JP2007181908A - Traveling robot device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a traveling robot device and its control method capable of realizing compactness without enlarging an arm even for a comparatively heavy workpiece, and shortening a cycle time required for loading and unloading the workpiece. <P>SOLUTION: This traveling robot device 1 comprises, on a traveling table 5, a robot 6 having an arm 7 rotatable and shrinkable in a horizontal direction by a plurality of link mechanisms (a first link mechanism 11 and a second link mechanism 12), and a robot arm 20 (upward/downward moving and turning means) supporting a fork 9 (workpiece support) installed at a tip of the arm 7 and supporting the workpiece 9, and moving upward/downward and turning. The device is equipped with assist means 30 connected with the fork 9, and assisting an upward/downward moving action and a turning action of the fork 9 by the robot arm 20, and a movement action of the arm 7 in a horizontal direction by shrinkage. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a traveling robot apparatus for transferring a workpiece and a control method thereof, which is suitable for use in a machining line for relatively heavy parts such as a cylinder block of an automobile engine.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a robot mounted on a traveling device traveling on a predetermined track is used to transfer a workpiece between a loading platform (temporary placing table) provided in the traveling device and an external device that performs processing of the workpiece ( There is a traveling type robot apparatus that performs unloading / loading) and workpiece handling (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for an automatic guided vehicle in which a transfer robot that transfers a workpiece between a loading platform and an external device is mounted on a traveling carriage that loads and conveys the workpiece on a loading platform. The transfer robot disclosed in this document includes a multi-joint type arm that is extended in the vertical direction and has a spindle that can be raised and lowered as a turning axis, and is rotatably attached to the spindle in the horizontal direction. The arm is provided with a finger for scooping up the workpiece. By this transfer robot, the finger is applied to the lower side of the workpiece, the spindle is lifted to scoop up the workpiece, and the workpiece is transferred by the horizontal expansion and contraction of the arm and the rotation of the spindle.
The transfer robot configured as described above is mounted in a substantially central portion in the traveling direction (front-rear direction) on the traveling carriage, and a loading platform for mounting a workpiece on the front and rear of the transfer robot is provided. Yes.
JP-A-10-315164 JP-A-2005-96018

  Certainly, in the transfer robot described in Patent Document 1, it is considered that the movement speed can be increased by adopting a configuration in which the movement in the horizontal direction is performed only by the movement of the joint not affected by the weight. . However, when scooping up a workpiece with the arms extending in a straight line, the weight of the workpiece will be applied only to each arm. It is necessary to design the size to match the weight of the. That is, as the weight of the workpiece to be transferred increases, it becomes difficult to make the robot compact.

Moreover, in the structure provided with the loading platform for mounting a workpiece | work to the transfer robot before and behind the advancing direction of a traveling cart like the automatic guided vehicle of the said patent document 1, the full length of a traveling cart becomes long. At the same time, the turning radius of the transfer robot increases. In other words, since the space for installing the loading platform before and after the robot is required, the total length of the traveling carriage becomes long, and the workpiece is placed on each of the loading platforms before and after, so that the transfer robot turns. The radius also increases.
These are not preferable in terms of shortening the cycle time required for loading and unloading of workpieces by the robot and space saving of the traveling robot apparatus including the external apparatus.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that it is possible to achieve compactness without enlarging the arm even for a relatively heavy workpiece, and to shorten the cycle time for loading and unloading the workpiece. It is an object of the present invention to provide a traveling robot apparatus and a control method thereof.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is as described above. Next, means for solving the problem will be described.

  That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an arm configured to be horizontally turnable and extendable by a plurality of link mechanisms, and a work support provided at a tip portion of the arm to support the work, and to be lifted and lowered A traveling type robot apparatus having a robot having a lifting and lowering means to be mounted on a traveling platform, which is connected to the workpiece support, and the lifting and lowering operation of the workpiece support by the lifting and lowering means, the turning operation, and the arm Assist means for assisting the horizontal movement operation due to the expansion and contraction of the lens is provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the workpiece transferred by the robot on one side in the traveling direction of the traveling table with respect to the robot on the traveling table has the longitudinal direction of the planar view shape in the mounting posture as the traveling direction. And a platform that can be placed in a substantially vertical direction, and the robot places the workpiece on the platform so that the longitudinal direction of the workpiece is substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction. .

  4. The inclined surface according to claim 3, which includes substantially the entire movement range of the work support in a plan view on the traveling table, receives coolant and partially or entirely falls toward at least one side. A coolant recovery means including a receiving surface is provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the cable housing member connected to the traveling base is folded back into a substantially U shape in plan view and arranged along the traveling rail on which the traveling base travels.

  In claim 5, the workpiece support is a fork for scooping up the workpiece, and the fork is positioned by fitting to the workpiece in the vicinity of the balance position on the lower surface side of the workpiece, and can support a plurality of workpiece postures. The positioning means is provided.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the method of controlling a traveling robot apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the assist means is synchronized with a lifting operation of the lifting / lowering means, In order to assist the lifting / lowering operation of the workpiece support, the lifting / lowering turning means and a drive source provided in the assisting means for supplying an output used for the lifting / lowering operation of the workpiece support are controlled.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the method for controlling the traveling robot apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the output obtained from the assist means without using the output from the up-and-down turning means. Is used to control the elevating and turning means and a drive source that is provided in the assist means and supplies an output that is used for the elevating operation of the work support so that the work support is raised and lowered. Is.

  As effects of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the size of a relatively heavy workpiece without enlarging the arm of the robot, and to shorten the cycle time for loading and unloading the workpiece.

  In claim 2, when the traveling robot apparatus is used for transferring a workpiece having a longitudinal direction in a planar shape in the loading position on the loading platform, the planar shape of the loading platform (the area of the loading surface of the loading platform) ) On the width and length of the entire traveling robot apparatus can be reduced, and the entire traveling robot apparatus can be made compact.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently collect the coolant dripped when the workpiece is loaded and unloaded by the robot, and the coolant recovery rate can be improved.

In claim 4, the area of the upper surface of the cable bear can be made relatively small, the amount of coolant adhering to the cable bear can be reduced, and the reliability of various cables accommodated in the cable bear can be reduced. Can be improved.
In addition, space can be saved, the appearance can be made clear, and the appearance can be improved.

  According to the fifth aspect, the cycle time required for loading and unloading the workpiece can be shortened, and positioning when the workpiece is picked up by the fork and displacement on the fork during the transfer of the workpiece can be prevented. .

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when assisting by the assisting means is performed, it is possible to prevent the robot from being subjected to stress accompanying the raising / lowering of the assisting means by simple control.

  According to the seventh aspect, when assisting by the assisting means is performed, it is possible to prevent stress from being applied to the robot by the assisting means by simple control.

Next, embodiments of the invention will be described.
The configuration of the traveling robot apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a traveling robot apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a machining line for performing a plurality of machining on a workpiece, and FIG. 3 is a traveling robot apparatus on the machining line. 4 is a rear view, FIG. 5 is a plan view, and FIG. 6 is a side view.
In the following, a description will be given of a case where the traveling robot apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is used in a machining line where a cylinder block of an automobile engine is subjected to a plurality of machining.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the traveling robot apparatus 1 includes a plurality of processing equipments 2, 2... It travels along the traveling rails 3 laid between the two rows..., And transfers (loads / unloads) the workpieces 4 processed in this processing line.
That is, the traveling robot apparatus 1 includes a traveling platform 5 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view that travels along the traveling rail 3. The robot 6 that transfers the workpiece 4 and the workpiece 4 are mounted on the traveling platform 5. And a loading platform 40 for placement.

Then, the traveling robot apparatus 1 transfers the workpiece 4 after being processed in a certain processing facility 2 to the loading platform 40 by the robot 6 (see the arrow X in FIG. 2), and this processing that has been placed on the loading platform 40 in advance. An unprocessed workpiece 4 is transferred to the processing equipment 2 with respect to the equipment 2 (see arrow Y in the figure). The traveling robot apparatus 1 travels on the traveling rail 3 while repeating such a transfer operation. The details of the transfer operation of the traveling robot apparatus 1 will be described later.
Hereinafter, the traveling direction of the traveling robot device 1 (of the traveling platform 5), that is, the direction in which the traveling rail 3 is laid (up and down direction in FIG. 2) is referred to as “front-rear direction”. (Left-right direction) is defined as “left-right direction”

A specific configuration of the traveling robot apparatus 1 will be described.
First, the configuration of the traveling platform 5 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, the traveling platform 5 has a base 18 configured in a substantially rectangular plate shape, and the base 18 forms a platform portion of the traveling platform 5 and the traveling platform 5 is configured as described above. It is configured in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view. The traveling robot apparatus 1 travels as the traveling platform 5 moves along the traveling rail 3. Although the structure with respect to the traveling rail 3 of the traveling stand 5 is not specifically limited, In this embodiment, it is the following structures.

The traveling rail 3 is composed of two substantially square columnar rails 3a and 3b laid in parallel. The rails 3a and 3b are supported in a substantially horizontal state at a predetermined height position with respect to the floor surface 15 by support legs 3c provided at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction.
The traveling table 5 travels using a traveling device 19 provided on the base 18 as a traveling drive source.
The traveling device 19 is constituted by, for example, an electric motor or the like, and is provided so as to penetrate the base 18 with its drive shaft as a substantially vertical direction. The traveling device 19 includes a driving roller 19a that rotates in a substantially horizontal direction by a driving shaft below the base 18, and the driving roller 19a is attached to the inner surface of the rail 3a on one side (left side). It is provided in a state where it abuts against the protrusion 3x. That is, the driving roller 19a is configured to engage with the protrusion 3x, and the driving roller 19a rotates to obtain power for moving the traveling platform 5.
Further, a ridge 3y is provided on the upper surface of the same rail 3a, and a slider 18a that is slidably engaged with the ridge 3y is provided below the base 18 corresponding to the ridge 3y. ing.

  On the other hand, with respect to the rail 3b on the other side (right side), one or a plurality of legs 18b projecting downward from the base 18 (two in the front and rear in this embodiment) are provided on the legs 18b. The traveling table 5 is movably supported by being supported via the guide rollers 18c and 18c provided and the protrusion 3z attached to the inner surface of the rail 3b. That is, guide rollers 18c and 18c having a left and right direction as a rotation axis direction are provided on the leg portion 18b at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction, and these guide rollers 18c and 18c are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the protrusion 3z. In contact with each other.

  In this way, the traveling platform 5 is supported by the driving roller 19a of the traveling device 19 with respect to the rail 3a on one side and movably supported via the slider 18a, and with respect to the rail 3b on the other side. Is supported through a leg portion 18b and a guide roller 18c so as to be movable. Thus, the traveling robot apparatus 1 is supported so as to be movable with respect to the traveling rail 3.

  Next, the configuration of the robot 6 will be described. The robot 6 supports an arm 7 configured to be turnable and extendable in a horizontal direction by a plurality of link mechanisms, and a fork 9 provided at a tip portion of the arm 7 and supporting a work 4 as a work support. And a robot arm 20 as a raising / lowering turning means for raising and lowering and turning.

The arm 7 is provided so as to be able to turn in the horizontal direction with respect to the base column 10 erected in a substantially vertical direction on the base 18 of the traveling base 5. The base column 10 is erected on a protruding portion 18d that protrudes rearward in the horizontal direction at a substantially central portion in the left-right direction on one side (rear side) of the base 18 in the front-rear direction.
The arm 7 includes a first link mechanism 11 and a second link mechanism 12 that are respectively provided so as to be able to turn in the horizontal direction, and are configured to be extendable and contractable in the horizontal direction by these turns. That is, the first link mechanism 11 is provided so as to be able to turn in the horizontal direction about the base pillar 10 as a rotation axis by attaching one end side to the upper end of the base pillar 10. Further, the second link mechanism 12 is pivoted in the horizontal direction with respect to the first link mechanism 11 by being attached so that one end side is the other end side of the first link mechanism 11 and the vertical direction is the rotation axis direction. It is possible. In the present embodiment, the second link mechanism 12 is provided above the first link mechanism 11.
Further, an operation control unit 13 for adjusting the turning of the arm 7 in the robot 6 and the operation of the robot arm 20 by a button operation or the like is provided on the upper part of the base pillar 10.

  The robot arm 20 as the up-and-down turning means includes an axial main arm 21 provided in a state of penetrating the second link mechanism 12 in the vertical direction at the distal end portion of the second link mechanism 12, and the vicinity of the main arm 21. Are provided with a shaft-like auxiliary arm 22 provided in a state of penetrating the second link mechanism 12 in the vertical direction.

