JP2013000853A - Robot hand - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a robot hand whose maintenance work efficiency is improved.SOLUTION: A finger 10, electric motors 14, 15 for driving the finger 10, a motor driver 16 for controlling the operations of the electric motors 14, 15, and a finger base 13 for supporting the finger 10, are integrally modulized. The finger base 13 is removably mounted on a mounting section 102 of a hand base 101. The hand base 101 is provided with an electric power supply module 104 for outputting an operation command. The motor driver 16 is connected with the electric power supply module 104 by means of a connecter.

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot hand that is attached to an arm tip or the like of an industrial robot and is used for gripping and assembling a part.

  In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for automation for products having a small and complicated structure such as a camera and a printer. Many parts used in these products are small parts, and there are various shapes. In order to cope with these, the robot hand is required to be small and capable of gripping various workpieces and assembling various workpieces.

  In addition, since the robot hand is always requested to operate, a large load is applied to the finger of the robot hand. Therefore, it is required that the finger can be quickly replaced during maintenance such as breakage or failure of the finger.

  On the other hand, a technique is disclosed in which two fingers and an electric motor that drives these fingers are integrally provided on the finger base to form a finger module, and this finger module can be attached to and detached from the hand base. (See Patent Document 1). The finger base described in Patent Document 1 is provided with a connector used for power supply to the electric motor and signal output. Therefore, the motor driver that supplies power to the electric motor is provided on the hand base side. That is, the finger module and the motor driver are separate bodies.

JP 2007-222971 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, when it is necessary to replace the finger module due to a finger failure or breakage, it is necessary to adjust the existing motor driver according to the newly connected finger module. It will take.

  It is also conceivable to replace the motor driver together with the finger module without adjusting the existing motor driver. However, the attachment work must be performed with care so as not to change the correspondence between the new finger module and the new motor driver. In addition to the attaching / detaching work of the finger module, the attaching / detaching work of the motor driver is also required, and the maintenance work takes time.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a robot hand that improves the efficiency of maintenance work.

  The present invention includes a finger, an electric motor that drives the finger, a motor driver that supplies electric power to the electric motor and controls the operation of the electric motor based on an input operation command, and a finger base that supports the finger. A finger module that is integrated into a module, a hand base on which a mounting portion to which the finger base is detachably attached is formed, and provided on the hand base and connected to the motor driver by a connector to operate the electric motor. And a controller for outputting an operation command to the motor driver.

  According to the present invention, the finger, the electric motor, and the motor driver are integrated by the finger module. Thus, when the finger module needs to be replaced, if the motor driver is adjusted in advance in the new finger module, the motor driver does not need to be adjusted during the maintenance work. Therefore, the maintenance work for replacing the finger module can be quickly performed, and the efficiency of the maintenance work is improved.

  Further, since the motor driver is integrated with the finger module, it is not necessary to perform the attaching / detaching work of the motor driver alone. Then, the connection work between the controller and the motor driver may be performed by connector connection, which simplifies the work and improves the efficiency of the maintenance work.

It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the robot hand which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which removed the finger module from the hand module, (a) is a side view of a finger module, (b) is a front view of a finger module. It is explanatory drawing of the attachment method to the hand module of the finger module in the robot hand which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic top view of the robot hand which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (a) is the robot hand of the state which removed the finger. (B) is a robot hand with two fingers, (c) is a robot hand with three fingers, and (d) is a robot hand with four fingers. It is a principal part perspective view of the robot hand which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic top view of the robot hand which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of the robot hand according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A robot hand 200 shown in FIG. 1 grips a workpiece. The robot hand 200 includes a plurality of finger modules 50. In the first embodiment, the robot hand 200 includes two finger modules 50 ₁ and 50 ₂ . The robot hand 200 includes a hand module 100 as a hand body. Each finger module 50 ₁ , 50 ₂ is configured to be detachable from the hand module 100.

