JP2528975B2 - Suction hand - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Outline] The structure of a suction hand used for placing a sheet material before processing on a work table of a machine tool and for carrying out a processed sheet from here A suction material hand for conveying a sheet material, which is attached to the tip of an arm of an industrial robot capable of three-dimensional movement, for the purpose of providing a suction hand capable of handling a sheet material having a shape,
A plurality of suction pads are arranged in one plane, and a means for adjusting the position of the suction pads in the plane is provided.

[Industrial applications]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a structure of a suction hand used for placing a sheet material before processing on a work table of a machine tool such as an NC turret punch press, and for carrying out a sheet after processing therefrom.

[Prior Art] The suction hand used for the above-mentioned purpose comprises a plurality of suction pads arranged and fixed in a well-balanced manner on one plane,
It is attached to the tip of an arm 2 of a three-dimensionally movable industrial robot 1 as shown in FIG. Then, the sheet material is sucked and grasped by the suction from the suction source connected to the suction pad, and the sheet material is conveyed to a desired place by the movement of the arm 2, and the sheet material is placed at that position by releasing the suction. Is configured.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In this conventional suction hand, since the position of the suction pad is fixed, depending on the outer shape of the sheet material to be sucked, it is not possible to grip with even weight distribution, and in the case of a large sheet material, There is a drawback that when it is lifted, a portion of the peripheral area where the bending becomes large due to its own weight is generated, causing bending of the material and scratches due to contact with the table, which deteriorates the processing quality. In order to reduce this problem, it is conceivable to enlarge the suction hand itself so that it can handle a large sheet material, but the robot that mounts it also needs to be large, which is not economical. .

Further, although the processed sheet material has holes, if this corresponds to the position of the suction pad, there is a possibility that the suction force is reduced and the sheet cannot be conveyed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the prior art and to provide a suction hand that can handle sheet materials of any size and shape.

[Means for solving the problem]

The purpose is a suction hand for conveying a sheet material, which is attached to the tip of an arm of an industrial robot that can move three-dimensionally, in which a plurality of suction pads are arranged in one plane and the plurality of suction pads are arranged. Is a straight line A in the plane
The pair of movable pairs are configured to be movable in a perspective direction on a straight line B in the plane orthogonal to the straight line A. This is achieved by the suction hand for sheet material conveyance, which is provided with a drive mechanism for independently moving and moving the suction pad pair.

[Action]

When the sheet material is sucked, the position of each suction pad is adjusted so that the weight distribution becomes even in consideration of its size and shape. Therefore, even if the sheet material is lifted for transportation, the bending due to its own weight is reduced, and the bending of the material and the scratches due to contact with the table are eliminated. With respect to the processed material, the position of the suction pad is changed so as to avoid the position of the hole generated by the processing, so that the material can always be gripped with a sufficient suction force.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings.

〔Example〕

The suction hand 10 of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is attached to the tip of an arm of an industrial robot and has four suction pads 11a to 11d and one position fixedly movably arranged. And a suction pad 11e that has been removed. The lower surfaces of these suction pads 11a to 11e are arranged on one plane and connected to a suction source (not shown) via a valve. And
When intake air is supplied while being pressed against a sheet material such as an iron plate, the sheet material can be adsorbed by a suction force and lifted by raising the arm.

Adsorption pads 11a and 11b form a pair and have a common horizontal frame
Racks 14 parallel to each other that mesh with fixed gears (not shown) on the output shafts of the pulse motors 13a and 13b mounted on 12A.
It is fixed to the tips of a and 14b. When the pulse motors 13a, 13b are driven by a command from a control device (not shown), the racks 13a, 13b move in the longitudinal direction of the horizontal frame 12A, and the distance between the racks 13a, 13b is arbitrarily set.

The other suction pads 11c, 11d also form a pair having the same structure as this, and the pulse motors 13c, 13d and the racks 14c, 14d mounted on the common horizontal frame 12B are parallel to the above-mentioned pair of movements, similar to the above. Given movement.

The central portion of the horizontal frame 12A is fixed to the tip of a rack 16A extending vertically from the vertical frame 15 at the center of the suction hand in the longitudinal direction of the frame 12A. This rack 16A
Meshes with a fixed gear (not shown) at the tip of the output shaft of the pulse motor 17A, and the horizontal frame 12A is connected to the vertical frame 1
Move to 5 in the perspective direction.

