JP2008105125A - Apparatus for correcting deflection of carrier robot system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for correcting the deflection of a carrier robot system, which straightly inserts a thin sheet into a rack without stopping the movement of a forward and backward shaft, a vertical shaft, and a turning shaft of the robot for inserting the thin sheet into the rack even when the vertical deflection of the forward and backward shaft due to gravity has become large. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for correcting the deflection of the carrier robot system comprises a displacement detector 7a attached to the tip end portion of a hand 3 so as to measure the distance between the reference member of the rack 4 and the end of the hand 3 or displacement detectors 7b attached to the inlet portions of the respective racks so as to measure the distance between the reference member of the rack and the tip end of the hand. The vertical distance d between the lower surface of the tip end of the hand and the reference member of the racks for storing the thin sheets is kept constant during the period of the movement for carrying-in and taking-out the thin sheets 2 by a correction control circuit for carrying out the correction by determining the correcting movement of the vertical shaft 5 and/or the turning movement shaft 6 so as to correct the deflection of the vertical shaft 5 and the turning movement shaft 6 due to the gravity based on the information about the distance from the displacement detectors 7a, 7b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot system for transporting a large and fragile thin plate including a glass plate to a rack, and a rack capable of placing a large thin plate attached to a front and rear operation shaft having a long operation range parallel to the ground. The present invention relates to a deflection correction apparatus for a transfer robot system that can cancel the influence of bending due to gravity and can operate parallel to the ground.

Conventionally, large and fragile thin plates represented by glass plates such as flat panel displays have been stored one by one in a rack when stored, but at present, the trend toward larger and thinner films has already been made. It is impossible to carry it manually, and it has become a standard practice to use a robot suitable for carrying it. Such a robot has an axis that moves horizontally on the ground. A hand that can place a thin plate is attached to the tip of the robot and moved back and forth to store and take out the thin plate in a rack. Usually, it also has a vertical axis that can change the vertical height of its front and rear axes, and stores and takes out a number of thin plates by changing the height to the same rack.
Japanese Patent No. 3170493 JP-A-6-246658 Japan Society for Invention and Innovation Technical Bulletin No. 94-2002 (issue date 1994.2.1)

  By the way, in response to the recent demand for larger flat panel displays, the size of the glass plate has also increased, so the hand of the transfer robot system has also increased in size and weight, and the amount of movement of the front and rear axes has increased. The vertical deflection is also increased. Because of the deflection, the thin plate cannot be inserted straight into the rack, so the pitch of the rack was increased by the deflection. However, if the racks for storing the thin plates have a wide pitch, the number of glasses that can be stored at one time is inevitably reduced, and a large amount of glass cannot be stored. In order to solve such a problem, for example, disclosed in Patent Document 1, a method of operating the thin plate in parallel with the ground by changing the height of the vertical axis according to the amount of deflection of the longitudinal axis, the root of the longitudinal axis and the hand There has been proposed a method in which a rotating shaft that changes the operation direction of the front and rear axes is provided at the base, the rotating shaft is operated in accordance with the amount of deflection, and conveyed in parallel with the ground. The amount of deflection easily changes depending on the individual machine difference, such as the shape and weight of the hand or workpiece, and the vertical rigidity of the front and rear arms, so calculate the amount of deflection under the operating conditions or measure it in advance. It is saved as data, and the amount of deflection is obtained from the data. However, the calculation of the amount of deflection is very complicated, and if the weight of the workpiece is specified incorrectly, an incorrect amount of deflection can be obtained, and it is very troublesome to handle a wide variety of workpieces when measuring in advance. It will take.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a deflection correction apparatus for a robot system that corrects deflection due to the weight of an LCD substrate using a light emitting element and a light receiving element. However, an increase in the size of a thin plate including a glass plate and a hand of a transfer robot system are also disclosed. Even if the vertical deflection of the longitudinal axis due to gravity increases due to the increase in the weight and the amount of movement of the longitudinal axis, the motion of the longitudinal axis, vertical axis and rotary axis of the robot inserting the thin plate into the rack is stopped. Without being able to be used in the deflection correction device of the transfer robot system that can insert the thin plate straight into the rack. Patent Document 3 discloses a device that uses a vortex flow sensor to correct a displacement when a workpiece is positioned by a robot. However, it is necessary to pause and measure before the workpiece, and the thin plate is placed in a rack. It cannot be used for a deflection correction device of a transfer robot system that can insert a thin plate straight into a rack without stopping the operation of the front and rear axes, the vertical axis, and the rotation axis of the robot to be inserted.

