JP2007061920A - Industrial robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an industrial robot which has long forks, and can easily, quickly, and suitably carry a product with the forks without thickening the same, by correcting sagging at the tip of each of the forks. <P>SOLUTION: Each fork 16 is rigidly mounted on a hand 15 by means of bolts 17, and the hand 15 has a fork tip position adjusting means 20 formed of a decentered piece 21 that abuts on a lower surface of the fork 16 to lift the tip of the fork 16 upward. The decentered piece 21 is rotated by loosening a nut 25 and rotating a shaft 22, and changes a lifting amount of the fork 16. Therefore when the tip of the fork 16 is located at the same height as the height of a proximal end of the fork 16 by changing the lifting amount of the fork 16, the nut 25 is fastened to fix the decentered piece 21, and thus adjustment of the position of the fork tip is completed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an industrial robot for transporting a transported object such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal panel, and more particularly to an industrial robot for transporting a transported object on a fork attached to a hand.

  This type of industrial robot has a fork attached to a hand that performs two-dimensional or three-dimensional movement and rotation, and a method of carrying a transported object on this fork is widely adopted. . The fork of this industrial robot is inserted under the transported object placed in multiple stages in the storage cassette and the transported object placed in the processing unit, and this fork is raised to place the transported object on the fork, Move the hand to transport the object.

  When the conveyed product has a large area such as a large liquid crystal panel glass substrate, it is necessary to use a very long fork, and the tip of the fork hangs down. The amount of drooping at the tip of the fork varies depending on the individual fork, and also when the length of the fork is changed in accordance with the change of the conveyed product. For this reason, conventionally, position control of this type of industrial robot has a drawback that the operation is complicated.

  In order to prevent the tip of the fork from drooping, the fork may be thickened to increase the rigidity. However, if the fork is thickened, the weight increases, the operability deteriorates, and the conveying speed must be lowered. Therefore, conventionally, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-148476, an invention has been proposed in which the fork is made hollow and the thickness of the fork becomes thinner toward the tip. According to this, the amount of sag at the tip of the fork can be kept small, but the sag cannot be eliminated, and the longer the fork, the greater the amount of sag, and the overall thickness of the fork, especially the thickness Can not be thinned.

  In addition, if the fork is made thicker and thicker, it becomes necessary to increase the interval between the articles to be placed in multiple stages in the storage cassette, which requires a large storage cassette and expands the range of movement of the industrial robot. I have to let it.

Therefore, the present applicant has previously proposed an industrial robot that can be provided with a fork tip position adjusting means for pushing up the tip side of the fork in the hand to correct the drooping of the fork tip (Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-2004). 299476).
JP 2004-148476 A

  In the present invention, like the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-299476, even if the fork is long, the fork can be easily, quickly and accurately conveyed by correcting the sagging of the tip of the fork without increasing the thickness of the fork. It aims to provide other types of industrial robots.

  The invention according to claim 1 for achieving the above object is an industrial robot comprising a hand mounted with a fork on which a transported article is mounted, and the front end side of the fork is attached and fixed to the hand, Has fork tip position adjusting means for abutting against the lower surface of the fork tip side position from the mounting and fixing position of the fork to push up the tip side of the fork, and the fork tip position adjusting means rotates to the hand. It is characterized by comprising an eccentric piece which is attached to be able to be fixed at a predetermined angular position and whose eccentric outer peripheral surface comes into contact with the lower surface of the fork.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an industrial robot comprising a hand mounted with a fork on which a transported article is mounted, and the front end side of the fork is attached and fixed to the hand, and the fork is attached to the hand. Fork tip position adjusting means for abutting against the lower surface of the fork tip side position from the fixed position to push up the tip side of the fork, the fork tip position adjusting means extends across the fork and vertically It is characterized by comprising a fork push-up member that is attached to the hand so as to be movable, and is moved up and down by a wedge mechanism that also extends across the fork, so that the upper surface is in contact with the lower surface of the fork.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 3 is an industrial robot comprising a hand mounted with a fork on which a conveyed product is mounted, and a first position on the base end side of the fork and a predetermined amount of fork tip side from the first position. There are first and second attachment means for attaching the fork to the hand at two positions apart from each other, and at least one of the first and second attachment means adjusts the attachment height position. For adjusting the vertical position of the tip end side of the fork.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3, wherein the second attachment means is configured to hold the fork via inclination permission means for allowing inclination of the fork. The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 3, the first and second attachment means are both configured to hold the fork via the inclination allowance means. The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 3, wherein the first attachment means is swingable in the vertical direction via a pin extending in a direction horizontally across the fork. The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 3, 4, 5 or 6, the first and second attachment means are arranged in the width direction of the fork. Mounting It is characterized in that attached to changeably the hand the location.