The main arm 21 is an integral shaft-like member, and is configured to move up and down and rotate by a drive mechanism provided in the second link mechanism 12 and including a drive source. That is, when the main arm 21 moves up and down, the main arm 21 operates to slide up and down in a penetrating state with respect to the second link mechanism 12.
One end (base) of the fork 9 is connected to the lower end of the main arm 21 and is pivotally supported. Therefore, the fork 9 is moved up and down as the main arm 21 moves up and down, and the fork 9 is turned in the horizontal direction around the main arm 21 as the rotation axis when the main arm 21 is rotated.
The auxiliary arm 22 is connected to the main arm 21 via a connecting plate 23 that is rotatably provided at the lower end of the main arm 21. The auxiliary arm 22 is configured to be extendable by being provided so as to be insertable into a cylindrical body 22a that protrudes vertically upward in the second link mechanism 12. That is, the auxiliary arm 22 is configured to follow the elevation of the main arm 21 and to allow the second link mechanism 12 to rotate relative to the main arm 21 as the arm 7 expands and contracts. To assist. A plurality of auxiliary arms 22 may be provided.

In the traveling robot apparatus 1 having the above configuration, the assisting device 30 is connected to the fork 9 and assists the horizontal movement operation of the fork 9 by the robot arm 20 by moving up and down, turning, and extending and contracting the arm 7. Is provided.
The assist means 30 includes a lifting / lowering body (bracket) 31 that can be moved up and down with respect to the traveling platform 5, a servo motor 32 that is a drive source for moving the lifting / lowering body 31 up and down, and a guide provided on the lifting body 31. A frame 33 and a slide frame 34 are provided so as to be movable in the left-right direction with respect to the guide frame 33 and connected to the fork 9 to guide the movement of the fork.

  The elevating body 31 is a frame body formed in a frame shape so as to have a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape, and penetrates the base 18 of the traveling platform 5 with its longitudinal direction as the vertical direction as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. It can be moved up and down in the state. That is, the base 18 is formed with an opening 18e (see FIG. 3) through which the elevating body 31 penetrates, and the elevating body 31 is provided in the opening 18e.

The servo motor 32 is a drive source that supplies an output used for the raising and lowering operation of the fork 9, and is attached to a housing 35 provided on the base 18 in a state where the axial direction of the drive shaft is the front-rear direction. The elevating body 31 is moved up and down via a reduction gear configured in the housing 35.
That is, the rotational power of the drive shaft of the servo motor 32 is converted into the lifting power of the lifting body 31 through a power transmission mechanism (not shown) configured by a speed reducer and a gear configured in the housing 35, and the lifting and lowering is performed. The body 31 is configured to move up and down.

  As described above, the guide frame 33 provided on the elevating body 31 is composed of a main frame 33a composed of a strip-shaped plate-shaped member, and a strip-shaped plate-shaped member slightly smaller than the main frame 33a. The sub-frames 33b are arranged in parallel in a standing posture with the longitudinal direction being the left-right direction, and are connected to each other with a predetermined distance therebetween. The guide frame 33 configured as described above is fixed to the upper surface of the elevating body 31 via the support member 36.

The slide frame 34 has a length in the left-right direction that is substantially the same as that of the guide frame 33, and is provided between the main frame 33a and the sub frame 33b so as to be movable in the left-right direction. The slide frame 34 includes a chain structure including rollers 37 and 37 provided at both left and right ends (moving direction both ends) and a belt 38 wound around the rollers 37 and 37. It slides on the guide frame 33 depending on the structure.
That is, the slide frame 34 is configured to move on the guide frame 33 via the belt 38, and the belt 38 rotates together with the rollers 37 and 37 as the slide frame 34 moves. The structure of the chain structure provided in the slide frame 34 is not particularly limited as long as the endless transmission member is configured to be rotatable along the slide frame 34. For example, the chain structure may be attached to the sprocket and the sprocket. A combination such as a wound chain may be used.

The slide frame 34 provided so as to be movable with respect to the guide frame 33 is connected to the fork 9 as described above and guides the movement of the fork 9. The movement of the fork 9 relative to the slide frame 34 is guided by the rotation of the belt 38 of the chain structure. That is, the fork 9 is configured to move with the rotation of the belt 38 with respect to the slide frame 34.
Specifically, the fork 9 is connected via a plate-like connecting body 39 that moves in accordance with the rotation of the belt 38 in the slide frame 34 in the vicinity of the shaft support portion (connection portion with the main arm 21). The connecting body 39 connects the slide frame 34 and the fork 9 so as to pivotally support the fork 9 from below so as to allow the robot arm 20 to turn the fork 9.

  As described above, in the assist means 30, the elevating body 31, the guide frame 33, and the slide frame 34 are configured to be movable up and down integrally (as a unit) together with the fork 9, and these are transmitted from the servo motor 32. It is raised and lowered by force.

The positional relationship among the guide frame 33, the slide frame 34, and the fork 9 is as follows. That is, when the guide frame 33 and the slide frame 34 having substantially the same length in the longitudinal direction (left and right direction) are in a state in which the center positions in the left and right direction are aligned (a state where both left and right end positions are aligned). In addition, the position of the connecting body 39 that connects the fork 9 to the slide frame 34, that is, the position of the shaft support portion of the fork 9 is located at the center of the left and right sides of the slide frame 34.
When the fork 9 is moved in the left-right direction by the expansion and contraction of the arm 7, the belt 38 is rotated via the connecting body 39. On the other hand, movement of the slide frame 34 on the guide frame 33 is accompanied by rotation of the belt 38. For this reason, when the fork 9 (connecting body 39) is moved in the left-right direction by the expansion and contraction of the arm 7, the slide frame 34 slides with respect to the guide frame 33 by substantially the same amount as the amount of movement of the fork 9 with respect to the slide frame 34. It will be. In other words, the amount of movement of the fork 9 relative to the guide frame 33 is approximately twice the amount of movement of the slide frame 34 relative to the guide frame 33.

As described above, the fork 9 has a three-stage configuration together with the guide frame 33 fixed on the elevating body 31 and the slide frame 34 having the chain structure. The cycle time of the transfer operation of the workpiece 4 by the robot 6 in the type robot apparatus 1 can be shortened and the robot 6 can be made compact.
That is, the fork 9 has a three-stage configuration as described above, so that the amount of movement of the fork 9 can be improved, and the moving time of the fork 9 can be shortened, so that the cycle time can be shortened. Can do. Further, by adopting a configuration in which the fork 9 has a three-stage configuration and only the fork 9 is turned, the turning radius of the robot 6 can be reduced, and the robot 6 can be made compact.

The assist means 30 configured as described above is connected to the fork 9 by connecting the slide frame 34 to the fork 9 via the connecting body 39 as described above.
The assist means 30 assists the lifting / lowering operation of the fork 9 by the robot arm 20 through the guide frame 33 and the slide frame 34 by lifting / lowering the lifting / lowering body 31 by the servo motor 32, and lowers the fork 9 by the mechanical structure. By supporting the fork 9, the fork 9 is turned and the horizontal movement of the fork 9 by the expansion and contraction of the arm 7 of the robot 6 is assisted.

Thus, by providing the assist means 30 in the traveling robot apparatus 1, it is possible to reduce the size of the work 4, which is a relatively heavy object, without enlarging the arm 7. The cycle time for unloading can be shortened.
That is, since the weight of the work 4 supported by the arm 7 via the fork 9 is reduced by the amount of assistance of the operation of the fork 9 by the assist means 30, the arm 7 alone can withstand the weight of the work 4. The arm 7 can be made compact as compared with the mounted configuration.
In addition, since the portion of the workpiece 4 that is heavy (the portion that supports the weight) is distributed to each part of the arm 7 and the assist means 30, the operation speed of each part (the expansion and contraction operation of the arm 7 and the lifting and lowering operation of the robot arm 20). Etc.) and the cycle time for transferring the workpiece 4 by the traveling robot apparatus 1 can be shortened.

Next, the arrangement configuration of the loading platform 40 in the traveling robot apparatus 1 will be described.
As described above, the loading platform 40 provided on the traveling platform 5 is provided on one side in the traveling direction of the traveling platform 5 with respect to the robot 6 on the traveling platform 5 (the front side in the present embodiment). Then, the workpiece 4 transferred by the robot 6 has a longitudinal direction of the planar view shape (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “longitudinal direction” for the workpiece 4) in the placement posture in a direction substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction. It can be placed as (substantially left-right direction). The workpiece 4 is placed on the loading platform 40 by the robot 6 so that the longitudinal direction thereof is substantially the left-right direction.

The loading platform 40 is a plate-shaped mounting table portion 41 that constitutes the mounting surface 42 of the work 4 that is substantially horizontal at a predetermined height position, and supports the mounting table portion 41 with respect to the base 18 of the traveling table 5. And a plurality of leg portions 43.
As described above, the transfer operation of the traveling robot apparatus 1 in this embodiment is performed by transferring the workpiece 4 after being processed by a certain processing facility 2 to the loading platform 40 by the robot 6 and placing the workpiece 4 on the loading platform 40 in advance. The unprocessed workpiece 4 is transferred to the processing facility 2 with respect to the processing facility 2. For this reason, the loading surface 42 of the loading platform 40 is a temporary loading portion (hereinafter referred to as “temporary loading loading”) on which a workpiece 4 to be transferred to a certain processing facility 2 is previously loaded. 42a and a temporary placement part for unloading (hereinafter referred to as “unloading temporary placement part”) for transferring the workpiece 4 processed by the processing equipment 2 from the processing equipment 2 to the loading platform 40. 42b). And it travels on a travel rail, repeating the above transfer operations.

That is, on the mounting surface 42 of the loading platform 40, the portion that was the temporary loading unit 42 a in the transfer operation for one processing facility 2 by the traveling robot apparatus 1 is transferred to the next processing facility 2. In the loading operation, the temporary unloading part 42b is used for loading and unloading, and the temporary unloading part 42b is used as the temporary loading part 42a for loading. In other words, the loading temporary placement portion 42a and the unloading temporary placement portion 42b on the placement surface 42 are alternately replaced as roles for each processing facility corresponding to the preceding and following processes in the processing line.
Thus, the loading platform 40 in the present embodiment is used as a temporary loading table for loading the workpiece 4 and a temporary loading table for unloading the workpiece 4, and the two workpieces 4 have a planar view shape in the loading posture. The configuration is such that the longitudinal direction can be placed at the same time in the substantially left-right direction.
Further, in the loading platform 40, a notch portion 41 a is formed in the platform portion 41 in order to avoid interference with the fork 9 due to movement or turning of the fork 9 at a predetermined height position below the mounting surface 42. (See FIG. 3 and FIG. 6).

Here, the “longitudinal direction of the planar view shape in the mounting posture” with respect to the workpiece 4 will be described.
For example, when the workpiece 4 is a cylinder block of an automobile engine as in the present description, the workpiece 4 may have a longitudinal direction, such as a direction in which cylinder bores are connected in a multi-cylinder engine. In such a case, the length in the longitudinal direction of the planar view shape of the work 4 in a state where it is placed on the placement surface 42 of the loading platform 40 is such that the area of the placement surface 42 is at least the planar view shape when the work 4 is placed. In the configuration that is secured to be larger than the area, the size of the area of the mounting surface 42 is affected. That is, the length in the longitudinal direction of the plan view shape of the workpiece 4 in the mounted state affects the size of the loading platform 40 related to the width and length of the traveling robot apparatus 1 as a whole.
In particular, as in the present embodiment, when a placement area as a temporary placement table for loading and unloading the workpiece 4 is required, the position and configuration where the loading platform is provided in the traveling robot apparatus 1, that is, the workpiece 4 The mounting position and the mounting direction of the above greatly affect the width and length of the traveling robot apparatus 1 as a whole.
That is, the “longitudinal direction of the planar view shape in the placement posture” for the workpiece 4 means the longitudinal direction of the planar view shape when the workpiece 4 is placed on the loading platform 40 of the traveling robot apparatus 1.

Therefore, in the traveling robot apparatus 1, a loading platform 40 on which two workpieces 4 can be arranged side by side with the longitudinal direction of the workpiece 4 in the left-right direction is provided on one side of the front and rear of the robot 6 (the front side in the present embodiment). ing.
Thereby, in the case where the traveling robot apparatus 1 is used for transferring the workpiece 4 having a longitudinal direction in a planar view in the placement posture on the loading platform 40, the planar view shape (the area of the loading surface 42) of the loading platform 40 is used. ) Can be reduced in the width and length of the traveling robot apparatus 1 as a whole, and the entire traveling robot apparatus 1 can be made compact.
That is, the size of the loading surface of the loading platform for placing the workpiece is more efficient than the conventional configuration including the loading platform for placing the workpiece before and after the traveling direction of the traveling carriage with respect to the robot. Therefore, the influence of the size of the placement surface on the width and length of the traveling robot apparatus 1 can be reduced, and the traveling robot apparatus 1 as a whole can be made compact. be able to. Further, by providing the loading platform 40 only on one side with respect to the robot, it is possible to reduce the turning radius of the arm in the robot. Therefore, the travel robot apparatus 1 as a whole can be made compact. Can do.

