JP7144391B2 - Gripping device and supporting device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to gripping and supporting devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a gripping device that grips a work with a fluid pad and a support device that supports a work with a fluid pad.

For example, in an automobile manufacturing line, a robot arm of a transport robot that transports a work is provided with a gripping device that grips the work. The gripping device grips a workpiece by closing at least two arm members with a chuck mechanism and sandwiching the workpiece between pads provided on these arm members. In such a gripping device, the shape of the pad is often made to follow the shape of the work in order to prevent the work from falling off or being damaged.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a gripping device that utilizes a large number of spring pieces provided inside two finger members as pads. In the gripping device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a workpiece is placed between two finger members, a large number of spring pieces are filled between the finger members and the workpiece, and coils provided on the finger members By generating a direct current magnetic field by , a large number of spring pieces are excited, and the large number of spring pieces form a gripping surface following the surface of the workpiece. According to the gripping device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the gripping surface can be formed so as to follow the shape of the workpiece each time, so it has versatility.

JP-A-61-241085

By the way, in the gripping device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, when a large number of spring pieces are filled between two finger members and a work, these finger members and spring pieces are vibrated by vibrating means. As a result, more spring pieces can be filled between the finger members and the workpiece, so that a gripping surface that closely follows the shape of the workpiece can be formed. However, in the gripping device disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the tip portions of the two finger members are vibrated by the vibrating means, this vibration is transmitted to the main body through the finger members, causing the main body to vibrate. Failure to do so may result in malfunction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a gripping device and a supporting device that can apply vibrations to a pad to change its shape while suppressing transmission of the vibrations to a main body that drives the pad.

(1) A gripping device (eg, a gripping device 5 described later) according to the present invention grips a work (eg, a work W described later) with a fluid pad (eg, a pad 59 described later). , a base for supporting the pad (for example, a base 54 to be described later), an arm for supporting the base (for example, an arm 51 to be described later), and a main body (for example, a gripper body 6 to be described later), a vibration generating portion (for example, a vibration generator 55 to be described later) that generates vibration to be applied to the pad, and a hardening means to change the hardness of the pad (for example, a vacuum pump 4 and and a control device 9), wherein the arm swingably swings the base through connecting members (for example, connecting members 57, 57A, 57B, and 57C to be described later) that elastically deform along the gripping direction. The vibration generator is provided on the base.

(2) In this case, the arm portion includes stoppers (for example, stoppers 53a and 53b described later) that restrict movement of the base portion to the side opposite to the workpiece along the gripping direction, and the stoppers are the It is preferable that it is provided at a position farther from the connecting member than the vibration generating section.

(3) In this case, it is preferable that the connecting member is a plate spring extending along a direction substantially perpendicular to the gripping direction and having both ends thereof connected to the arm portion and the base portion.

(4) A support device (for example, a support device 2 to be described later) according to the present invention applies a fluid pad (for example, a pad 20 to be described later) to a work (for example, a work W to be described later) along the support direction. The workpiece is supported by bringing it into contact with a base portion (for example, a base portion 21 described later) that supports the pad, an arm portion (for example, an arm portion 22 that will be described later) that supports the base portion, and the A main body (for example, a support device main body 23 to be described later) that moves an arm portion, a vibration generator (for example, a vibration generator 25 to be described later) that generates vibrations to be applied to the pad, and a hardening that changes the hardness of the pad. means (for example, a vacuum pump 26 and a control device 27, which will be described later), and the arm portion connects the base portion via a connecting member (for example, a connecting member 24, which will be described later) that elastically deforms along the supporting direction. The support is swingable, and the vibration generating section is provided on the base.

(1) In the present invention, the main body moves the arm portion along the gripping direction, and the arm portion swingably supports the base portion that supports the pad via a connecting member that elastically deforms along the gripping direction. do. According to the present invention, by supporting the base through the elastically deformable connecting member, the workpiece can be gripped without applying a large load to the actuator provided on the main body for moving the arm along the gripping direction. can be done. In addition, in the present invention, a vibration generating section for generating vibration to be applied to the pad is provided on the base. According to the present invention, by providing the vibration generating section at such a position, the pad can be vibrated efficiently while the vibration transmitted to the arm section and the main body is attenuated by the connecting member. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the transmission of the vibration to the arm portion and the main body while applying the vibration for changing the shape to the pad.

(2) In the present invention, the arm portion is provided with a stopper that restricts movement of the base portion to the side opposite to the workpiece along the gripping direction. Thus, when the arm portion is moved along the gripping direction and the pad is pressed against the workpiece, the connecting member can be prevented from being greatly deformed along the gripping direction and damaged. Further, by providing such a stopper at a position farther from the connecting member than the vibration generator, the pad can be efficiently vibrated by the vibration generated by the vibration generator.

(3) In the present invention, a plate spring extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the gripping direction and having both ends thereof connected to the arm portion and the base portion is used as the connecting member. As a result, the configuration of the entire gripping device can be simplified, so that interference between components during the gripping operation can be reduced.