  Since these inventions are configured as described above, even if the tip of the fork hangs down, the sag of the tip of the fork can be corrected easily and accurately. In particular, according to the inventions according to claims 3 to 6, The drooping of the tip of the fork can be reliably corrected over a wide range. For this reason, the position control of the industrial robot becomes easy, the operability is improved, and the thickness of the fork is not increased. The effect that it can convey accurately can be acquired.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows an example of an industrial robot to which the present invention is applied. 10 is a base, 11 is a swivel base, 12 is an elevating / rotating shaft, 13 is a first swivel arm, 14 is a second swivel arm, 15 Is a hand, 16 is a fork, and 17 is a bolt for fixing the fork 16 to the hand 15.

  The first and second swivel arms 13 and 14 swirl in opposite directions to move the hand 15 in the radial direction of the lift / rotation shaft 12. At this time, the hand 15 rotates on the second turning arm 14 in conjunction with the turning of the first and second turning arms 13 and 14, and keeps the direction of the hand 15 constant. Further, the hand 15 can be rotated separately from the above-described interlocking. Further, the hand 15 moves up and down as the elevating / rotating shaft 12 moves up and down, and moves in the circumferential direction of the elevating / rotating shaft 12 as the swivel base 11 turns.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged detailed plan view of the hand 15 and the fork 16. As shown in FIG. 2, the base ends of the two forks 16 are attached and fixed to the upper surface of the hand 15 by bolts 17. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the upper surface of the hand 15 has a lower surface at a front end side position of the fork 16 than a mounting fixing position of the fork 16 with a bolt 17. Is formed, and an eccentric piece 21 constituting the fork tip position adjusting means 20 is disposed in the recess 15A.

  The eccentric piece 21 is fixed to the tip of a shaft 22 rotatably attached to the hand 15 arranged in parallel with the fork 16 by a nut 23, and the outer peripheral surface of the eccentric piece 21 is eccentric with respect to the shaft 22. The surface is arranged so as to protrude from the upper surface of the hand 15. The shaft 22 is rotated by engaging a tool with the tool engaging portion 24, and is fixed at a predetermined angular position by a nut 25.

  Next, the operation of this industrial robot will be described. If the fork 16 is long, the tip hangs down as shown in FIG. This sagging causes the shaft 22 of the fork tip position adjusting means 20 to rotate and changes the amount of protrusion of the outer peripheral surface of the eccentric piece 21 so that the tip of the fork 16 has substantially the same height as the original end as shown in FIG. Thus, the nut 25 is tightened to fix the eccentric piece 21 at a predetermined angular position.

  As described above, according to this industrial robot, the drooping of the tip of the fork 16 can be corrected very easily. Therefore, the position control related to the height of the hand 15 with respect to the transported object (not shown) is facilitated, and the operability is improved. . Moreover, since the thickness of the fork 16 does not increase, the load of the industrial robot is not increased, and the operability of the industrial robot itself is not hindered. For this reason, a conveyed product can be conveyed easily, quickly and accurately.

  4 to 6 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed plan view of the hand 15 and the fork 16. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. The other embodiment is an example in which a wedge mechanism 30 extending in a direction crossing the fork 16 is used as the fork tip position adjusting means 20.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the hand 15 has a direction in which it crosses the forks 16, 16 opposite the lower surface of the front end side position of the forks 16, 16 from the mounting fixing position of the forks 16, 16 by the bolt 17. An extending wedge mechanism 30 is provided. As shown in FIG. 6, the wedge mechanism 30 includes an upper wedge member 31 as a fork push-up member attached to the hand 15 so as to be movable up and down, and a lower wedge member 32 disposed below the upper wedge member 31. It has become.

