JPH01140931A - Tool socket exchange mechanism in robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically exchange tool sockets in a robot working section by providing a polygonal fitted and a polygonal fitting part adapted to be fitted with the above- mentioned fitted part in each tool socket and a grip socket, respectively, and by providing an angularly indexing member circumferentially formed therein with radial engaged parts which are concave and convex in the direction of insertion. CONSTITUTION:In such a case that an angularly indexing member 50 incorporating a fitted part 5 is provided on a tool socket 1 side while an engaging part 9 is provided on a grip socket 2 side, the grip socket 2 mounted on a robot work section is made to approach the tool socket 1, and the engaging part 9 is engaged in an engaged part 5 circumferentially formed in the angularly indexing member 50. At this time, the angularly indexing member 50 is rotated due to the engagement between the engaged part 9 and the engaged part 5, causing the tool socket 1 having a relatively rotating relationship therewith to be rotated. Accordingly, even though there exists a deviation between the angle of a polygonal fitting part 4 in the grip socket 2 and the angle of a polygonal fitted part 3 in the tool socket 1, it may be corrected. Further, a holding mechanism 6 prevent the tool socket 1 from coming off from the grip socket 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an exchange mechanism for exchanging a tool socket having a torque transmission tool such as a wrench or a screwdriver to a robot working unit.

(Prior art) It is well known that bolt tightening work, screw tightening work, etc. are performed using robots on production lines, etc. In this case, a wrench corresponding to the size of the bolt head or screw head is used. Conventionally, such requests require the worker to replace the tool held by the robot work unit each time, or to use a dedicated tool for bolt tightening work that corresponds to one bolt head. It is common for Uke to have multiple robots.

It is also known that two or more tools are always kept in one robot working section, and the tool that matches the bolt head is used depending on the positioning control of the robot.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, when workers change tools every time,
If the workpiece flowing through the production line is the same for several days or hours and the bolt head is constant,
If you use the downtime of the line to do the replacement work, it won't be too complicated, but if parts with different bolt heads flow randomly on the same line, you might have to change the tool each time. I couldn't stand the pain on my side.

In addition, if multiple robots with dedicated receivers are used for bolt tightening work corresponding to one bolt head, the amount of processed products flowing through the line will be extremely large, and the work time per process will be greatly reduced. Unless it is necessary to do so, the equipment cost increases accordingly, and the installation space for each robot is also required, making the scale of the production line larger.

Furthermore, if two or more tools are kept in the robot work section and are used for different purposes, the robot work section should always have two or more tools and a drive mechanism such as a runner to drive them. This increases the weight of the robot's working part, which has a negative impact on positioning accuracy, etc., and also requires a method to evacuate the tool that is not in use from the workpiece, making it difficult to put it into practical use. had many difficulties.

In the present invention, tools corresponding to bolt heads, etc. are replaced in one robot working section under automatic control by the robot, which saves equipment and eliminates the trouble of replacing the bolts. The purpose is to automatically control the robot and provide a mechanism for easily and reliably replacing tool sockets in the robot working section. There is something to do.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, the present invention provides a tool socket (1) having a torque transmission tool, and a gripping socket (2) that is attached to a robot working part.
), wherein the tool socket (1) is fitted with a polygonal fitting part (3), and the gripping socket (2) is fitted with a polygonal fitting part (3). Polygonal fitting parts (4) to be inserted and fitted are respectively provided, and angle indexing bodies (50) are formed in which engaged parts (5) which are uneven in the insertion direction are arranged radially around the body. An angle indexing body (50),
- The socket (1 or 2) on the blade side is provided with the engaged portion (5) in a manner that is non-rotatable and slidable in the insertion direction, and the socket (2 or 1) on the other side is provided with the engaged portion (5). an engaging part (9) that engages in the insertion direction to correct the angular position of the fitted part (3) with respect to the fitting part (4);
The gripping socket (2) is provided with a holding mechanism (6) that prevents the tool socket (1) from falling off in the insertion direction when the tool socket (1) is fitted.
).

(Function) The function will be explained for the case where the angle indexing body (50) with the fitted portion (5) is provided on the tool socket (1) side and the engaging portion (θ) is provided on the grip socket (2) side. .

