JP3483862B2 - Robot cable handling structure - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cable processing structure for a robot, and more particularly, to a cable processing structure for a motor power supply cable attached to the robot which is easy to maintain and manage. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a cable for supplying power to a motor for driving an arm of the robot mechanism is built in the robot mechanism. This cable requires regular maintenance work such as inspection and replacement. However, this maintenance work often imposes a heavy burden on the user, and there is a strong demand for improvement. There is also a demand to reduce the range of movement of the cable (interference area) along with the movement of the robot so that peripheral devices can be installed near the robot.

FIG. 5 shows an outline of a conventional cable processing structure generally used in a front view (a) and a side view (b) viewed from the right side in FIG. 5 (a). It was As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the main body mechanism portion of the robot to which the cable is attached is indicated by reference numeral RB as a whole, and the main body base 1 and the main body base 1 via the turning drive unit 2 are designated. The swivel body 3 fixed above and the first arm A fixed to the side of the swivel body 3 via the rotary drive unit 5.
1 and a second arm A2 fixed to the side of the first arm via a rotary drive unit 6.

In the conventional cable processing structure, the cable C (solid line and broken line) is passed through the hole in the lower part of the swivel body 3 to the side of the first arm A1 and from the upper part of the first arm A1 in the mechanism RB. Housing 4 for holding the second arm A2
Was passed through the second arm A2 through the hole at the top of the.

As described above, conventionally, the cable C has the mechanical section R.
Since the swivel body 3 and its housing 4 have been passed through the holes in B, the work of removing the cable at the time of regular inspection work or replacement work of the cable C and then installing the cable (another cable at the time of replacement) I couldn't do it easily. That is, the cable C had to be pulled out through those holes when it was removed, and the cable had to be passed through these holes again when it was attached. Further, regarding the fixing of the cable C, it is necessary to fix the cable C to the clamp member after passing through the hole.

It was not easy to perform such work in a narrow work space on site. In particular, in order to secure a space for passing the cable C through the hole, there is a problem that the swivel barrel 3 and the housing 4 project laterally and the interference radius during operation of the robot becomes large. Above all, the swivel body 3 side is close to the robot installation surface, which is a major cause that peripheral devices cannot be placed near the robot.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, to easily perform cable maintenance work in an intercultural work space, and to provide an interference range during robot operation. It is also to provide an improved robot cable handling structure that is reducible.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a base portion of a robot mechanism portion, and a swing cylinder attached to the base portion so as to be rotatable about a first axis perpendicular to an installation surface of the robot mechanism portion. A first arm rotatably mounted to the swivel body about a second axis perpendicular to the first axis, and rotatably about a third axis parallel to the second axis. The cable processing structure applied to the robot having the second arm coupled to the first arm has the following improvements to solve the above problems.

That is, first, in the invention described in claim 1, the cable of the robot mechanism section passes through the inside of the revolving cylinder from the base section to the outside through the hole provided in the upper part of the revolving cylinder. It is guided, further bent rearward, fixed on the revolving cylinder behind the revolving center of the revolving body, and given a margin of a length necessary for the operation of the first arm from the fixed position. It is guided to the lower side surface of the first arm and is guided along the longitudinal direction of the first arm.

Here, the cable may be guided along the longitudinal direction of the first arm and then further guided to the rear upper surface of the second arm (the invention according to claim 2). .

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, the cable is provided at least at a rear portion from a center of rotation on the swing cylinder, a lower side surface and an upper side surface of the first arm, and a rear upper surface of the second arm, respectively. It is preferably fixed. Further, as described in claim 4, it is preferable that the cable is provided at the center of rotation of the swivel barrel and guided to the outside through a hole.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the cable processing structure includes a cable unit that bundles the cables together in advance at a predetermined position by four or more clamping means, and the clamping means of the cable unit is the above-mentioned. More preferably, they are fixed to the upper rear portion of the swivel body, the lower side surface and the upper side surface of the first arm, and the rear upper surface of the second arm, respectively.

According to the present invention, it is not necessary to carry out the cable fixing work (clamping) while passing the cable through the robot mechanism portion in a narrow work space, and the cable clamping work can be performed at a place distant from the robot. In addition, by using the cable made into a kit, the cable can be exchanged by simply mounting it from above, and the interference range can be reduced when the robot operates.