  The lower surface of the upper wedge member 31 and the upper surface of the lower wedge member 32 are formed on a slope inclined in the left-right direction in FIG. 6 so as to constitute the wedge mechanism 30, and the lower wedge member 32 is movable in the left-right direction in FIG. Is attached to the hand 15. A feed nut 33 is detachably fitted on the lower surface of the lower wedge member 32 in FIG. The feed nut 33 is engaged with a feed screw 34 attached to the hand 15 so as to be rotatable only, and the tool is engaged with the tool engaging portion 35 of the feed screw 34 to rotate, whereby the feed nut 33 is rotated in the horizontal direction in FIG. Moved to. By the movement of the feed nut 33, the lower wedge member 32 is moved in the left-right direction in FIG. 6, and the upper wedge member 31 as the fork push-up member is moved up and down. Reference numeral 36 denotes a presser plate for preventing the feed screw 34 from coming off.

  According to this other embodiment, it is possible to simultaneously correct the tip positions of two or more forks 16 by simply rotating one feed screw 34.

  7 to 8 show still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is an enlarged detailed plan view of the hand 15 and the fork 16, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. It is. The fork 16 is attached to the hand 15 by a first attachment means 40 comprising a bolt 41 and lock nuts 42 and 43 at a first position on the original end side, and is separated from the first position by a predetermined amount toward the tip side of the fork 16. The second position is attached to the hand 15 by the second attachment means 44 comprising a bolt 45 and lock nuts 46 and 47.

  7 to 8, the lock nuts 42, 43, 46, 47 are slightly loosened, the bolts 41, 45 are turned to change the height, and then the lock nuts 42, 43, 46, The mounting height position at the first and second positions of the fork 16 can be adjusted by tightening 47.

  According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 8, the tip height position of the fork 16 is adjusted by adjusting the attachment height position by both or one of the first and second attachment means 40, 44. The tip height position can be reliably maintained at a more accurate position.

  FIG. 9 is a modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 8, and the first mounting means 50 does not have a height adjusting means, and the first position of the fork 16 is simply moved to the hand 15 by the bolt 51. It is attached and fixed. Further, the second mounting means 52 includes a bolt 55 and a lock nut 56 through which the fork 16 is tilted and allowed to include a male and female curved washer 53, 54 having a spherical surface or a cylindrical surface whose cylindrical axis horizontally crosses the fork 16. It is configured to hold in. Reference numeral 57 denotes a lock nut for fixing the bolt 55 to the hand 15. In addition, this inclination allowance means may omit the female curved washer 54 and use only the male curved washer 53.

  According to the modification shown in FIG. 9, since the second attachment means 52 can hold the fork 16 at an arbitrary angle, the tip height position of the fork 16 can be made more smoothly and larger. Can be changed.

  FIG. 10 shows another modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 8. The first mounting means 60 does not have a height adjusting means, and has a pin 61 extending horizontally across the fork 16. And is attached to the hand 15 so as to be swingable in the vertical direction. The second attachment means 52 is the same as that of the modification shown in FIG. According to this modification, the fork 16 can be inclined more easily than the modification shown in FIG. 9, and the tip height position of the fork 16 can be changed more smoothly and more greatly.

  FIG. 11 shows still another modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 8. The first attachment means 70 has the same structure as the second attachment means 52 shown in FIGS. Reference numeral 71 denotes a bolt, 72 and 73 are lock nuts, and 74 and 75 are male and female curved washers. According to this modification, since the first attachment means 70 includes the height adjustment means, the attachment height position of both or one of the first and second attachment means 70 and 52 can be adjusted. Accordingly, the tip height position of the fork 16 can be adjusted, and the fork 16 can be easily tilted, and the tip height position of the fork 16 can be made smoother than the modification shown in FIG. And it can be changed more greatly.