(4) In the present invention, the main body moves the arm portion, and the arm portion swingably supports the base portion that supports the pad via a connecting member that elastically deforms along the support direction. According to the present invention, by supporting the base through the elastically deformable connecting member, the workpiece can be supported without applying a large load to the actuator provided on the main body for moving the arm. In addition, in the present invention, a vibration generating section for generating vibration to be applied to the pad is provided on the base. According to the present invention, by providing the vibration generating section at such a position, the pad can be vibrated efficiently while the vibration transmitted to the arm section and the main body is attenuated by the connecting member. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the transmission of the vibration to the arm portion and the main body while applying the vibration for changing the shape to the pad.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a workpiece transfer system to which a gripping device according to a first embodiment of the invention is applied; FIG. It is a front view of a grasping device. FIG. 10 is a side view of the right arm unit viewed along a direction perpendicular to the gripping direction; FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the configuration of the outside of the right arm unit; It is the perspective view which looked at the right arm unit from the outside. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a piping unit and a stopper support arm of the right arm unit; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the base and piping unit along line VII-VII in Figure 4; It is a figure which shows typically the procedure which conveys a workpiece|work. It is a figure which shows the procedure which level|levels the surface of a pad with a roller unit. It is a figure which shows a thick-tipped pad. FIG. 10 illustrates a tapered pad; It is a figure which shows the structure of the support apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which looked at the connection member of the modification 1 along the perpendicular|vertical direction with respect to the holding direction. FIG. 10 is a view of the connecting member of Modification 2 as seen along a direction perpendicular to the gripping direction; FIG. 10 is a view of the connecting member of Modification 3 as seen along a direction perpendicular to the gripping direction; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which the roller unit is fixed to the gripper body; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of smoothing the surface of a pad with a roller unit fixed to a gripper body;

<First embodiment>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a workpiece transfer system S to which a gripping device 5 according to this embodiment is applied. FIG. 2 is a front view of the gripping device 5. FIG.

The work transport system S includes a carriage 11 on which a plurality of works W are placed, a transport robot 3 equipped with a gripping device 5 for gripping the work W, a roller unit 8 provided near the gripping device 5, A control device 9 that controls the transport robot 3 and the gripping device 5 is provided. The work transfer system S is provided, for example, in a vehicle manufacturing line, and picks up one of a plurality of works W placed on a carriage 11 by means of a transfer robot 3 and a gripping device 5 under the control of a control device 9, and picks it up. Then, the work W is transported to a predetermined position on the serving table 12 .

The gripping device 5 includes a columnar left arm unit 5L and a right arm unit 5R for gripping the workpiece W by sandwiching the arm units 5L and 5R in the gripping direction (horizontal direction in FIGS. 1 and 2). and a gripper body 6 for The gripping device 5 is fixed to the distal end portion 32 of the articulated arm 31 of the transfer robot 3 at the mounting portion 61 provided on the side of the gripper body 6 opposite to the arm units 5L and 5R. Therefore, by driving the transfer robot 3 with the control device 9 and controlling the position and orientation of the distal end portion 32 of the articulated arm 31, the gripping device 5 and the workpiece W gripped by the gripping device 5 can be moved. As shown in FIG. 1, the transport robot 3 basically grips and transports the work W with the arm units 5L and 5R parallel to the vertical direction.

The arm units 5L and 5R are supported by the gripper main body 6 at their proximal ends while being parallel to each other. Further, these arm units 5L and 5R grip the work W by sandwiching it between pads 59 and 59, which will be described later, which are provided on the inner sides of the tip portions of the arm units 5L and 5R. The gripper body 6 includes guide rails (not shown) that extend along the gripping direction and slidably support the base ends of the arm units 5L and 5R, and the arm units 5L that move in response to commands from the control device 9. , 5R along the guide rails (not shown). More specifically, the actuator of the gripper body 6 closes the arm units 5L and 5R by moving the arm units 5L and 5R closer to each other along the guide rails, and separates the arm units 5L and 5R from each other along the guide rails. The arm units 5L and 5R are opened by pressing the

Next, the configuration of the arm units 5L, 5R will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7. FIG. The left arm unit 5L and the right arm unit 5R basically have the same configuration. Therefore, the configuration of the right arm unit 5R will be mainly described in detail below, and the detailed description of the configuration of the left arm unit 5L will be omitted.

3 is a side view of the right arm unit 5R viewed along a direction perpendicular to the gripping direction, FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the configuration of the outside of the right arm unit 5R, and FIG. It is the perspective view which looked the arm unit 5R from the outside.

The right arm unit 5R includes an arm portion 51 extending along the vertical direction, a fluid pad 59, a base portion 54 that supports the pad 59, a connecting member 57 that connects the arm portion 51 and the base portion 54, and an arm It includes stoppers 53 a and 53 b (see FIG. 6 described later) provided on the portion 51 , and a vibration generator 55 and a piping unit 56 provided on the base portion 54 .