As shown in Fig. 9, the gripping socket (2) attached to the robot working part is brought close to the tool socket (1), and the engaging part (9) on the gripping socket (2) side is attached to the angle indexing body (50). It is engaged with the peripherally provided engaged portion (5). At this time, the angle indexing body (50) is rotated by the engagement of the engaging part (9) and the engaged part (5), and rotates the tool socket (1) which is in a relatively non-rotatable relationship. .

Therefore, the polygonal fitting part (
Even if there is an angular deviation between the corner of 4) and the angle of the polygonal fitted part (3) on the tool socket (1) side, it is corrected,
Both the sockets (1) and (2) are firmly connected in the rotational direction with the polygonal fitting portion (3) and the fitting portion (4) having the same angle. Further, the holding mechanism (6) prevents the tool socket (1) from falling off from the gripping socket (2), making it possible to perform operations such as bolt tightening.

(Example) In Fig. 8, (R) is a three-axis robot, and the first arm (A1) is attached to the arm base (B) fixed to the upper part of the pedestal (F) in the X-axis direction in the figure. The first arm (A1) supports a second arm (A2) having a working part (10) at its tip so as to be movable in the Y-axis and Z-axis directions. ) is installed facing the line conveyor (v).

Each arm (At) (A2) is automatically controlled by a command from a controller (S), and its tip working part (10) can be positioned at any position in three-dimensional space.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the working part (10) includes:
A spline boss portion (14) is provided on the rotating shaft (13) of the runner (12), which supports the runner (12) which serves as a torque drive source for bolt tightening etc. via the bracket (11).
), a spline shaft (15) equipped with a gripping socket (2) for gripping the tool socket (1) below is inserted so as to be movable up and down, and the shaft (15) is pivotally supported via a bearing (16). support) (17), and guide rod (18).
) and two pairs of springs (19), the working part Bolt tightening can be performed with (10) positioned.

The floating mechanism (20) has a contact body (21) integrated with the upper end of the guide rod (18) on the -blade side, and a stopper pin (23) that is moved forward and backward by an air cylinder (22).
), the floating stroke can be restricted to the minimum stroke (m) shown in the figure. In addition, the upper and lower stroke limits at the time of max floating are determined by the position sensor (24) (
25). In addition, the floating support (17) is provided with a support body (26) extending downward.
A socket mounting sensor (27) is provided that faces the lower side of the tool socket (1) when the grip socket (2) is mounted with the tool socket (1).

The tool socket (1) has a dodecagonal polygonal fitting part (2) provided on the main body (1a) of the grip socket (2), which will be described later, as clearly shown in FIGS. 4), a regular hexagonal prism polygonal fitted part (3) is formed, and the main body (1a) has a total of 12 pointed protrusions that are uneven in the insertion direction of the grip socket (2). The engaged part (5) consisting of...
Relative rotation is made impossible by inserting the hexagonal prism constituting the fitted portion (3) into the hexagonal hole (51) provided in the center of the angle indexing body (5-0), which is provided radially around the angle indexing body (5-0). and a long groove (31) provided above the fitted portion (3) in the axial direction.
) is slidably supported in the axial direction by engaging the guide pin (52).

The head of the main body (1a) is integrally formed with a holding part (1b) having a smaller diameter than the outer diameter of the polygonal fitted part (3), and the tip of this holding part (1b) has a In addition to forming a tapered insertion guide surface (IC), the diameter of the intermediate portion is reduced to form an engagement circumferential groove (1d) that engages a holding mechanism (6) on the grip socket (2) side, which will be described later. is forming. On the other hand, the main body (1a
) is provided with an annular stopper (8) that engages with a socket support base (7) to be described later to enable detachment from the gripping socket (2), and a wrench (LE or LE) on the inside of the end.
') and a wrench socket (if or 1f°) are attached integrally.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the tool socket (1) configured above can be placed on standby on a socket support stand (7) fixed to the stand (F) of the robot (R), etc. The main body (1a) is loosely inserted into the front open arch-shaped receiving groove (7a) provided in the receiving seat (70) of the support base (7), and the upper surface of the receiving seat (70) is , an angle indexing body (50) is placed thereon. Further, a body spring (71) having a planar shape shown in FIG. 7 is disposed on the upper part of the catch seat (70), and the angle indexing body (50) can be fitted from the open side thereof. At the time of fitting, the circumferential side portion of the angle indexing body (50) is held in a wrap-around shape. In addition, the stopper (8
) is in a state where the tool socket (1) is gripped by the grip socket (2), the main body (1a) is inserted into the receiving groove (7a), and the robot working part (10) is vertically raised. ,
By coming into contact with the back surface of the catch seat (70), the tool socket (1) is separated from the grip socket (2).

