JP2633059B2 - Stacking work handling equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a work supply having a pallet and a work support rod for sequentially supplying a plurality of works to be processed while holding the work in a stacked state. And the workpieces from the workpiece supply unit are gripped and lifted one by one to a target position, for example,
Stacking that can be transported to the spindle of an automatic processing machine such as an automatic lathe, or take out a processed work from the spindle and transport it to an empty pallet in the work supply section to stack the processed work. The present invention relates to a workpiece handling device.

(Prior art)

Recently, a workpiece, which is a workpiece, is gripped and supplied to an automatic processing machine such as an automatic lathe or an automatic machine tool by a gripping claw attached to the tip of a robot hand that forms an end effector of an industrial robot. A so-called FA, which was automatically systemized so that the work was gripped and carried out again later
(Factory Automation) has become widespread. In such an FA site, in order to efficiently process a large number of workpieces, in general, workpieces are sequentially supplied to a robot hand of an industrial robot, and workpieces which receive processed workpieces from the robot hand are generally used. A supply is provided as a station. Such a work supply unit is generally called a work feeder. The work feeder includes a plurality of pallets on a single intermittent turning base or a circulating device, and each pallet stores a plurality of works. It is configured to be stacked and held in a stacked state and to sequentially pass through a predetermined work transfer position. Then, at the work transfer position, the industrial robot picks up one of the stacked works from the work feeder, attaches it to the spindle of the automatic processing machine, that is, the chuck of the machine, and returns the processed work to the empty pallet of the work feeder. Configuration is taken. In the work feeder, replenishment of the unprocessed work and unloading of the processed work are performed according to the progress of the automatic processing.

11 and 12 are perspective views schematically showing the arrangement of an industrial robot and a work feeder according to a conventional configuration and the configuration of a pallet on the work feeder. The industrial robot 1 extends from the body 2. A first robot arm 3 and a second robot arm 4 pivotally attached to the first robot arm 3 are provided. A pair of two robot hands 5 as end effectors is provided at the tip of the latter second robot arm 4. Work gripper 6, 6
The first robot arm 3 has a turning function and a telescopic function, and the first and second robot arms 3 and 4 are integrally formed to perform a turning motion indicated by an arrow P. ing. On the other hand, the work feeder 8 has a large number of pallets 10 on a base 9, and each pallet 10 has a plurality of pallets 10, as shown in FIG. It is provided with a support rod 12 and is conveyed via a lifter 13 provided on the base 9 in proximity to a predetermined work transfer station position.

According to the industrial robot 1 and the work feeder 8 described above, a plurality of works are stacked on each pallet 10 in the work feeder 8, and each pallet 10 is moved to the work transfer station nearest to the lifter 13 as described above. When the robot 1 is sequentially conveyed via the position, the robot 1 moves closer to the work loaded on the pallet 10 at the same work transfer station, picks up the work with the work gripper 6, and then performs the operation of arrow P. After moving away from the work feeder 8, the first robot arm 3 is further supplied with the work to a machining portion of an automatic machining machine such as a main spindle of an automatic lathe (not shown) by a turning operation or a straight-ahead operation. On the other hand, the machined work is received from the automatic lathe, the first robot arm 3 is turned away from the main axis of the automatic lathe by turning and moving straight, and then the operation of arrow P is performed to approach the work feeder 8 and the machined work is received. Is returned to the empty pallet 10 of the work feeder 8 according to a predetermined program.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Here, considering the operation of the work feeder 8 and the industrial robot 1 according to an example of the above-described prior art, the work feeder 8 uses the industrial robot as the uppermost work of the work stacked on the pallet 10. When the robot hand 5 is held by the work gripper 6 of the robot hand 1, the lifter 13 is actuated, the fork claws provided on the lifter 13 are inserted into the back side of the work mounting surface 11 of the pallet 10, and lifted upward. By lifting the work to the height position of the work support rod 12, the work gripper 6 of the robot hand 5 can easily grip the work. This is because, when the robot hand 5 approaches the workpiece grasping tool 6 only by the extension and retraction of the first robot arm 3 to the uppermost workpiece because the work support rod 12 is erected, the robot hand 5 Between the work support rod 12 and the work gripper 6 of the robot hand 5
This is because they are caught. However, providing such a lifter device at the automatic processing site and operating the lifter in accordance with the work transfer operation timing of the industrial robot 1 makes the program operation in the automatic processing complicated and increases the lifter 13. Pallet 8 passing through the position of the lifter 12
There is a disadvantage that the work transfer can be performed only between the robot and the robot 1, and at the same time, when the work feeder 8 is arranged in the automatic machining site, the arrangement place of the lifter 13 is limited. There are various problems, such as restrictions on the arrangement of the robot and the industrial robot.

Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to solve such a problem.

Another object of the present invention is to take into account that the work gripping hand side such as a robot hand often has an operation function of inevitably bringing the work gripping tool closer to the work feeder side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a stacking work handling device which can take out the uppermost work of the work stacked on the pallet on the work feeder side by using the operation function of the work feeder.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a stacked work in which a hand portion having a work gripper and capable of approaching a work feeder side can freely transfer and receive a work to and from one or more pallets of the work feeder. It is to provide a handling device.

[Means for solving the problem]

In view of the above-described object of the present invention, the present invention is configured such that a work support rod that is provided upright from a work mounting surface of a pallet included in a work feeder can be pressed in a vertical direction against an elastic push-up force. When the movable hand side having a work gripper such as a claw approaches the work stacked on the pallet, the work support rod is pressed down by the approaching operation to expose the work at the uppermost stage to the work gripper position. Means for gripping the work, and similarly, when lowering the work from the movable hand side to the pallet side, the work support rod on the pallet side is pressed down by the above means and the work of the movable hand and the work of the movable hand are also pressed. The work can be placed on the pallet without interference with the gripper.

That is, according to the present invention, by having a plurality of work support rods erected from the pallet mounting surface, a plurality of works are stacked on the pallet mounting surface and sequentially supplied from above. A stacking work handling apparatus comprising: a work supply unit; and a movable hand unit that sequentially grips the work from a pallet of the work supply unit with a gripper and conveys the work to a target position. The plurality of work support rods erected on the surface are arranged at intervals on the circumference to align the work to be stacked vertically in the vertical direction, and to receive a vertical elastic push-up force. The pallet is always urged upward and receives a downward pressing force that opposes the elastic lifting force, and is configured to be able to move downward with respect to the pallet mounting surface. On the back A plurality of work support rods of the work supply unit are pressed down from above, and the plurality of work support rods have a press-down plate that simultaneously applies the downward pressing force, and the hand unit is moved downward toward the uppermost work. Accordingly, the gripper is configured to be able to approach and engage with the uppermost work, and when the uppermost work is removed by the movable hand unit, the plurality of work support rods automatically load the remaining stacked work. An object of the present invention is to provide a stacking work handling apparatus characterized in that it is moved up and back to align and support.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing the structure and operation of a stacking work handling device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a gripping claw and a push-down plate of a movable hand portion viewed from the line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a work supply unit having a pallet and a vertically movable work support rod, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the pallet of the work supply unit. FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the pallet viewed from the bottom side, FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing details of a state where the work support rod is assembled to the pallet, FIG. FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the movable hand, and FIGS. 9 and
10 is a front view and a top view when the work supply unit according to the present invention is configured as a work feeder, and the movable hand side is configured as an industrial robot mounted on the side of an automatic lathe, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are It is a figure showing a prior art.