The arm portion 51 has a columnar shape extending in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. A proximal end portion of the arm portion 51 is supported by the gripper body 6 so as to be slidable along the gripping direction. A connecting member 57 is fixed to the inner side of the tip portion 51a of the arm portion 51 along the gripping direction, and two stopper support arms 52a extending along the vertical direction are provided on the outer side along the gripping direction. 52b is fixed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the piping unit 56 and the stopper support arms 52a and 52b of the right arm unit 5R. In FIG. 6, illustration of the vibration generator 55 is omitted for easy understanding. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of base 54 and tubing unit 56 along line VII-VII in FIG.

The stopper support arms 52a and 52b are columnar extending in the vertical direction. Base ends of these stopper support arms 52 a and 52 b are fixed to a tip end portion 51 a of the arm portion 51 . Further, as shown in FIG. 6, columnar stoppers 53a and 53b are fixed at the tip portions of the stopper support arms 52a and 52b at positions facing a piping unit 56, which will be described later, along the gripping direction.

The connecting member 57 is a rectangular plate-shaped leaf spring extending in the vertical direction in a plane substantially perpendicular to the gripping direction, and is elastically deformed along the gripping direction. The connecting member 57 is connected to the arm portion 51 and the base portion 54 on both sides in its extending direction.

The base portion 54 is in the shape of a rectangular flat plate extending along the vertical direction within a plane substantially perpendicular to the gripping direction. A first fixing portion 541 to which the connecting member 57 is fixed, a second fixing portion 542 to which the vibration generator 55 is fixed, and the piping unit 56 are fixed to the base portion 54 in this order from the base end side to the tip end side. and a pad support portion 544 for supporting the pad 59 are formed.

The pad support portion 544 has a substantially rectangular flat plate shape in a plan view. As shown in FIG. 7, a pad 59 is provided on the inner surface of the pad support portion 544 via a wire mesh 545 that is substantially rectangular in plan view. A substantially rectangular concave portion 546 is formed in the surface of the pad support portion 544 on the side of the pad 59 in a plan view. This concave portion 546 is filled with a porous body 547 that supports the wire mesh 545 and allows air to flow through its interior. A foam metal, for example, is used for the porous body 547 .

The pad 59 consists of a sheet-like bag member 591 covering the wire mesh 545 provided on the pad support portion 544 and a substantially rectangular frame member 592 fixing the edge of the bag member 591 to the outer peripheral portion of the pad support portion 544. and granular material 593 filled between the bag member 591 and the wire mesh 545 . The grains 593 have a grain size larger than that of the mesh of the wire mesh 545 described above. A granular metal is preferably used for the granular material 593 . For the bag member 591, for example, a sheet-like elastic material having stretchability, more specifically, a rubber sheet is used. By constructing the pad 59 by covering the granules 593 with the bag member 591 having elasticity in this way, the pad 59 having fluidity, that is, the pad 59 having the property of changing its shape when an external force acts is formed. be done. A wire mesh 545 is provided between the pad 59 and the pad support portion 544 as described above. Therefore, air can flow between the inside of the pad 59 and the recess 546 .

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7 , inside the base portion 54 , a third fixing portion 543 to which the piping unit 56 is fixed extends along the extending direction of the base portion 54 and reaches a concave portion 546 of the pad support portion 544 . Two first air flow paths 548 and 549 are formed.

The vibration generator 55 includes a rectangular parallelepiped housing 551 fixed to the second fixing portion 542, a motor 552 (see FIG. 4) that rotates according to a command signal from the control device 9, and a shaft of the motor 552. and an eccentric weight (not shown). The motor 552 is provided inside the housing 551 so that the shaft is substantially perpendicular to the gripping direction and the extending direction of the base 54 . The vibration generator 55 rotates the motor 552 to which the eccentric weight is connected in response to a command from the control device 9 to vibrate the housing 551 and the base 54 to which the housing 551 is fixed. The pad 59 is vibrated.

The piping unit 56 includes a piping connection portion 560 fixed to the third fixing portion 543 and two L-shaped air pipes 563 and 564 . As shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, the pipe connection portion 560 has a columnar shape, and two second air flow paths 561 and 562 extending along the gripping direction are formed therein. . One end sides of these second air flow paths 561 and 562 communicate with first air flow paths 548 and 549 formed inside the base portion 54 . Air pipes 563 and 564 are connected to the other ends of the second air flow paths 561 and 562, respectively. The air pipes 563 and 564 are also connected to a vacuum pump 4 (see FIG. 1) that operates according to commands from the control device 9 .