That is, in the present invention, in the robot mechanism, the cable is routed from the notch in the rear portion of the swivel barrel (usually having a substantially L-shape) to a substantially U-shaped route without passing through a hole. One arm is passed beside. Regarding the cable tension route from there, from the notch in the rear part of the housing that holds the second arm, which is substantially L-shaped, from the upper part of the first arm, without passing through the hole, the second arm is routed approximately U Passed through.

If the cables are fixed at least at the notches of the swivel body, the upper and lower parts of the first arm, and the notches of the housing, the cables are stably attached to the robot. It is also possible to install the cable by mounting the kit with the clamp for holding the cable on the arm from above, which makes it easier to replace the cable on site.

Further, since the cable coming out of the first arm can be routed so as to wrap around backward rather than downward, it is necessary to provide a bulge for passing the cable beside the swivel barrel and the first arm for cable treatment. Is eliminated, and the interference radius during robot operation can be suppressed to a small value.
Further, even when the cable in the mechanism section passes through the center of rotation of the swivel barrel, the cable clamp can be made small so that it can pass through the hollow portion of the swivel barrel, which facilitates work in the robot body base when replacing the cable. Is promoted.

[0017]

1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a robot to which a cable processing structure according to the present invention is applied. Referring to the figure, the main body mechanism portion of the robot is entirely designated by reference numeral RB, and includes a main body base 11, a swing cylinder 13 fixed on the main body base 11 via a swing drive unit 12, and another rotation drive. A first arm A1 fixed to the side of the revolving barrel 13 via a unit (not shown), and a first arm A1 via another rotary drive unit (not shown).
And a second arm A2 fixed to the side of the.

Here, the revolving cylinder 13 is attached to the base 11 so as to be revolvable around a first axis S1 which is perpendicular to the installation surface 10. Further, the first arm A1 is attached to the swivel barrel 13 so as to be rotatable about a second axis S2 which is perpendicular to the first axis S1, and the second arm A2 is parallel to the second axis S2. The first arm A1 is rotatable around the third axis S3.
Are combined.

Each axis of the swing cylinder 13, the first arm A1, the second arm A2, etc. (a wrist axis, etc.) is driven by a servomotor mounted at a predetermined portion of the mechanism section RB. The servomotors are controlled by a robot controller RC, and the robot controller RC connects a control cable C to the motor of each axis. In an industrial robot, this cable C is usually connected to the robot arm A1,
The cable C is prevented from being swung around in a wide range due to the robot operation around the vicinity of A2, and the interference with the peripheral equipment of the robot main body mechanism section RB is avoided.

The method of taking the route of the cable C at that time is called routing. In the present embodiment, the routing shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B is adopted for the robot shown in FIG. Here, FIG. 2A is a front view and FIG. 2B is a right side view. The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are used for the corresponding elements in the figure.

As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the route of the cable C connected to the control device CR (see FIG. 1) is
In the state after the mounting is completed, the base portion 11 enters the mechanism portion through the side withdrawal hole, and the cavity inside the base portion 11 (not shown), the cavity inside the swing drive unit 12 (not shown), and the swing body 13 are shown. Through a cavity (not shown) provided coaxially with the center of rotation of the rotating body of FIG.

This hole is provided in the upper portion of the swivel body 13 having a substantially L shape. The route of the cable C that has come out from the same hole should be passed through the hole through the rear part of the swivel body 13 (behind the swivel center of the swivel body 13 when viewed from the front; the mounting location of the clamp 21 described later). No, first on the route of U U
It is passed beside the arm A1. In the example described later, a cavity is provided that penetrates the base 11 and the swivel drive unit 12 coaxially with the swivel axis, and the cable C is pulled out to the position of the clamp 21 directly from the upper opening (FIG. 4).
And related explanations).

The route of the cable C is along the first arm A1 (via the mounting point of the clamp 22 which will be described later).
From the upper part of the arm A1 (via the mounting point of the clamp 23 described later) to the notch (the mounting point of the clamp 24 described later) in the rear part of the substantially L-shaped housing 17 that holds the second arm. Then, from there, the second arm A
It has been passed through 2.

Here, the cable C has at least four positions, that is, the cutout portion of the revolving barrel 13 (the mounting portion of the clamp 21), the lower portion of the first arm A1 (the mounting portion of the clamp 22) and the upper portion (of the clamp 23). It is fixed at the attachment point) and the notch portion of the housing 17 (the attachment point of the clamp 24).