First, referring to FIG. 1, a stacking work handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a work supply unit 20 capable of stacking and supplying a plurality of works W in a stacked state, and a work supply unit 20 capable of supplying the work W. And a movable hand unit 50 for transmitting and receiving the work W in cooperation with the robot. Work supply unit 20
Has a pallet 22 fixed to the base 18 such as a rotary table by screws or the like, and stands upward through an adjustment plate, which will be described later, which is rotatably mounted on the upper surface of the pallet 22 in a horizontal plane. Multiple work support rods of the same length
The work 26 having the same size is vertically aligned and supported while preventing a large number of works W stacked on the pallet 22 from collapsing by the 26. The work support rod 26 extends through an inner hole of a cylindrical bush 28 with a flange through which the work support rod 26 is inserted, and further extends downward through the pallet 22. Since the other end 32b of the spring 32 having one end 32a fixed to the ring 30 is fixed to the side surface of the cylindrical bush 28 immediately below the bottom surface of the pallet 22, the spring 32 always receives the spring pushing force of the spring 32. , Receiving an upward pushing force. However, when each work support rod 26 receives a downward pressing force,
The lower part of the work support rod 26 which has been pushed down can be pushed downward by passing through the inner hole of the cylindrical bush 28 against the pushing up force of the pushing up spring 32. The state where the spring 32 is extended is also shown.

On the other hand, the movable hand unit 50 includes a plurality of (three in this example) grasping tools formed as grasping claws 54, and simultaneously moves the grasping claws 54 toward the center to perform a grasping operation. A gripping claw driving device 52 having a built-in well-known mechanism for performing a grip releasing operation by being opened outward is provided at the upper part. Further, an annular press-down plate 56 is provided on the outer periphery of the gripping claw 54, and the press-down plate 56 is provided with a work support rod when the hand unit 50 approaches the upper end of the work supply unit 20.
When it comes into contact with the uppermost end of the work support rod 26 and then depresses the work support rod 26, the work support rod 26 gradually moves downward as described above. When the work support rods 26 of the work supply unit 20 are arranged at intervals on the circumference to support the circular work W, the press-down plate 56 has an outer diameter larger than the diameter of the circumference. Is formed as an annular plate having an inner diameter smaller than the diameter of the same circumference, but the work support rod 26 moves in the direction of reduction and enlargement with respect to the center of the pallet 22 in accordance with the diameter of the work W as described later. When it is configured to be possible, it may be formed in a disk instead of the annular plate.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the detailed structure of the work supply unit 20 shown in FIG. 1 is shown in an exploded state.

The pallet 22 is formed as a deep dish-shaped part, includes a flange portion 23a attached to the base 18 such as a rotary table, and an inner chamber 23b, and a bracket member 29 provided in the inner chamber 23b is internally pivoted by a pivot 31. The pivot hole 23c on the bottom of the chamber 23b (fourth
(See the figure) and is slidably provided along the bottom surface. The cylindrical bush 28 described above is fitted into a through hole 29a formed at the tip of the bracket member 29, and the cylindrical bush 28 further has an arc-shaped long shape formed on the bottom surface of the inner chamber 23b of the pallet 22. The work support rod 26 extends downward through the hole 23d and below the pallet 22, and further extends through the inner hole of the bush 28 as described above. At this time, the work support rods 26 have the same number of straight lines formed on the adjustment plate 34 fitted on the upper surface of the deep dish-shaped pallet 22 at the same angular pitch interval as the arc-shaped long holes 23d of the pallet 22. The structure extends upward through the long hole 35. As described above, when the adjusting plate 34 has the straight elongated hole 35 and the bottom surface of the pallet 22 has the corresponding arc-shaped elongated hole 23d, the adjusting plate 34 is turned with respect to the pallet 22. The plurality of (three in this embodiment) work support rods 26 move inward or outward toward the center at the same time, and as a result, the outer diameter of the work W supported by the work support rods 26 becomes smaller. Accordingly, the support diameter can be expanded and contracted.