Here, the specific operation | movement aspect in the transfer operation | movement of the workpiece | work 4 by the traveling robot apparatus 1 is demonstrated using FIG.7 and FIG.8. FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining the unloading operation by the traveling robot apparatus, and FIG. 8 is a plan view for similarly explaining the loading operation.
The transfer operation of the workpiece 4 by the traveling robot apparatus 1 includes the lifting / lowering operation of the fork 9 by the robot arm 20 and the assist means 30, the turning operation with the main arm 21 of the robot arm 20 as the rotation axis, and the expansion / contraction of the arm 7. This is a combination of the horizontal and horizontal movements along the guide frame 33 and the slide frame 34.
That is, with respect to the work 4 placed on the loading platform 40 or the processing equipment 2, the work 4 is scooped up by the rise of the fork 9 applied to the lower surface thereof, and the fork 9 moves in the horizontal direction in the horizontal direction. The fork 9 is moved down and placed at a predetermined position.

  Therefore, the loading temporary placement portion 42a and the unloading temporary placement portion 42b on the placement surface 42 of the loading platform 40 allow the workpiece 4 to be picked up and placed by allowing the fork 9 to move up and down. Cutout portions 44 are respectively formed. Further, in order to enable the fork 9 to be inserted into the lower side of the workpiece 4 in the processing equipment 2, the mounting table 2a on which the workpiece 4 is mounted has a recess 2b formed so as to straddle the recess 2b. Then, the work 4 is placed.

The transfer operation of the workpiece 4 by the traveling robot apparatus 1 is an “unloading operation” in which the workpiece 4 after being processed by a certain processing facility 2 is transferred by the robot 6 to the temporary unloading portion 42b of the loading platform 40. , Which consists of a “loading operation” in which an unprocessed work 4 is transferred to the processing equipment 2 with respect to the processing equipment 2 previously placed on the temporary loading section 42a of the loading platform 40. It is done alternately.
In the following description, the traveling robot apparatus 1 will be described focusing on the operation of the fork 9, taking as an example a case where the workpiece 4 is transferred to one processing facility 2x on the left side. In any processing equipment 2 in the processing line, the workpiece 4 is placed with its longitudinal direction as the front-rear direction.

First, the “unloading operation” will be described with reference to FIG.
The traveling robot apparatus 1 traveling on the traveling rail 3 is unprocessed or previously placed on the temporary loading section 42a of the loading platform 40 (in this state, the left side of the mounting surface 42 is used as the temporary loading section 42a). Stopped at a predetermined stop position in the front-rear direction with respect to the processing equipment 2x that performs the unloading operation with a work (hereinafter referred to as "work 4a") that has been processed in the processing equipment 2 in the process placed (See FIG. 7A).
Here, the predetermined stop position in the front-rear direction of the traveling robot apparatus 1 refers to the position of the shaft support portion (hereinafter referred to as the “turning shaft portion 21a”) by the main arm 21 of the fork 9 in the front-rear direction. The position of the traveling robot apparatus 1 is a position applied to the lower surface side of a workpiece (hereinafter referred to as “work 4b”) placed on the 2 × placement table 2a. In other words, the fork 9 is inserted into the lower side of the workpiece 4b (inside the recess 2b) with the traveling robot apparatus 1 in a predetermined stop position in the front-rear direction so as to face the workpiece 4b (left side). The Hereinafter, a state in which the fork 9 faces the workpiece 4b side (in this case, the left side) on the processing equipment 2x, that is, a state in which the fork 9 is in a direction substantially parallel to the left-right direction with its tip directed to the workpiece 4b side, “Left and right posture”.

From the state in which the traveling robot apparatus 1 is stopped at a predetermined stop position with respect to the workpiece 4b on the processing equipment 2x, the fork 9 in the left-right posture is moved to the left side, and below the workpiece 4b on the processing equipment 2x, That is, it is inserted into the recess 2b (see FIG. 7B).
Here, the pivot shaft portion 21a of the fork 9 is moved to a position where the workpiece 4b placed on the processing equipment 2x can be scooped up by the left and right forks 9. Hereinafter, the position in the left-right direction corresponding to the processing equipment 2x of the turning shaft portion 21a of the fork 9 is referred to as “facility side position”.
Further, the height position of the fork 9 inserted into the recess 2b is set so that the upper surface thereof is slightly below the lower surface of the work 4b (the mounting surface of the mounting table 2a). Hereinafter, the height position of the fork 9 slightly lower than the mounting surface of the mounting table 2a is referred to as a “lower position” of the fork 9.

From the state in which the fork 9 is inserted below the workpiece 4b on the processing device 2x, the fork 9 is lifted, and the workpiece 4b on the processing device 2x is raised accordingly.
Here, the fork 9 is raised to the “up position”. The “upper position” of the fork 9 will be described later.

  The fork 9 that scoops and lifts the workpiece 4b on the processing device 2x has its pivot shaft portion 21a positioned in the left-right direction so that the workpiece 4b is moved with respect to the temporary loading portion 42b for unloading of the loading platform 40 as the fork 9 pivots. Is moved to a position where it can be placed (see FIG. 7C). Hereinafter, the position in the left-right direction in which the turning shaft portion 21a of the fork 9 corresponds to the temporary placement portion 42b for unloading is referred to as a “second temporary placement position”. That is, the second temporary placement position of the fork 9 is a position corresponding to the temporary placement portion 42b for unloading, which is the right side portion of the loading platform 40 at this time, so that the fork 9 moves from the center in the left-right direction in the lateral movement range. Is also on the right side.

The left and right forks 9 whose pivot shaft 21a has been moved to the second temporary placement position are pivoted by approximately 90 ° toward the front side (see FIG. 7D). As the fork 9 turns, the fork 9 faces the loading platform 40 side (front side), and the longitudinal direction of the workpiece 4b becomes the left-right direction (substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction of the traveling robot apparatus 1). Hereinafter, the state in which the fork 9 faces the loading platform 40 side (front side), that is, the state in which the fork 9 faces the front of the loading platform 40 and is substantially parallel to the front-rear direction is referred to as the “front posture” of the fork 9.
That is, in a state where the turning shaft portion 21a of the fork 9 is in the second temporary placement position and the fork 9 is in the front posture, the workpiece 4b on the fork 9 is positioned above the placement position in the temporary placement portion 42b for unloading. Will be.
Here, when the fork 9 on which the work 4b is placed is turned from the left-right posture to the front posture, there is no interference with the work 4a placed on the temporary loading portion 42a of the loading platform 40. Thus, the upper position of the fork 9 is set. That is, in the state where the fork 9 is in the upper position, the upper position of the fork 9 is such that the height position of the lower surface of the fork 9 is higher than the upper end of the work 4a placed on the loading platform 40. The height position at is set.

From the state in which the fork 9 is in the second temporary placement position and the front posture, the fork 9 is lowered to the lower position. At this time, the fork 9 is lowered to the lower side of the platform 41 of the loading platform 40 through the notch 44 of the temporary loading section 42b, whereby the workpiece 4b is moved to the temporary loading platform 42b of the loading platform 40. Placed. That is, the height position of the mounting surface of the mounting table 2 a of the processing equipment 2 and the mounting surface 42 of the loading platform 40 are substantially the same.
Thereby, the unloading operation | work of the workpiece | work 4 is completed.

Next, the “loading operation” will be described with reference to FIG.
After the unloading operation described above is completed, the fork 9 in the front posture in the second temporary placement position and the lower position remains in the lower position and the front posture, and the position of the turning shaft portion 21a in the left-right direction is the load on the loading platform 40. The work 4a placed on the temporary placement section 42a is moved to a position where it can be scooped up (see FIG. 8A). Hereinafter, the position in the left-right direction corresponding to the loading temporary placement portion 42a of the turning shaft portion 21a of the fork 9 is referred to as a “first temporary placement position”. That is, the first temporary placement position of the fork 9 is a position corresponding to the loading temporary placement portion 42a which is the left side portion of the loading platform 40 at this time, and therefore the fork 9 moves from the center in the left-right direction in the lateral movement range. Will also be on the left side.

The fork 9 moved to the first temporary placement position is raised to the upper position, and the workpiece 4a on the temporary placement portion 42a for loading is raised accordingly.
The fork 9 that has been lifted by scooping the workpiece 4a on the temporary loading portion 42a is turned by approximately 90 ° so as to be in the left-right posture (see FIG. 8B). As the fork 9 turns, the longitudinal direction of the workpiece 4a becomes the front-rear direction.

In the fork 9 which is in the left and right posture at the upper position and the first temporary placement position, the turning shaft portion 21a is moved to the equipment side position in that state (see FIG. 8C).
The left and right forks 9 supported by the work 4a and moved to the equipment side position are lowered to the lower position. At this time, the fork 9 is lowered into the recess 2b of the mounting table 2a of the processing equipment 2x, so that the workpiece 4a is mounted on the mounting surface of the mounting table 2a.

The left and right forks 9 in the lower position at the equipment side position are moved to the right (see FIG. 8D). Here, the fork 9 is returned to the substantially central position between the first temporary placement position and the second temporary placement position in the left-right direction. Hereinafter, the position of the substantially central portion between the first temporary placement position and the second temporary placement position in the left-right direction of the turning shaft portion 21a of the fork 9 is referred to as a “center position”.
By returning the left and right forks 9 to the center position, the “loading operation” of the workpiece 4a is completed. Then, the traveling robot apparatus 1 that has finished the loading operation moves to a predetermined stop position for the next processing equipment 2, performs the same unloading operation and loading as described above, and repeats as many times as necessary in the processing line. It becomes. As described above, the temporary loading portion 42a of the loading platform 40 on which the workpiece 4a is placed before the unloading operation is performed becomes the temporary loading portion 42b for unloading after the loading operation is completed. The temporary placement portion 42b becomes a loading temporary placement portion 42a (see FIG. 8D).

The transfer operation of the workpiece 4 with respect to the processing facility 2x arranged on the left side of the traveling robot apparatus 1 has been described above. However, the transfer operation of the workpiece 4 is similarly performed on the processing facility 2 arranged on the right side. It can be carried out. That is, in the traveling robot apparatus 1, the arm 7 and the fork 9 of the robot 6 are configured so as to be able to operate substantially symmetrically, and the loading platform 40 is also arranged so as to be substantially symmetrical with respect to these operations.
When the workpiece 4 is transferred to the right processing facility 2, the left and right postures of the fork 9 in the transfer operation of the workpiece 4 to the left processing facility 2x are as described above. That is, the fork 9 is in a state substantially parallel to the left-right direction with the tip thereof directed toward the work 4 on the right side. The equipment side position of the fork 9 is also a position with respect to the processing equipment 2 on the right side.

  Thus, in the traveling robot apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the stop position in the left-right direction of the turning shaft portion 21a of the fork 9 is the above-described center position, first temporary placement position, second temporary placement position, and left and right positions. There are five locations on the equipment side. In addition, as the stop position of the fork 9 in the vertical direction (lifting direction), the above-described two positions of the upper position and the lower position are set. Further, as the posture (turning state) of the fork 9, the above-described left and right postures and the front posture are set.

By the way, in the processing equipment 2, a coolant for cooling may be used, for example, when the processing content applied to the workpiece 4 is cutting. In such a case, the coolant adhering to the workpiece 4 is dropped when the operation of transferring the workpiece 4 by the robot 6 as described above is performed, or the coolant is applied when the workpiece 4 is processed in the processing equipment 2. Or scatter.
Conventionally, the coolant containing chips and the like has been removed by turning the workpiece 4 on the fork 9 or applying air blow to the workpiece 4 in the processing facility 2 or the like. Further, the oil was collected by the oil pan provided in the traveling area of the traveling robot apparatus 1 on the floor 15 and the processing facility 2.

However, the coolant that cannot be removed remains on the workpiece 4, and the remaining amount of the coolant adhering to the workpiece 4 is dripped and scattered in the traveling area of the traveling robot apparatus. In addition, when an oil pan is provided on the floor 15, there is a large space restriction in order to avoid interference with the traveling robot apparatus, and an oil pan can be provided around the movement range of the traveling robot apparatus. As a result, the coolant could not be recovered sufficiently.
Since the surrounding floor surface (work floor surface) including the traveling area of the traveling robot apparatus 1 may be a maintenance space for the operator, it is necessary to prevent splashing of the coolant. Further, if the coolant dripped from the workpiece 4 is left as it is, the floor surface and the traveling rail 3 are contaminated, and the traveling of the traveling platform 5 on the traveling rail 3 is hindered, so that periodic cleaning is necessary. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the coolant dripping from the workpiece 4 may cause a failure by entering the connector portion of various cables.