The other horizontal frame 12B also has a similar configuration, and the rack 16B and the pulse motor 17B extending in the direction opposite to the rack 16A with respect to the vertical frame 15 perform the same movement as the rack 16A. In addition, racks 16A and 16
As shown in Fig. 2, its vertical position is different from that of B so that its movement does not interfere.

The fixed suction pad 11e is fixed to the lower surface of the vertical frame 15, and this position corresponds to approximately the center of each suction pad 11a to 11d.

Details of the structure of the fixed suction pad 11e provided at this center position are shown in FIG. The pad body 20 is a suction hand 10.
Contact with the sheet material X due to the fall of
21 is configured to apply a pressing force elastically. In order to keep this pressing force constant and ensure a stable work, a proximity switch 22 is installed, and when the distance D between the detection piece fixed to the upper part of the pad body 20 reaches a predetermined value, the suction hand 10 moves. It is configured to stop the descent.

The other suction pads 11a to 11d are also provided with this spring 21 for the same purpose. And, instead of the proximity switch, a micro switch (not shown) is installed on these pads, and if the proximity switch 22 fails, the suction hand is not able to operate.
Even when 10 moves down beyond the limit, the suction hand is stopped by the action of the micro switch, and the device is prevented from being damaged.

Next, the operation of the suction hand of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In this figure, the chain line indicates the moving range of each suction pad, and the arrow indicates the moving direction.

An industrial robot in which the suction hand of the present invention is attached to the tip of an arm is composed of a machine tool such as an NC turret punch press and a material storage area where sheet materials such as iron plates processed by the machine tool are stacked. It is installed in the middle. Prior to the work, each suction pad 11a-1
The pulse motors 13a to 13d of 1d are arranged at appropriate positions by driving the pulse motors 13a to 13d in response to a command from the control device so that the weight distribution of the sheet material shared by each of them is equalized.

Next, the arm of the robot moves to above the material storage, and the suction pads 11a to 11e are brought into close contact with the sheet material laminated on the top. Here, the suction air from the suction source acts and the sheet material is adsorbed to the adsorption pad. An arm raises to lift the sheet material, which is accurately positioned on the worktable of the machine tool. Here, the intake air from the suction source is shut off, the sheet material is placed in a predetermined position, and the arm returns to the standby position.

In this state, a predetermined punching operation is performed on the sheet material.

At the standby position, the suction pads 11a to 1a of the suction hand 10
1d is arranged so that the weight distribution is made uniform again and the pad is not located in the area where the holes are made by the command from the control device based on the data of the size and shape of the processed sheet material which is known in advance. To be done. After the processing is completed, the arm moves to carry the suction hand 10 onto the sheet material on the work table, lift it like the previous time, and take it out of the processing area.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the plurality of suction pads provided on the lower surface of the suction hand and arranged on one plane are configured so that their positions can be adjusted, respectively, and thus the sheet material conveyed by this Depending on the shape and size of the, the arrangement can be changed so that the weights shared by each are even. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the distortion of the material due to the self-weight of the material itself due to the imbalance of the supporting points during conveyance, and the lack of the suction force of the pad due to the matching of the processing hole position and the suction pad position, and it is always stable. It becomes possible to convey the sheet material.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a suction hand of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, FIG. 3 is a side view showing the structure of a fixed suction pad, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an operating state of the suction hand of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an industrial robot to which the suction hand is attached. 10 …… Suction hand, 11a ～ 11e …… Suction pad, 12A, 12B …… Horizontal frame, 13a ～ 13d …… Pulse motor, 14a ～ 14d …… Rack, 15 …… Vertical frame, 16A, 16B …… Rack, 17A, 17B …… Pulse motor, 20 …… Pad body, 21 …… Spring, 22 …… Proximity switch,

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An adsorption hand (10) for transporting a sheet material, which is attached to a tip of an arm of an industrial robot capable of moving three-dimensionally, wherein a plurality of adsorption pads (11a to 11e) are arranged in one plane. At the same time, the plurality of suction pads form a pair (11a, 11b; 11c, 11d) capable of moving in the perspective direction on the straight line A in the plane, and two sets of the movable pairs are connected to the straight line A. A drive mechanism (13a to 13d, 14a to 14d) which is configured to be movable in a perspective direction on a straight line B in the plane intersecting at right angles and which independently moves the suction pads and the suction pad pairs. 16A, 16B; 16A, 17B), which is a suction hand for conveying sheet material.