Therefore, the inside of the pad 59 and the vacuum pump 4 are connected via the wire mesh 545, the recess 546, the first air flow paths 548 and 549, the second air flow paths 561 and 562, and the air pipes 563 and 564. Connected. Therefore, by driving the vacuum pump 4 by the controller 9 and discharging the air in the pad 59 through the air pipes 563 and 564, the pressure in the pad 59 can be reduced and the pad 59 can be hardened. Here, the hardness of the pad 59 can be changed continuously by adjusting the rotational speed of the vacuum pump 4 with the controller 9 . Further, by stopping the driving of the vacuum pump 4 and releasing the inside of the pad 59 to the atmospheric pressure, the pad 59 can be softened. As described above, in the present embodiment, the hardening means for changing the hardness of the pad 59 having fluidity is constituted by the vacuum pump 4 and the controller 9 for driving it.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the pipe connection portion 560 is fixed at a position of the base portion 54 facing the stoppers 53a and 53b along the gripping direction. Further, when the connecting member 57 is not deformed, slight gaps 565 and 566 are formed between the pipe connection portion 560 and the stoppers 53a and 53b along the holding direction. That is, when the connecting member 57 is not deformed, the pipe connection portion 560 and the stoppers 53a and 53b are not in contact with each other. Therefore, the base portion 54 is floatingly supported by the arm portion 51 and the connecting member 57 so as to be swingable along the grasping direction. Further, when the base portion 54 is pushed outward along the gripping direction to deform the connecting member 57, the pipe connecting portion 560 and the stoppers 53a and 53b are brought into contact with each other. Therefore, the outward movement of the base portion 54 along the gripping direction is restricted by these stoppers 53a and 53b.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the stoppers 53a and 53b are provided at positions farther from the connecting member 57 than the vibration generator 55 is. Thereby, the pad 59 can be efficiently vibrated by the vibration generated by the vibration generator 55 .

Returning to FIG. 1, the roller unit 8 includes a base 81 provided near the transport robot 3 and the gripping device 5, a plurality of (for example, four) cylindrical rollers 82, and both ends of the rollers 82 as bases. and a support portion 83 that is rotatably supported on the base 81 . The roller unit 8 smoothes the surfaces of the pads 59, 59 by rolling a plurality of rollers 82 along the surfaces of the pads 59, 59 provided on the arm units 5L, 5R.

Next, a procedure for transporting the work W placed on the carriage 11 to the serving table 12 by using the transport robot 3 and the gripping device 5 as described above will be described.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing the procedure for conveying the work.
First, in S1, the control device drives the transport robot to bring the gripping device 5 closer to the workpiece W provided on the carriage 11 from above. In the step of bringing the gripping device 5 closer to the workpiece W, the control device preferably drives the vacuum pump 4 to create a weak vacuum in the pads 59 , 59 . In this embodiment, the weak vacuum is a pressure that can maintain the hardness of the pads 59, 59 to such an extent that they are not deformed by gravity or impact acting when the gripping device 5 is moved. Moderately low.

Next, in S2, the control device drives the gripper main body 6 while maintaining a weak vacuum in the pads 59, 59 to close the arm units 5L, 5R and grip the pads 59, 59 from both sides with a predetermined gripping force. Press against the workpiece W with .

Next, in S3, the control device changes the shape of the pads 59, 59 so as to follow the shape of the workpiece W. As shown in FIG. More specifically, the controller drives the vibration generator after opening the inside of these pads 59, 59 to atmospheric pressure from the state in which the pads 59, 59 are pressed against the workpiece W from both sides with a predetermined gripping force. By further pressing these pads 59, 59 against the work W while vibrating the pads 59, 59, the shape of these pads 59, 59 is changed to follow the shape of the work W. As shown in FIG.

Next, in S4, the control device hardens the pads 59, 59 in a state where the shape of the pads 59, 59 is changed in accordance with the shape of the work W, and hardens the work W with these hardened pads 59, 59. Grasp with grip force. More specifically, the control device drives the vacuum pump 4 while pressing the pads 59, 59 against the workpiece W with a predetermined gripping force, thereby creating a strong vacuum in the pads 59, 59 that is even lower than the weak vacuum. do. In this embodiment, the strong vacuum refers to a state in which the degree of vacuum is higher than that of the weak vacuum. More specifically, in this embodiment, the strong vacuum is a pressure that can maintain the hardness of the pads 59, 59 to such an extent that they are not deformed by an impact acting when the workpiece W is gripped under a predetermined gripping force. , for example, about 85 [kPa] lower than the atmospheric pressure.

Next, in S5, the control device drives the transport robot to transport the gripping device 5 and the workpiece W gripped by it to the serving table 12, and then drives the gripper body 6 to move the arm unit 5L, 5R is opened and the workpiece W is placed on the serving table 12.

Next, in S6, the control device drives the transfer robot to withdraw the gripping device 5 upward from the workpiece W and open the inside of the pads 59, 59 to the atmospheric pressure. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, the pads 59, 59 are deformed by their own weight.