First, the configuration of each of the finger modules 50 ₁ and 50 ₂ will be described. Note that the finger module 50 ₁ and the finger module 50 ₂ have the same configuration. Hereinafter, the finger modules 50 ₁ and 50 ₂ will be described as the finger module 50. 2A and 2B are explanatory views showing a state where the finger module 50 is detached from the hand module 100. FIG. 2A is a side view of the finger module 50, and FIG. 2B is a front view of the finger module 50.

  The finger module 50 shown in FIG. 2 includes a single finger 10 in which a plurality of (two in the first embodiment) link members 11 and 12 are rotatably connected, and a flat plate shape that supports the fingers 10. And a finger base 13. The fingers 10 are configured to grip a workpiece with a plurality of fingers (two in this embodiment). In addition, the finger module 50 includes electric motors 14 and 15 that drive the fingers 10. Specifically, the first electric motor 14 drives the first link member 11, and the second electric motor 15 drives the second link member 12.

  Further, the finger module 50 includes a motor driver 16 that supplies electric power to the electric motors 14 and 15 and controls the operation of the electric motors 14 and 15 based on the input operation command. The electric motors 14 and 15 are fixed to the surface of the finger base 13 opposite to the surface that supports the fingers 10. The motor driver 16 is a control board including a wiring board and a semiconductor element mounted on the wiring board, and is fixed to the electric motors 14 and 15. Thereby, the finger 10, the electric motors 14, 15, the motor driver 16 and the finger base 13 are integrated into a module to form a finger module 50.

  The first link member 11 of the finger 10 is a middle joint portion, the proximal end of which is a first joint 21, and is pivotally connected to the finger base 13 by the first joint 21. In addition, the second link member 12 is a fingertip portion, the base end of which is a second joint 22, and is rotatably connected to the distal end of the first link member 11 by the second joint 22. .

  A belt pulley 23 is disposed on the first joint 21, and a belt pulley 24 is also disposed coaxially with the second joint 22. These belt pulleys 23 and 24 are connected by a belt 25.

  First, when the first electric motor 14 is rotated, the rotational driving force is transmitted through a gear or the like (not shown), and the first link member 11 is rotated by the first joint 21. On the other hand, when the second electric motor 15 is rotated, the driving force is transmitted to the belt pulley 23, and the belt pulley 24 is rotated via the belt 25, and is fixed coaxially with the second joint 22. The second link member 12 is rotated at the second joint 22 via the gear and the like.

  The electric motors 14 and 15 are provided with rotary encoders 26 and 27, respectively. Each rotary encoder 26, 27 is connected to the motor driver 16 by a cable (not shown) and detects the rotation of each electric motor 14, 15 (rotary shaft of the rotor). The motor driver 16 constantly monitors the rotational speed, the rotational position, and the rotational amount from the detection results of the rotary encoders 26 and 27 to control the driving of the electric motors 14 and 15. The motor driver 16 is connected by a cable (not shown) to supply power to both the electric motors 14 and 15.

  The motor driver 16 is provided with a cable 28 for electrical connection to the power supply module 104 (see FIG. 1). At the tip of the cable 28, a connector portion 29 for connector connection to the connector connection portions 104 a to 104 d of the power supply module 104 is provided.

  Next, the hand module 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the hand module 100 includes a flat hand base 101 to which the finger base 13 of the finger module 50 is fixedly attached. In the first embodiment, since the hand base 101 has two fingers 10, two attachment portions 102 for attaching the finger base 13 are formed.

  The hand module 100 includes a hand housing 103 fixed to a surface of the hand base 101 opposite to the surface on which the finger base 13 is attached. A power supply module 104 as a controller is fixedly disposed in the hand housing 103. The power supply module 104 is connected to an external controller (not shown) via a cable 30 and inputs an operation command for the robot hand 200 from an external controller (not shown). The power supply module 104 has a function of supplying power to the motor driver 16 of each finger module 50, communicating with each motor driver 16, and communicating with an external controller (not shown).

