JP2009034801A - Arm type loader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that an articulated robot which is used in various fields has complicated construction which requires high rigidity resulting in higher manufacturing cost. <P>SOLUTION: In this arm type loader, a main slider and a sub slider are slidably mounted on a rail in a mutually independent manner, and a main arm and a sub arm are connected to the main slider and to the sub slider so as to be rockable, respectively. To the front end of the sub arm, the main arm is connected at its approximately intermediate portion via a shaft. At the front end of the main arm, a chuck or a placement tray is mounted for clamping a work being carried. The main slider and the sub slider are moved along the rail, whereby the chuck or the tray mounted at the front end of the main arm can be moved to a selective position in the state of being kept in its direction. Thus, the arm type loader has simple construction which does not require high rigidity, and it can be arranged in a limited space. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a numerically controlled arm type loader for the purpose of attaching / detaching a workpiece to / from a machine tool such as a lathe or machining center, or removing / attaching a workpiece or product from a tray carried on a conveyor. It is.

  Various devices for attaching a workpiece to be machined to a machine tool such as a lathe or a machining center and removing the machined workpiece are known. In addition, when workpieces and products are transported on a conveyor, there are devices for placing workpieces and products on the conveyor, and devices for removing workpieces and products from the conveyor.

  For example, in many cases, an articulated robot or a scalar type robot is used to attach / remove parts to / from a lathe machining center. However, the articulated robot and the scalar type robot require a larger installation space than the movable range because of their structures. On the other hand, the gantry loader can load and unload parts from the upper part of equipment such as lathes and machining centers, but the loader body becomes tall and hinders maintenance. In either type, the structure is complicated, and structural rigidity is required, which increases the manufacturing cost.

  An “automatic tool changer” according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-296434 is an automatic tool changer that automatically attaches / detaches a tool to / from a spindle of a general-purpose numerically controlled machine tool. That is, a tool storage table for storing a plurality of tools in a predetermined posture at a predetermined position near the NC milling machine, a general-purpose multi-joint robot disposed near the tool storage table, and a hand portion of the multi-joint robot The tool gripping device includes a support frame, a pair of tool gripping tools for gripping the tool, and an actuator for driving the tool gripping tool to open and close.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-271073 is a “ironing bending apparatus” which is a ironing bending apparatus that includes a scalar robot in a processing machine body and can bend a workpiece having a downward projection. . That is, a scalar robot provided with a guide member long in the left-right direction at the front upper part of the fixed frame of the processing machine body in the iron bending machine, and having a work holding part for holding a work at the tip of the arm, The guide member is mounted so as to be movable along the guide member, and the guide member is provided so as to protrude in the left-right direction of the fixed frame, and the origin of the workpiece W is positioned at a position corresponding to the protruding portion of the guide member in the left-right direction. It is the structure provided with the origin positioning part for performing. In addition, a work holder exchanging area for exchanging a work holder for holding the work is provided in the moving area of the scalar robot. Further, a brush-like member is provided on the upper surface of the support table that supports the workpiece, and the workpiece can be supported and the downward projecting portion formed on the workpiece can be immersed therein.

  A “machine tool” according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-26818 is configured to be able to control the movement of a transport machine regardless of the state of the processing machine or the transport machine at the time of operation, while lowering the installation cost of the operation panel. It is a machine. In other words, the portable operation panel that can instruct the movement of the transporter (gantry loader) has an interlock effective mode that prohibits the movement of the transporter under certain conditions and the movement of the transporter even under certain conditions. It is configured to be able to switch between interlock disable modes that are not prohibited. The machine tool control device controls the movement of the transporter in accordance with the contents instructed by the operation panel. Since the mode can be switched to an appropriate mode according to the state of the processing machine or the conveyor, the movement of the conveyor can be finely controlled. Since the interlock effective mode prohibits the movement of the transfer machine under a certain condition, it is possible to prevent troubles during the transfer. Since it is only necessary to provide a single operation panel for the entire machine tool, the installation cost can be kept lower than before.

JP 2000-296434 A JP-A-2005-210773 JP 2006-26818 A

  As described above, articulated robots, scalar robots, and gantry loaders are used in various fields. However, these are complicated in structure and require high structural rigidity, resulting in high manufacturing costs. The problem to be solved by the present invention is this problem, which is an arm type loader that has a very simple structure, does not require high structural rigidity, and can be installed in a limited space. I will provide a.

  The invention of claim 1 is intended to provide an arm type loader capable of exhibiting the following features.

