JP3182562B2 - Automatic tool changing coupler - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coupler for automatic tool change comprising a first unit attached to an output unit for a robot, and a second unit on a work side having a tool connected to the first unit. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional coupler for automatic tool change, a first unit is usually provided with a cylinder and a lock, and the first unit is provided with an extension / shrinkage of an output shaft of the cylinder accompanying supply of air to the cylinder. The locking tool is moved, and the second unit is connected / disconnected to / from the first unit by locking / unlocking the moved locking tool and the second unit portion.

[0003] A connector (male / female connector portion) for connecting an electric signal circuit and a hydraulic / pneumatic / water circuit to each other in a connected state is provided on a connecting surface of the first unit and the second unit. Is provided). However, the automatic tool changing coupler has a problem that disconnection of the second unit from the first unit is not smooth due to resistance when the male connector and the female connector are disconnected from each other.

[0004]

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a coupler for automatic tool change in which the second unit can be smoothly separated from the first unit.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A second unit on the tool side mounted on the mounting table at the time of separation, and a first unit attached to the output portion of the robot and having a cylinder and a locking member, the output of the cylinder provided on the first unit side The locking tool is moved by the extension and contraction of the shaft, and the second unit is connected to and disconnected from the first unit by locking and unlocking the moved locking tool and the second unit portion. Of the first and second units in a type of automatic tool change coupler
An elastic body is provided on one of the parts,
・ When the second unit is connected, both units
Due to the elastic restoring force of the elastic body which has been more elastically deformed by compression
So that a separating force acts between the first and second units.
It is.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tool-side second unit mounted on a mounting table at the time of separation, and a first unit which is attached to an output portion of a robot and has a cylinder and a locking member.
A locking unit is moved by extension and contraction of an output shaft of a cylinder provided on the first unit side, and locking / unlocking between the moved locking unit and the second unit is performed. For connecting / disconnecting the second unit to / from the first unit, the insertion unit is inserted into one of the first and second units.
And the first and second units are connected to each other.
The insertion part is inserted in the outer peripheral airtight state when in the state
An insertion hole is provided, and air is supplied into the insertion hole.
Air circuit and disconnect the first and second units from each other.
When releasing, send air from the air circuit into the insertion hole,
Applying a separating force between the first and second units
I have.

[0007]

The present invention operates as follows. (Operation of the invention according to claim 1) In this coupler for automatic tool change, the first and second units are provided.
An elastic body is placed on one of the
When both the first and second units are connected,
Elastic return of elastic body deformed elastically by knitting
A separating force acts between the first and second units due to the force
Therefore, even if there is a separation resistance between the male and female connectors as described in the section of the prior art,
Separation of the second unit from the first unit becomes smooth.

(Operation of the invention according to claim 2) In this coupler for automatic tool change, the first and second units
The insertion part is provided in one of the
When the second units are connected to each other,
Providing an insertion hole to be inserted in an outer peripheral airtight state,
An air circuit for supplying air into the insertion hole is provided.
You. And when separating the first and second units from each other
Sends air from the air circuit into the insertion holes,
A separating force is applied between the units.
Therefore, even if there is a separation resistance between the male and female connectors as described in the section of the prior art, the separation of the second unit from the first unit becomes smooth.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. (Embodiment 1) As shown in FIG. 1, a coupler for automatic tool change of this embodiment includes a second arm 2 on a tool side mounted on a table 7 and a robot arm A via a so-called floating device F. And a first unit 1 mounted on the first unit.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the first unit 1 comprises a circular thick plate-shaped main body 1a and a hanging part 1b projecting downward from the main body 1a. The subject 1a is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG.
(Set to about 3/5 of the diameter of the main body 1a), and a piston 30 is provided in the empty chamber 11 so as to be vertically movable to constitute a vertical cylinder S. The output shaft 31 provided on the lower surface side is projected downward from the empty chamber 11 in an airtight state. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The piston 30 is separated from the connection port A side by the compression coil spring 32 provided so as to connect the lower side of the piston 30 to the connection port A and the upper side to the separation port B, and to be externally attached to the output shaft 31. Is to be urged.

As shown in FIG. 1, the hanging portion 1b is formed by hanging hanging pieces 12, 12 at regular intervals, and is eccentrically rotated by shafts 13 installed near both ends of the hanging pieces 12, 12. The plate 4 is rotatably disposed. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the mechanism 5 for rotating the eccentric rotating plate 4 by the vertical movement of the output shaft 31 is attached to the lower end of the output shaft 31 so that only a small amount can be rotated. An H member 50 (formed by connecting a pair of plate members 51 at the center portion) having an H shape in plan view, a small pin 52 bridged near both ends of the plate members 51, 51, and the eccentric rotation plate 4 are provided. And the guide slot 40 into which the small pin 52 is inserted. When air is supplied to the connection port A from the state shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the eccentric rotary plate 4 rotates about the shaft 13 due to the relationship between the guide hole 40 and the guide slot 40. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a compression coil spring CB is attached to the lower portion of the H member 50 via a spring receiving portion E (the compression coil spring CB can be attached to the second unit side). When the first unit 1 and the second unit 2 are in a connected state, the compression coil spring CB
A compressive force is applied to the elastic body (corresponding to the elastic body in the section of means, and other known springs and cushion materials can be used as the elastic body).