  The object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, by increasing the size of a thin plate including a glass plate, increasing the weight of a transfer robot system hand, and increasing the amount of movement of the front and rear axes, and the vertical movement of the front and rear axes due to gravity. Provides a deflection correction device for a transfer robot system that can insert a thin plate straight into the rack without stopping the operation of the longitudinal axis, vertical axis, and rotation axis of the robot that inserts the thin plate into the rack even when the deflection increases. There is to do.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a robot having a longitudinal motion axis that is parallel to the ground and has a long motion range is attached with a hand that can place a thin plate including a glass plate at the tip of the motion shaft, and the thin plate is accommodated. A displacement detector attached to the front end of the hand for measuring the distance between the reference member of the rack and the front end of the hand in the operation of moving the front and rear shaft to the rack to carry in and taking out the thin plate; It has a vertical motion axis that can change the motion height and a rotational motion axis that can change the motion direction of the front and rear axes, and the deflection of the vertical and rotational motion axes due to gravity based on distance information from the displacement detector. The vertical direction of the lower surface of the front end of the hand and the reference member of the rack storing the thin plate is determined by a correction control circuit that determines and corrects the correction operation amount of the vertical axis and / or the rotation operation axis for correcting the amount. Distance, carrying the sheet, and solve the problems of the present invention described above by deflection correction apparatus of the transfer robot system, characterized in that kept constant throughout the operation for taking out.
A second invention of the present invention is a rack in which a robot having a longitudinal motion axis parallel to the ground and having a long motion range is attached with a hand capable of placing a thin plate including a glass plate at the tip of the motion shaft, and stores the thin plate. In the operation of carrying in and out the thin plate by moving the front and rear axial movements, a displacement detector attached to each rack inlet for measuring the distance between the reference member of the rack and the tip of the hand, and the operational height of the front and rear axes A vertical motion axis that can change the length and a rotational motion axis that can change the motion direction of the front and rear axes, and by the distance information from the displacement detector, the amount of deflection due to gravity of the vertical motion axis and the rotational motion axis The vertical distance between the lower surface of the front end of the hand and the reference member of the rack that stores the thin plate is determined by a correction control circuit that determines and corrects the correction operation amount of the vertical axis and / or the rotary operation axis to be corrected. Carrying the sheet, and solve the problems of the present invention described above by deflection correction apparatus of the transfer robot system, characterized in that kept constant throughout the operation for taking out.

  In the present invention, a displacement detector attached to the tip of the hand that measures the distance between the reference member of the rack and the tip of the hand, or each rack inlet that measures the distance between the reference member of the rack and the tip of the hand. It has an attached displacement detector, and based on the distance information from the displacement detector, it determines and corrects the correction operation amount of the vertical axis and / or the rotation motion axis that corrects the deflection amount due to gravity of the vertical motion shaft and the rotation motion shaft. Since the vertical distance between the lower surface of the front end of the hand and the reference member of the rack storing the thin plate is kept constant throughout the operation of loading and unloading the thin plate, Even if the deflection of the vertical axis of the front and rear axes due to gravity increases due to the increase in size and the weight of the transfer robot system and the increase in the amount of movement of the front and rear axes, the thin plate is inserted into the rack. Longitudinal axis of the robot, without stopping the operation of the vertical axis and the rotation axis, was intended to provide a deflection correction apparatus of the transfer robot system thin plate can straight insertion into a rack. In particular, the vertical distance between the lower surface of the front end of the hand of the front and rear operation shaft to be transported and the reference member of the rack that stores the thin plate is measured by a displacement detector sensor, and the amount of movement of the shaft for linearly moving the front and rear shaft is calculated. It is a distinguishing feature of the present invention that the amount of deflection is determined and correction control is performed.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic side block diagram showing a deflection correcting device of a transfer robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a bending operation state of a hand 3 of the transfer robot system of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the bending operation state of the hand 3 of the transfer robot system is corrected, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the bending operation state of the hand of the conventional transfer robot system is not corrected.

