JP6734023B2 - Article holder, conveyance robot, and article conveyance method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an article holder detachably attached to a robot hand, a transfer robot having a robot hand to which the article holder is attached, and an article transfer method using the transfer robot.

In recent years, a system for automating a production process by substituting a robot for various works conventionally performed by workers has been widely put into practical use (Patent Document 1).

For example, regarding the work of mounting a relatively heavy equipment at a predetermined position on the product being manufactured, conventionally, the equipment is hoisted and hoisted, and the worker moves it to a predetermined position to The equipment was fixed with bolts, etc., but there is a system that replaces the transportation work of this equipment with a robot.

In this type of system, there are various types of objects to be transported by the robot, and it may be difficult for one type of robot hand to handle a plurality of types of objects to be transported. In such a case, a tool changer is used as a mechanism for automatically attaching a dedicated robot hand corresponding to the object to be transferred to the tip of the robot arm (Patent Document 2).

JP, 2013-193155, A JP, 2013-94892, A

However, in the method of appropriately exchanging a plurality of types of dedicated hands using a tool changer, the mechanism for driving the tool changer is complicated, and the tool changer itself is expensive, which increases equipment costs. Furthermore, there is a problem that it is difficult to make the robot cell compact because it is necessary to secure a place for storing a plurality of types of dedicated hands in the robot cell.

In particular, when the object to be transported is a large heavy object, the dedicated hand accordingly becomes heavier and larger, which further increases the cost and the size of the robot cell.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the conventional technique, and a plurality of types of objects to be transferred can be transferred by a robot without any trouble without using a complicated and expensive device such as a tool changer. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article holder that enables the above, a transfer robot having a robot hand to which the article holder is attached, and an article transfer method using the transfer robot.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention is an article holder that is detachably attached to a robot hand of a transfer robot for transferring an article, wherein a movable claw member of the robot hand is used. A holder main body that is releasably held, and a holder movable portion that is provided displaceably on the holder main body and that can switch between an article holding position for holding the article and an article release position for releasing the article. And a holding state maintaining means for maintaining the holder moving part in the article holding position in a state where the article holder is separated from the robot hand.

A second aspect of the present invention is configured such that, in the first aspect, the article holding position and the article releasing position of the holder moving part can be switched by the movable claw member of the robot hand. It is characterized by

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the holding state maintaining means elastically biases the holder movable portion toward the article holding position. It is characterized by having.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, when releasing the article from the article holder, the movable claw member of the robot hand resists the urging force of the urging means. It is configured to displace the holder moving part to the article releasing position.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is the movable claw member of the robot hand according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, in a state in which the article is held by the article holder separated from the robot hand. The holder movable portion is configured to be fixed to the article holding position by holding the holder main body by.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the holder main body portion is brought into contact with the article and cooperates with the holder movable portion to hold the article. It has a contact holding part.

A transport robot according to a seventh aspect of the present invention includes the article holder according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, and a robot hand to which the article holder is detachably attached. To do.

An eighth aspect of the present invention is, in the seventh aspect, a first holding mode for holding the holder main body portion by the movable claw member while maintaining the holding state of the article by the article holder, and the article. It is possible to switch between a second holding mode in which the movable claw member holds the holder main body while releasing the holding state of the article by the holder.

A ninth aspect of the present invention is an article transporting method for transporting an article using the transport robot according to the seventh or eighth aspect, wherein the holder main body portion of the article holder mounted on the article is A holder holding step of holding the movable hand of the robot hand by the movable claw member; an article conveying step of driving the conveyance robot to convey the article together with the article holder to a predetermined destination; A holding state releasing step of releasing the holding state of the article by the article holder by operating the holder moving part of the article holder with a movable claw member, and driving the transfer robot to cause the robot hand to move. A holder removing step of removing the mounted article holder from the article.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the holder movable portion is fixed to the article holding position by holding the holder main body by the movable claw member in the holder holding step. Is done.

