JP5277701B2 - Welding equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a welding apparatus that surely prevents the position of a welding torch from being deviated by a force from a brandished power cable and that facilitates adjustment of inclination, vertical position, and rotary position relative to the body part. <P>SOLUTION: When a welding torch 10 is mounted to a robot arm 2 through a connecting member 20, the connecting member 20 is configured to have a holder member 21 for holding the welding torch 10, a bracket member 22 to be attached to the robot arm 2, an electric insulation member 23 to be installed between the holder member 21 and the bracket member 22, and a slide base member 24 for holding the electric insulation member 23, wherein the holder member 21, electric insulation member 23, slide base member 24, and bracket member 22 are connected to each other by a projecting and recessing engagement part 25 composed of a groove M and a protrusion T. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a welding apparatus for attaching a welding torch to a robot arm or an automatic welding machine via a connecting member.

  In a welding apparatus such as an automatic welding robot or an automatic welding machine, a welding torch is connected to an attachable part (hereinafter referred to as a main body part) such as an arm or a stay of a robot or an automatic welding machine via a connecting member. The workpiece is welded to the workpiece while moving along the movement locus previously taught by the control unit.

  Welding torches are also called welding guns or welding nozzles, but if they are curved, accurate welding is not possible unless the front and rear positions and bending directions are the same as before the replacement when the welding torch is replaced or reset. .

  Therefore, for example, in the following Patent Document 1, a protrusion is provided on the front side of the cylindrical gripping portion provided on the upper part of the welding torch, and the connection between the protrusion and the rear end of the welding torch is set as a slide fit. By adjusting the front-rear position and the outer peripheral screw tightening structure, the bending direction can be easily adjusted. In this way, although the positional relationship between the welding torch and the power cable or gripping part connected to the top end of the welding torch becomes good, the mounting relationship with the main body portion is not considered.

  In particular, since the welding torch is a part where the welding operation is actually performed while melting the welding wire, whether or not the welding is properly performed is important, but the shape of the welding torch is taught in advance by the control unit of the main body part. Therefore, the positional relationship with the main body portion is important. Actually, in order to set the welding torch, it is necessary to set it accurately using a gauge with a predetermined position of the main body portion as a base point, and to increase the accuracy of the tip mounting position.

  However, generally, a so-called C-shaped clamp member is used as a connecting member for connecting the welding torch and the main body portion, and the base end portion (upper part) of the welding torch is gripped by combining the two C-shaped clamp members. A bolt provided at the end of the C-shaped clamp member is tightened, that is, an outer periphery tightening structure.

  For this reason, even if it is possible to adjust the front-rear position and the bending direction as described above, it is an extremely troublesome adjustment work if accurate positioning is attempted in relation to the main body portion. If the ends of the two C-shaped clamp members are bolted, the position and direction of the internal welding torch are regulated by the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the C-shaped clamp member, and the vertical position of the welding torch Even if the rotation position is set to a predetermined position, a position shift occurs at the time of tightening, and it is difficult to align at the time of adjustment, and it is difficult to make a procedure.

Moreover, since the welding torch is also swung around the power cable as the welding operation moves, if the force from the power cable is transmitted to the welding torch, in the case of the outer periphery tightening structure, the inside of the connecting member The welding torch may cause misalignment.
JP-A-8-229688 (see abstract, FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, etc.)

  The present invention has been made to solve the problems associated with the prior art described above, and reliably prevents misalignment of the welding torch due to the force from the swung power cable. An object of the present invention is to provide a welding torch capable of easily adjusting a moving position.

A welding apparatus according to the present invention that achieves such an object is a welding apparatus that attaches a welding torch to which a cable is connected to a main body portion of a robot arm or an automatic welding machine via a connecting member, and the connecting member includes: A holder member that holds the welding torch, a bracket member that is attached to the main body portion, an electrical insulating member that is provided between the holder member and the bracket member, and a slide base member that holds the electrical insulating member. The holder member , the electrical insulating member, the slide base member, and the bracket member are connected to each other by a concave / convex fitting portion including a groove portion and a protruding portion, and the concave / convex fitting portion extends along the base axis of the welding torch. It is configured by a groove and a protrusion extending in the direction, and is slidable in the direction.

