JP2704198B2 - Industrial robot - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a parallelogram link type industrial robot which is configured to always keep a horizontal link posture constant. More particularly, the present invention relates to a parallelogram link type industrial robot configured to maintain a constant horizontal link posture by improving the processing of the cables.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of industrial robot,
For example, as shown in FIG.
Are mounted rotatably about a vertical axis, and the rotor base b and the horizontal link frame c disposed above the rotor base b are connected to the rotation joints f, g, h, and i by a lower arm d and a vertical link e parallel to each other. The upper arm j is connected to the horizontal link frame c via the rotary joint k, and a motor for driving the wrist axis is attached to the rear end for three axes.
It is known that the rotation of the rotor base b, the rotation of the lower arm d, the rotation of the upper arm j, and the rotation of three axes of the wrist can be freely performed by six drive mechanisms. In this case, the cable n for the three-axis wrist and the motor for driving the upper arm is pulled out from the floor surface immediately below the base a to the outside of the base a, guided upward along the outer wall of the vertical link e, and connected to the respective motors. I have.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, since the cables n are exposed, due to the nature of the work, oily water or sparks are applied to the cables n, and the cables n are deteriorated, or the cables n are removed from the peripheral parts. May cause inconveniences such as hooking.

[0004] Therefore, it is desired to eliminate such inconvenience, but in this case, it is necessary to avoid a situation in which the arm becomes thick and the maintenance of the cables n becomes poor.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has a space inside a base,
The inner space of the rotor base and the inner space of the vertical link are connected together via joints, and cables are passed through the center of each rotating joint to realize built-in cables and improve environmental resistance. By using vertical links instead of the lower arm for the built-in type, the lower arm is prevented from becoming thick and the lower arm that governs rigidity is closed to achieve high rigidity, further improving the maintainability of this It is intended to provide an industrial robot consisting of:

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a rotor base rotatably mounted on a base and a horizontal link frame supporting an upper arm are connected to each other by a lower arm and a vertical link via a rotary joint. In a parallelogram link type industrial robot configured to keep the horizontal link posture constant, cables from the base are easily incorporated into the rotor base and the vertical link for maintenance, and the cable from the vertical link is optionally provided. The present invention relates to an industrial robot characterized by being incorporated in a communication duct mechanism having a flexible communication portion connecting a class to a vertical link and an upper arm.

More specifically, a rotor base rotatably mounted on a base and a horizontal link frame supporting an upper arm are connected via a rotary joint by a lower arm and a vertical link, so that the attitude of the horizontal link is always constant. In the industrial robot of the parallelogram link type configured to keep at, a hollow portion communicating with the inside of the base is formed at the center of rotation of the rotor base, and a vertical groove is formed in the vertical link, and this vertical groove is formed. The storage part was closed by the lid member to form a storage part, and this storage part was communicated with the hollow part at the center of the rotary joint at one end of the vertical link, while the storage part was disposed at the side of the center of the rotary joint at the other end of the vertical link. The cable case is fixed to the horizontal link frame, and the cables in the base are passed through the rotor base hollow section and vertical link storage section. Industrial robot, or a rotor base rotatably mounted on a base and a horizontal link frame supporting the upper arm through a rotary joint by a lower arm and a vertical link. In a parallelogram link-type industrial robot formed by connecting together, a hollow portion communicating with the inside of the base is formed at the center of rotation of the rotor base, a vertical groove is formed in the vertical link, and this vertical groove is covered with a lid member. Closed to form a storage part, and this storage part is communicated with the hollow part at the center of the rotary joint at one end of the vertical link, while a cable case is arranged at the center of the rotary joint at the other end of the vertical link, at the side. The cable case is fixed to the horizontal link frame, and the flexible duct connected to the cable case is Linked to arm, the rotor base cavity cables in the base, the vertical link receiving portion relates to an industrial robot, characterized in that to guide the upper arm through the case and the flexible duct cable.

[0008]

In the above configuration, the cables are built in the base, the rotor base, the vertical link, the cable case, and the flexible duct, and are laid out on the upper portion and guided to the motor and the end effector. In addition to being able to protect from oil and water and sparks, it is also possible to prevent the cables and the surroundings from being caught.

In this case, since the cables pass through the hollow portion of the rotor base and the center of the rotary joint at both ends of the vertical link, the rotation of the rotor base and the rotation of the lower arm and the vertical link are not hindered.

Also, since the cables are built in the vertical link instead of the lower arm, the structure of the lower arm is the same as the conventional one, it does not become thicker, and a closed structure is realized because the cable maintenance in the lower arm is unnecessary. And high rigidity can be realized.

Further, if the lid members such as the vertical link and the rotor base are removed, the storage portion is opened and the cables in the vertical groove are exposed, so that the maintainability of the cables is good.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to only such embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a rotor base 2 is mounted on a base 1 so as to be rotatable around a vertical axis. The lower link 4 and the vertical link 5 are connected to the horizontal link frame 3 disposed above the rotary link frame 3 via rotary joints 6, 7, 8, and 9, respectively. The horizontal link frame 3 has an upper arm 10
Are connected via a rotary joint.

The rotor base 2 includes a cylindrical base 2a and a box-shaped main body 2b connected to the upper side of the base 2a. The base 2a fits into the base 1 and is connected via a bearing. It is supported by the base 1. A reduction unit 11b connected to a motor 11a fixed to the base 1 is meshed with a gear provided on the outer periphery of the base 2a, so that the rotor base 2 is turned by the motor 11a. Therefore, by the base 2a,
A hollow portion A communicating with the inside of the base 1 is formed at the center of rotation of the rotor base 2. Reference numeral 2c denotes a lid of the main body 2b, which is removed during inspection to open the inside of the rotor base 2.