The clamps 21 to 24 are connected to the cable C.
Can be attached to and detached from each of the above-mentioned attachment points in a state of being engaged with (attaching each of the clamps 21 to 24 to the cable C). Therefore, the work at the time of exchanging the old and new cables C becomes simple as follows, for example.

(1) Connection part (connector) with each motor,
Separate each connection (connector) from the robot controller.

(2) The old cable C is removed from the mechanical portion (pulled out through the internal cavity of the base 11, the rotary drive unit 12, the swivel body 13, etc.).

(3) Remove the old cable C from each of the clamps 21-24. This work can be performed in a place away from the robot with a margin.

(4) Remove the clamps 21 to 24 from the mechanical section.

(5) Attach the new cable C to each clamp 21-2.
4 to form one kit. This work can be performed in a place away from the robot with a margin.

(6) The kit is placed on each of the arms A1 and A2 from above so as to cover it from above the mechanism section.

(7) Robot controller R for new cable C
The C-side end is the swing cylinder 13, the rotary drive unit 12, the base 1
1 through each internal cavity etc.

(8) The clamps 21 to 24 are attached to the above-mentioned various places of the mechanical section.

(9) Connection part (connector) with each motor,
Connection of the connector (connector) with the robot controller.

In this way, the cable replacement work can be minimized. Further, since the cable C coming out of the first arm A1 is routed so as to wrap around to the rear side instead of the lower side, the swivel body 13 is processed for cable treatment.
Also, it is not necessary to provide a protrusion for passing the cable C beside the first arm A1. As a result, it is possible to reduce the interference radius during the robot operation.

Further, the structure of the swivel cylinder 13 can be simplified, and it is not necessary to provide a hole in an important portion for strength.
Manufacturing cost is also reduced.

Further, the operating range of the first arm A1 is generally wide in the front (front side) and narrow in the rear (back side) in order to improve the usability of the robot. Swivel body 1
Passing the cable C through the rear upper surface of the
In order to secure the above-mentioned operation range in No. 1, the position is optimum also in order to avoid interference between the cable C and the first arm A1.

It should be noted that the cable C is attached to the swivel barrel 13 in the machine section.
When passing through the center of rotation of the
The cable exchange work can be made more efficient by reducing the size so as to pass through the hollow diameter of 3 and the drawing hole and the drawing hole of the base 11. For example, the above-mentioned work procedure can be changed to the following (21).

(21) Disconnection of the connection part (connector) with each motor and the connection part (connector) with the robot controller.

(22) Remove the clamps 21 to 24 from the mechanical section.

(23) The old cable C is clamped 21 to 2
With 4 attached, it is removed from the mechanical section (pulled out through the internal cavity of the base 11, the rotary drive unit 12, the swivel body 13, etc.).

(24) Remove the clamps 21 to 24 from the old cable C. This work can be performed in a place away from the robot with a margin.

(25) Connect the new cable C to each clamp 21-
Engage with 24 to form one kit. This work can also be performed with a margin in a place away from the robot.

(26) The kit is placed on the arms A1 and A2 from above so as to cover it from above the mechanism.

(27) The end of the new cable C (with clamp) on the robot controller RC side is pulled out through the internal cavities of the swivel barrel 13, the rotary drive unit 12, the base 11 and the like.

(28) The clamps 21 to 24 are attached to the above-mentioned various places of the mechanical section.

(29) Connection of a connection part (connector) with each motor and a connection part (connector) with a robot controller.

FIG. 3 shows details of the clamp portion of the cable C. The explanation of (a) to (f) is as follows. Each cable clamp section is provided with a clamp means for holding the cable C, and the clamp is fixed to a member for fixing the clamp.

First, FIGS. 3B and 3C are a front view and a right side view of the clamps 23 and 24 shown in FIG. The upper half of FIG. 3A shows the clamp 23 as viewed from the top and the clamp 24 as viewed from the side. The lower half of the drawing shows the clamp 23 as viewed from the side and the clamp 24 as viewed from the bottom.

In this example, the cable C is composed of six cable elements, and the clamp body B for bundling them is fixed to the stopper D.
It is designed to be screwed to a predetermined position on the mechanism part by using.

On the other hand, FIGS. 3 (e) and 3 (f) are a front view and a right side view of the clamps 21 and 22 shown in FIG. The upper half of FIG. 3D shows the clamp 21 as viewed from the top and the clamp 22 as viewed from the bottom. The lower half of the drawing shows the clamp 21 as viewed from the bottom and the clamp 22 as viewed from the top.