The arm type loader according to the present invention can move the chuck attached to the tip of the main arm to an arbitrary position by swinging the main arm. Can be carried to any location. Since the main arm is supported by the auxiliary arm, it can be carried even if the workpiece is large and heavy, and a main arm having a minimum bending strength is sufficient.
The main arm is swung by the main slider and the auxiliary slider to which the auxiliary arm is attached moving along the rail, and is driven by a ball screw that is rotated by a motor.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, in an arm type loader that swings an arm and conveys a part such as a workpiece, a main slender and an auxiliary slender are slidably attached to a rail provided on a pillar and slidably attached to the main slider Is connected to the main arm so as to be swingable, and is connected to the auxiliary slider so as to be swingable, and the tip of the auxiliary arm is connected to a substantially middle portion of the main arm. At the tip of the main arm, a workpiece clamping chuck or mounting base is attached so as to be swingable, and the main slider and auxiliary slider can be moved along the rail, and attached to the tip of the main arm. The arm type loader is characterized in that the orientation of the chuck or the cradle is maintained.

  The invention of claim 2 moves along the rail in addition to the feature of the invention of claim 1 described above, and has a feature that can be used for versatility and versatility. In addition, this parallel link mechanism is excellent in strength, and is intended to be durable and have the advantage of being able to stably chuck and move the workpiece. And the chuck | zipper etc. which are attached to the front-end | tip of a main arm are provided with a parallel link, and are always maintained in a fixed direction and moved regardless of the movement of the main arm.

Claim 2 is an arm type loader that swings an arm and conveys a part such as a workpiece.
A main slender and an auxiliary slender are slidably attached to the rail provided on the pillar, and a main arm is connected to the main slider so as to be swingable. The auxiliary arm is connected, and the tip of the auxiliary arm is connected to a substantially intermediate portion of the main arm, and the main arm tip is swingably mounted on a chuck for workpiece clamping or a receiver for placing the workpiece. A base is attached, the main arm is formed by a parallel link, and both ends of the main arm are connected to a main slider, the chuck, or a cradle to form a parallelogram link mechanism with the main arm, and The main slider and auxiliary slider can be moved along the rail, and the Click, or arm loaders, characterized in that it has a structure that holds the cradle orientation.

  The invention of claim 3 is intended to achieve the object of claim 1 or claim 2 and to provide an arm type loader optimal to achieve this object.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the arm type loader according to the first or second aspect, wherein two ball screws are attached along the rail, and a nut that is moved by the rotation of the ball screw is screwed to the ball screw. The arm loader is characterized in that the main slider, the auxiliary slider and the bracket are connected via the nut, and the motor is attached to the ball screw.

  The invention of claim 4 is intended to achieve the object of claim 1 or claim 2 and to provide an arm type loader optimal to achieve this object.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the arm type loader according to the first or second aspect, wherein the main slider and the auxiliary slider are provided in parallel with a rail, and a rotating part is supported on a shaft provided on the rail. The main loader and the auxiliary arm are swingably connected to the rotating part.

  The invention of claim 5 is intended to achieve the object of claim 1 or claim 2 and to provide an arm type loader optimal to achieve this object.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the arm type loader according to the first or second aspect, wherein a motor is attached to a rotating portion provided on the main slider and the auxiliary slider, and the rotating portion is connected via the motor. An arm type loader characterized in that it is configured to be rotatable.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in an arm-type loader that swings an arm and conveys a part such as a workpiece, a main slender and an auxiliary slender are slidably attached to a rail provided on a pillar, independently of each other. A main arm is connected to the slider so as to be swingable, and an auxiliary arm is connected to the auxiliary slider so as to be swingable, and a tip of the auxiliary arm is connected to a substantially middle portion of the main arm, Further, a chuck for workpiece clamping or a mounting base is attached to the tip of the main arm so as to be able to swing, and the main slider and the auxiliary slider can be moved along the rail. An arm type loader characterized in that the orientation of the attached chuck or cradle is maintained.

Therefore, claim 1 has the following characteristics.
The arm type loader according to the present invention can move the chuck attached to the tip of the main arm to an arbitrary position by swinging the main arm. Can be carried to any location. Here, since the main arm is supported by the auxiliary arm, it can be carried even if the workpiece is large and heavy, and it is sufficient if there is a main arm having a minimum bending strength.
The main arm is swung by the main slider and the auxiliary slider to which the auxiliary arm is attached moving along the rail, and is driven by a ball screw that is rotated by a motor.