  On the other hand, a robot traveling device in which an oil pan is attached to the traveling carriage has been proposed in the past, but the power (electric power) and control signals necessary for the robot traveling apparatus are connected to the traveling carriage without disturbing the movement. Due to the arrangement relationship with the cable bear (registered trademark) for supply, the range that the oil pan can cover is limited.

Therefore, the traveling robot apparatus 1 collects the coolant dropped on the platform 5 when the workpiece 4 is loaded and unloaded by the robot 6 and the coolant scattered when the workpiece 4 is processed by the processing equipment 2. An oil pan 25 is provided as a coolant recovery means.
As shown in FIG. 1 and the like, the oil pan 25 includes substantially the entire moving range of the fork 9 in plan view on the traveling platform 5, receives coolant, and has a slope on which a part or all of the fork 9 descends toward at least one side. A receiving surface 26 is provided.

A specific configuration of the oil pan 25 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 6. In FIG. 3, the oil pan 25 is not shown for convenience.
The receiving surface 26 that receives the coolant is constituted by a bottom plate portion 25 a that constitutes the oil pan 25. That is, the upper surface of the bottom plate portion 25a becomes the receiving surface 26, and the bottom plate portion 25a is configured in a substantially rectangular plate shape in the present embodiment.
Further, the receiving surface 26 is configured such that a part or all of the receiving surface 26 is an inclined surface that goes down toward at least one side. In the present embodiment, the receiving surface 26 is configured to be a slope that descends to the right as a whole. That is, in the oil pan 25, the plate-like bottom plate portion 25a constituting the receiving surface 26 is inclined so as to descend toward the right side.

A side wall surface 27 is provided around the receiving surface 26. The side wall surface 27 is provided around the receiving surface 26, and holds the coolant on the receiving surface 26 on the receiving surface 26. The side wall portion 25b is formed on the periphery of the bottom plate portion 25a in the oil pan 25. Composed. That is, the inner surface of the side wall portion 25b becomes the side wall surface 27. In this embodiment, the side wall surface 27 is provided substantially vertically above the receiving surface 26 by the side wall portion 25b provided substantially vertically above the bottom plate portion 25a. It is done.
That is, the side wall part 25b which comprises the side wall surface 27 is provided so that this bottom plate part 25a may be enclosed in the periphery (each side part) of the bottom plate part 25a. In the state where the oil pan 25 is provided on the traveling platform 5 as in the present embodiment, when the height position of the upper end of the side wall portion 25b is substantially the same over the entire circumference, the side wall surface 27 The height from the receiving surface 26 increases along the inclination toward the lower right side due to the inclination of the receiving surface 26.

As described above, the oil pan 25 is constituted by the bottom plate portion 25 a constituting the receiving surface 26 and the side wall portion 25 b constituting the side wall surface 27, and a support member (not shown) with respect to the base 18 of the traveling platform 5 is provided. Provided. The oil pan 25 having a substantially rectangular shape in a plan view when provided on the traveling platform 5 has a pair of opposing side portions of the side wall portion 25b along the front-rear or left-right direction (each of the side wall portions 25b). The side portion is provided on the base 18 of the traveling platform 5 so that the side portion extends in the front-rear and left-right directions.
Here, the oil pan 25 is provided with an opening 25c in the bottom plate portion 25a for allowing the lifting / lowering body 31 to move up and down (see FIG. 1), and the leg portion 43 of the traveling device 19 and the loading platform 40. Provided in a penetrating state. A peripheral wall 25d for preventing the coolant on the receiving surface 26 from dropping from the opening 25c is provided at the peripheral edge of the opening 25c (see FIG. 1).

The oil pan 25 configured as described above collects coolant that drops when the workpiece 4 is loaded and unloaded by the robot 6 and coolant that is scattered when the workpiece 4 is processed by the processing equipment 2. That is, the coolant that drops or scatters from the workpiece 4 is received by the receiving surface 26 of the oil pan 25, and the coolant on the receiving surface 26 is one side (partially) of the receiving surface 26 due to the inclination of the receiving surface 26. ) And is held on the receiving surface 26 by the side wall surface 27. Thereby, in the oil pan 25, coolant accumulates on the side where the inclination of the receiving surface 26 is lowered.
For this reason, the oil pan 25 is configured such that its receiving surface 26 includes (covers) the range of movement of the fork 9 in plan view on the traveling platform 5. Specifically, in the present embodiment in which the receiving surface 26 is configured in a substantially rectangular shape, in the front-rear direction, at least from the rear side of the left-right movement position of the fork 9 (position where the guide frame 33 and the like are provided), It has a length from the front end of the loading platform 40 to the front side, and in the left-right direction, a slight gap is provided with respect to the traveling rail side surface 2e of the left and right processing equipment 2 so as not to hinder the traveling of the traveling robot apparatus 1. It is provided with a length.

Further, in the oil pan 25, with respect to the receiving surface 26 which is an inclined surface for collecting the coolant on the receiving surface 26 on one side, the inclination direction is when the direction is inclined toward one side (right side) as in this embodiment. It is not particularly limited, and for example, it may be inclined to the left side, or may be inclined in an oblique direction with respect to the front-rear direction or the front-rear left-right direction.
Further, the receiving surface 26 is not particularly limited to the case where the entire surface is a slope that goes down to one side (right side) as in the present embodiment. Good. For example, since the coolant on the receiving surface 26 tends to gather on one side (part) due to the inclination of the receiving surface 26, the receiving surface 26 has a corrugated surface with the bottom plate portion 25 a being bent, or the bottom plate portion 25 a is bent. For example, it may be a slope inclined in a plurality of steps or directions, a surface having a recess, or a curved surface. Further, the receiving surface 26 may be a continuous curved surface including the side wall surface 27.
That is, in the oil pan 25, the receiving surface 26 may be configured so as to have an inclined surface in which coolant received by the receiving surface 26 gathers in part by its own weight.
However, as a position where the coolant is collected on the receiving surface 26 of the oil pan 25 (the side on which the slope is lowered), the coolant is leaked to the contact portion between the driving roller 19a and the traveling rail 3a of the traveling device 19 to prevent traveling. From the viewpoint of avoidance, it is preferable to avoid the vicinity of the traveling device 19 that is in a state of penetrating the receiving surface 26.

As described above, by providing the oil pan 25 on the traveling platform 5, it is possible to efficiently collect the coolant dripping when the work 6 is loaded and unloaded by the robot 6, and to improve the coolant recovery rate. Can do.
That is, loading and unloading of the work 4 between the processing equipment 2 and the loading platform 40 by the robot 6, which is the main part of the coolant that is scattered in the traveling area of the traveling robot apparatus 1 between the opposing processing equipment 2. The coolant dripping at this time is provided in the traveling robot apparatus 1 itself and can be recovered by the oil pan 25 having the receiving surface 26 configured to cover the turning range of the fork 9. Can be improved.

  Further, as compared with the case where an oil pan is provided on the floor surface 15, it is not necessary to consider interference with the traveling robot apparatus 1 due to traveling of the traveling robot apparatus 1. Further, since the coolant can be efficiently prevented from being scattered on the floor surface 15, the maintenance space for the operator can be kept clean without performing regular cleaning.

The coolant stored in the oil pan 25 is a predetermined position on the processing line where the traveling robot apparatus 1 travels (for example, when the traveling robot apparatus 1 travels periodically, its original position (start position)) ) Is periodically collected in a coolant tank (not shown) and recycled.
The configuration for collecting the coolant in the oil pan 25 in the coolant tank is not particularly limited, but for example, the following configuration is conceivable.

  A valve mechanism for providing a coolant discharge port and opening / closing the discharge port in the bottom plate portion 25a or the side wall portion 25b near the position where the coolant is collected in the oil pan 25 (the right end portion of the oil pan 25 in the present embodiment). Configure. With this valve mechanism, the coolant in the oil pan 25 is automatically and periodically recovered. As the valve mechanism, a mechanical valve is preferably used as a simple configuration.

That is, the mechanical valve on the oil pan 25 side is provided with an operating portion such as a rod that is actuated by a pressing action accompanying the traveling of the traveling robot apparatus 1, while the traveling robot apparatus 1 is located at a predetermined position on the processing line side. An engaging part such as a convex part is provided which acts on the operating part in a state where it has reached (for example, the original position) to open the valve.
When the traveling robot apparatus 1 is in a predetermined position and the operating portion is operated by the engaging portion, the coolant in the oil pan 25 is collected in the coolant tank via a coolant passage such as a pipe. The traveling robot apparatus 1 is controlled to stop at this predetermined position for a certain time (for example, 5 seconds). Here, in order to efficiently guide the coolant in the oil pan 25 to the coolant tank, the coolant may be sucked using a pump or the like.
In this way, the coolant in the oil pan 25 is automatically collected periodically during traveling on the processing line of the traveling robot apparatus 1.

  Further, in the traveling robot apparatus 1, a position that is above the elevating body 31 and does not hinder the movement or turning of the fork 9 by the robot 6 with respect to the coolant dripping when the work 4 is loaded and unloaded by the robot 6. A coolant cover 28 is provided below the guide frame 33.

The coolant cover 28 is configured in a substantially rectangular shape so as to cover the lifting body 31, the opening 18 e of the base 18 for allowing the lifting and lowering of the lifting body 31 and the opening 25 c of the oil pan 25 from above, It is comprised so that an upper surface may become a slope which goes down toward a periphery. That is, the coolant cover 28 is configured in a shape (for example, a sloped roof shape or an umbrella shape) such that the coolant dripped on the upper surface of the coolant cover 28 flows down and falls on the receiving surface 26 of the oil pan 25.
With the coolant cover 28 having such a configuration passing through the support member 36 for supporting the guide frame 33 on the lift body 31 above the lift body 31 and below the guide frame 33, the support member 36. Or a support member (not shown).

In this way, by providing the coolant cover 28, the coolant dripped when the robot 6 loads and unloads the workpiece 4 or the like allows the elevating body 31 to move up and down, and the opening 18 e of the base 18 and the opening of the oil pan. It can be prevented from dropping from the portion 25 c to the floor surface 15 and being accumulated on the lifting body 31 itself due to the shape (unevenness) of the lifting body 31. It can be recovered efficiently.
Further, by preventing the coolant from dropping from the openings 18e and 25c, it is possible to avoid the influence of the coolant on the power transmission mechanism for raising and lowering the elevating body 31.

  On the other hand, in order to prevent the coolant generated by the processing of the workpiece 4 in the processing equipment 2 from being scattered or dropped to the traveling robot apparatus 1 side, as shown in FIG. A side cover 29 can also be provided. FIG. 9 is a partially omitted rear view of the traveling robot apparatus in the processing line.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the processing-side cover 29 is configured by a plate-like member that is bent into an approximately L shape, and includes a support portion 29 a that extends along the base 2 d of the processing equipment 2, and the support portion 29 a It is set as the structure provided with the wall part 29b erected substantially vertically upwards in the traveling-type robot apparatus 1 side edge part.
The processing side cover 29 is provided in each processing equipment 2 at a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction, and is provided in a range in which the transfer operation of the workpiece 4 by the robot 6 of the traveling robot apparatus 1 is not hindered.
By the processing side cover 29, the coolant dropped on the base 2 d by processing the workpiece 4 in the processing equipment 2 or loading and unloading the workpiece 4 by the robot 6 falls to the traveling area of the traveling robot apparatus 1 on the floor 15. It is prevented.

Further, the processing-side cover 29 provided on the base 2d is provided such that its wall portion 29b slightly protrudes toward the traveling robot apparatus 1 on the upper surface of the base 2d. The oil pan 25 is provided so as to partially overlap the left and right end portions.
That is, as described above, the oil pan 25 has a small gap with respect to the traveling rail side surface 2e of the processing equipment 2 so as not to interfere with the traveling of the traveling robot apparatus 1 on both the left and right sides. However, the processing side cover 29 is provided so as to be covered from the upper side in the portion where the processing side cover 29 is provided.
Thereby, in the part in which the process side cover 29 is provided, it is possible to prevent the coolant from dropping from between the oil pan 25 and the traveling rail side surface 2e of the processing equipment 2 on both the left and right sides thereof. It is possible to reduce the coolant that will be scattered in the 15 running areas.

  Further, a coolant duct 24 is provided as a means for recovering coolant that drops when the workpiece 4 is loaded and unloaded by the robot 6 and coolant that is scattered when the workpiece 4 is processed by the processing equipment 2. It has been. In FIG. 3, the collection duct 24 is not shown for convenience.