  That is, the power supply module 104 outputs an operation command for operating the electric motors 14 and 15 of each finger module 50 to each motor driver 16 via the cable 28 based on the operation command of the robot hand 200 input from the external controller. To do. The power supply module 104 supplies power to each motor driver 16 via the cable 28. The motor driver 16 receiving this operation command supplies power to the electric motors 14 and 15 and controls the operation of the electric motors 14 and 15 based on the input operation command.

Further, the power supply module 104 is provided with a plurality (four in FIG. 1) of connector connecting portions 104a to 104d. The cable 28 extending from the motor driver 16 of each finger module 50 ₁ , 50 ₂ is connector-connected to any one of these connector connecting portions 104 a to 104 d by a connector portion 29. Therefore, the connector part 29 can be attached to and detached from the connector connecting parts 104a to 104d.

  As described above, each finger module 50 of the robot hand 200 independently controls a command from an external controller (not shown) such as a current value and an encoder command value via the motor driver 16. In addition, it is set to be able to handle gripping of workpieces of various shapes by adjusting gripping force, gripping speed, and joint angle while independently communicating with an external controller (not shown).

  In the first embodiment, the finger module 50 has been described as a bending rotation type actuator that drives two joints of one finger, but the present invention is not limited to this. Actuators that can bend, rotate, extend, etc. can be selected according to the usage environment of parts and assembly operations, etc. The number of actuators can be one or more, suitable for workpiece gripping and assembly operations It is possible to take the form of a finger module of a different form.

  Next, the attachment part 102 of the hand base 101 to which the finger base 13 of the finger module 50 is detachably attached will be described with reference to FIG. The hand base 101 is formed with a positioning hole 102a and a female screw hole 102b as an attachment portion 102. The finger base 13 is formed with a positioning boss 13a that fits into the positioning hole 102a and a through hole 13b through which a fastener 13c such as a bolt that is a male screw that is screwed into the female screw hole 102b is inserted. The positioning boss 13a of the finger base 13 is fitted into the positioning hole 102a of the hand base 101, and the fastener 13c is screwed into the female screw hole 102b through the through hole 13b, whereby the finger base 13 is attached to the mounting portion 102. It is done. Thereby, the finger module 50 is positioned and fixed to the hand base 101. Then, the finger module 50 is attached to the hand module 100 by connecting the connector portion 29 to the connector connecting portion 104a.

  In addition, what is necessary is just to loosen the fastener 13c, when removing the finger base 13 from the attaching part 102. FIG. And the finger module 50 can be easily removed from the hand module 100 by removing the connector part 29 from the connector connection part 104a.

Then, in FIG. 1, for example when replacing the finger modules 50 _1, remove the finger modules 50 ₁ of the finger base 13 from the mounting portion 102 may be detached the connector 29 from the connector connecting portion 104a. Then, a new finger module 50 ₁ having the adjusted motor driver 16 may be prepared. The finger base 13 of the new finger module 50 ₁ is attached to the attachment portion 102, and the connector portion 29 is attached to the connector connection portion 104a. Connect to The same applies when replacing the finger module 50 _2.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the finger 10, the electric motors 14 and 15, and the motor driver 16 are integrated by the finger module 50. Thus, when the finger module 50 needs to be replaced, if the motor driver 16 is adjusted in advance in the new finger module 50, the adjustment work of the motor driver 16 may not be performed during the maintenance work. Therefore, the maintenance work for replacing the finger module 50 can be quickly performed, and the efficiency of the maintenance work is improved.

  Further, since the motor driver 16 is integrated with the finger module 50, it is not necessary to perform the attaching / detaching work of the motor driver 16 alone. Then, the cable connection work between the power supply module 104 and the motor driver 16 may be performed by connector connection, simplifying the work and improving the efficiency of the maintenance work.