The cable C is composed of six cable elements, and the clamp body B for bundling them is screwed to a predetermined position on the mechanism portion by using the fastener D.

Next, 4 is 1 of cable processing centering on the turning axis.
The figure which showed the example, (a) is a front view, (b) is a right side view,
(C) is a partial top view of the cavity seen from above. As can be seen from these figures, the cable C enters the cavity 30 from the lead-in portion 25 including the clamp 20 on the side of the base 11.

The cable C further reaches the clamp 19 through the center of rotation of the turning shaft. Thus, the upper and lower ends of the cable C in the cavity 30 are fixed by the clamps 19 and 20. The member for fixing the cable C is designed so as to pass through this hollow diameter, and even when replacing the cable, the operator only has to fix the upper gun member to the main body base in the main body Can be completed. Since the clamp 19 and the clamp 21 are close to each other, they may be replaced with a single clamp that can be used for both.

[0055]

According to the present invention, when a cable is exchanged, the cable and the clamp for holding the cable are mounted on the arm from above so that the cable can be mounted by simply dropping the kit. Become. Further, since the routing is such that the cable goes out from the first arm and wraps around to the rear of the cable, the interference radius during robot operation can be suppressed to a small value.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a robot to which a cable processing structure according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view (a) and a right side view (b) showing an outline of routing of a cable used in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a view showing the clamps 23 and 24 seen from the top surface side and the bottom surface side, and FIGS.
FIG. 3 is an extracted front view and right side view around the clamps 23 and 24 shown in FIG. 2. Also, (d) is the clamp 21,
22A and 22B are views showing a top surface side and a bottom surface side of the clamp 22, and FIGS.
FIG. 22 is a front view and a right side view of the area around 22 extracted.

4A and 4B are views showing an example of a cable treatment centering on a turning axis, in which FIG. 4A is a front view, FIG. 4B is a right side view, and FIG. 4C is a partial top view of the cavity seen from above. .

FIG. 5 is a front view (a) and a right side view (b) showing an outline of a conventional cable processing structure that has been generally used.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 11 base (main body base) 2, 12 swivel drive unit 3, 13 swivel body 4,17 housing 5,6,15,16 rotary drive unit 20-24 clamps 30 cavities A1 first arm A2 second arm B clamp body C cable D stopper Main unit of RB robot

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-3-281190 (JP, A) JP-A-8-141974 (JP, A) JP-A-10-34588 (JP, A) JP-A-10- 175188 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B25J 1/00-21/02

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A base part of a robot mechanism part, a swing cylinder mounted on the base part so as to be rotatable about a first axis perpendicular to an installation surface of the robot mechanism part, and a swivel body perpendicular to the first axis. the first arm and the rotatable first arm at a third axis about parallel to the second axis and rotatably said Installing <br/> preparative against rotating body about a second axis The second bound to
In a cable processing structure for a robot provided with an arm, the cable of the robot mechanism section passes through the inside of the swing cylinder from the base section, is guided to the outside through a hole provided in the upper section of the swing cylinder, and is further bent backward. And is fixed on the swivel cylinder rearward of the swivel center of the swivel cylinder, and a margin of a length required for the operation of the first arm is given from the fixed position to a lower side surface of the first arm. And a cable treatment structure for a robot, which is guided along the longitudinal direction of the first arm. 2. The cable for a robot according to claim 1, wherein the cable is guided along a longitudinal direction of the first arm and then further guided to a rear upper surface of the second arm. Processing structure. 3. The cable is fixed to at least a rear portion of a center of rotation on the swivel body, a lower side surface and an upper side surface of the first arm, and a rear upper surface of the second arm, respectively. The cable processing structure for a robot according to claim 1. 4. The cable for a robot according to claim 1 , wherein the cable is provided at a center of rotation of the swivel body and is guided to the outside through a hole. Processing structure. 5. A cable unit that bundles the cables together at a predetermined position by four or more clamping means in advance, wherein the clamping means of the cable unit is a rear portion of an upper surface of the revolving barrel and a lower side surface of the first arm. and characterized in that each fixed upper side and at the rear upper surface of the second arm, according to claim 1 to claim 4
The cable handling structure for a robot according to any one of 1 .