The recovery duct 24 is configured in a bowl shape and receives coolant that scatters from the workpiece 4 of the processing equipment 2 or coolant that drops from the transferred workpiece 4 and guides it in a predetermined direction (location). Below the oil pan 25 provided in the apparatus 1, it extends in the front-rear direction so as to be substantially in contact with the traveling rail side surface 2 e of each processing equipment 2. Here, the collection duct 24 is provided so as not to interfere with the traveling robot apparatus 1 traveling on the traveling rail 3.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the recovery duct 24 is provided in an inclined posture so as to be lowered to one side (the front side in the present embodiment) so that the received coolant is guided in a predetermined direction. The recovery duct 24 is supported by a support member (not shown) with respect to the traveling rail 3 or the processing equipment 2 and is provided in a predetermined posture.

The coolant received and guided by the recovery duct 24 is recovered by a coolant tank or the like or discharged to a predetermined place. When the coolant is recovered and recycled by the coolant tank, the recovery duct 24 is provided at a predetermined location where the recovery duct 24 guides the coolant, and the recovery duct 24 is connected to the coolant tank. The coolant from is recovered.
Note that the collection duct 24 is only the collection duct 24 provided on the right side in the drawing, but may be on either the left or right side or both sides, for example, a traveling device for traveling the traveling robot apparatus 1. 19 is appropriately provided depending on the position where the power transmission structure 19 is provided.

Next, the cable bear (registered trademark) in the traveling robot apparatus 1 will be described.
In general, a power supply line or a control signal line for a robot apparatus or the like that moves on a fixed track such as the traveling robot apparatus 1 that moves on the traveling rail 3 follows the movement and does not disturb the movement. Etc., a cable bear is used to connect them.
For the traveling robot apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, a cable for supplying power such as electric power or hydraulic pressure to the robot 6, the traveling apparatus 19, the servo motor 32, and the like and for transmitting / receiving control signals to / from the controller or the like. A cable bear as a cable housing member that houses the cable is coupled to the traveling platform 5.

Such a cable bearer is configured to bendable, for example, by being connected to each other by a pin in a state in which a group of connecting elements such as a rectangular frame are arranged in a row and configured in a bellows shape. And is configured to follow the movement of a traveling robot or the like.
Conventionally, a cable bear connected to a robot apparatus that travels on a predetermined traveling rail is connected to a traveling carriage at a substantially central portion in the left-right direction of the robot apparatus so as to be U-shaped in a side view ( It was laid in a folded state (with the bending direction being the vertical direction), and was processed without obstructing the movement while following the movement of the traveling carriage while maintaining the shape of the folded portion.

However, in the case of a configuration in which the cable bear is processed in a state in which the folded portion is provided in a U shape in a side view, there are the following problems.
That is, when the cable bear is provided by being folded back so as to be U-shaped when viewed from the side, the area of the upper surface of the cable bear (the area of the plan view shape) is likely to increase, and the surface to which the coolant adheres as described above. growing. It is conceivable that the coolant adhering to the cable track flows into the inside of the cable track from the connecting portion of the connecting element, and enters the connector portion of various cables to cause a failure.
In addition, when the cable bear is folded back so as to be U-shaped in a side view and is laid in a state where it is arranged at the substantially central portion in the left-right direction of the traveling rail, it largely protrudes on the floor surface on which the traveling rail is laid. Therefore, it is difficult to secure a maintenance space for the robot apparatus and the like, and there is room for improvement in appearance.

Therefore, in the traveling robot apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the cable bear 45 serving as a housing member for the cable connected to the traveling platform 5 is folded back into a substantially U shape in plan view. It is set as the structure arrange | positioned along the traveling rail 3 with which the stand | base 5 drive | works.
A specific configuration of the cable bear 45 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 10. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the traveling robot apparatus and its cable bearer.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 10, the cable bear 45 is fixed so that one end side thereof is fixed at the end of the traveling rail 3 and the like, and is folded back so as to be substantially U-shaped in plan view in front of the traveling robot apparatus 1. The other end side is connected to the traveling base 5 by being connected to a connecting portion (not shown) provided on the lower side of the base 18 of the traveling base 5. And it is distribute | arranged along the rails 3a * 3b inside the running rail 3, ie, between the rails 3a * 3b on either side.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the cable bear 45 is a fixed connection side straight portion 45a along the inner side of the rail 3a, a moving connection side straight portion 45b along the inner side of the rail 3b, and a folded portion of these. It has a folded portion 45c that is substantially semicircular in view, and is provided in a state of being folded back into a substantially U shape in plan view. And it follows the movement of the traveling stand 5 while maintaining the shape folded in a substantially U shape in plan view. In other words, the cable carrier 45 moves the carriage 5 by changing the position of the turn-up part 45c while changing the length of the fixed connection side straight part 45a and the movement connection side straight part 45b as the carriage 5 moves. It is processed following.

Thus, in the cable bear 45 processed in a state where the shape folded in a substantially U shape in plan view is maintained, the shape maintaining means 46 for applying a forcing force for maintaining the shape is attached. The
The shape maintaining means 46 is configured by, for example, a plurality of leaf springs connected in a row so as to be bendable to each other, and the shape maintaining means 46 is provided by being attached to the inner surface of the cable bear 45 or attached to be relatively movable. It is done.
The shape maintaining means 46 applies a forcing force to maintain the shape of the folded portion 45 c without interfering with the deformation (movement of the folded portion 45 c) of the cable bear 45 from the inside of the cable bear 45.
The configuration of the shape maintaining means 46 is not particularly limited as long as it can follow the movement of the traveling platform 5 while maintaining the shape of the cable bear 45 as described above.

As described above, the traveling robot apparatus follows the movement of the traveling platform 5 without interfering with the movement of the traveling platform 5 by the cable bear 45 that is folded back into a substantially U shape in plan view and processed along the traveling rail 3. Power supply necessary for 1 and transmission / reception of control signals are performed.
By configuring the cable bear 45 with such a configuration, the area of the upper surface of the cable bear can be made relatively small, the amount of coolant adhering to the cable bear can be reduced, and the cable bear 45 is accommodated in the cable bear. The reliability of various cables can be improved.
Further, since the cable bear 45 is processed along the traveling rail 3, the space between the rails 3a and 3b can be used effectively, and the maintenance space can be easily secured.
Further, since the cable bear 45 can be laid without protruding upward from the traveling rail 3, the appearance can be made clear and the appearance can be improved.
Further, as described above, in relation to the oil pan 25 provided on the traveling platform 5, the oil pan 25 and the cable bear 45 can be provided without interfering with each other.

Next, the configuration of the fork 9 as a work support will be described.
Conventionally, a workpiece is supported by a robot in a traveling robot apparatus or the like by a clamping method using a robot hand or the like having a clamping claw. That is, a clamp claw for gripping the workpiece is provided at the tip of the robot arm, etc., and a workpiece positioned by inserting a pin or the like provided in the arm is gripped by the clamp claw and supported in that state. Was transferred.

As described above, when the workpiece is transferred by the robot, the configuration in which the workpiece is supported by the clamp method has the following problems.
That is, in the clamping method as described above, when the workpiece is lifted, the arm is positioned with respect to the workpiece and the gripping operation is performed by the clamping claw, and when the workpiece is placed, the clamping claw is released. Therefore, it took a long time to attach / detach the workpiece to / from the arm. For this reason, the cycle time required for loading and unloading the workpiece has been long.
In addition, in the processing line where workpieces are processed by multiple processing facilities, the posture of the workpiece may change depending on the processing facility, and the position and shape of the part gripped by the clamping claw will change when the workpiece posture changes. It was difficult to attach and detach workpieces corresponding to a plurality of workpiece postures. That is, it has been difficult to attach and detach workpieces with respect to a plurality of workpiece postures.
In addition, the clamp mechanism is complicated because the clamp mechanism provided on the robot arm is complicated, resulting in an increase in cost and changeover time (because of the parts to be produced next from the end of the current workpiece processing). After changing the jigs and tools, the time until the first good product of the next product was made) was also long.

Also, in a robot apparatus or the like, a workpiece is scooped up by a fork (sometimes called a finger or the like) provided on a robot arm, and the workpiece is transferred and supported on the fork. It has been broken.
However, when transferring a workpiece by a fork, the workpiece is supported only when it is placed on the fork, and the workpiece is not positioned with respect to the fork. Depending on the workpiece to be transferred, the support position by the fork is not stable. Or the workpiece may shift while the fork is moving.

Therefore, in the traveling robot apparatus 1, the fork 9 that scoops up the workpiece 4 is positioned by being fitted to the workpiece 4 in the vicinity of the balance position on the lower surface side of the workpiece 4, and can be positioned corresponding to a plurality of workpiece postures. A jig as a means is provided.
The jig is provided on the surface of the fork 9 that scoops up the workpiece 4, that is, on the upper surface of the fork 9 (hereinafter referred to as “fork upper surface 9 a”), and has a shape near the balance position on the lower surface side of the workpiece 4. Correspondingly, it can be fitted. That is, when the fork 9 is applied to the lower surface side of the workpiece 4, the jig is fitted to the shape of the lower surface side of the workpiece 4, and the workpiece 4 is positioned with respect to the fork 9. Is supported. And a jig | tool is provided with the shape which can respond | correspond to the workpiece | work 4 from which an attitude | position changes in a processing line at least 2 types of workpiece | work attitude | positions (it can be fitted and positioned).

Hereinafter, the specific configuration of the jig will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 16 by taking the case of a cylinder block (four cylinders) as the workpiece 4 in this description as an example.
FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of a jig provided on the fork, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a plan view, and FIG. 12 is a view showing a fitting state of the jig to one surface side of a workpiece. , (A) is a perspective view, (b) is a plan view, FIG. 13 is a view showing a fitting state of the jig to the other surface side of the workpiece, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a perspective view. is there.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing another example of a jig provided on the fork, wherein (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a plan view, and FIG. 15 is a fitting state of the jig to one surface side of the workpiece. FIG. 16A is a perspective view, FIG. 16B is a plan view, FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a fitting state of the jig to the other surface side of the workpiece, FIG. ) Is a plan view.
12, 13, 15, and 16, for convenience of showing the fitting state between the jig and the workpiece 4, the workpiece 4 represents a shape of the lower surface side, and therefore, a predetermined height from the lower surface side. The cross-sectional shape at the vertical position is shown. That is, the shape of the workpiece 4 shown in these drawings represents a concave-convex shape toward the lower side on the lower surface side of the workpiece 4.

First, a jig 50 as an example of a jig as positioning means provided on the fork 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14.
The jig 50 on the fork 9 shown in FIG. 11 is provided so as to form a shape that can be fitted into the lower surface side shape of the workpiece 4 with respect to the fork upper surface 9a that is a substantially horizontal plane. The jig 50 in this embodiment is configured by arranging a plurality (four pieces) of fitting bodies 51 to 54 at predetermined positions on the fork upper surface 9a (positions corresponding to the lower surface side shape of the workpiece 4). The Positioning with respect to the workpiece 4 having a shape as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 is performed by the jig 50.
In this embodiment, each fitting body 51-54 which comprises the jig | tool 50 is fixed to the fork 9 so that attachment or detachment is possible with the fasteners 55, such as a volt | bolt. However, the method for fixing the fitting bodies 51 to 54 to the fork 9 is not particularly limited, and the fitting bodies 51 to 54 may be integrally formed with the fork 9.

FIG. 12 shows a posture in which the work 4 which is a cylinder block has its one surface side down (specifically, a posture in which the oil pan side of the cylinder block is the lower surface side, and the head side where the cylinder bore opens is the upper surface side. 13 shows a state where the workpiece 4 is positioned by the jig 50, and FIG. 13 shows a posture in which the work 4 which is also a cylinder block faces downward on the other surface side (specifically, in the case of FIG. 12). This shows a state where the jig 50 is positioned in a posture in which the opposite surface side is the lower side and the head side is the lower surface side.
In the following, the posture of the workpiece 4 shown in FIG. 12 is an upright posture of the workpiece 4, and the posture of the workpiece 4 shown in FIG. 13 is an inverted posture of the workpiece 4.
As described above, the jig 50 shown in FIG. 11 can cope with the two postures of the workpiece 4 that can be changed in the processing line, that is, the upright posture and the inverted posture, and the shape on the lower surface side in each posture. The workpiece 4 is positioned by fitting in the vicinity of the balance position. In other words, in this case, the plurality of workpiece postures described above indicate an upright posture and an inverted posture of the workpiece.