The rotary joints 7, 8 on the lower end side of the lower arm 4 and the vertical link 5 are provided on the side wall of the rotor base body 2b. A speed reduction unit 12b connected to a motor 12a fixed to the rotor base body 2b has an output shaft coupled to the lower end of the lower arm 4, so that the lower arm 4 is rotated by the motor 12a.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical link 5 is formed with a vertical groove 5a which is opened to the side except for the vicinity of both ends. Is formed. As shown in FIG. 1, the lower end side of the vertical link 5 has a hollow structure, and the hollow structure allows the storage portion B to communicate with the hollow portion A at the center of the rotary joint 8. On the other hand, the upper end side of the vertical link 5 also has a hollow structure. With this hollow structure, the cable case 13 in which the storage portion B is disposed at the center of the rotary joint 9 and on the side thereof.
Inside. The cable case 13 has a bottomed cylindrical shape with an opening facing the hollow structure outlet of the vertical link 5, is rotatably attached to the vertical link 5, and has a bracket 14. It is fixed to the horizontal link frame 3. Further, a bellows-shaped flexible duct 15 is connected to the cable case 13, and the flexible duct 15 is connected to a base end of the upper arm 10. That is, in the present embodiment, the cable case 13 and the flexible duct 15 constitute a communication duct mechanism including a flexible communication portion. In the figure, reference numeral 16 denotes a motor for rotating the upper arm 10. Note that the cable case 13 and the flexible duct 15 may be provided as appropriate according to the structure of the robot, and thus may not be provided depending on the robot structure.

The cables 17 in the base 1 are
It is guided into the upper arm 10 via the rotor base hollow portion A, the vertical link storage portion B, the cable case 13 and the flexible duct 15, and further guided to the end effector at the tip of the upper arm 10.

As described above, in the present embodiment, 3
Rotor base 2 by two motors 11a, 12a, 16
, The rotation of the lower arm 4 and the rotation of the upper arm 10 are freely performed. The cables 17 are the base 1, the rotor base 2, the vertical link 5, and the cable case 1.
3. Since it is built in the flexible duct 15 and the upper arm 10 and is arranged at the upper part and guided to the motor and the end effector, the cables 17 can be protected from oil and water and sparks, and the cables 17 and the peripheral portion can be caught. Can be avoided.

In this case, the cables 17 are made up of the hollow portion A of the rotor base and the rotary joints 8 and 9 at both ends of the vertical link.
, The rotation of the rotor base 2 and the rotation of the lower arm 4 and the vertical link 5 are not hindered.

Further, since the cables 17 are built in the vertical link 5 instead of the lower arm 4, the structure of the lower arm 4 is the same as the conventional one, is not slim, is formed slim, and is maintained in the lower arm. Is unnecessary, so that a closed structure can be realized, and high rigidity can be realized.

Further, if the cover member 5b is removed,
Are opened to expose the cables 17 in the vertical groove 5a, so that the cables 17 are excellent in maintainability.

As described above, the present invention has been described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to only the embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the rotor base 2 is configured by the cylindrical base 2a and the box-shaped main body 2b. However, the rotor base 2 does not necessarily need to be configured by two members, and may be provided integrally. In short, a hollow portion communicating with the inside of the base may be formed at the rotation center of the rotor base. Further, the cross-sectional shape of the vertical groove 5a of the vertical link 5 does not need to be U-shaped as shown in FIG. 2, but may be any shape.

[0023]

As described above in detail, according to the industrial robot of the present invention, in the parallelogram link type industrial robot configured to always keep the lateral link posture constant, cables are used. Since it is completely built-in, an excellent effect that the environmental resistance of cables can be improved without impairing the function of the robot at all is obtained. Further, the arm can be made slim, and the maintenance of the cables can be improved by removing the lid member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an arm of an industrial robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the vertical link of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of an arm of a conventional industrial robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base 2 Rotor base 3 Horizontal link frame 4 Lower arm 5 Vertical link 5a Vertical groove 5b Lid member 6, 7, 8, 9 Rotation joint 10 Upper arm 13 Cable case 15 Flexible duct 17 Cables A Hollow part B Storage part

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotor base rotatably mounted on a base and a horizontal link frame supporting an upper arm are connected via a rotary joint by a lower arm and a vertical link so that the horizontal link posture is always kept constant. In a parallelogram link type industrial robot configured as described above, a hollow portion communicating with the inside of the base is formed at the center of rotation of the rotor base, a vertical groove is formed in the vertical link, and the vertical groove is formed with a lid member. Closed to form a storage part, and this storage part is communicated with the hollow part at the center of the rotary joint at one end of the vertical link, while a cable case is arranged at the center of the rotary joint at the other end of the vertical link, at the side. The cable case is fixed to the horizontal link frame, and the cables in the base are connected to the upper base via the rotor base hollow section and vertical link storage section. Industrial robot, characterized in that it was to lead to the arm. 2. A parallelogram link type industrial structure in which a rotor base rotatably mounted on a base and a horizontal link frame supporting an upper arm are connected via a rotary joint by a lower arm and a vertical link. In the robot, a hollow portion communicating with the inside of the base is formed at the center of rotation of the rotor base, a vertical groove is formed in the vertical link, and the vertical groove is closed with a lid member to form a storage portion. At the center of the rotary joint at one end of the link, the hollow portion is communicated with the hollow portion, and at the center of the rotary joint at the other end of the vertical link, the cable is communicated with the cable case arranged on the side of the rotary joint. To the upper arm, and connect the cables in the base to the rotor base hollow Vertical links housing section, an industrial robot, characterized in that to guide the upper arm through the case and the flexible duct cable.