  According to the present invention, a holder member that holds a welding torch, a bracket member that is attached to a main body portion, an electrical insulating member that is provided between the holder member and the bracket member, and a slide that holds the electrical insulating member Since the recesses and protrusions between the base member and the base member are connected to each other by the concave / convex fitting portion, even if a force is applied from the power cable connected to the top of the welding torch, the concave / convex fitting portion faces this force, It is possible to prevent the bolts provided at various places from loosening and to prevent the displacement of the welding torch.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 is a schematic side view showing a robot welding torch according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the connecting member.

  In FIG. 1, a welding torch 10 is attached to a lower end of a tip arm (main body portion) 2 provided in the robot 1 via a connecting member 20.

  The distal arm 2 has an inverted L shape, and the proximal end thereof is attached to a rod 4 provided on the wrist 3 of the robot 1 by a C-shaped clamp member 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the C-shaped clamp member 5 has two plate members 5a having a C-shaped cross section provided at the end of the tip arm 2, sandwiching the rod 4 by the plate member 5a, and by bolts B5. It is fastened and fixed. In FIG. 1, what is suspended from the C-shaped clamp member 5 is a gauge G for positioning the tip position of the welding torch 10.

  The welding torch 10 is a copper alloy pipe that is curved in a “<” shape by a pipe bender, and the upper end of this pipe is a holding part / feeding part (hereinafter referred to as a holding part 11) held by a connecting member 20. Abbreviation) and a rotation adjusting mechanism K. The rotation adjusting mechanism K is composed of a C-shaped ring member K1 and a bolt B5, and attaches the upper end of the welding torch 10 that is a pipe to the holding part 11 by tightening the outer periphery. After adjusting the position, the position can be fixed.

  The front end portion of the power cable 13 is screwed into the screw portion 12 formed at the upper end of the holding portion 11. A welding wire W is inserted through the power cable 13 and extended, and the welding wire W is pushed out by a welding torch 10 that moves along a movement trajectory previously taught in a control unit S provided on the robot 1 side. While being melted by electrical energy, the workpiece (not shown) is welded.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the connecting member 20 includes a holder member 21 that holds the holding portion 11 of the welding torch 10, a bracket member 22 that is attached to the distal arm 2, and a space between the holder member 21 and the bracket member 22. And the slide base member 24 that holds the electrical insulation member 23.

  In particular, in this embodiment, the groove member M and the protrusion T that extend the holder member 21, the bracket member 22, the electrical insulating member 23, and the slide base member 24 in the vertical direction, that is, in the direction along the base axis of the welding torch 10. Are connected by an uneven fitting portion 25 (see FIG. 4).

  If the members are connected to each other by the groove M and the protrusion T, when the welding torch 10 moves along the teaching movement trajectory, the force generated by the power cable 13 connected to the welding torch being swung. Can be prevented from being transmitted to the welding torch 10 and the adjustment of the mounting position of the welding torch 10 with respect to the tip arm 2 is facilitated.

  Further details will be described. The holder member 21, the bracket member 22, the electrical insulating member 23, and the slide base member 24 are configured as shown in FIG. First, the holder member 21 has a T-shaped head portion 21a and a flat portion 21b in a plan view. The head portion 21a is provided with a through hole 21c through which the power cable 13 is inserted, and the flat portion 21b. Are formed with a protrusion T1 extending in the vertical direction and a bolt hole O1 through which the four bolts B1 are inserted.