An eleventh aspect of the present invention is the ninth or tenth aspect, wherein in the holding state releasing step, the holding claw main body is moved by the movable claw member while releasing the holding state of the article by the article holding tool. It is characterized by holding.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the article holder which can convey several types of conveyance objects by a robot, without using a complicated and expensive apparatus like a tool changer, and the said article holder are attached. It is possible to provide a transfer robot having the robot hand described above, and an article transfer method using the transfer robot.

The side view which showed typically the conveyance robot by one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a robot hand of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1. 2B is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing the robot hand of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1, taken along line BB in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing an article holder attached to the robot hand of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3B is a front view schematically showing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A, showing a state in which the holder movable portion is in the article holding position. FIG. 3B is a side view schematically showing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A, showing a state in which the holder movable portion is in the article holding position. FIG. 3B is a front view schematically showing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A, showing a state in which the holder movable portion is in the article release position. FIG. 3B is a front view schematically showing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A, showing another state in which the holder movable section is at the article release position. FIG. 3B is a plan view schematically showing a state in which the article holder shown in FIG. 3A is attached to an article. The front view which showed typically the state which attached the article holder shown in FIG. 3A to the article. FIG. 3B is a plan view for explaining the operation when holding the article holder shown in FIG. 3A with a robot hand. The front view for demonstrating operation|movement at the time of holding the article holder shown in FIG. 3A with a robot hand. FIG. 3B is a plan view schematically showing a state where the robot holder holds the article holder shown in FIG. 3A. The front view which showed typically the state which hold|maintained the article holder shown in FIG. 3A with the robot hand. The top view for demonstrating operation|movement at the time of removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from an article. The front view for demonstrating operation|movement at the time of removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from an article. FIG. 3B is another plan view for explaining the operation when removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from the article. FIG. 3B is another front view for explaining the operation when removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from the article. FIG. 3B is another plan view for explaining the operation when removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from the article. FIG. 3B is another front view for explaining the operation when removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from the article. FIG. 3B is another front view for explaining the operation when removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from the article. FIG. 3B is another plan view for explaining the operation when removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from the article. FIG. 3B is another front view for explaining the operation when removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from the article. FIG. 3B is another front view for explaining the operation when removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from the article. FIG. 3B is another front view for explaining the operation when removing the article holder shown in FIG. 3A from the article. FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing another article holder that can be attached to the robot hand of the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1. 14B is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 14A. The CC line arrow view of FIG. 14A. FIG. 14B is a vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation when the article holder shown in FIG. 14A is attached to an article. FIG. 14C is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which the article holder shown in FIG. 14A is attached to an article. FIG. 14B is a vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation when the article holder shown in FIG. 14A is held by the robot hand. FIG. 14B is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing a state where the article holder shown in FIG. 14A is held by a robot hand. The top view which showed typically the state which hold|maintained the article holder shown in FIG. 14A with the robot hand. FIG. 14B is a vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation when the article holder illustrated in FIG. 14A is removed from the article. FIG. 14B is another vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation when the article holder shown in FIG. 14A is removed from the article. FIG. 14C is a vertical cross-sectional view that schematically shows the state in which the article holder shown in FIG. 14A has been removed from the article.

Hereinafter, a transfer robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, an article holder used together with the transfer robot, and an article transfer method using the transfer robot will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer robot 1 according to the present embodiment has an articulated robot arm 2, a robot hand 3 attached to the tip of the robot arm 2, a drive control of the robot arm 2 and the robot hand 3. And a robot controller 4 that operates. Although a 6-axis articulated robot is used in this example, the robot to which the present invention is applied is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to various robots.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the robot hand 3 has a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole, and three robot hands 3 are arranged on the tip end surface (the lower surface in FIG. 2B) equiangularly about the wrist axis L. It has a movable claw member 5. In this example, the number of movable claw members 5 installed is three, but the number may be two, or four or more.

Each movable claw member 5 is movable in the radial direction by a driving force from a power source such as a servo motor, and can perform a closing operation to approach the wrist axis L and an opening operation to move away from the wrist axis L. By causing the movable claw member 5 to perform the closing operation, the object can be held by the inner surface 5 a of the movable claw member 5. Further, when holding an annular object on its inner peripheral surface, the object can be held on the outer surface 5b of the movable claw member 5 by causing the movable claw member 5 to perform an opening operation.