  The displacement detector 7a shown in FIG. 1 shows a deflection correction device for a transfer robot system according to an embodiment of the first invention of the present invention. A robot having a longitudinal motion axis 1 parallel to the ground and having a long motion range (see FIG. 1 has one longitudinal motion axis, but may have two or more longitudinal motion axes), and a hand 3 on which a thin plate 2 including a glass plate can be placed at the tip of the motion shaft 1 is attached. In the operation of moving the longitudinal shaft 1 to the rack 4 for storing the thin plate 2 and inserting the thin plate 2 into and taking out the thin plate 2 with the hand 3 placed on the hand 3, a rod member which is a reference member (not shown) of the rack 4 and The displacement detector 7a attached to the tip of the hand 3 for measuring the distance from the tip of the hand 3, and the vertical motion shaft 5 that can change the motion height of the front and rear shaft 1 and the motion direction of the front and rear shaft 1 are changed. A rotating motion shaft 6 capable of And a control device 8 that determines and corrects the correction operation amount of the vertical axis and / or the rotary motion axis for correcting the deflection amount due to gravity of the vertical shaft 5 and the rotary motion shaft 6 based on the distance information from the displacement detector 7a. The built-in correction control circuit 10 keeps the vertical distance d between the lower surface of the front end of the hand and the reference member of the rack for storing the thin plate constant throughout the operation of loading and unloading the thin plate. is there. In FIG. 1, the front / rear operation shaft 1 indicated by the solid line is at the most forward position, and the hand 3a supported by the front / rear operation shaft 1 shows the state in which the thin plate 2 is carried into the back of the rack 4, and the front / rear operation indicated by the broken line. The shaft 1b is retracted rearward, and the hand 3b supported by the front / rear operation shaft 1b is also in the retracted position.

  The displacement detector 7b shown in FIG. 1 shows a deflection correction device for a transport robot system according to an embodiment of the second invention of the present invention. The distance between a bar member (not shown) of the rack 4 and the tip of the hand 3 is shown. In addition to having six displacement detectors 7b attached to the inlets of the racks 4 to measure each of the racks, the transfer robot system according to the first embodiment of the present invention has the displacement detectors shown in 7a of FIG. Since this is the same as the deflection correction apparatus, description thereof is omitted.

  In operation, as shown in FIG. 2, when the front and rear operation shaft 1b moves forward from the position of the hand 3b and advances from the positions of the hands 3c and 3d to the position of the hand 3a, the rigidity of the front and rear shaft 1 is insufficient or Depending on the weight of the hand 3 and the thin plate 2, it bends by a deflection amount L from the reference line s and interferes with the rack 4 in the worst case. Therefore, in order to prevent interference with the rack, the vertical movement shaft 5 is operated so as to cancel the deflection amount L and / or only the rotation shaft 6 angle α attached to the root of the front and rear shaft 1 is operated. Thus, the interference with the rack 4 can be prevented by operating the reference line s (FIG. 3). However, in the conventional apparatus, when the shape of the hand or thin plate on the front and rear axes is changed to another, the way of deflection naturally changes, for example, the amount of deflection H is as shown in FIG. 4, and the amount of deflection is based on FIG. Since the amount of deflection cannot be canceled by this canceling operation, the amount of deflection is measured again to determine and correct the vertical and rotational motions. On the other hand, in the present invention, displacement detectors 7a and 7b for measuring the distance between a bar member (not shown) of the rack 4 and the tip of the hand 3 are attached to the entrance of each rack 4 or the tip of the hand. If the distance between the rack and the hand is reduced due to the movement of the front and rear axes, the vertical axis or rotary axis is moved in the direction to widen it, and the vertical axis or rotary axis is also adjusted so that the distance decreases when it is widened. The correction control circuit 10 built in the control device 8 that determines and corrects the operation amount to be operated determines the operation of the vertical axis or the rotation axis, corrects it, and performs the insertion operation, thereby keeping the distance between the rack and the thin plate constant. The conveyance work can be carried out without interference. At this time, even when the shape or weight of the hand or the thin plate is changed, it is possible to easily insert into and remove from the rack without performing any special measurement or correction calculation. The displacement detectors 7a and 7b are attached to the rack 4 inlet or the tip of the hand. From the viewpoint of sensor reliability and maintainability, it is desirable to attach the displacement detector 7a, 7b to each rack 4 inlet. It is necessary to attach the container 7b, which is disadvantageous from the viewpoint of cost. However, when the displacement detector 7a is attached to the tip of the hand, the number of displacement detectors is reduced, but since the attachment is to the operating part, the disconnection of the line to the sensor and the failure of the sensor itself increase.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, a displacement detector attached to the tip of the hand that measures the distance between the reference member of the rack and the tip of the hand, or each of measuring the distance between the reference member of the rack and the tip of the hand A displacement detector attached to the rack inlet, and a correction operation amount of the vertical axis and / or the rotary operation axis for correcting a deflection amount due to gravity of the vertical axis and the rotary operation axis based on distance information from the displacement detector; Because the correction control circuit that determines and corrects the vertical distance between the lower surface of the tip of the hand and the reference member of the rack that stores the thin plate is kept constant throughout the operation of loading and unloading the thin plate, Even if the deflection of the vertical axis of the front and rear axis due to gravity increases due to the increase in the size of the thin plate, the large weight of the transfer robot system hand, and the increase in the amount of movement of the front and rear axis, Longitudinal axis of the robot to be inserted into the click, without stopping the operation of the vertical axis and the rotation axis, was intended to provide a deflection correction apparatus of the transfer robot system thin plate can straight insertion into a rack.