Referring to FIG. 5, a bush 28 protruding downward from the outer bottom surface of the pallet 22, a work support rod 26 penetrating through the bush 28 and extending downward, and one end 32 of a spring holder ring 30
The push-up spring 32 is shown in which a is fixed and the other end 32b is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the bush 28. As described above, the push-up spring 32 applies a force to push the work support rod 26 upward, thereby restoring the work support rod 26 that has been moved down to the original ascending position. 26 fall prevention functions. Further, if the adjusting member 36 whose mounting position is variable by a set screw is attached to the work support rod 26 projecting from the lower end of the bush 28, the spring holder ring 30 attached to the lower end of the work support rod 26
By adjusting the distance between the work support rod 26 and the lower end of the bush 28 to adjust the amount of upward extension of the work support rod 26, the upper end position of the work support rod 26 according to the maximum stacking height of the work W to be stacked. Can also be adjusted. The third
Although FIG. 5 and FIG. 5 typically show the related members with respect to one work support rod 26, it is needless to say that corresponding members are provided for each of the plurality of work support rods 26.

FIG. 6 clearly shows a configuration in which a bush 28 is seated on a bracket 29 provided inside the inner chamber 23b of the pallet 22.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show the above-described hand unit 50 in detail. In particular, a single pressing plate 56 is formed of a single plate material and is attached to the back of the gripper 54. It clearly indicates that it is a member.

Next, a description will be given of an embodiment in which the above-described stacking work handling apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a work feeder and an end effector of an industrial robot to automatically perform transfer of a work to an automatic processing machine or an automatic lathe. I do.

9 and 10, a plurality of workpiece supply units 20
In the work feeder 60, a plurality of bases 62 are mounted on a base 62 which can be turned intermittently by an output shaft 65 extended from a drive base 64 having a built-in intermittent drive unit. Pallet with support rod 26
22 are provided, and a plurality of works can be stacked on each.

On the other hand, the automatic lathe 100 is an automatic lathe having a main shaft 102 having a chuck for gripping a workpiece during processing, and has a main spindle driving device 104 and a control device 106 and performs processing in a closed door chamber during the processing operation. It has a well-known automatic lathe structure in which the escape of machining fluid is prevented. Further, an industrial robot 80 is provided on a side surface of the automatic lathe. The industrial robot 80 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a robot) includes a torso 82 and a first robot.
Robot arm 84, a second robot arm 86, a robot hand 88 provided at the tip of the second robot arm 86,
The robot hand 88 has the configuration of the above-described hand unit 50 as a set of two, and has a double-headed configuration. The first robot arm 84 is capable of performing the turning shown by θ and the expansion and contraction operation shown by A, and the first robot arm 84 and the second robot arm 86 are integrated with each other so that It is formed as an industrial robot having a well-known structure and having a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement so as to be able to perform the turning operation shown in FIG. However, since the robot hand 88 has the same configuration as the above-described hand unit 50, it is needless to say that the push-down plate 56 is provided on the back of the work gripper, which is a new configuration.

With the above configuration, since the industrial robot 80 has many degrees of freedom of movement, the robot hand 88 provided at the tip of the second robot arm 86 reaches the front of the main shaft 102 of the automatic lathe 100 by a turning operation, Further, by the linear expansion and contraction operation of the first robot arm 84, it is possible to mount the gripped work on the main shaft 102 or to receive the work from the main shaft 102, and further, to utilize the turning operation above the work feeder 60. The first robot arm 84 can approach the work stacked on the pallet 22 of each work supply unit 20 again in accordance with the linear expansion and contraction operation of the first robot arm 84. Further, when the robot hand 88 moves down from the upper end of the work support rod 26 erected from the pallet 22 by the robot operation, the push-down plate 56 provided on the robot hand 88 moves the work support rod 26 Is pressed down, the gripping claw 54 in front of the gripper directly approaches the uppermost work and performs a gripping operation, thereby firmly gripping the work. That is, if the configuration of the handling device according to the present invention is used, the hand unit supports a large number of the stacked work by utilizing the operation itself of approaching the work stacked on the pallet 22 of the work feeder. The work support rod 26 can be moved down without using any auxiliary means until the uppermost work is exposed, and the grip claw 54 becomes unable to grip the work due to interference with the hand unit or the robot hand 88. It does not happen.