As shown in FIG. 2B, on the inner surface 5a of the movable claw member 5, there is formed a holding recess 6 which is recessed radially outward, and the upper surface 6a of the holding recess 6 has a larger radial dimension than the lower surface 6b. It is set. It is possible to fit a convex portion (for example, a flange-shaped portion) of an object into the holding concave portion 6 of the movable claw member 5 and hold the object with the movable claw member 5.

As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the article holder 7 according to the present embodiment has a holder main body portion 8 and a holder movable portion 9 provided on the holder main body portion 8 so as to be displaceable.

The holder main body 8 has an inner cylindrical member 10 that is gripped by the closing operation of the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3, and a beam member 11 is provided on the lower surface of the inner cylindrical member 10. On the outer peripheral surface of the upper end of the inner cylindrical member 10, a brim-shaped projection 10a is formed which is fitted into the holding concave portion 6 of the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3.

L-shaped members 12 are provided on the lower surfaces of both ends of the beam member 11, respectively, and a contact holding member 13 that contacts the lower surface of the article (work) is provided on the upper end surface of the L-shaped member 12. It is provided.

The holder movable portion 9 has an outer cylindrical member 14 having a larger diameter and a shorter length than the inner cylindrical member 10, and a through hole 14 a through which the inner cylindrical member 10 is inserted is formed in the center of the outer cylindrical member 14. There is. The outer cylindrical member 14 can be displaced relative to the inner cylindrical member 10 in the central axis direction without interfering with the inner cylindrical member 10. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3C, three block members 15 are provided inside the outer cylindrical member 14 at equal angular intervals around the central axis thereof.

An elevating plate 16 having a width substantially the same as that of the beam member 11 and shorter than the beam member 11 is provided below the beam member 11, and the elevating plate 16 has an elevating plate support bolt 17 at its longitudinal center portion. The tip of the is screwed. The lift plate support bolt 17 is inserted with play into a through hole formed in the center of the inner cylindrical member 10. Guide rods 18 are provided upright on the upper surfaces of both ends of the elevating plate 16, and the guide rods 18 are supported by a tubular linear guide 19 provided on the beam member 11 so as to be vertically movable. ..

The guide rod 18 is provided with a helical compression spring (biasing means) 20, and the upper end of the compression spring 20 is brought into contact with a flange portion formed at the lower end of the linear guide 19 so that the lower end of the compression spring 20 is in contact. Is in contact with the upper surface of the lift plate 16. As shown in FIG. 3D, when the elevating plate 16 is raised against the biasing force of the compression spring 20, the outer cylindrical member 14 rises integrally with this.

Further, as the lifting plate support bolt 17 is tightened, the lifting plate 16 is pulled toward the inner cylindrical member 10 side as shown in FIG. 3E, so that the lifting plate 16 is maintained at the upper position (article release position). be able to.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a pair of horizontal connecting rods 21 extending in a direction orthogonal to the elevating plate 16 are provided at the longitudinal center of the elevating plate 16. The horizontal connecting rod 21 is connected to the lower surface of the outer cylindrical member 14 by the vertical connecting rod 22. One horizontal connecting rod 21 is supported by two vertical connecting rods 22 arranged on both sides with the beam member 11 interposed therebetween.

A pair of article restraining plates 23 are provided at the end of the horizontal connecting rod 21, and the pair of restraining plates 23 are arranged on both sides with the beam member 11 interposed therebetween. The article restraining plate 23 can be moved up and down relative to the holder main body 8 (the inner cylindrical member 10, the beam member 11, etc.) integrally with the outer cylindrical member 14. As a result, the article holding plate 23 can switch between the article holding position (lower position) for holding the article (work) and the article releasing position (upper position) for releasing the article (work).