In addition, it is possible to shorten or eliminate the calibration work for correcting variations such as the gripping force and the gripping speed of the finger modules 50 ₁ and 50 ₂ in the robot hand 200 after replacement, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of the maintenance work. To do.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a robot hand according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of the robot hand, and FIG. 4A shows the robot hand with the fingers removed. 4B shows a robot hand when there are two fingers, FIG. 4C shows a robot hand when there are three fingers, and FIG. 4D shows a robot hand when there are four fingers. The configuration other than the hand base in the hand module, which is the hand body of the robot hand, and the configuration of each finger module are the same as those in FIGS. 1 to 3 described in the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted. .

  In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, the hand base 101A has mounting portions 102A to 102H to which the finger base is attached at respective positions corresponding to the change in the number of fingers 10. Yes. Specifically, attachment portions 102A to 102H to which the finger base is attached are formed at the respective positions on the hand base 101A corresponding to the case of two to four fingers 10.

  The configuration of the mounting portions 102A to 102H is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a robot hand is configured by fixing the finger base 13 (see FIG. 3) of the finger module 50 to the mounting portion. Specifically, when the two fingers 10 are used, the finger bases may be attached to the attachment portions 102C and 102G as shown in FIG. Further, when the three fingers 10 are used, the finger bases may be attached to the respective attachment portions 102A, 102D, and 102F as shown in FIG. Further, when the four fingers 10 are used, the finger bases may be attached to the attachment portions 102B, 102D, 102F, and 102H, as shown in FIG.

  Since the power supply module 104 (see FIG. 1) is provided with four connector connection portions 104a to 104d, the connector portion provided on the cable extending from the motor driver 16 of each finger module is connected to each connector connection portion. That's fine. Thereby, an external controller (not shown) recognizes each finger module, and the robot hand can be operated.

  Note that the minimum configuration based on the number of fingers of the robot hand can be established if the center of the robot hand coincides with the rotation center of the robot hand and the circumscribed circle diameter is minimized.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, only the number of finger modules is changed, and not only the number of fingers 10 but also the number of motor drivers 16 is changed in accordance with the number of fingers 10, so that it corresponds to the work process. Thus, it is easy to change the number and arrangement of the fingers 10.

  As described above, since the number of fingers 10 can be detachably changed to the dedicated hand base 101A corresponding to the number of fingers 10 in units of one, robot hands of various variations can be easily constructed. .

  And since the finger 10, an electric motor, and a motor driver are modularized, the suitable number of fingers and arrangement | positioning according to the object workpiece | work are attained. Furthermore, since it is possible to make the configuration in which the turning radius with respect to the robot arm can be minimized, it is easy to construct a robot hand that is small and can be assembled in a narrow assembly work space.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a robot hand according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of a robot hand according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a schematic top view of the robot hand according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The overall configuration of the robot hand is the same as FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 described in the first embodiment and FIG. 4 described in the second embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the finger module 50, two electric motors 14 and 15 are disposed on the finger base 13, and encoders 26 and 27 are disposed on the electric motors 14 and 15, respectively. Respective rotary switches (hereinafter referred to as “rotary SW”) 41 and 42 for assigning ID information for identification to the finger module 50 are arranged in the encoders 26 and 27, respectively.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in the robot hand having four finger modules ₅₀ 1 to 50 _4, imparts respective ID information ID1~ID4 to each finger modules ₅₀ 1 to 50 _4.

The ID information, the position of "1" Rotary SW41 in FIG. 5, to set the rotary SW42 to position "2", "1" + "2" With ID1, the finger modules 50 ₁ to ID1 Give. When applying the finger module 50 ₂ to ID2 as ID information, the rotary SW41 "3", to set the rotary SW42 to "4". If you give ID3 to the finger module 50 ₃ as the ID information, the rotary SW41 "5", to set the rotary SW42 to "6". When applying the finger module 50 ₄ to ID4 as ID information, and sets the rotary SW41 to "7", the rotary SW42 "8".