Next, in S7, the controller drives the transport robot to bring the gripping device 5 closer to the roller unit 8, and then rolls the rollers 82, 82 along the surfaces of the pads 59, 59 to move the pads 59, 59 apart. After smoothing the surface of 59, the process returns to S1, and a new workpiece W is gripped by using the pads 59, 59 whose surfaces have been smoothed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the step of S7, that is, the procedure for leveling the surfaces of the pads 59, 59 by the roller unit 8. As shown in FIG.

First, as shown in (a) of FIG. 9, the control device drives the transport robot to bring the gripping device 5 closer to the roller unit 8 above. At this time, the control device causes the gripping device 5 to approach the rollers 82, 82 from above in the vertical direction in such a posture that the rotation axes of the rollers 82, 82 are perpendicular to the gripping direction.

Next, the control device drives the transfer robot while fixing the distance between the arm units 5L and 5R along the gripping direction, thereby moving the gripping device 5 downward in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 9(b). , and roll each roller 82, 82 along the surface of each pad 59, 59. As a result, the rollers 82 and 82 are placed on the surfaces of the pads 59 and 59 so that the surfaces of the rollers 82 and 82 contact the surfaces of the pads 59 and 59 from the lower end side to the upper end side along the vertical direction. can be rolled along Further, as shown in FIG. 9(c), when the gripping device 5 is further moved downward in the vertical direction and the rollers 82, 82 pass over the surfaces of the pads 59, 59, the surfaces of the pads 59, 59 are It is leveled evenly and the thickness becomes constant.

When the surfaces of the pads 59, 59 are leveled by the roller unit 8 as described above, it is preferable that the controller drives the vacuum pump to create a weak vacuum inside the pads 59, 59. FIG. In other words, in the step of leveling the pads 59, 59, the control device uses the vacuum pump to change the hardness of the pads 59, 59 so that the shape of the pads 59, 59 follows the shape of the workpiece W. It is preferable to make it harder than (see S3) and softer than the step of curing the pads 59, 59 (see S4).

Also, FIG. 9 illustrates a case where the gap along the gripping direction of the arm units 5L and 5R is fixed in order to make the thickness of the pads 59 and 59 constant, but the present invention is not limited to this. More specifically, while pressing the pads 59, 59 against the surfaces of the rollers 82, 82, the pads 59, 59 are moved downward in the vertical direction, and are moved in the gripping direction of the arm units 5L, 5R. The spacing along may vary.

For example, when the shape of each pad 59, 59 is thickened at the tip as shown in FIG. 10A, that is, when the thickness of each pad 59, 59 is gradually decreased from the lower end side to the upper end side along the vertical direction. , while pressing the pads 59, 59 against the surfaces of the rollers 82, 82, and moving the pads 59, 59 downward in the vertical direction, the gap along the gripping direction of the arm units 5L, 5R is increased. should be gradually shortened. The tapered pads 59, 59 as shown in FIG. 10A are suitable for stably gripping a heavy work.

Further, for example, when the shape of each pad 59, 59 is tapered as shown in FIG. , while pressing the pads 59, 59 against the surfaces of the rollers 82, 82, and moving the pads 59, 59 downward in the vertical direction, the gap along the gripping direction of the arm units 5L, 5R is increased. should be gradually lengthened. Tapered pads 59, 59 as shown in FIG. 10B are suitable for gripping a workpiece in a narrow space.

The gripping device 5 according to this embodiment has the following effects.
(1) The gripper body 6 moves the arm portion 51 along the gripping direction, and the arm portion 51 swings the base portion 54 supporting the pad 59 via the connecting member 57 elastically deformable along the gripping direction. Freely support. According to the gripping device 5, by supporting the base portion 54 via the elastically deformable connecting member 57, a large load is not applied to the actuator provided on the gripper body 6 for moving the arm portion 51 along the gripping direction. The work W can be gripped by Further, in the gripping device 5 , a vibration generator 55 that generates vibration to be applied to the pad 59 is provided on the base portion 54 . According to the gripping device 5, by providing the vibration generator 55 at such a position, it is possible to efficiently vibrate the pad 59 while attenuating the vibration transmitted to the arm portion 51 and the gripper main body 6 by the connecting member 57. can be done. Therefore, according to the gripping device 5 , it is possible to suppress transmission of this vibration to the arm portion 51 and the gripper main body 6 while applying the vibration for changing the shape to the pad 59 .

(2) In the gripping device 5, the arm portion 51 is provided with stoppers 53a and 53b for restricting the movement of the base portion 54 to the side opposite to the workpiece W along the gripping direction. As a result, when the arm portion 51 is moved along the gripping direction and the pad 59 is pressed against the workpiece W, the connecting member 57 is prevented from being greatly deformed along the gripping direction and damaged. be able to. Further, by providing such stoppers 53a and 53b at positions farther from the connecting member 57 than the vibration generator 55, the vibration generated by the vibration generator 55 can vibrate the pad 59 efficiently.