The guide rod 18, the linear guide 19, and the compression spring 20 in the present embodiment move the holder movable portion to the article holding position in the holding state maintaining unit of the present invention, that is, in the state where the article holder is separated from the robot hand. A holding state maintaining means for maintaining is configured. If the article holding plate 23 can sufficiently hold the article due to gravity acting on the article holding plate 23 or the guide rod 18, the holding state maintaining means may be configured by omitting the compression spring 20.

Next, a method of transporting an article (work) using the transport robot 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, as a preparatory step, the worker mounts the article holder 7 on a work (article) W having a complicated shape, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. That is, the work W is held in a state where the lifting plate support bolt 17 is tightened to lift the article holding plate 23 against the biasing force of the compression spring 20 and the vertical space between the article holding plate 23 and the contact holding member 13 is widened. Insert in between. Then, the lifting plate support bolts 17 are loosened to release the article holding plate 23, and the article holding plate 23 is lowered by the urging force of the compression spring 20 and gravity, and the top surface of the work W is pressed by the article holding plate 23. As a result, the work W is sandwiched and held between the article holding plate 23 and the contact holding member 13.

Note that the article holder 7 in this example is intended to hold the work W having a shape in which the central portion of the upper portion is opened or the outer peripheral portion of the upper portion has only an edge. Alternatively, in order to hold down the outer shape portion, the article holding plates 23 are provided not on the lower side of the beam member 11 but on the both sides with the beam member 11 interposed therebetween. In the case of a work having a shape different from the above, for example, when the upper central portion is not open and can be directly pressed, one article pressing plate should be provided directly below the beam member. You can

After mounting the article holder 7 on the work W as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the robot controller 4 drives the robot arm 2 to move the robot hand 3 to the work W as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. Move directly above. At this time, the three movable claw members 5 of the robot hand 3 are located immediately above the three block members 15 provided on the outer cylindrical member 14 of the article holder 7, as shown in FIG. 5A. Further, the three movable claw members 5 are open.

From the state shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, until the inner upper surface 6a of the holding recess 6 of the movable claw member 5 abuts the upper surface of the inner cylindrical member 10 and the lower end of the movable claw member 5 abuts the upper surface of the block member 15. , The robot hand 3 is lowered and stopped there. From this state, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the three movable claw members 5 are caused to perform a closing operation, and the grip concave portions 6 of the movable claw members 5 are fitted into the brim-shaped projections 10 a of the inner cylindrical member 10. As a result, the article holder 7 is held by the robot hand 3 (holder holding step).

In this state, as shown in FIG. 6B, since the lower end of the movable claw member 5 is in contact with the upper surface of the block member 15, the outer cylindrical member 14 rises relative to the inner cylindrical member 10. Can not do it. Since the outer cylindrical member 14 is integrated with the article holding plate 23 and the inner cylindrical member 10 is integrated with the contact holding member 13, the work W is sandwiched between the article holding plate 23 and the contact holding member 13. The state held by is maintained.

Next, the robot controller 4 drives the robot arm 2 to convey the work W together with the article holder 7 to a predetermined destination (article conveying step). In the article conveying step, since the state in which the work W is sandwiched and held by the article holding plate 23 and the contact holding member 13 is maintained as described above, the work W may be detached and fall during the conveyance. There is no such thing.

After the work W is transported to a predetermined transport destination and placed, the robot controller 4 drives the robot hand 3 to cause the three movable claw members 5 to perform the opening operation as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. , Switch from the closed state to the open state. As a result, the holding state of the article holder 7 by the robot hand 3 is released.

Next, the robot hand 3 is driven by the robot controller 4 to rotate the robot hand 3 around the wrist axis L, and the movable claw member 5 is moved from the position directly above the block member 15 as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. Move it to a non-direct position. From this state, the movable claw member 5 is caused to perform a closing operation, and the inner cylindrical member 10 is again gripped by the movable claw member 5 as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B.

Then, the robot controller 4 drives the robot arm 2 to slightly lower the robot hand 3. At this time, as described above, since the movable claw member 5 is moved from the position directly above the block member 15 to the non-direct position, the block member 15 does not prevent the movable claw member 5 from descending.