First, positioning with respect to the workpiece 4 in the upright posture will be described.
As shown in FIG. 12, with respect to the upright posture of the workpiece 4, on the substantially rectangular bottom surface side, the peripheral edge protrudes downward and protrudes from both sides 47a and 47b in the longitudinal direction in the short direction. Multiple strips are formed. Among the plurality of protrusions, the protrusions 48a and 48b in the vicinity of the balance position on the lower surface side of the work 4 are fitted into the jig 50 on the fork 9, so that the work 4 in the upright posture is 9 is positioned.
The protrusions 48a and 48b on the lower surface side of the work 4 in the upright posture are each substantially rectangular in a plan view, and on the lower surface side of the work 4 in the upright posture, the protrusions 48a and 48b are opposed to each other in the short direction at the substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction. It extends from the said both sides 47a * 47b in the direction to do.

In order to position the workpiece 4 by fitting it into the shape of the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in such an upright posture, the jig 50 has the following shape.
That is, as a shape corresponding to one of the protrusions 48a, one fitting body 51 (fitting body arranged at the upper left in a plan view shown in FIG. A recess 51a for fitting a part thereof is provided. That is, the fitting body 51 includes a recess 51a that is substantially concave or substantially U-shaped in plan view so as to follow the shape of the protrusion 48a, and the protrusion 48a is fitted into the recess 51a.
In addition, as the shape corresponding to the other protrusion 48b, the other two fitting bodies 53 and 54 (FIG. 11B, etc.) constituting the jig 50 are arranged on the lower side and are each formed in a substantially L shape in plan view. And two fitting bodies arranged substantially symmetrically on the left and right). That is, these two fitting bodies 53 and 54 are fitted to the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 along the side 47b that is continuous with the protrusion 48b, with the protrusion 48b sandwiched therebetween. Yes.

  As described above, the workpiece 4 is positioned by using (fitting) the fitting bodies 51, 53 and 54 of the jig 50 with respect to the workpiece 4 in the upright posture. In addition, the fitting body 52 (fitting body arrange | positioned at the upper right in FIG.11 (b) etc.) which is not used here is distribute | arranged to the position corresponding to the part used as a recessed part etc. in the lower surface side of the workpiece | work 4 of an erect posture. The fork upper surface 9a is provided so as not to hinder the placement of the workpiece 4.

Next, positioning with respect to the workpiece 4 in the inverted posture will be described.
As shown in FIG. 13, with respect to the inverted posture of the workpiece 4, the portion of the cylinder bore provided for each cylinder is a recess on the lower surface side. For this reason, among the four cylinder bores arranged in a row in the cylinder block of the four-cylinder engine, the jig 50 is fitted to the two adjacent cylinder bores 49a and 49b in the vicinity of the balance position on the lower surface side of the workpiece 4. By combining, the workpiece 4 in the inverted posture is positioned on the fork 9.
Specifically, the cylinder bore that becomes a hole in the cylinder block becomes a recess on the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in an inverted posture, and the jig 50 is fitted into this recess so that the two adjacent centers are adjacent to each other. The workpiece 4 is positioned by using a wall portion 49c formed between the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinder bores 49a and 49b and the cylinder bores 49a and 49b and separating the cylinder bores.

In order to position the workpiece 4 by fitting it into the shape of the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in such an inverted posture, the jig 50 has the following shape.
That is, as a shape corresponding to one cylinder bore 49a of the two cylinder bores, the fitting body 51 of the jig 50 includes a curved surface portion 51b along the inner peripheral surface shape of the cylinder bore 49a, and includes the concave portion 51a. It has a shape along the inner peripheral surface shape. That is, the fitting body 51 is provided with the concave portion 51a for corresponding to the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in the upright posture as described above, and is disposed at a position corresponding to one cylinder bore 49a. On the other hand, the workpiece 4 is positioned by fitting in the cylinder bore 49a.
The fitting body 52 is provided as a shape corresponding to the other cylinder bore 49b. That is, the fitting body 52 is provided with a curved surface portion 52a along the inner peripheral surface shape of the cylinder bore 49b so as to face the curved surface portion 51b of the fitting body 51, and is disposed at a position corresponding to the other cylinder bore 49b. The workpiece 4 is positioned by fitting in the cylinder bore 49b with respect to the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in the posture.
Therefore, the workpiece 4 is positioned by the two fitting bodies 51 and 52 with the wall portion 49c separating the cylinder bores 49a and 49b sandwiched between the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in the inverted posture.

  Thus, the workpiece 4 is positioned by using (fitting) the fitting bodies 51 and 52 of the jig 50 with respect to the workpiece 4 in the inverted posture. The fitting bodies 53 and 54 that are not used here are arranged at positions that do not interfere with the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in an inverted posture, and are provided so as not to hinder the placement of the workpiece 4 on the fork upper surface 9a.

Next, a jig 60, which is another example of a jig as positioning means provided on the fork 9, will be described with reference to FIGS.
In general, the shape of a workpiece on a processing line or the like in which a traveling robot apparatus is used may change in shape due to parts being attached in the processing process. The jig 60 to be described next has the shape of the surface side to be scooped up by the fork 9 changed by attaching a part to the workpiece 4 having a shape that can be handled by the jig 50 described above in the machining process. The workpiece 4 is positioned corresponding to the case.

That is, in the series of processing steps of the workpiece 4 that is the cylinder block, the jig 50 described above is used in a step (previous step) before the shape of the lower surface side is changed due to parts being attached to the workpiece 4 or the like. In a process (post process) after the shape on the lower surface side is changed, a jig 60 described below is used.
Here, in order to perform positioning on the fork 9 corresponding to the workpiece 4 in the previous process and the workpiece 4 in the subsequent process, the workpiece 4 is transferred by one traveling robot apparatus 1 in any process. When performed, the jig 50 and the jig 60 are replaced when the process changes. On the other hand, when another traveling robot apparatus 1 is used for each process, the jig 50 or the jig 60 corresponding to each process is provided on the fork 9 of each traveling robot apparatus 1.

  Hereinafter, in the machining process in the machining line, a bearing cap (hereinafter simply referred to as “cap”) 4c provided between the cylinders is attached to the workpiece 4 which is a cylinder block, so that the workpiece 4 in the upright posture is mounted. The jig 60 for positioning the workpiece 4 correspondingly when the shape on the lower surface side changes will be described. The cap 4c is fastened and fixed to the oil pan side of the cylinder block by a bolt or the like, and constitutes a downward projecting portion on the lower surface side of the work 4 in the upright posture.

As in the jig 50, the jig 60 on the fork 9 shown in FIG. Is done. The jig 60 in the present embodiment is configured by an integral fitting body 61 formed in a substantially H shape in plan view. The jig 60 positions the workpiece 4 having a shape as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, that is, the workpiece 4 having the cap 4 c attached to the oil pan side surface side of the workpiece 4 shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. Done.
In the present embodiment, the fitting body 61 constituting the jig 60 is fixed to the fork 9 with a fastener 65 such as a bolt. However, the method for fixing the fitting body 61 to the fork 9 is not particularly limited, and the fitting body 61 may be integrally formed with the fork 9.

15 shows a state in which the workpiece 4 is positioned by the jig 60 in the upright posture as in FIG. 12, and FIG. 16 shows a state in which the workpiece 4 is positioned by the jig 60 in the inverted posture as in FIG. Shows the state.
As described above, the jig 60 shown in FIG. 14 can correspond to the upright posture and the inverted posture of the workpiece 4 to which the cap 4c is attached, and in the vicinity of the balance position with respect to the shape of the lower surface side in each posture. The workpiece 4 is positioned by being engaged with each other.

First, positioning with respect to the workpiece 4 (with the cap 4c) in the upright posture will be described.
As shown in FIG. 15, for the upright posture of the workpiece 4, on the lower surface side, in addition to the shape described with reference to FIG. A cap 4c is attached. Among the plurality of caps 4c, the cap 4c attached between the protrusions 48a and 48b, which is a portion positioned in the jig 50, and the protrusions 48c and 48d located next to the protrusions 48a and 48b. The cap 4 c to be attached is fitted into the jig 60 on the fork 9, whereby the workpiece 4 in the upright posture is positioned on the fork 9.
Each cap 4c attached to the lower surface side of the work 4 in the upright posture has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape that is long in the direction in which the ridges face each other. It will protrude downward on the side.

In order to position the workpiece 4 by fitting it into the shape of the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in such an upright posture, the jig 60 has the following shape.
In other words, the fitting body 61 constituting the jig 60 protruding on the fork upper surface 9a has a length substantially equal to or including the length in the short direction in the shape of the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in the upright posture. The mounting surface 61a is formed on the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 and supported by the mounting surface 61a. The recesses 61b and 61c for fitting the cap 4c to the mounting surface 61a are also provided. That is, the cap 4c attached to the concave portion 61b on one side (right side in FIG. 15B or the like) between the ridges 48a and 48b is connected to the concave portion 61c on the other side (left side in FIG. 15B or the like). The cap 4c attached between 48d is fitted, and a plurality of protrusions and side portions 47a and 47b on the lower surface side of the work 4 are placed by the placement surface 61a.

Therefore, in the state where the workpiece 4 in the upright posture is fitted and positioned in the jig 60, the two caps 4c are in a state of sandwiching the vertical guide portion 61d formed between the concave portions 61b and 61c. It will be in the state positioned between the horizontal guide part 61e * 61e which is formed in the both ends of this vertical guide part 61d, and forms the mounting surface 61a and recessed part 61b * 61c with the vertical guide part 61d.
As described above, for the workpiece 4 in the upright posture, the cap 4c is fitted into the recesses 61b and 61c with respect to the jig 60, and the other part is placed and supported on the placement surface 61a. The workpiece 4 is positioned. For this reason, the height of the jig 60 from the upper surface 9a of the fork (the thickness of the jig 60) is formed to be higher than at least the length of the protruding portion of the cap 4c on the lower surface side of the workpiece 4.

Next, positioning with respect to the workpiece 4 (with the cap 4c) in the inverted posture will be described.
As shown in FIG. 16, the inverted posture of the workpiece 4 is substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 13 without being affected by the cap 4c.
The jig 60 corresponds to a hole 49d (specifically, a cylinder head mounting bolt hole) provided in the vicinity of the cylinder bores 49a and 49b with respect to the shape of the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in the inverted posture. A plurality of pin portions 61f are provided.
The pin portion 61f protrudes upward from the mounting surface 61a of the jig 60. In the present embodiment, one side portion of the substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction in the shape of the lower surface side of the workpiece 4 in the inverted posture. Provided at two positions, a position corresponding to the hole portion 49d provided on the side and a position corresponding to the hole portion 49d provided substantially opposite to the hole portion 49d across the other cylinder bore 49b. Yes.

Therefore, in a state where the workpiece 4 in the inverted posture is fitted and positioned in the jig 60, the pin portion 61f provided in the jig 60 is inserted into the hole 49d provided in the lower surface side of the workpiece 4, and the workpiece 4 is placed and supported on the placement surface 61a.
Thus, the workpiece 4 is positioned with respect to the workpiece 4 in the inverted posture by using the placement surface 61 a and the pin portion 61 f of the jig 60.

Note that both the jig 50 and the jig 60 described above are configured to be supported in a state where the workpiece 4 on the fork 9 positioned by them is balanced.
Further, the loading platform 40 provided on the traveling platform 5 of the traveling robot apparatus 1 has the cutout portion 44 included in the loading platform 40 to place the workpiece 4 regardless of whether the workpiece 4 is upright or inverted and whether or not the cap 4c is present. It can be placed, and can handle any workpiece 4.

In this way, the fork 9 as a work support is provided with a jig as a positioning means, and the transfer of the work 4 by the fork is adopted, thereby stacking the work 4 as compared with the conventional clamp method. The cycle time required for unloading can be shortened, and it is possible to perform positioning when the work 4 is scooped up by the fork 9 and to prevent displacement on the fork 9 during transfer of the work 4.
In addition, since the jig as the positioning means can correspond to a plurality of workpiece postures, even when the workpiece posture can be changed on the processing line, the workpiece 4 on the fork 9 with respect to each posture with one jig. Can be positioned.
Moreover, compared with the case of the conventional clamp system, the structure for supporting the workpiece | work 4 can be simplified and cost reduction can be aimed at.
Further, since the jig can be easily detachably attached to the fork 9 by bolting or the like, even when the shape of the workpiece 4 is changed by attaching parts in the processing process of the workpiece 4, By changing the jig, it is possible to easily cope with it, and it is possible to shorten the setup change time.

Next, a control method of the traveling robot apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described.
First, a main configuration of control in the traveling robot apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing an outline of the control configuration of the traveling robot apparatus.

