterized by being.

  As described above, by incorporating a fall prevention mechanism in the chuck part of the above chuck unit, even if the suction force is insufficient due to some factor during workpiece transfer, the workpiece is not dropped by dropping. It becomes possible to prevent breakage and breakage of peripheral devices. In particular, the above-mentioned effect is remarkable when a non-magnetic work is gripped and conveyed by an adsorption method.

  Hereinafter, details of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an industrial robot, and FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are detailed views of a chuck unit.

As shown in FIG. 1, the industrial robot of the present invention comprises a robot body 2 and a chuck unit 3 having a drop prevention mechanism 30. 1 indicates a workpiece. Here, the workpiece used in the present invention is a roll-shaped article in which a film is wound around a cylindrical core.

Next, the movement of the industrial robot of the present invention will be described. The chuck unit 3 is attached to the robot body 2 so as to rotate about the fulcrum 5 and has a structure capable of rotating in a range of approximately 90 ° from vertical to horizontal. This rotation is performed by moving the fulcrum 6 up and down by the cylinder 4.

  The work 1 as a material is supplied to a material storage place in a horizontal state as illustrated. First, the chuck unit 3 starts to descend after rotating in the vertical direction, and the fall prevention mechanism is inserted into the central cylindrical portion of the workpiece 1. Next, the workpiece 1 is adsorbed by the chuck unit, and at the same time, the fall prevention mechanism is operated to engage the fall prevention claw with the workpiece. Next, the chuck unit 3 picks up the workpiece 1 and lifts it to a certain height, rotates it 90 °, maintains the workpiece 1 by changing the direction from horizontal to vertical, and finally moves the workpiece 1 to the shaft 7 of the processing machine and attaches it. To complete a series of operations.

Next, the detailed structure of the chuck unit 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. Here, FIG. 2 shows a state in which the workpiece is adsorbed by the chuck unit and the claw of the fall prevention mechanism is engaged with the workpiece. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the workpiece is mounted on the shaft of the processing machine. FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of the fall prevention mechanism.

The structure of the chuck unit 3 will be described with reference to the sectional view of FIG. The chuck unit 3 includes an arm (suction board holding member) 10, a chuck (suction board) 20, and a fall prevention mechanism 30. The arm 10 has a chuck 20 fixed to one end, and a fall prevention mechanism 30 is movably attached to the center of the chuck.

The shape of the arm 10 is not particularly specified, but in the present invention, a pair of flat plates are combined and used in an H shape. The arm 10 has a chuck 20 and a fall prevention mechanism 30 attached to an end of a flat plate (opposite position of the fulcrum 6), and a cylinder 11 attached inside. The support rod 14 is connected to the arm 10 by being inserted into a rod support hole 13 provided in the arm 10, and the support rod 14 is configured to slide in the support hole 13 by driving the cylinder 11. . Here, the cylinder 11 is not limited to a driving type, and a cylinder having a shock absorber function for generating a constant force can be used. Therefore, the fall prevention mechanism 30 can be moved by driving the cylinder 11.

As shown in the figure, the chuck 20 is vertically attached to the arm 10 and generally has a disk shape, and is provided with a suction plate 21 for sucking a workpiece around it. The suction plate 21 is provided in a continuous groove shape having a constant width along the periphery of the chuck 20. In order to obtain a stronger adsorbing force, the groove ridges are made of a sealing material 22 such as rubber. In order to obtain a strong suction force, the shape of the groove of the suction plate 21 is preferably as large as possible, but is not limited to the above shape. Further, a hollow portion 23 through which the fall prevention mechanism 30 is movable is provided at the center of the chuck 20.

The fall prevention mechanism 30 includes an inner hollow cylindrical housing A whose upper and lower surfaces are closed, a fall prevention claw link mechanism B housed in the housing A, and a plurality of support rods 14 that couple the housing A and the arm 10. A plurality of windows 31 through which the claw 34 enters and exits are provided on the side surface of the housing A. The fall prevention claw link mechanism B includes a drive member 32, a link 33, a cylinder 38, and a spring 40. Here, the tip of the link 33 constitutes the fall prevention claw 34. The cylinder 38 is fixed to the lower surface of the housing A as shown, and the cylinder rod 39 is connected to the drive member 32. A spring 40 is inserted between the drive member 32 and the upper surface of the housing A. The claw 34 side of the link 33 is connected by a pin 36, and the drive member side is connected by a pin 37. In the present invention, the pin 36 is integrated with the housing, and the pin 35 is integrated with the link 33. With such a structure, the link 33 uses the pin 36 as a fulcrum, and the drive member side (pin 35 side) can rotate. In addition, in order for the drive member side to rotate, the link connection hole 37 needs to be a long hole. However, the structure which enables the link 33 to rotate is not limited to this.