  12 to 13 are modifications of the modification shown in FIG. 11, and the bolt 71 of the first mounting means 70 and the bolt 55 of the second mounting means 52 are respectively attached to the T-shaped blocks 76 and 58. It is screwed. The T-shaped blocks 76 and 58 are movably engaged with T-grooves 15B and 15B provided on the upper surface of the hand 15 in the width direction of the fork 16, respectively, and nuts 73 and 57 via washers 77 and 59, respectively. The fork 16 is fixed at an arbitrary position in the width direction.

  According to the modification shown in FIGS. 12 to 13, each attachment position in the width direction of the fork 16 can be arbitrarily changed.

  4 to 6, the fork 16 can be moved in the width direction by using the T groove 15A and the T-shaped block 76 without directly attaching the fork 16 to the hand 15 with the bolt 17. If it is provided, each attachment position in the width direction of the fork 16 can be arbitrarily changed.

  The present invention is suitable for an industrial robot having a long fork, such as an industrial robot for transporting a transported object such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal panel.

1 is a schematic front view of an industrial robot showing an embodiment of the present invention. The enlarged detailed top view of the hand and fork of the industrial robot shown in FIG. Sectional drawing by the AA line of FIG. The enlarged detailed top view of the hand and fork of an industrial robot which show other examples of this invention. Sectional drawing by the BB line of FIG. Sectional drawing by the CC line of FIG. The expanded detail top view of the hand and fork of an industrial robot which show further another embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing by the DD line | wire of FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the modification of FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the other modification of FIG. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing still another modification of FIG. FIG. 12 is an enlarged detailed plan view of an industrial robot hand and fork showing a modification of the modification shown in FIG. 11. Sectional drawing by the EE line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Base 11 Rotating stand 12 Elevating / rotating shaft 13 First turning arm 14 Second turning arm 15 Hand 16 Fork 20 Fork tip position adjusting means 21 Eccentric piece 30 Wedge mechanism 31 Upper wedge member (fork pushing member)
32 Lower wedge member 33 Feed nut 34 Feed screw 40, 50, 60, 70 First attachment means 44, 52 Second attachment means 53, 74 Curved washer (male) (inclination permitting means)
54, 75 Curved washer (female) (inclination permitting means)
61 pin 58, 76 T-shaped block.

Claims (7)

In an industrial robot that has a hand mounted with a fork to load a transported object,
Fork tip position for attaching and fixing the fore end side of the fork to the hand, and for abutting the lower surface of the fork tip side position from the attachment and fixing position of the fork to push up the tip side of the fork Adjustment means,
The fork tip position adjusting means comprises an eccentric piece attached to the hand so as to be rotatable and fixed at a predetermined angular position, and having an eccentric outer peripheral surface abutting against the lower surface of the fork. . In an industrial robot that has a hand mounted with a fork to load a transported object,
Fork tip position for attaching and fixing the fore end side of the fork to the hand, and for abutting the lower surface of the fork tip side position from the attachment and fixing position of the fork to push up the tip side of the fork Adjustment means,
The fork tip position adjusting means extends across the fork and is attached to the hand so as to be movable up and down. An industrial robot comprising a fork push-up member. In an industrial robot that has a hand mounted with a fork to load a transported object,
There are first and second attachment means for attaching the fork to the hand at two locations, a first position on the former end side of the fork and a second position separated from the first position by a predetermined amount toward the tip end of the fork. ,
At least one of these first and second attachment means has height adjustment means for adjusting the attachment height position, and is configured to be able to adjust the vertical position on the tip side of the fork. A featured industrial robot.   4. The industrial robot according to claim 3, wherein the second attachment means is configured to hold the fork via an inclination allowance means for allowing the fork to be inclined.   The industrial robot according to claim 3, wherein both the first and second attachment means are configured to hold the fork via the tilt allowing means.   The industry according to claim 3, wherein the first mounting means is configured to hold the fork so as to be swingable in a vertical direction via a pin extending in a direction transversely across the fork. Robot. The industrial robot according to claim 3, 4, 5, or 6, wherein the first and second attachment means are attached to the hand so that an attachment position in a width direction of the fork can be changed.

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