Further, according to the present invention, the hand section is connected to the robot hand 88.
The second robot arm 86 can be displaced within a large turning angle range above the work feeder 60 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. This is advantageous in that it is possible to exchange work with not only the work supply unit 20 but also a plurality of work supply units 20. Therefore, the stacked unprocessed work can be transferred from any one of the work supply units 20 to the robot hand.
The workpieces received sequentially by the robot hand 88 and simultaneously the processed workpiece received from the automatic lathe 100 gripped by the other robot hand 88 of the double-headed hand is pushed down on the pallet 22 while pushing down the work support rod 26 of the workpiece supply unit 20 in an empty state. Putting it back can be easily accomplished.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a work handling device for automatically transferring a work and transporting the work to a target position is configured, and the handling device includes auxiliary equipment such as a lifter device required in the related art. Transfer of stacked work can be performed without control operation.
In addition, it is possible to overcome the disadvantage that the work was conventionally transferred only at the work transfer station near the position where the lifter device is arranged. In particular, if the hand part is applied to a robot hand, which is an end effector of an industrial robot, an automatic work that transports unprocessed work from the work feeder to the automatic processing machine and returns the processed work from the automatic processing machine to the work feeder side The transfer can be achieved with high efficiency. Further, according to the present invention, interference between the work feeder and the hand unit can be prevented by adding a small number of parts in exchange for the reduction of the lifter device, and a cost reduction effect can be expected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing the configuration and operation of a stacking work handling device according to the present invention, and FIG.
A bottom view showing the arrangement of the gripping claws and the press-down plate of the movable hand unit as viewed from the direction of arrows II-II. FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a work supply unit having a pallet and a work support rod which can move downward. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the pallet of the work supply unit, FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the pallet from the bottom side, and FIG. 6 shows details of a state where the work support rod is assembled to the pallet. FIG. 7 is a front view of the movable hand side, FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the movable hand, FIG. 9 and FIG.
FIG. 10 is a front view and a top view in the case where the work supply unit according to the present invention is configured as a work feeder, and the movable hand side is configured as an industrial robot mounted on the side of an automatic lathe, and FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG. 20 ... Work supply part, 22 ... Pallet, 26 ... Work support rod, 28 ... Bushing, 29 ... Bracket, 32 ...
Push-up spring, 50… Hand part, 54… Gripping claw, 56…
Press down plate.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Ryo Nihei 3580 Kobaba, Oshino-mura, Oshino-mura, Minamitsuru-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture Inside FANUC Co., Ltd. No. 3580 FANUC CORPORATION Product Development Research Center (56) References JP-A 63-93333 (JP, U) JP-A 50-125870 (JP, U) JP-A 63-88623 (JP, U)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A work supply unit having a plurality of work support rods erected from a mounting surface of a pallet and stacking a plurality of works on the mounting surface of the pallet and sequentially supplying the works from above. And a movable hand unit for sequentially gripping the workpieces from the pallet of the work supply unit with a gripper and transporting the work to a target position, wherein the stacking work is provided on a pallet mounting surface of the work supply unit. The plurality of provided work support rods are arranged at intervals on the circumference, thereby aligning the work to be stacked vertically in the vertical direction, and receiving the vertical elastic pushing up force at all times, The movable hand unit is configured to be urged upward and to be able to move downward with respect to the pallet mounting surface by receiving a downward pressing force that is opposed to the elastic lifting force. Work supply A plurality of work support rods are pressed down from above, and the plurality of work support rods have a press-down plate that simultaneously provides the downward pressing force to the plurality of work support rods, and the hand unit is moved downward toward the uppermost work. The gripper is configured to approach and engage the uppermost work, and when the uppermost work is removed by the movable hand unit, the plurality of work support rods automatically align and support the remaining stacked work. A stacking work handling device characterized by moving upward and returning. 2. The push-down plate of the movable hand portion is formed by an annular plate having an outer diameter larger than a circumference on which the plurality of work support rods are arranged and an inner diameter smaller than the circumference. 2. The stacking work handling device according to claim 1. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movable hand section is an end effector of an industrial robot.