  According to the invention of claim 2, in an arm type loader that swings an arm and conveys a part such as a workpiece, a main slender and an auxiliary slender are slidably attached to a rail provided on a column, A main arm is connected to the slider so as to be swingable, and an auxiliary arm is connected to the auxiliary slider so as to be swingable, and a tip of the auxiliary arm is connected to a substantially middle portion of the main arm, Further, at the tip of the main arm, a chuck for workpiece clamping or a cradle for placing the workpiece is attached so as to be swingable, and the main arm is formed by a parallel link. A parallelogram link mechanism is configured with the main arm connected to the chuck or the cradle, and the main slider and With the movable auxiliary slider along the rail, a arm loaders, characterized in that it has a structure for holding a chuck attached to the main arm tip, or the cradle orientation.

  Therefore, in addition to the feature of claim 1 described above, claim 2 moves along the rail, and has features that can be used for versatility and versatility. In addition, this parallel link mechanism is excellent in strength, has durability, and has the advantage that stable chucking and movement can be achieved. And the chuck | zipper etc. which are attached to the front-end | tip of a main arm are provided with a parallel link, and are always maintained in a fixed direction and moved regardless of the movement of the main arm.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the arm type loader according to the first or second aspect, wherein two ball screws are attached along the rail, and a nut that is moved by the rotation of the ball screw is screwed to the ball screw. The arm loader is characterized in that the main slider, the auxiliary slider and the bracket are connected via the nut, and the motor is attached to the ball screw.

  Therefore, the invention of claim 3 has a feature that the object of claim 1 or claim 2 can be achieved, and an arm type loader optimum for achieving the object can be provided.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the arm type loader according to the first or second aspect, wherein the main slider and the auxiliary slider are provided in parallel with a rail, and a rotating part is supported on a shaft provided on the rail. The main loader and the auxiliary arm are swingably connected to the rotating part.

  Therefore, the invention of claim 4 has a feature that can achieve the object of claim 1 or claim 2 and provide an arm type loader optimal for achieving the object.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the arm type loader according to the first or second aspect, wherein a motor is attached to a rotating portion provided on the main slider and the auxiliary slider, and the rotating portion is connected via the motor. An arm type loader characterized in that it is configured to be rotatable.

  Therefore, the invention of claim 5 has a feature that can achieve the object of claim 1 or claim 2 and provide an arm type loader that is optimal for achieving this object.

  FIG. 1 is an embodiment showing an arm type loader according to the present invention, and shows a specific use example. In this figure, the arm type loader of the present invention is used to transfer the workpiece between the table and the conveyor. In the figure, 1 is a pillar, 2 is a main arm, 3 is an auxiliary arm, 4 is a chuck, 5 is a workpiece, 6 is a table, and 7 is a conveyor.

  The column 1 stands vertically from the base 8, and two rails 9 a and 9 b are attached to the column 1 in parallel. A main slider 10 and an auxiliary slider 11 are attached to the rails 9a and 9b, and the sliders 10 and 11 can be moved up and down independently of each other along the rails 9a and 9b.

  Two connecting plates 12a and 12b project to the front side of the main slider 10, the base 13 of the main arm 2 is sandwiched between the connecting plates 12a and 12b, and are pivotally supported by a shaft 14, and swing within a vertical plane. can do. A chuck 4 is provided at the tip of the main arm 2, and a base 15 of the chuck 4 is sandwiched between two connecting plates 41 a and 41 b and attached via a shaft 16.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a parallelogram link mechanism. As described above, the main arm 2 is provided with the parallel links 18 in parallel to form a parallelogram link mechanism. The connecting plate 12a, 12b protruding from the main slider 10 has a shaft 14 for connecting the base 13 of the main arm 2 and a shaft 20 for connecting the parallel link 18 to the main slider 10, and both The shafts 14 and 20 are separated by a predetermined distance m.

  A shaft 16 connected to the base 15 of the chuck 4 at the tip of the main arm 2 and an arm 17 extending upward from the base 15, and a shaft 19 connected to the tip of the parallel link 18 are connected to the tip of the arm 17. Have. The distance between the shaft 16 and the shaft 19 is m. The length L of the parallel link 18 is equal to the length L of the main arm 2 and constitutes a parallelogram link mechanism.