Here, the solid line link shown in FIG. 2 shows a state in which the claw 34 is engaged with the groove 42 of the core 41 of the work 1, and the broken line link shows a state in which the claw 34 is disengaged. When the cylinder 38 is driven and the drive member 32 is pushed as indicated by the broken line, the link 33 rotates about the pin 36 and the claw 34 is housed inside the housing. When the drive of the cylinder 38 is released, the drive member 32 is returned to its original position by the spring 40 and the claw 34 is engaged with the groove 42 of the core 41.

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the fall prevention claw link mechanism B as viewed from the arrow AA. A drive member 32 is provided at the center of the housing A, and four links 33 are arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions. The link 33 is connected to the housing side via a pin 36 and to the drive member side via a pin 37. In this drawing, the claw 34 protrudes outside the window 31 of the housing, but the claw 34 is accommodated in the housing A when the drive member 32 moves upward with respect to the paper surface.

Next, a process in which the workpiece 1 is mounted on the shaft 7 of the processing machine will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the workpiece 1 is attracted to the chuck 20 and conveyed to the shaft 7 of the processing machine with the fall prevention claw 34 engaged with the core 41 of the workpiece, and the core 41 of the workpiece 1 is transferred to the shaft 7. When inserted, the claw opening sensor dog 43 (sensor) works to open the fall prevention claw 34 as shown in FIG. By continuously applying an external force, the chuck unit 2 is pushed into the shaft 7, whereby the fall prevention mechanism 30 moves relatively to the arm 10 side, and the workpiece 1 is mounted on the shaft 7.

  The present invention can be used as a means for safely transporting articles in the field of transporting articles using industrial robots.

It is the schematic of an industrial robot. It is sectional drawing of a chuck unit. It is sectional drawing of a chuck unit. It is detail drawing of the fall prevention mechanism of a chuck unit.

Explanation of symbols

A Housing B Fall prevention claw link mechanism 1 Work piece 2 Robot body 3 Chuck unit 4 Cylinder 7 Processing machine shaft 10 Arm 11 Cylinder 12 Cylinder rod 13 Rod support hole 14 Support rod 20 Chuck 21 Suction plate 22 Sealing material 30 Drop prevention mechanism 31 Window 32 Drive member 33 Link 34 Fall prevention claw 35, 36 Pin 37 Long hole 38 Cylinder 39 Cylinder rod 41 Core 42 Claw engagement groove 43 Claw release sensor dog

Claims (8)

An industrial robot that attaches and holds a workpiece with a cylindrical cavity in the center using a chuck, and then attaches and holds the workpiece to a specified processing machine. An industrial robot chuck unit with work drop prevention function, which is inserted and engaged with the fall prevention claw inside the cavity to prevent the work from falling. 2. The industrial robot with workpiece drop prevention function according to claim 1, wherein the engagement between the fall prevention claw and the workpiece is a circumferential groove provided inside a cylindrical cavity and a claw driven by a link mechanism. Chuck unit. The fall prevention claw is a link mechanism incorporated in the housing, and includes a drive member driven by a cylinder and a link having a claw. The drive member and the link are connected by a pin, and the link having the claw is in the housing. 3. The industrial robot chuck unit with work drop prevention function according to claim 1, wherein the chuck unit is disposed radially. The housing has substantially the same shape as the cylindrical shape of the cavity of the workpiece, is attached to the arm with a plurality of support rods, is driven by the cylinder, and is movable with respect to the arm. The chuck unit for industrial robots with the workpiece drop prevention function described in 3. The cylindrical hollow portion is a core, and a circumferentially-shaped rectangular groove that engages a claw of a link is provided on the inner surface of the core at a central position in the longitudinal direction. The chuck unit for industrial robots with the work drop prevention function according to 3 and 4. The sensor provided in the housing is activated when the chuck unit that adsorbs the workpiece approaches the processing machine, the engagement between the workpiece and the fall prevention mechanism is released, and the workpiece is mounted on the processing machine. 2. A chuck unit for industrial robots with work drop prevention function according to 2, 3, 4 and 5. 7. The chuck unit for an industrial robot with a workpiece drop prevention function according to claim 1, wherein the means for attracting the workpiece to the chuck is a vacuum or electromagnet attracting method. The workpiece having a cylindrical hollow portion in the center is a flat roll in which a film is wound around a core having a predetermined groove provided on the inner surface of the core. The chuck unit for industrial robots with the fall prevention function of 6 and 7.