When the robot hand 3 is slightly lowered while the inner cylindrical member 10 is held by the movable claw member 5, the work W is placed on a predetermined transfer destination and is immovable. Therefore, as shown in FIG. The beam member 11 and the contact holding member 13 descend together with the cylindrical member 10. As a result, the holding state in which the work W is sandwiched and held by the article holding plate 23 and the contact holding member 13 is released (holding state releasing step). In the holding state releasing step, the compression spring 20 further contracts as the beam member 11 descends.

From the state shown in FIG. 10, the robot hand 4 is driven by the robot controller 4 to cause the movable claw member to perform the opening operation as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, and the closed state is switched to the open state. As a result, the radially outer surface of the movable claw member 5 (the outer surface 5b in FIG. 2B) is pressed against the inner peripheral surface 14b of the outer cylindrical member 14. As a result, the outer cylindrical member 14 is held by the movable claw member 5.

In this state, the inner upper surface 6a of the holding concave portion 6 of the movable claw member 5 is kept in contact with the upper surface of the inner cylindrical member 10. That is, the upper surface of the inner cylindrical member 10 is pressed against the inner upper surface 6 a of the holding recess 6 of the movable claw member 5 by the urging force of the compression spring 20.

From the state shown in FIG. 11B, the robot controller 4 drives the robot arm 2 to slightly raise the robot arm 2. Then, since the outer cylindrical member 14 of the article holder 7 is held by the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3, the article holder 7 is slightly elevated together with the robot hand 3. As a result, the article holding plate 23 of the article holder 7 is separated from the upper surface of the work, and the work W and the article holder 7 are not in contact with each other as shown in FIG.

From the state shown in FIG. 12, the robot controller 4 drives the robot arm 2 to move the article holder 7 in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the beam member 11, and as shown in FIG. The article holder 7 is removed (holder removing step).

With the above operation, the work of carrying the work W using the carrying robot 1 and the article holder 7 according to the present embodiment is completed.

Next, another article holder that can be attached to the robot hand 3 of the transfer robot 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 14A to 14C, the article holder 30 includes a holder main body portion 31 and a holder movable portion 32 that is displaceably provided on the holder main body portion 31. The holder main body 31 has a cylindrical member 33 that is held by the opening operation of the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3, and a collar-shaped member 34 is provided on the lower surface of the cylindrical member 33.

The holder moving part 32 has three movable locking members 35 arranged at equal angular intervals around the central axis of the cylindrical member 33, and the movable locking member 35 is a collar-shaped member 34 of the holder body 31. It is supported by a linear guide mechanism 36 provided on the upper surface thereof so as to be movable in the radial direction. A projecting portion 35a extending inward in the radial direction is formed at the lower end of the movable locking member 35. A movable horizontal plate 37 is fixed to the radially inner upper end of the movable locking member 35.

Three rocking levers 38 are provided on the upper surface of the collar-shaped member 34 of the holder main body 31 so as to correspond to the respective movable locking members 35. It is fixed to a rotary shaft 39 extending in the vertical direction. As a result, the swing lever 38 can rotate integrally with the rotating shaft 39. The rotating shaft 39 is provided with a torsion spring 40, and the urging force of the torsion spring 40 urges the swing lever 38 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 14A.

The swing lever 38 is provided with an adjusting screw 41 at one end thereof, and an elongated hole 42 is formed on the opposite side of the adjusting screw 41 with the rotary shaft 39 interposed therebetween. A short support shaft 44 provided at the upper end of a movable vertical plate 43 fixed to the upper surface of the movable horizontal plate 37 is movably inserted through the long hole 42.

The movable locking member 35, the movable horizontal plate 37, and the movable vertical plate 43 move as a unit. When the movable vertical plate 43 moves in the radial direction, the edge of the elongated hole 42 of the swing lever 38 is pressed by the short support shaft 44 of the movable vertical plate 43, and the swing lever 38 swings.