On the outer peripheral surface of the eccentric rotary plate 4 described above, FIG.
When the state shown in (1) is reached, the engaging surface 41 comes into contact with the pin-shaped hooking portion 20 provided on the second unit 2, and the locus of formation of the engaging surface 41 is the starting end side a Distance from the shaft to the center of the shaft 31 is small and the end side b
It is a gentle curve with a large distance from it. Accordingly, the engagement / disengagement of the eccentric rotation plate 4 with the hook portion 20 accompanying the rotation of the eccentric rotation plate 4 becomes smooth.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the second unit 2 has a concave portion 21 for accommodating the above-mentioned hanging portion 1b when connected to the first unit 1, and has a hooking portion 20 as described above. Is provided. Incidentally, as shown in FIG.
The first unit 1 has a female connector C1 for electrical connection and a female connector C3 for air / oil / water path connection, and the second unit 2 has a male connector C2 connected to the female connector C1. , A male connector C4 connected to the female connector C3 is provided. Further, the first and second units 1 and 2 are provided with a taper pin T1 and a taper pin T1 for realizing reliable connection of the connectors C1, C2, C3 and C4. A guide hole T2 is provided.

In this embodiment, the coupler for automatic tool change is constituted as described above.
Even if the separation resistance between the first unit 1 and C3 and the male connectors C2 and C4 is large, the disconnection of the second unit 2 from the first unit 1 becomes smooth. (Embodiment 2) The coupler for automatic tool change of this embodiment has substantially the same configuration as that of Embodiment 1 described above, but uses air pressure in order to smoothly disconnect the second unit 2 from the first unit 1. The configuration is as follows.

That is, as shown in FIG.
An insertion shaft 60 (corresponding to the insertion portion in the column of means) is vertically provided below the O-ring, and an O-ring 61 is attached to the outer periphery of the insertion shaft 60,
On the other hand, an insertion hole 63 constituted by a cylindrical body 62 is provided on the bottom surface of the concave portion 21, and when the first unit 1 and the second unit 2 are connected, the insertion shaft 60 is kept in an outer peripheral airtight state with the insertion hole 63. It is to be inserted. Then, when the second unit 2 connected to the first unit 1 is placed on the table 7, as shown in FIG.
Air is supplied to the insertion hole 63 through the path of the air injection device 65 provided on the mounting table 7 → the air injection port 66 provided on the second unit 2 → the air tube 67.

Therefore, in this coupler, the repulsive force is generated between the first unit 1 and the second unit 2 so that the insertion shaft 60 is pushed up by the air pressure supplied into the insertion hole 63 through the path as described above. Act, so that the first
Separation of the second unit from the unit becomes smooth.
Further, in this coupler, a force that separates the first unit and the second unit does not act in a state other than the state in which the first unit is placed on the mounting table 7. But can also be used in couplers that are not too large.

The path for supplying air to the insertion hole 63 in the second embodiment is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and an air path is provided in the output shaft 31 of the cylinder S, It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the ink is supplied into the insertion hole 63 via a path. Further, instead of the configuration of the second embodiment, an insertion hole may be formed on the first unit 1 side and an insertion shaft may be provided on the second unit 2 side so that air is supplied into the insertion hole. This has the effect of the present invention.

In the first and second embodiments, the first
As a mechanism for connecting / disconnecting the second unit 2 to / from the unit 1, a known lever-type link mechanism or the like can be used, and a cylinder for driving the mechanism is of the type described above. It is not limited.

[0019]

The present invention has the following effects since it has the above-described configuration. (Effect of Claim 1) From the contents described in the column of action, it was possible to provide an automatic tool changing coupler in which the second unit can be smoothly separated from the first unit. (Effect of the invention according to claim 2) From the contents described in the column of action, the automatic tool that allows the second unit to be smoothly separated from the first unit and that does not reduce the connection force between the first unit and the second unit. A replacement coupler could be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an automatic tool changing coupler mounted on an arm of a robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a table for mounting a second unit of the automatic tool changing coupler.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first unit and a second unit in the automatic tool changing coupler.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the automatic tool changing coupler when a first unit and a second unit are in a separated state.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the automatic tool changing coupler when a first unit and a second unit are in a connected state.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an automatic tool changing coupler according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 CB Coil spring S Cylinder 1 First unit 2 Second unit 4 Eccentric rotation plate 7 Mounting table 60 Insert shaft 63 Insert hole

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tool-side second unit mounted on a mounting table at the time of separation, and a first unit attached to an output portion of a robot and having a cylinder and a locking member,
The locking device is moved by the extension and contraction of the output shaft of the cylinder provided on the first unit, and the first unit is formed by locking and releasing the moved locking device and the second unit portion. in automatic tool replacement coupler connection and disconnecting that form a second unit for the first-second Yu
An elastic body is placed on one of the opposing parts of the knit.
When the first and second units are connected
Elasticity of elastic body deformed by compression elasticity by both units
A separating force acts between the first and second units due to the return force
A coupler for automatic tool change, characterized in that: 2. A tool-side second unit mounted on a mounting table at the time of separation, and a first unit attached to an output portion of the robot and having a cylinder and a locking member,
The locking device is moved by the extension and contraction of the output shaft of the cylinder provided on the first unit, and the first unit is formed by locking and releasing the moved locking device and the second unit portion. in automatic tool replacement coupler connection and disconnecting that form a second unit for the first-second Yu
Provide an insertion part in one of the knits and
Insertion when the first and second units are connected to each other
Provide an insertion hole where the part is inserted in the outer peripheral airtight state,
An air circuit for supplying air into the insertion hole is provided,
When separating the first and second unit from each other, is it an air circuit?
From the first and second units.
An automatic tool changing coupler characterized in that a separating force is applied between the couplers.