1 is a schematic side block diagram illustrating a deflection correction device of a transport robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Explanatory drawing which shows the bending operation state of the hand 3 of the conveyance robot system of FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the state which correct | amended the bending operation state of the hand 3 of the conveyance robot system of FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the state by which the bending operation state of the hand of the conventional conveyance robot system is not correct | amended.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1b: Longitudinal motion axis | shaft, 2: Thin plate containing a glass plate, 3: Hand, 3a-3d: Hand position 4: Rack, 5: Vertical motion axis, 6: Rotary motion axis, 7a, 7b: Displacement detector d: Vertical distance from the reference member of the rack

Claims (2)

  A robot having a longitudinal motion axis that is parallel to the ground and has a long motion range attaches a hand that can place a thin plate including a glass plate to the tip of the motion shaft, and moves the longitudinal shaft to a rack that stores the thin plate to move the thin plate In the operation of loading and unloading, the displacement detector attached to the tip of the hand for measuring the distance between the reference member of the rack and the tip of the hand, and the vertical motion that can change the operating height of the front and rear shafts A vertical axis and / or a rotation having a rotary motion axis capable of changing the motion direction of the shaft and the front and rear axes, and correcting the deflection amount due to gravity of the vertical axis and the rotary motion axis based on distance information from the displacement detector A correction control circuit that determines and corrects the correction operation amount of the operation axis determines the vertical distance between the lower surface of the front end of the hand and the reference member of the rack for storing the thin plate. Deflection correction apparatus of the transfer robot system, characterized in that kept constant throughout the operation for.   A robot having a longitudinal motion axis that is parallel to the ground and has a long motion range, attaches a hand that can place a thin plate including a glass plate to the tip of the motion shaft, and moves the longitudinal motion to a rack that houses the thin plate. In the operation of loading and unloading the thin plate, a displacement detector attached to each rack inlet for measuring the distance between the reference member of the rack and the tip of the hand, and a vertical operation capable of changing the operation height of the front and rear shafts A vertical axis and / or a rotation having a rotary motion axis capable of changing the motion direction of the shaft and the front and rear axes, and correcting the deflection amount due to gravity of the vertical axis and the rotary motion axis based on distance information from the displacement detector A correction control circuit that determines and corrects the correction operation amount of the operation axis determines the vertical distance between the lower surface of the front end of the hand and the reference member of the rack that stores the thin plate, and carries in and takes out the thin plate. Deflection correction apparatus of the transfer robot system, characterized in that kept constant throughout the operation for.

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