(3) In the gripping device 5 , a leaf spring that extends along a direction substantially perpendicular to the gripping direction and that is connected to the arm portion 51 and the base portion 54 at both ends thereof is used as the connecting member 57 . As a result, the structure of the gripping device 5 as a whole can be simplified, so that interference between components during gripping operation can be reduced.

<Second embodiment>
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the support device 2 according to this embodiment.

The support device 2 has a fluid pad 20 similar to the pad 59 of the gripping device 5 described above, which is brought into contact with the bottom surface Wa of the work W along the support direction (in the example of FIG. 11, the vertical direction). It is used to support the work W so that its position does not shift. The support device 2 is suitable for supporting a work W whose bottom surface Wa has an unstable shape as shown in FIG. Further, since the bottom surface Wa of the workpiece W is a design surface, the support device 2 is also suitable for the case where it is necessary to support the workpiece W without damaging the bottom surface Wa.

The support device 2 includes a pad 20 that has fluidity and is substantially rectangular in plan view, a base portion 21 that supports the pad 20, and an arm portion 22 that supports the base portion 21 via an elastically deformable connecting member 24. , a support device main body 23 for moving the arm portion 22, a vibration generator 25 for generating vibration given to the pad 20, a vacuum pump 26 for changing the hardness of the pad 20, a support device main body 23, and a vibration generator 25. , and a control device 27 that controls the vacuum pump 26 .

The arm portion 22 has a columnar shape extending along a plane orthogonal to the support direction. A base end portion of the arm portion 22 is supported by a support device main body 23 . A connection member 24 is fixed to the work W side along the support direction in the tip portion 221 of the arm portion 22, and a stopper support arm 222 extending toward the base portion 21 side is provided on the opposite side of the work W along the support direction. is fixed. A stopper 223 is fixed to the tip of the stopper support arm 222 to restrict the movement of the base 21 to the side opposite to the workpiece W along the support direction.

The connecting member 24 is a rectangular flat leaf spring extending along a plane substantially perpendicular to the supporting direction, and elastically deformed along the supporting direction. The connecting member 24 is connected to the arm portion 22 and the base portion 21 on both sides in its extending direction. Therefore, the base 21 is floatingly supported by the arm portion 22 and the connecting member 24 so as to be swingable along the support direction.

The base 21 has a rectangular flat plate shape extending along a plane orthogonal to the support direction. As shown in FIG. 11, the pad 20 is provided on the work W side surface of the base 21 via a wire mesh 211 that is substantially rectangular in plan view. A substantially rectangular concave portion 212 is formed in the surface of the base portion 21 on the side of the pad 20 in a plan view. The concave portion 212 is filled with a porous body 213 that supports the wire mesh 211 and allows air to flow through its interior. Foam metal, for example, is used for the porous body 213 .

The pad 20 includes a sheet-like bag member 201 covering a wire mesh 211 provided on the base 21, a substantially rectangular frame member 202 fixing the edge of the bag member 201 to the outer peripheral edge of the base 21, and the bag member. and granules 203 filled between 201 and wire mesh 211 . The grains 203 have a grain size larger than that of the mesh of the wire mesh 211 described above. A granular metal is preferably used for the granular material 203 . For the bag member 201, for example, a sheet-like elastic material having stretchability, more specifically, a rubber sheet is used. By constructing the pad 20 by covering the granular material 203 with the bag member 201 having stretchability in this way, the pad 20 having fluidity, that is, the pad 20 having the property of changing its shape when an external force acts is formed. be done. Moreover, the wire mesh 211 is provided between the pad 20 and the base 21 as described above. Therefore, air can flow between the inside of the pad 20 and the recess 212 .

Vacuum pump 26 is connected to recess 212 of base 21 . Therefore, by driving the vacuum pump 26 by the control device 27 and discharging the air in the pad 20, the pressure in the pad 20 can be lowered and the pad 20 can be hardened. Further, by adjusting the rotational speed of the vacuum pump 26 with the controller 27, the hardness of the pad 20 can be changed continuously. Further, by stopping the driving of the vacuum pump 26 and releasing the inside of the pad 20 to the atmospheric pressure, the pad 20 can be softened. As described above, in this embodiment, the hardening means for changing the hardness of the pad 20 having fluidity is constituted by the vacuum pump 26 and the control device 27 for driving the vacuum pump 26 .

The vibration generator 25 is fixed to the surface of the base 21 opposite to the pad 20 . Vibration generator 25 includes a motor (not shown) that rotates according to a command signal from control device 27, and an eccentric weight coupled to the shaft of this motor. The vibration generator 25 rotates the motor according to a command from the control device 27 to vibrate the base 21 and thus the pad 20 fixed to the base 21 .

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the stopper 223 is provided at a position farther from the connecting member 24 than the vibration generator 25 is. As a result, the pad 59 can be efficiently vibrated by the vibration generated by the vibration generator 25 .