The traveling robot apparatus 1 is provided with a control device 70 as control means.
The robot 6 is connected to the control device 70 through a robot controller to which a teaching box for inputting a robot teaching operation and an operation program is connected. Thereby, control signals are input and output between the control device 70 and the robot 6, and the control device 70 controls the expansion and contraction of the arm 7 and the operation of the robot arm 20 in the robot 6.
The servo motor 32 is connected to the control device 70 through a servo amplifier box provided in the control device 70. The servo motor 32 is connected to the control device 70 via a power line or an encoder line to which power is supplied. As a result, control signals are input and output between the control device 70 and the servo motor 32, and the operation of the servo motor 32 and the like are controlled by the control device 70.
A signal is input / output between the robot 6 and the servomotor 32 via the control device 70. That is, a signal output from the robot 6 is input to the servo motor 32 via the control device 70, and a signal output from the servo motor 32 is input to the robot 6 via the control device 70. Yes.
The control device 70 is mounted on the traveling robot device 1 or is configured by a control panel or the like installed on the floor 15 separately from the traveling robot device 1 in the processing line. The control device 70 may be configured such that only a part of the configuration (for example, the servo amplifier box) is mounted on the traveling robot device 1.

The control method of the traveling robot apparatus 1 described below is a control method used when the lifting / lowering operation of the fork 9 that mainly supports the workpiece 4 is performed in the traveling robot apparatus 1.
Therefore, the main control object of this control method is a robot arm 20 as an up-and-down turning means provided in the robot 6 (specifically, a driving means for raising and lowering the robot arm 20, hereinafter simply referred to as “robot arm 20”). ”), A servo motor 32 as a drive source for supplying an output used for raising and lowering the fork 9 in the assist means 30 is obtained. That is, the lifting and lowering operation of the fork 9 that supports the workpiece 4 uses the load (force to be pulled up) by the robot arm 20 and the load (thrust force) obtained from the assist means 30. The robot arm 20 and the assist means 30 controls the servo motor 32 that supplies the output.
As a control method to be described below, for the ascending / descending operation accompanied with the support of the workpiece 4 of the fork 9, the control performed when both the output from the robot arm 20 and the output obtained from the assist means 30 are used (hereinafter referred to as the control method). And “synchronous control”) and control performed when only the output obtained from the assist means 30 is used without using the output from the robot arm 20 (hereinafter referred to as “independent control”).

First, synchronous control will be described.
As described above, the synchronous control is a control when the lifting / lowering operation accompanied with the support of the work 4 of the fork 9 is performed using both the output from the robot arm 20 and the output obtained from the assist unit 30. The robot arm 20 and the servo motor 32 provided in the assist means 30 are controlled so that 30 assists the lifting / lowering operation of the fork 9 in synchronization with the lifting / lowering operation of the robot arm 20.

In the synchronous control, first, a rise signal is sent from the control device 70 to the robot 6 from the state where the fork 9 is in the lower position.
The robot 6 that has received the rising signal from the control device 70 raises the robot arm 20 and sends a rising command signal to the servo motor 32 via the control device 70.
The servo motor 32 receiving the ascending command signal from the robot 6 moves the fork 9 at a predetermined speed Va (m / min) (for example, 8 m / min) and a predetermined load (thrust) Wa (kg). Is raised to a height (height at the upper position) Ha (mm) (for example, 900 mm with respect to the floor 15) and stopped.
Here, the fork 9 is lifted by the lifting / lowering body 31 being lifted by the servo motor 32 via the speed reducer, and the speed Va (m / min) and the height Ha (mm) are the servo motor 32. Determined by output from.
The load Wa (kg) is set to be approximately the same as the total value (kg) of the weight of the workpiece 4 and the weight of the fork 9.

The servo motor 32 that has raised the fork 9 to the upper position sends a rising end signal to the robot 6 via the control device 70 as the fork 9 reaches the upper position.
The robot 6 that has received the rising end signal from the servo motor 32 moves to the next operation (for example, movement of the fork 9 due to expansion and contraction of the arm 7 and turning of the fork 9 by the robot arm 20).

In this synchronous control, the robot 6 raises the robot arm 20 to a predetermined height Hb (mm) at a predetermined speed Vb (m / min) and a predetermined load Wb (kg).
Here, the speed Vb (m / min) is set to the speed Va + α (m / min) (α: minute value). The load Wb (kg) is the sum of the weight of the robot arm 20 itself and the weight of a component attached to the robot arm 20 to connect the robot arm 20 to the fork 9 (hereinafter referred to as “connection component”). Is set to be substantially the same as the value (kg). The height Hb (mm) is set to the height Ha + β (mm) (β: minute value).

  That is, when the fork 9 is lifted / lowered with the support of the work 4, a load (kg) for raising / lowering the weight of the work 4, the weight of the fork 9, the weight of the robot arm 20, and the weight of the connecting parts is necessary. In this synchronous control, the weight Wb (kg) of the robot arm 20 covers the weight of the robot arm 20 itself and the weight of the connecting component, and the weight of the workpiece 4 is obtained by the load Wa (kg) of the servo motor 32. And the weight of the fork 9 is covered.

Then, the robot 6 is configured so that the speed of the robot arm 20 is slightly higher than the speed of the fork 9 with respect to the ascending of the fork 9 accompanied by the support of the workpiece 4 by the servo motor 32 (assist means 30). The height reached by 20 is controlled to be slightly higher than the height of fork 9 rising. In other words, the fork 9 raised by the servo motor 32 is controlled so as to follow the rise of the robot arm 20.
Therefore, as described above, the speed Vb (m / min) and the height Hb (mm) when the robot arm 20 is raised are the speed Va (m / min) and the height when the fork 9 is raised by the servo motor 32. The minute values α and β respectively added to Ha (mm) are prevented from being applied to the robot 6 through the robot arm 20 due to the load from below when the fork 9 is raised by the servo motor 32. The value is set as follows.

  On the other hand, when the lowering operation from the upper position to the lower position of the fork 9 with the workpiece 4 supported is performed, each part associated with the lowering operation is performed in the same manner as the raising operation of the fork 9 that supports the workpiece 4 described above. Is controlled. That is, the robot 6 is configured so that the speed of the robot arm 20 is slightly higher than the speed of the fork 9 when the fork 9 is lowered while the work 4 is supported by the servo motor 32 (assist means 30). The height reached by 20 is controlled to be slightly lower than the descending height of the fork 9. That is, the fork 9 lowered by the servo motor 32 is controlled to follow the lowering of the robot arm 20.

The synchronous control described above is performed mainly when the fork 9 that supports the work 4 cannot be lifted or lowered by the robot arm 20 alone, that is, when the work 4 exceeds the load capacity of the robot arm 20.
For example, when the loadable weight (withstand load) of the robot arm 20 is 10 kg and the workpiece 4 is 20 kg, the servo motor 32 has a load (kg) in which at least 20 kg (weight of the workpiece 4) and the weight of the fork 9 are combined. Is output and assists.

By using such a control method, when assisting by the assist means 30 is performed when the workpiece 4 exceeds the load capacity of the robot arm 20 or the like, simple control can be performed without using complicated control such as fuzzy control. In addition, it is possible to prevent the robot 6 from being subjected to stress associated with the raising / lowering of the assist means 30.
In addition, since the control can be simplified, the cost for transferring the workpiece 4 (for example, the cost per workpiece 4 or the cost per unit time) can be reduced.

Next, single control will be described.
The single control is a control when the raising / lowering operation with the support of the workpiece 4 of the fork 9 is performed using only the output obtained from the assist means 30 without using the output from the robot arm 20 as described above. The robot arm 20 and the servo motor 32 provided in the assist means 30 are controlled so that the fork 9 is moved up and down using the output obtained from the assist means 30 without using the output from the robot arm 20. Is done.

In the single control, an upward signal is first sent from the control device 70 to the robot 6 from the state where the fork 9 is in the lower position.
The robot 6 that has received the rising signal from the control device 70 raises the robot arm 20 and sends a rising command signal to the servo motor 32 via the control device 70.
The servo motor 32 that has received the ascent command signal from the robot 6 moves the fork 9 at a predetermined height (upper position) at a predetermined speed (for example, 8 m / min) and a predetermined load (thrust) Wc (kg). For example, the height is raised to 900 mm with respect to the floor 15 and stopped.
Here, the fork 9 is raised by the lifting and lowering body 31 being lifted by the servo motor 32 via the speed reducer, and the speed and height when the fork 9 is lifted are determined by the output from the servo motor 32. .

The servo motor 32 that has raised the fork 9 to the upper position sends a rising end signal to the robot 6 via the control device 70 as the fork 9 reaches the upper position.
The robot 6 that has received the rising end signal from the servo motor 32 moves to the next operation (for example, movement of the fork 9 due to expansion and contraction of the arm 7 and turning of the fork 9 by the robot arm 20).

In this single control, as described above, the fork 9 starts to be lifted by the servo motor 32 that has received the lift command signal from the robot 6, and the robot arm 20 is set to output "0" for the lift. And controlled to be in a free state. As a result, the weight of the robot arm 20 itself and the weight of the connecting component are covered by the load of the servo motor 32.
Therefore, the load Wc (kg) output from the servo motor 32 is substantially the same as the total value (kg) of the weight of the workpiece 4, the weight of the fork 9, the weight of the robot arm 20, and the weight of the connecting component. Set to
That is, a load (kg) necessary for raising and lowering the fork 9 with support of the workpiece 4 is covered only by the servo motor 32.

  When this single control is performed, the following configuration is applied to the connecting portion between the robot arm 20 and the fork 9. A configuration of a connecting portion between the robot arm 20 and the fork 9 will be described with reference to FIG. 18A and 18B are schematic views illustrating a configuration of a connecting portion between the robot arm 20 and the fork 9, wherein FIG. 18A is a plan view and FIG. 18B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

As described above, the robot arm 20 connected to the fork 9 pivotally supports the fork 9 by the main arm 21, and the main arm 21 is provided at the lower end portion thereof and is configured by the connecting parts and the like. The enlarged diameter portion 21 b is connected to the fork 9 by being embedded in the base portion 9 b of the fork 9.
That is, the connection of the fork 9 to the main arm 21 is performed at the base portion 9b configured to be thicker than the portion of the fork 9 where the workpiece 4 is supported (the portion where the fork upper surface 9a is configured). An enlarged diameter portion 21b of the main arm 21 is embedded in the hollow portion 9c formed inside. Therefore, the main arm 21 is connected to the fork 9 in a state where the enlarged diameter portion 21b is embedded in the hollow portion 9c of the fork 9 and penetrates the hole portion 9d opened upward from the hollow portion 9c.

In such a connection configuration of the main arm 21 of the robot arm 20 and the fork 9, the clearance (gap) CL in the vertical direction (lifting direction) between the enlarged diameter portion 21 b of the main arm 21 and the hollow portion 9 c of the fork 9. (For example, 0.2 mm) is provided, and the main arm 21 and the fork 9 are configured to be slidable in the vertical direction.
That is, the upper and lower surfaces of the enlarged diameter portion 21 b and the upper and lower surfaces of the hollow portion 9 c are both formed in a substantially horizontal plane, and the length of the clearance CL is the length of the sliding range between the main arm 21 and the fork 9.

When the fork 9 is in the lower position, the main arm 21 of the robot arm 20 and the fork 9 have a clearance CL above the diameter-expanded portion 21b of the main arm 21, as shown in FIG. Thus, the mutual height positions are set (so that the main arm 21 can be raised relative to the fork 9).
By providing the clearance CL between the main arm 21 and the fork 9 in this way, the time lag between the start of raising the robot arm 20 and the beginning of raising the fork 9 by the servo motor 32 in the single control as described above. This prevents stress on the fork 9 raised by the servo motor 32 from being applied to the robot 6 via the robot arm 20.

That is, in this single control, as described above, the fork 9 is started to be lifted by the servo motor 32 by the signal sent when the robot 6 starts to lift the robot arm 20, and the robot arm 20 is In the free state, there is a time lag between the start of the lift of the robot arm 20 and the start of the lift of the fork 9, and the lift of the robot arm 20 during this time is allowed by the clearance CL to prevent stress on the robot arm 20 by the fork 9. It is something to try.
Accordingly, the clearance CL is set to be longer than at least the distance that the robot arm 20 rises from the start of raising to the free state.

On the other hand, in the single control, when the lowering operation from the upper position to the lower position of the fork 9 with the workpiece 4 supported is performed, the lowering operation is performed in the same manner as the raising operation of the fork 9 with the support of the workpiece 4 described above. Each part is controlled in accordance with the operation. That is, the robot arm 20 is lowered and a lowering command signal is sent from the robot 6 to the servo motor 32. The servo motor 32 that receives this lowering command signal starts lowering the fork 9, and the robot arm 20 The output for the lowering is set to “0”, and control is performed so as to enter a free state.
When the fork 9 is in the upper position, the main arm 21 and the fork 9 of the robot arm 20 have a clearance CL below the enlarged diameter portion 21b of the main arm 21 (the main arm 21 is connected to the fork 9). Mutual height positions are set so that they can be lowered relative to each other.
This prevents stress on the fork 9 raised by the servo motor 32 from being applied to the robot 6 via the robot arm 20 due to a time lag between the descent start of the robot arm 20 and the rise start of the fork 9 by the servo motor 32. Is done.