  The electrical insulating member 23 is a plate material made entirely of an electrical insulating material such as a synthetic resin or a rubber material. On the holder member 21 side, a groove portion M2 into which the protrusion T1 of the holder member 21 is fitted is formed. On the opposite surface, a protrusion T2 is formed, and both are formed so as to extend in the vertical direction. In addition, the electrical insulating member 23 is also formed with a screw hole O2 into which the bolt B1 is screwed and a screw hole O3 into which the bolt B2 is screwed in a symmetrical position with respect to the protrusion T2. In addition, the screw hole O2 is provided with a helicate 26 so that the bolt B1 and the tip of a later-described bolt B3 are screwed together.

  The slide base member 24 is a plate material that is slightly thinner than the electrical insulating member 23. On the side of the electrical insulating member, there is a groove M3 that fits with the protruding portion T2 of the electrical insulating member 23, and on the opposite surface, the protruding portion T3. Are formed so as to extend in the vertical direction, and a bolt hole O4 through which the bolt B2 is inserted and a through hole O5 through which the bolt B3 is inserted are also formed.

  The bracket member 22 is provided with a groove portion M4 that fits with the protrusion T3 of the slide base member on the slide base member 24 side, an elongated hole O6 through which the bolt B3 is inserted, and a bolt B3 screwed. Even when the bracket member 22 is screwed into the hole O3, the vertical position can be adjusted. After the vertical position is adjusted, the bracket member 22 can be fastened and fixed to the electrical insulating member 23 and the slide base member 24. Further, a screw hole O7 into which a bolt B4 connected to the tip arm 2 is screwed is formed on the side portion of the bracket member 22, and a pin hole into which a pin 27 is driven is inserted between the screw holes O6. O8 is also formed.

  If the bracket member 22 and the tip arm 2 are connected using the pin 27 in this manner, the bracket member 22 can be rotated around one point of the pin 27 with respect to the tip arm 2 and connected to the bracket member 22. The tilt adjustment mechanism A (see FIG. 1) that can adjust the tilt angle θ (see FIG. 1) of the welding torch 10 with respect to the main body portion that is the tip arm 2 is configured. In order to easily adjust the tilt angle θ, the through hole O9 (see FIG. 4) provided in the distal arm 2 may be a long hole or a diameter larger than the diameter of the bolt B4.

  Next, the operation will be described.

  First, the tip arm 2 of the robot 1 is stopped at a predetermined teaching position so that the position corresponds to the gauge G.

  Next, the projecting portion T2 of the electrical insulating member 23 is fitted into the groove portion M3 of the slide base member 24, the two members are connected by the bolt B2, and the bracket member 22 of the connecting member 20 is connected to the tip of the tip arm 2 by the bolt B3. Is temporarily fixed to the electrical insulating member 23 and driven into the through hole O8 of the pin 27. As a result, the bracket member 22 becomes rotatable about the pin 27 with respect to the distal arm 2.

  Further, the projection T3 of the slide base member 24 is fitted into the groove M4 of the bracket member 22, and the projection T1 of the holder member 21 is fitted into the groove M2 of the electrical insulating member 23, and welded to the through hole 21c of the holder member 21. The holding part 11 of the torch 10 is inserted. Thereby, all the members which comprise the connection member 20 will be in the connected state.

  Then, the base end portion of the welding torch 10 is temporarily connected to the holding portion 11 of the welding torch 10 via the rotation adjusting mechanism K.

  In this state, the gauge G is attached to the proximal end of the distal arm 2, and the distal end of the welding torch 10 temporarily fixed to the concave portion of the gauge G is brought into contact. As a result, the welding torch 10 is. The tip position becomes a normal position, and the inclined state is also determined.

  Holding this state, the electrical insulating member 23, the slide base member 24 and the holder member 21 are slid up and down using the protrusion T and the groove M with respect to the bracket member 22 of the connecting member 20, and the bolt B3 When the bolt B <b> 1 is temporarily fixed to the helicate 25 of the electrical insulating member 23, the welding torch 10 is temporarily fixed to the tip arm 2 through the connecting member 20.