When the finger base 13 (FIG. 5) of each of the finger modules 50 ₁ to 50 ₄ to which the ID information is assigned is assembled to the hand base 101A, the finger base is attached to a predetermined attachment portion on the hand base 101A. Then, each finger modules ₅₀ 1 to 50 ₄ of the cable 28 (FIG. 1), to connect to any connector connecting portion 104a~104d power module 104 (Fig. 1).

Then, when to start the assembly robot station (not shown) which set up a robot hand, an external controller (not shown), automatically recognize the ID information of all of the finger modules 50 ₁ to 50 ₄ connected to the robot hand. Then, an external controller (not shown) automatically switches to control of the robot hand configuration after discriminating the configuration and number of finger modules 50 ₁ to 50 ₄ to make it controllable.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, when ID information unique to each finger module 50 ₁ to 50 ₄ is given and assembled to the hand base 101A of the robot hand, the external computer obtains the ID information of the finger module. Can be recognized. The external computer can automatically identify the type, number, and combination of the ID information, thereby automatically switching to the control of the robot hand configuration according to the configuration and number of finger modules. it can. Therefore, since it is not necessary to change or adjust the control related to the robot hand by the user, the robot station switching operation can be performed smoothly.

  In addition, although this invention was demonstrated based on the said 1st-3rd embodiment, this invention is not limited to this. In the first embodiment, the robot hand with two fingers has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to a robot hand with three or more fingers.

  In the second embodiment, the robot hand is described in which the finger 10 can be recombined as three variations of the two to four types. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A robot hand in which the number of fingers arranged or the finger placement position (inter-finger pitch or angle) is changed according to the shape of the object to be grasped may be constructed.

  In the third embodiment, the rotary encoders 26 and 27 are provided with the rotary SWs 41 and 42, and the IDs of the finger modules 50 are distributed according to the combination of the ID information allocated thereto. However, the present invention is not limited to this. . A function of giving ID information to the finger module 50 such as the motor driver 16 may be provided.

  In the first to third embodiments, the case where the connector portion 29 is provided at the tip of the cable 28 extending from the motor driver 16 and is connected to the connector connection portions 104a to 104d of the power supply module 104 has been described. It is not limited. A connector portion may be provided at the tip of a cable extending from the power supply module 104 as a controller, and the connector portion may be connected to the connector connection portion of the motor driver 16. Alternatively, connector portions may be provided at both ends of the cable, one connector portion may be connected to the connector connection portion of the motor driver 16, and the other connector portion may be connected to the connector connection portion of the power supply module 104. Alternatively, the motor driver 16 and the power supply module 104 may be directly connected by a connector without using a cable.

  Moreover, although the said 1st-3rd embodiment demonstrated the case where the attaching part 102 consists of the positioning hole 102a and the internal thread hole 102b, it is not limited to this. A positioning boss may be provided instead of the positioning hole 102a, and a positioning hole may be provided in the finger base. Further, instead of the female screw hole 102b, a through hole through which a fastener is inserted may be used. In this case, a female screw hole may be formed in the finger base, or the nut may be fastened separately. May be.

  The present invention can be used for a robot hand in automatic assembly by an industrial robot.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Finger, 13 ... Finger base, 14, 15 ... Electric motor, 16 ... Motor driver, 28 ... Cable, 50 ... Finger module, 101 ... Hand base, 102 ... Mounting part, 104 ... Power supply module (controller), 200 ... Robot hand

Claims (3)

A finger, an electric motor that drives the finger, a motor driver that supplies electric power to the electric motor and controls the operation of the electric motor based on an input operation command, and a finger base that supports the finger are integrated into a module A finger module,
A hand base formed with a mounting portion to which the finger base is detachably mounted;
A robot hand comprising: a controller provided on the hand base and connected to the motor driver through a connector and outputting an operation command to operate the electric motor to the motor driver.   The robot hand according to claim 1, wherein the attachment portion is formed at each position corresponding to a change in the number of the fingers on the hand base.   The robot hand according to claim 1, wherein ID information for identifying the finger module is given to the finger module.

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