In the support device 2 as described above, the work W or a master piece having the same shape as the work W is used to form the recess 28 on the surface of the pad 20 following the shape of the bottom surface Wa of the work W. The work W is supported by bringing the pad 20 into contact with the bottom surface Wa along the support direction so that the bottom surface Wa of the workpiece W is engaged.

The procedure for forming the recess 28 in the pad 20 is as follows. First, the controller 27 releases the inside of the pad 20 to the atmospheric pressure while pressing the surface of the pad 20 against the bottom surface of the work W or master piece, and then drives the vibration generator 25 to vibrate the pad 20 . As a result, the granular material 203 flows inside the bag member 201 of the pad 20, and the shape of the pad 20 follows the shape of the bottom surface Wa of the work W and changes. Next, the controller 27 hardens the pad 20 by increasing the degree of vacuum in the pad 20 by driving the vacuum pump 26 . As a result, a concave portion 28 following the shape of the bottom surface Wa of the work W is formed on the surface of the pad 20 .

The support device 2 according to this embodiment has the following effects.
(4) The support device main body 23 moves the arm portion 22, and the arm portion 22 swingably supports the base portion 21 that supports the pad 20 via the connecting member 24 that elastically deforms along the support direction. . According to the support device 2, by supporting the base portion 21 via the elastically deformable connecting member 24, the workpiece W can be moved without applying a large load to the actuator provided in the support device main body 23 for moving the arm portion 22. can support. Further, in the support device 2 , a vibration generator 25 that generates vibrations to be applied to the pad 20 is provided on the base portion 21 . According to the support device 2, by providing the vibration generator 25 at such a position, the pad 20 can be efficiently vibrated while the vibration transmitted to the arm portion 22 and the support device main body 23 is attenuated by the connecting member 24. be able to. Therefore, according to the support device 2 , it is possible to suppress the transmission of the vibration to the arm portion 22 and the support device main body 23 while applying the vibration for changing the shape to the pad 20 .

As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this. Detailed configurations may be changed as appropriate within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, a single plate spring is used as a connecting member that connects the arm portion and the base portion, but the present invention is not limited to this. The connecting member may be replaced with the connecting members of modified examples 1 to 3 shown below.

FIG. 12A is a side view of the connecting member 57A of Modification 1, viewed in a direction perpendicular to the holding direction. 57 A of connection members of the modification 1 are comprised by the 1st leaf spring 571A and the 2nd leaf spring 572A of two rectangular plate shape extended along a perpendicular direction within the surface substantially perpendicular|vertical to a holding direction. The first plate spring 571A and the second plate spring 572A are provided parallel to each other via a spacer 573A having the same thickness as the first fixing portion 541 of the base portion 54 . These plate springs 571A and 572A are elastically deformed along the grasping direction. These plate springs 571A and 572A are connected to the tip portion 51a of the arm portion 51 and the first fixing portion 541 of the base portion 54 on both sides in the extending direction thereof. As a result, the base portion 54 is floatingly supported by the arm portion 51 and the connecting member 57A so as to be swingable along the gripping direction.

FIG. 12B is a side view of the connecting member 57B of Modification 2 as seen along a direction perpendicular to the gripping direction. The connecting member 57B of Modification 2 includes a bracket 571B connected to the distal end portion 51a of the arm portion 51, two links 577B and 578B connecting the bracket 571B and the first fixing portion 541 of the base portion 54, and the bracket and two springs 575B and 576B interposed between 571B and links 577B and 578B.

The bracket 571B is substantially C-shaped when viewed from the side, and includes an upper portion 572B extending along the gripping direction and two side walls 573B and 574B extending in a direction orthogonal to the upper portion 572B. Links 577B and 578B extend parallel to each other. Both ends of the links 577B and 578B are rotatably supported by the upper portion 572B and the first fixing portion 541 via rotation shafts. The spring 575B is interposed between the side wall 573B and the link 577B so as to extend and contract along the gripping direction. The spring 576B is interposed between the side wall 574B and the link 578B so as to extend and contract along the gripping direction. When no load is applied to the base portion 54, that is, when the springs 575B and 576B are at their natural lengths, the links 577B and 578B are parallel to the vertical direction substantially perpendicular to the gripping direction. As a result, the base portion 54 is floatingly supported by the arm portion 51 and the connecting member 57B so as to be swingable along the gripping direction.

FIG. 12C is a side view of the connecting member 57C of Modified Example 3 as seen along a direction perpendicular to the gripping direction. A connecting member 57C of Modified Example 3 includes a bracket 571C connected to the distal end portion 51a of the arm portion 51, and four linear bushes 574C, 575C, and 576C connecting the bracket 571B and the first fixing portion 541 of the base portion 54. , 577C, and four springs 578C, 579C, 580C, and 581C interposed between the linear bushings 574C to 577C and the first fixing portion 541. As shown in FIG.