As described above, since the swing lever 38 is biased by the torsion spring 40, the biasing force is transmitted to the movable vertical plate 43 and the movable horizontal plate 37 via the short support shaft 44, and the movable horizontal plate 37 is radiused. It is biased inward. As a result, the movable locking member 35 integrated with the movable horizontal plate 37 is also urged inward in the radial direction.

When the annular work (article) W shown in FIG. 15 is transported using the article holder 30 described above, first, as a preparatory step, the worker resists the biasing force of the torsion spring 40. The work W is positioned inside the movable locking member 35 with the movable locking member 35 being pushed outward in the radial direction. In this state, the movable locking member 35 is released, and the biasing force of the torsion spring 40 locks the movable locking member 35 to the work W as shown in FIG.

After the article holder 30 is attached to the work W as shown in FIG. 16, the robot controller 4 drives the robot arm 2 to move the robot hand 3 directly above the work W as shown in FIG. At this time, the three movable claw members 5 of the robot hand 3 are in the closed state.

The robot hand 3 is lowered from the state shown in FIG. 17 to position the movable claw member 5 inside the cylindrical member 33 of the holder main body 31. From this state, the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3 is caused to perform an opening operation, and as shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B, the radially outer surface of the movable claw member 5 (the outer surface 5b in FIG. 2B) is made into the cylindrical member 33. Press on the inner surface of. Thereby, the cylindrical member 33 of the holder main body 31 is held by the three movable claw members 5 (a holder holding step in the first holding mode).

As shown in FIG. 18B, the position where the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3 holds the cylindrical member 33 of the holder main body 31 in the holder holding step is as shown in FIG. 18B. It is a position where it abuts against the head of the adjusting screw 41 of the swing lever 38. That is, when the cylindrical member 33 of the holder body 31 is held by the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3, the radial outside end of the movable claw member 5 is attached to the head of the adjusting screw 41 of the swing lever 38 accordingly. Are abutted.

As a result, in FIG. 18B, the rotational movement of the rocking lever 38 in the counterclockwise direction is restricted, and thus the movement of the movable locking member 35 in the radial direction is restricted. That is, in the holder holding step, the holding state of the work W by the article holder 30 is maintained.

Next, the robot controller 4 drives the robot arm 2 to convey the work W together with the article holder 30 to a predetermined destination (article conveying step). In this article conveying step, since the workpiece holding state by the article holder 30 is maintained as described above, the workpiece W does not come off and fall during the conveyance.

When the work W is transported to a predetermined transport destination and placed, the robot controller 4 drives the robot hand 3 to cause the three movable claw members 5 to perform a closing operation, and the open state is switched to the closed state. As a result, the holding state of the article holder 30 by the robot hand 3 is released.

Next, the robot hand 3 is driven by the robot controller 4 to rotate the robot hand 3 around the wrist axis L, and the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3 is moved to the object holder 30 as shown in FIG. It is moved to a position corresponding to the movable locking member 35. From this state, the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3 is caused to perform an opening operation, and the movable vertical plate 43 is displaced radially outward by the radially outer end portion of the movable claw member 5, as shown in FIG. .. As a result, the movable locking member 35 is displaced outward in the radial direction, and the holding state of the work W is released.

At this time, the outer peripheral surface in the radial direction of the movable claw member 5 (the outer surface 5b in FIG. 2B) is pressed against the inner peripheral surface 33a of the cylindrical member 33 of the article holder 30, whereby the movable claw member 5 causes the article holder to move. 30 is held. That is, in this example, the movable holder 5 holds the article holder 30 while releasing the holding state of the work W by the article holder 30 (second holding mode).

From the state shown in FIG. 20, the robot controller 4 drives the robot arm 2 to raise the robot hand 3 as shown in FIG. 21, and removes the article holder 30 from the work W (holder removing step).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by simply preparing the article holders 7 and 30 according to the shape of the work W to be conveyed, common use is achieved without using a complicated and expensive device such as a tool changer. By using the robot hand 3 described above, a plurality of types of works W having different shapes can be transported.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, since the holding state of the work W by the article holders 7 and 30 is maintained by holding the article holders 7 and 30 by the robot hand 3, the work W is dropped during the transportation. Can be reliably prevented.