  Therefore, regardless of the position and inclination of the main arm 2, the orientation of the chuck 4 is always kept constant, and the work 5 is stably held. An example of this constant holding will be described. The chuck 4 is maintained horizontally by an inexpensive and simple structure due to the weight of the chuck 4 and / or the weight of the work 5 and a cylinder (not shown). It is also possible to ensure accuracy as a configuration to be provided. Although the specific structure of the chuck 4 is not limited, a plurality of claws 21 are provided on the chuck 4 shown in the figure, and the claws 21 are closed to clamp the workpiece 5. In other words, the workpiece 5 placed on the table 6 can be clamped and conveyed to the conveyor 7, and the workpiece 5 carried on the conveyor 7 can be conveyed to the table 6.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the main arm 2 is connected to the auxiliary arm 3 and supported by the auxiliary arm 3. The base of the auxiliary arm 3 is sandwiched between two connecting plates 22a and 22b protruding from the auxiliary slider 11, and is pivotally supported by a shaft 23 so as to be swingable. And the front-end | tip of the auxiliary arm 3 is connected with the axis | shaft 25 provided in the connection plates 24a and 24b fixed to the intermediate part of the main arm 2. As shown in FIG.

  By the way, when the auxiliary slider 11 is stationary at a fixed position, the tip chuck 4 of the main arm 2 moves horizontally toward the column 1 if the main slider 10 is raised, and the main arm 2 if the main slider 10 is lowered. The tip chuck 4 moves horizontally and moves away from the column 1.

  Further, when the main slider 10 is stationary at a fixed position, the main arm 2 can swing if the auxiliary slider 11 moves up and down, and the tip chuck 4 of the main arm 2 is moved by raising the auxiliary slider 11. Moves away from the column 1 and moves obliquely upward, and when the auxiliary slider 11 descends, the tip chuck 4 of the main arm 2 moves obliquely downward toward the column side. Furthermore, if the main slider 10 and the auxiliary slider 11 are both moved up and down, the tip chuck 4 is synthesized with the movements brought about by the up and down movement of the individual sliders 10 and 11.

  Two ball screws 26a and 26b are attached in parallel to the side of the pillar 1, the left ball screw 26a is rotated by a servo motor 27a (motor), and the right ball screw 26b can be rotated by a servo motor 27b. . A nut 29 fixed to the tip of the L-shaped bracket 28 fixed to the main slider 10 is screwed into the ball screw 26b.

  Since the upper and lower ends of the ball screw 26b are supported and rotatable, the main slider 10 can be moved up and down if the servo motor 27b rotates. Similarly, the bracket 30 is also fixed to the auxiliary slider 11, and a nut fixed to the tip of the bracket is screwed into the left ball screw 27a. Accordingly, when the servo motor 27a rotates, the ball screw 26a rotates and the auxiliary slider 11 can move up and down.

  Thus, by appropriately controlling both the servomotors 27a and 27b, the main slider 10 and the auxiliary slider 11 can be moved up and down to move the tip chuck 4 of the main arm 2 to a predetermined position. In order to transfer the workpiece 5 between the table 6 and the conveyor 7 in FIG. 1, the main slider 10 and the auxiliary slider 11 are moved by both servomotors so that the vertical movement B and the horizontal movement A are performed. This is performed by controlling 27a and 27b.

  FIG. 3 shows a case where the arm type loader of the present invention is a horizontal type. A rail 32 is mounted in parallel on the base 31, and the main slider 10 and the auxiliary slider 11 are mounted on the rail 32 so as to be movable. The main arm 2 is swingably attached to the main slider 10, the auxiliary arm 3 is swingably connected to the auxiliary slider 11, and the tip of the auxiliary arm 3 is connected to the main arm 2.

  A cradle 33 is attached to the tip of the main arm 2, and a cover 34 is placed on the cradle 33. Therefore, if the main slider 10 and the auxiliary slider 11 are moved in a state where the distance between them is kept constant, the horizontal movement of the distance L can be performed without changing the height of the cradle 33. If the main slider 10 is moved in the direction of the auxiliary slider 11 without moving the auxiliary slider 11, the main arm 2 rises and the cradle 33 at the tip rises and becomes higher by the height H.

  The main arm 2 includes a cylinder 42, and one end of a piston rod of the cylinder 42 is pivotally attached to the connecting plate 41a and the connecting plate 41b. The connecting plate 41 a and the connecting plate 41 b are pivotally supported by the main arm 2 via the shaft 16. Then, the cylinder 42 is operated to keep the cradle 33 horizontal.

  Also in the case of the arm type loader shown in FIG. 3, the main arm 2 is provided with a parallel link 18 to constitute a parallelogram link mechanism. Therefore, the cradle 33 can always stand upright and mount the cover 34 regardless of the inclination of the main arm 2.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 1, the main arm 2 is attached to the connecting plates 12 a and 12 b protruding from the main slider 10, and the auxiliary arm 3 is similarly attached to the connecting plates 22 a and 22 b protruding from the auxiliary slider 11. Therefore, the main arm 2 and the auxiliary arm 3 can swing in a vertical plane, but cannot change directions in a horizontal plane.

  FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which the directions of the main arm 2 and the auxiliary arm 3 are changed. Therefore, the chuck 4 attached to the tip of the main arm 2 can be swung in a horizontal plane. The main slider 10 and the auxiliary slider 11 are both attached to the rail 9 and can be moved up and down, and a rotating portion 35 is attached to the main slider 10. Similarly, the auxiliary slider 11 is provided with a rotating portion 36.

  The connecting plate 12 protrudes from the rotating portion 35 of the main slider 10, the connecting plate 22 protrudes from the rotating portion 36 of the auxiliary slider 11, and the main arm 2 is connected to the connecting plate 12. Is connected to the auxiliary arm 3. The rotating portions 35 and 36 are attached to the shafts 37 and 37 so as to be sandwiched between the upper plate 38 and the lower plate 39.

  A servo motor 40 (motor) is attached to the lower plate 39 to which the rotating portion 36 of the auxiliary slider 11 is attached. The rotating portion 36 is rotated by the servo motor 40 and the direction of the auxiliary arm 3 can be changed. If the auxiliary arm 3 turns, the main arm 2 can also turn and change its direction. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the rotating parts 35 and 36 are not connected to each other, but the spline shaft can be extended from the rotating part 36 to be connected to the rotating part 35. Therefore, even if the distance between the main slider 10 and the auxiliary slider 11 changes, the rotations of both the rotating parts 35 and the rotating part 36 can be synchronized.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment showing an arm type loader according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a parallelogram link mechanism of the main arm. FIG. 3 is a side view of another embodiment showing an arm type loader according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a structure in which the main arm and the auxiliary arm can turn in a horizontal plane.

Explanation of symbols

1 pillar 2 main arm 3 auxiliary arm 4 chuck 5 work 6 table 7 conveyor 8 base 9a rail 9b rail 10 main slider 11 auxiliary slider 12 connecting plate 12a connecting plate 12b connecting plate 13 base 14 shaft 15 base 16 shaft 17 arm 18 parallel link 19 shaft 20 shaft 21 claw 22 coupling plate 22a coupling plate 22b coupling plate 23 shaft 24a coupling plate 24b coupling plate 25 shaft 26a ball screw 26b ball screw 27 servo motor 28 bracket 29 nut 30 bracket 31 base 32 rail 33 cradle 34 cover 35 rotating part 36 Rotating part 37 Shaft 38 Upper plate 39 Lower plate 40 Servo motor 41a Connection plate 41b Connection plate 42 Cylinder

Claims (5)

In an arm type loader that swings the arm and transports parts such as workpieces,
A main slender and an auxiliary slender are slidably attached to the rail provided on the pillar, and a main arm is connected to the main slider so as to be swingable. The auxiliary arm is connected, and the tip of the auxiliary arm is connected to the approximate middle part of the main arm. Further, the main arm tip is swingably mounted on a chuck for workpiece clamping or a mounting base. Install,
An arm type loader characterized in that the main slider and the auxiliary slider can be moved along the rail, and the orientation of the chuck or cradle attached to the tip of the main arm is maintained. In an arm type loader that swings the arm and transports parts such as workpieces,
A main slender and an auxiliary slender are slidably attached to the rail provided on the pillar, and a main arm is connected to the main slider so as to be swingable. The auxiliary arm is connected, and the tip of the auxiliary arm is connected to a substantially intermediate portion of the main arm, and the main arm tip is swingably mounted on a chuck for workpiece clamping or a receiver for placing the workpiece. Install the base
The main arm is formed by a parallel link, and both ends of the main arm are connected to the main slider and the chuck or cradle to form a parallelogram link mechanism with the main arm.
An arm type loader characterized in that the main slider and the auxiliary slider can be moved along the rail, and the orientation of the chuck or cradle attached to the tip of the main arm is maintained. The arm type loader according to claim 1 or claim 2,
Two ball screws are attached along the rail, and a nut that is moved by the rotation of the ball screw is screwed into the ball screw, and the main slider, the auxiliary slider, and the bracket are connected via the nut, and the ball screw is connected. Arm type loader characterized in that the motor is mounted on the arm. The arm type loader according to claim 1 or claim 2,
The main slider and the auxiliary slider are provided in parallel with the rail, and a rotating part is pivotally supported on a shaft provided on the rail, and the main arm and the auxiliary arm are swingably connected to the rotating part. Features arm type loader. The arm type loader according to claim 1 or claim 2,
An arm type loader characterized in that a motor is attached to a rotating part provided in the main slider and the auxiliary slider, and the rotating part can be rotated via the motor.

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