The bracket 571C is substantially C-shaped when viewed from the side, and includes an upper portion extending along the holding direction and two side walls 572C and 573C extending in a direction perpendicular to the upper portion. The linear bushings 574C and 575C each include an outer cylinder fixed to the side wall 572C and a shaft slidably supported by the outer cylinder along the grasping direction. The linear bushings 576C and 577C each include an outer cylinder fixed to the side wall 573C and a shaft slidably supported by the outer cylinder along the grasping direction. Further, the linear bushes 574C and 575C face the linear bushes 576C and 577C with the first fixing portion 541 interposed therebetween. The distal ends of the shafts of the linear bushings 574C to 577C abut on the first fixed portion 541. As shown in FIG.

The springs 578C-581C are inserted through the shafts of the linear bushes 574C-577C, respectively. The springs 578C to 581C are interposed between the first fixing portion 541 and the outer cylinders of the linear bushings 574C to 577C so as to extend and contract along the gripping direction. When no load is applied to the base portion 54, that is, when the springs 578C to 581C are at their natural lengths, the base portion 54 is substantially parallel to the side walls 572C and 573C. As a result, the base portion 54 is floatingly supported by the arm portion 51 and the connecting member 57C so as to be swingable along the gripping direction.

Further, for example, in the above embodiment, the case where the roller unit 8 is provided at a position away from the gripping device 5 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

FIG. 13A is a diagram showing an example in which the roller unit 8A is fixed to the gripper main body 6 of the gripping device 5A. The roller unit 8A includes a plurality of (for example, four) cylindrical rollers 82A extending in a direction perpendicular to the gripping direction, and both ends of the rollers 82A are rotatably supported between the arm units 5L and 5R. It is provided with a support portion 83A and an actuator 84A that moves the support portion 83A forward and backward with respect to the gripper main body 6 along the extending direction of the arm units 5L and 5R in accordance with a command from the control device.

According to the gripping device 5A, as shown in FIG. 13B, the support portion 83A is moved from the lower side to the upper side in the vertical direction while fixing the interval along the gripping direction of the arm units 5L and 5R, and the rollers 82A and 82A are moved upward. By rolling 82A along the surface of each pad 59, 59, the surface of each pad 59, 59 can be leveled.

W... Workpiece 3... Transfer robot 4... Vacuum pump (curing means)
5... Gripping device 5L... Left arm unit 5R... Right arm unit 51... Arm part 53a, 53b... Stopper 54... Base part 55... Vibration generator (vibration generating part)
57, 57A, 57B, 57C... Connecting member 59... Pad 6... Gripper main body (main body)
8, 8A... Roller unit 9... Control device (curing means)
2 Support device 20 Pad 21 Base 22 Arm 23 Support device main body (main body)
24... Connection member 25... Vibration generator 26... Vacuum pump (hardening means)
27... Control device (curing means)
28... Concave portion

Claims (3)

A gripping device that grips a workpiece with a fluid pad,
a base extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the gripping direction and supporting the pad on the distal end side ;
an arm portion which has a columnar shape and is connected at its distal end portion to the base end side of the base portion via a connecting member that elastically deforms along the gripping direction, and supports the base portion so as to swing freely ;
a main body that moves the arm along the gripping direction;
a vibration generator that generates vibrations to be applied to the pad;
and a hardening means for changing the hardness of the pad,
The arm portion includes a stopper support arm provided on a side opposite to the workpiece along the gripping direction from a portion of the distal end portion where the connecting member is provided and extending along a direction substantially orthogonal to the gripping direction. , a stopper that restricts movement of the base to the side opposite to the workpiece along the gripping direction,
The vibration generator is provided on the base ,
The gripping device , wherein the stopper is provided at a position farther from the connecting member than the vibration generating portion in the stopper support arm when viewed from the side . 2. A gripping device according to claim 1 , wherein said connecting member is a plate spring extending along a direction substantially perpendicular to said gripping direction and having both ends thereof connected to said arm portion and said base portion. A support device that supports a work by bringing a fluid pad into contact with the work along the support direction,
a plate-shaped base extending along a plane substantially perpendicular to the supporting direction and supporting the pad on the work-side surface thereof ;
an arm portion which has a columnar shape and is connected at its distal end to the end portion of the base portion via a connecting member which is elastically deformable along the supporting direction, and supports the base portion so as to swing freely ;
a main body that moves the arm;
a vibration generator that generates vibrations to be applied to the pad;
and a hardening means for changing the hardness of the pad,
The arm portion includes a stopper support arm provided on a side opposite to the workpiece along the support direction from a portion of the distal end portion where the connecting member is provided and extending along a direction substantially orthogonal to the support direction. , a stopper that restricts movement of the base to the side opposite to the work along the supporting direction;
The vibration generator is provided on the base ,
The support device according to claim 1, wherein the stopper is provided at a position of the stopper support arm farther from the connecting member than the vibration generating portion in a side view .

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