In the article holder 30 shown in FIGS. 14A to 14C, the operation of releasing the holding state of the work W by the article holder 30 by the movable claw member 5 of the robot hand 3 is performed by the movable claw member 5. Since this is also an operation of holding 30, the working process can be simplified and the working time can be shortened.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transport robot 2 Robot arm 3 Robot hand 4 Robot controller 5 Movable claw member 5a Movable claw member inner surface 5b Movable claw member outer surface 6 Movable claw member grip recess 6a Grip recess top 6b Grip recess bottom 7 Article holder 8 Holder main part 9 Holder movable part 10 Inner cylindrical member 10a Collar-shaped projection of inner cylindrical member 11 Beam member 12 L-shaped member 13 Contact holding member 14 Outer cylindrical member 14a Through hole of outer cylindrical member 14b Of outer cylindrical member Inner peripheral surface 15 Block member 16 Elevating plate 17 Elevating plate support bolt 18 Guide rod 19 Linear guide 20 Compression spring (biasing means)
21 horizontal connecting rod 22 vertical connecting rod 23 article retainer plate 30 article holder 31 holder body part 32 holder moving part 33 cylindrical member of holder body 33a inner peripheral surface of cylindrical member 34 brim member of holder body part 35 Movable Locking Member 35a Overhanging Part of Movable Locking Member 36 Linear Guide Mechanism 37 Movable Horizontal Plate 38 Swing Lever 39 Rotating Shaft of Swing Lever 40 Torsion Spring 41 Adjusting Screw 42 Long Hole 43 Movable Vertical Plate 44 Short Shaft L Wrist Axis W Work (article)

Claims (10)

An article holder which is detachably attached to a robot hand of a transfer robot for transferring an article,
A holder body portion releasably held by the movable claw member of the robot hand,
A holder movable portion which is displaceably provided on the holder main body and is capable of switching between an article holding position for holding the article and an article releasing position for releasing the article,
In a state in which the article holder is separated from the robot hand, a holding state maintaining unit for maintaining the holder moving part at the article holding position, and
An article holder configured such that the article holding position and the article releasing position of the holder moving unit can be switched by the movable claw member of the robot hand . The holding state maintaining means has a biasing means for resiliently biased towards said retainer movable unit to the article holding position, the article holder of claim 1, wherein. When releasing the article from the article holder, the movable claw member of the robot hand displaces the holder moving part to the article release position against the biasing force of the biasing means. The article holder according to claim 2 , which is configured. By holding the holder main body by the movable claw member of the robot hand in a state where the article is held by the article holder separated from the robot hand, the holder moving unit holds the article holding unit. The article holder according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , which is configured to be fixed in a position. The article according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the holder main body portion has an abutting/holding portion that is brought into contact with the article and cooperates with the holder moving portion to hold the article. Holding device. An article holder according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
A robot hand to which the article holder is detachably attached,
A transfer robot equipped with. A first holding mode in which the movable claw member holds the holder body while maintaining the holding state of the article by the article holder; and the movable claw while releasing the holding state of the article by the article holder. 7. The transfer robot according to claim 6 , wherein it is possible to switch between a second holding mode in which the holder main body is held by a member. An article transport method for transporting an article using the transport robot according to claim 6 or 7 ,
A holder holding step of holding the holder main body of the article holder attached to the article by the movable claw member of the robot hand;
An article transfer step of driving the transfer robot to transfer the article together with the article holder to a predetermined transfer destination,
A holding state releasing step of releasing the holding state of the article by the article holder by operating the holder moving part of the article holder by the movable claw member of the robot hand;
An article transfer method, comprising: a step of driving the transfer robot to remove the article holder attached to the robot hand from the article. 9. The article conveying method according to claim 8 , wherein, in the holder holding step, the holder moving portion is fixed to the article holding position by holding the holder main body by the movable claw member. In the holding state release step, holding the holder main body portion by the movable pawl member while releasing the holding state of the article by the article holder, the article transport method according to claim 8 or 9.

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