By using such a control method, when assisting by the assist means 30 is performed when the workpiece 4 exceeds the load capacity of the robot arm 20, simple control without using complicated control such as fuzzy control is performed. Further, it is possible to prevent stress from being applied to the robot 6 from the assist means 30.
In addition, since the control can be simplified, the cost for transferring the workpiece 4 (for example, the cost per workpiece 4 or the cost per unit time) can be reduced.
Furthermore, since the fork 9 can be lifted and lowered with the support of the workpiece 4 without using the output from the robot arm 20, the configuration of the robot 6 can be simplified and made compact.

An embodiment of the traveling robot apparatus 1 described above will be described.
First, the dimensions of the traveling robot apparatus 1 will be described using FIG. 19 in comparison with the conventional case. FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining the comparison of the dimensions of the traveling robot apparatus with the prior art. FIG. 19A is a plan view showing the conventional traveling robot apparatus and dimensions to be compared, and FIG. 19B is the dimension of the traveling robot apparatus. It is a figure which shows a comparison with the former about.

As shown in FIG. 19 (a), the conventional traveling robot apparatus 101 has a plurality of processing facilities 102, 102,. In the processing line constituted by the processing equipment 102, 102... Traveling in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 19A) along the traveling rail laid between the rows of processing equipment 102, 102. The workpiece 104 being processed in the line is transferred (loaded / unloaded).
The conventional traveling robot apparatus 101 includes a robot 106 that can turn on a traveling carriage 105 and a loading platform 140 for placing (temporarily placing) the workpiece 104 before and after the traveling carriage 105. And the longitudinal direction in the planar view shape of the workpiece | work 104 was mounted with respect to this loading platform 140 as the front-back direction. For this reason, the full length of the traveling cart 105 is long, and the full length dimension D2 is 1600 mm. Moreover, the full width dimension D1 of the traveling cart 105 was 840 mm.
Further, in the conventional traveling robot apparatus 101, in addition to the loading platform 140 being in front of and behind the traveling cart 105, the workpiece 104 is supported by the robot 106 by a clamping method using a robot hand or the like having a clamping claw 109. It was. For this reason, the turning radius of the robot 106 is large, and the total width dimension (substantially the same dimension as the passage width dimension between the opposing processing equipments 102) D3 including the operation range of the robot 106 is 1600 mm.

Compared to such a conventional traveling robot apparatus 101, in the traveling robot apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, as described above, the loading platform 40 provided on the traveling platform 5 is moved in the traveling direction (front-rear direction). Since the workpiece 4 is placed on one side and the work 4 is placed on the loading platform 40 with its longitudinal direction being substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction, the traveling robot apparatus 1 can be made compact. The total width dimension D1 of the carriage 5 including 950 can be 950 mm, and the total length dimension D2 can be 1000 mm.
As shown in FIG. 19B, when the full width and the total length of the traveling robot apparatus 1 of this example are compared with the full width and the total length of the conventional traveling robot apparatus 101, the occupied area (planar outline area: full width × The total length) can be reduced from the conventional 840 mm × 1600 mm to 950 mm × 1000 mm, and can be reduced to about 70%.

  Further, since the scooping method using the fork 9 is changed from the conventional clamping method, and the fork 9 is a three-stage slide type as described above and only the fork 9 is turned, the turning radius of the robot 6 is increased. The total width dimension D3 including the operation range of the robot 6 could be about 1000 mm.

Next, an example of the cycle time for the workpiece transfer operation of the traveling robot apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a cycle time of a workpiece transfer operation in the traveling robot apparatus.
The cycle time required for the workpiece transfer operation to be described next is as follows. The traveling robot apparatus 1 starts from a predetermined original position with the workpiece 4 placed on the loading platform 40, and the machining equipment X in a certain process is started. The above-described unloading operation and loading operation are performed, and one cycle is included in a series of operations of stopping at a predetermined stop position with respect to the processing equipment Y in the next process, and the time required for this one cycle is shown. It will be a thing.
The present embodiment shows a case where the traveling robot apparatus 1 performs the transfer operation of the workpiece 4 on the processing facility 2 on the left side.

With reference to FIG. 20, the operation of each part of the traveling robot apparatus 1 in the series of operations will be described together with the required time.
First, from the time point A in the figure, the traveling robot apparatus 1 moves from the original position to the processing equipment X (see arrow (A); required time 2 seconds). That is, the traveling platform 5 starts from the original position and stops at a predetermined stop position with respect to the processing equipment X.
Simultaneously with the start of the traveling robot device 1 at the time point A in the figure, the fork 9 in the left-right direction (sliding direction) of the fork 9 (the turning shaft portion 21a) in the front posture is temporarily placed from the central position. Move to position (see arrow (b); required time 1 second).
The fork 9 that has reached the second temporary placement position from the center position turns about 90 ° and turns from the front posture to the left-right posture (see arrow (c); required time 1.5 seconds). The time when the fork 9 is in the left-right posture (time B in the figure) is defined as the start time (time 0 seconds) of one cycle.

The fork 9 moves from the second temporary placement position to the left equipment side position from the point B in the figure, which is the start point of one cycle (see arrow (d); required time 1 second). That is, the left and right forks 9 move to a position where the workpiece 4 of the machining equipment X is scooped up.
From the time when the fork 9 reaches the equipment side position (left) (time C in the figure), the fork 9 at the lower position moves up and moves to the upper position (see arrow (e); required time 1.5) Seconds). Thereby, the workpiece | work 4 is lifted.
From the time when the fork 9 reaches the upper position with the support of the workpiece 4 (time D in the figure), the fork 9 at the equipment side position (left) moves to the second temporary placement position (see arrow (f)). The time required is 1 second).
From the time when the fork 9 supporting the workpiece 4 reaches the second temporary placement position (time E in the figure), the fork 9 turns approximately 90 ° and turns from the left and right posture to the front posture (arrow (g)). Reference; required time 1.5 seconds).
The fork 9 in the upper position descends and moves to the lower position from the time when the fork 9 assumes the forward posture at the second temporary placement position (time F in the figure) (see arrow (H); required time 1) .5 seconds). Thereby, the workpiece | work 4 is mounted in the temporary placement part 42b for unloading of the loading platform 40, and unloading operation is completed. That is, the unloading operation is completed when the fork 9 supporting the workpiece 4 at the second temporary placement position reaches the lower position from the upper position (time G in the figure).

From the time when the unloading operation is completed (time G in the figure), the fork 9 in the lower position moves to the first temporary placement position in the forward posture (see arrow (re); required time 0.5 seconds) . That is, the fork 9 in the forward posture moves to a position for scooping up the workpiece 4 placed on the temporary loading section 42a of the loading platform 40.
From when the fork 9 reaches the first temporary placement position (time H in the figure), the fork 9 at the lower position moves up and moves to the upper position (see arrow (nu); required time 1.5 seconds) ). Thereby, the workpiece | work 4 is lifted.
From the time when the fork 9 reaches the upper position with the support of the work 4 (time I in the figure), the fork 9 supporting the work 4 turns approximately 90 ° and turns from the front posture to the left-right posture ( (See arrow (l); required time 1.5 seconds). As the fork 9 starts to turn, the fork 9 in the first temporary placement position temporarily moves to the second temporary placement position (see arrow (W); required time 0.5 seconds).
The fork 9 moves from the second temporary placement position to the equipment side position (left) from the time when the fork 9 assumes the left-right posture (time J in the figure) (see arrow (W); required time 1 second).

From the time when the fork 9 supporting the workpiece 4 reaches the equipment side position (left) (at time K in the figure), the fork 9 in the upper position descends and moves to the lower position (see arrow (f)); (Time required 1.5 seconds). Thereby, the workpiece 4 is placed on the processing equipment X.
The fork 9 moves from the equipment side position (left) to the center position from the time when the fork 9 reaches the lower position with the work 4 placed (at time L in the figure), and the loading operation is completed ( See arrow (Y); required time 1 second). That is, the loading operation is completed when the fork 9 on which the workpiece 4 is placed returns to the center position (at time M in the figure) at the equipment side position (left).
Here, in the middle of the fork 9 returning from the equipment side position (left) to the center position, the traveling robot apparatus 1 starts moving from the processing equipment X and moves to the processing equipment Y in the next processing step (arrow (t ) Reference; required time 2 seconds). That is, the traveling platform 5 moves from a predetermined stop position with respect to the processing equipment X to a predetermined position with respect to the processing equipment Y and stops.

  The time point when the traveling robot apparatus 1 reaches the next processing equipment Y (N time point in the figure) is set as the end time point of one cycle. That is, one cycle is from time B to time N in the figure. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 20, in this example, the time required for one cycle (cycle time) could be 15 seconds.

The perspective view which shows the whole structure of the traveling type robot apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. The top view which shows the process line for giving a some process to a workpiece | work. The perspective view which shows the traveling type robot apparatus in a processing line. Similarly rear view. FIG. Similarly side view. The top view explaining the unloading operation | movement by a traveling robot apparatus. The top view explaining loading operation similarly. The partially omitted rear view of the traveling robot apparatus in the processing line. The top view which shows a traveling type robot apparatus and its cable bear. The figure which shows an example of the jig | tool provided in a fork. The figure which shows the fitting state of the jig | tool with respect to the one surface side of a workpiece | work. The figure which shows the fitting state of the jig | tool with respect to the other surface side of a workpiece | work. The perspective view which shows the other example of the jig | tool provided in a fork. The figure which shows the fitting state of the jig | tool with respect to the one surface side of a workpiece | work. The figure which shows the fitting state of the jig | tool with respect to the other surface side of a workpiece | work. The block diagram which shows the outline of the control structure of a traveling robot apparatus. Schematic which shows the structure of the connection part of a robot arm and a fork. The figure explaining the comparison with the conventional dimension of a traveling type robot apparatus. The figure which shows the cycle time of the transfer operation | work of the workpiece | work in a traveling robot apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Traveling robot apparatus 2 Processing equipment 3 Traveling rail 4 Workpiece 5 Traveling stand 6 Robot 7 Arm 9 Fork (work support body)
11 First link mechanism 12 Second link mechanism 20 Robot arm (lifting and turning means)
21 Main arm 25 Oil pan (Coolant recovery means)
26 Reception surface 30 Assist means 32 Servo motor (drive source)
40 Loading platform 45 Cable bearer 50/60 Jig (Positioning means)
70 Controller

Claims (7)

A robot having an arm configured to be turnable and extendable in a horizontal direction by a plurality of link mechanisms, and a lifting / lowering means for supporting and lifting and turning the workpiece support that is provided at the tip of the arm and supports the workpiece. Is a traveling robot device provided on a traveling platform,
A traveling type connected to the work support and provided with assist means for assisting a moving operation of the work support in the horizontal direction by the lifting / lowering operation, the turning operation and the extension / contraction of the arm. Robot device.   The workpiece transferred by the robot on one side in the traveling direction of the traveling table with respect to the robot on the traveling table is substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction in the longitudinal direction of the plan view shape in the mounting posture. The workpiece is placed on the cargo bed so that the longitudinal direction of the workpiece is substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction by the robot. The traveling robot apparatus described.   Provided on the platform is a receiving surface that includes substantially the entire range of movement of the work support in plan view on the platform, receives a coolant, and forms an inclined surface that is at least partially lowered toward one side. The traveling robot apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a coolant recovery unit.   The cable housing member connected to the traveling base is folded back in a substantially U shape in plan view and arranged along a traveling rail on which the traveling base travels. The traveling robot apparatus according to the item. The work support is a fork that scoops up a work,
5. The positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the fork is provided with positioning means capable of being positioned by being fitted to the workpiece in the vicinity of a balance position on the lower surface side of the workpiece and capable of supporting a plurality of workpiece postures. The traveling robot apparatus according to any one of the above items. A method for controlling a traveling robot apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The assist means is
In order to assist the lifting / lowering operation of the workpiece support in synchronization with the lifting / lowering operation of the lifting / lowering means,
A control method for a traveling robot apparatus, comprising: controlling the elevating / lowering means and a drive source that is provided in the assist means and supplies an output used for the elevating operation of the work support. A method for controlling a traveling robot apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Without using the output by the ascending / descending swivel means, using the output obtained from the assist means, so that the workpiece support is moved up and down,
A control method for a traveling robot apparatus, comprising: controlling the elevating / lowering means and a drive source that is provided in the assist means and supplies an output used for the elevating operation of the work support.