  On the other hand, while the welding torch 10 is held by the gauge G, the base end of the welding torch 10 rotates about the axis with respect to the holding portion 11 and is adjusted by sliding the holding portion 11 up and down. The welding torch 10 is adjusted when the welding torch 10 is adjusted to a predetermined vertical position or angular position and the bolt B5 of the rotation adjusting mechanism K, the bolt B1 of the holder member 21, and the bolt B1 of the bracket member 22 are tightened. Is fixedly connected to the holder member 21. After this connection, a pin 28 (see FIG. 1) is driven into the head 21a of the holder member 21 to fix the position of the holder member 21 and the power cable 13.

  When the attachment of the welding torch 10 is completed in this way, the power cable 13 for supplying power is connected to the top of the welding torch 10 and the welding wire W is inserted through the power cable 13 to operate the robot 1. .

  During operation of the robot 1, the welding torch 10 moves along a predetermined movement trajectory taught, but the power cable 13 connected to the top of the welding torch 10 is swung along with the movement, and the force is connected to the connecting member. However, the concave / convex fitting portion 25 is opposed to this force, so that the bolts B provided at various places are prevented from loosening, and the welding torch 10 does not cause misalignment. Therefore, the directionality in which the welding torch 10 approaches the workpiece, the welding angle with the workpiece, and the like are appropriately set, and welding can be performed with high accuracy.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the connecting member includes a holder member, an electrical insulating member, a slide base member, and a bracket member that are fitted to each other at the concave-convex fitting portion and connected by bolts. The connection by means such as so-called patching stop may be used without using.

  According to the present invention, a welding torch can be easily and quickly attached to a robot arm or an automatic welding machine via a connecting member, and displacement of the welding torch due to a force from a power cable can be reliably prevented.

It is a schematic side view which shows the robot welding torch which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which follows the 2-2 line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the 3-3 line of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of a connection member.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Robot,
2 ... arm,
10 ... welding torch,
11 ... holding part,
13 ... Power cable,
20 ... connecting member,
21 ... Holder member,
22 ... Bracket member,
23. Electrical insulating member,
24 ... slide base member,
25: Concavity and convexity fitting part,
A ... tilt adjustment mechanism,
K ... rotation adjustment mechanism,
M (M1, M2, M3, M4) ... groove,
T (T1, T2, T3) ... projection,
O ... Bolt hole,
θ: tilt angle.

Claims (5)

A welding device for attaching a welding torch to which a cable is connected via a main body portion and a connecting member of a robot arm or an automatic welding machine,
The connecting member holds a holder member that holds the welding torch, a bracket member that is attached to the main body portion, an electrical insulating member that is provided between the holder member and the bracket member, and holds the electrical insulating member. A slide base member ,
The holder member , the electrical insulating member, the slide base member, and the bracket member are connected to each other by a concave / convex fitting portion including a groove portion and a protrusion portion,
The uneven fitting portion is constituted by a groove portion and a protrusion extending in a direction along the base axis of the welding torch, and is slidable in the direction.   2. The bracket member according to claim 1, wherein the bracket member is connected to the main body portion by a tilt adjustment mechanism that rotates around one point of the main body portion and adjusts a tilt angle of the welding torch with respect to the main body portion. The welding apparatus as described.   3. The welding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bracket member has a bolt hole as a long hole through which the bracket member is inserted so that the position of the bracket member can be adjusted with respect to the slide base member. .   The welding torch holding portion held by the connecting member and the welding torch are connected by a rotation adjusting mechanism that allows the rotation position at which the welding torch rotates about the axis to be adjusted with respect to the holding portion. The welding apparatus according to claim 1.   The said uneven | corrugated fitting part, the said tilt adjustment mechanism, and the said rotation adjustment mechanism were comprised so that the position adjustment of the said welding torch with respect to the said main-body part could be performed independently. 4. The welding apparatus according to any one of 4.

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