The support base (7) is also provided with a bushing (72) containing an air cylinder, etc., facing below the tool socket (1), and by extending its head flange (73), the tool socket (1) can be pushed up. Further, the support stand (7) is provided with standby sensors (28) (29) facing the stopper (8) of each tool socket (1) to detect whether or not each tool socket (1) is on standby. ing.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, two types of tool sockets (1) are on standby, but three or more types may be on standby.

On the other hand, the gripping socket (2) has a receiving hole (2a) formed inside thereof, as shown in FIGS. ) Fitting cross section 1
A two-sided star-shaped fitting part (4) is formed. As will be explained later, the reason why the fitting part (4) is dodecagonal, which is twice as large as the hexagonal part of the fitting part (3), is the angle between the grip socket (2) and the tool socket (1). This is so that the eccentricity of the parts can be matched with a small amount of angle correction.

The gripping socket (2) also engages with the trough of the sharply-shaped engaged portion (5) provided on the angle indexing body (5O) to form a polygonal fitting of the polygonal fitting portion (3). An engaging part (9) of the protruding cane that corrects the angular position relative to the part (4), and a holding mechanism (6) that prevents the tool socket (1) from falling off when the tool socket (1) is engaged with the gripping socket (2). Be prepared.

The holding mechanism (6) is mounted on a holding block (60) having a fitting hole (61) that fits into the outer periphery of the gripping socket (2), and is mounted equally in three directions in the radial direction, as shown in FIG. The tool socket (62) is equipped with spring plungers (62) that separate the locking pins (63) that are pushed out by the built-in springs of each plunger (62).
1) is engaged with the engagement circumferential groove (1d) of the head holding portion (1c). In addition, on the grip socket (2) side,
A through hole (2b) is provided corresponding to each plunger (62).

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned configuration will be explained for the case where bolts are tightened on a processed product (W) flowing onto a conveyor (V) shown in FIG. 8.

In the example shown here, in order to identify the model of the workpiece (W), that is, to determine the bolt head, an IC card or a magnetic card that stores model information in advance is placed on the back of the work pallet (P) that transports the workpiece (W). A control card (C) such as a card is set, and the model code read from the card (C) via a magnetic head (H) is read into the controller (C) and used for the processed product (W). A method is used to automatically identify bolt heads. Furthermore, during the replacement operation described here, the floating mechanism (20) is regulated to a minimum stroke (m), and the vertical free movement of the grip socket (2) is regulated to the same minimum stroke (m).

If it is necessary to replace the tool socket (1) currently gripped by the grip socket (2) with a different socket based on the model code, first replace the tool socket (1) currently gripped by the support base ( 7) to evacuate. This includes:
As mentioned above, the main body (1a) of the tool socket (1) is inserted into the receiving groove (7a) of the support base (7) to vertically raise the robot working part (10), and the stopper (8) ) comes into contact with the back surface of the catch seat (70) and holds the holding part (1c
) is forcibly removed from the holding mechanism (6).

In addition, to determine the currently gripped tool socket (1),
Mounted sensor (27) and evacuation sensor (28) (29)
This can be done based on the detection results.

After this, attach the gripping socket (2) to the regular tool socket (
1), as shown in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b), the gripping socket (2) is suspended from the upper side of the regular tool socket (1), and the holding part (1b ) to,
Insert the dodecagonal fitting part (4). At this time, even if there is a slight deviation (ΔL) between the axis (Ll) on the gripping socket (2) side, that is, the robot side, and the axis (L2) on the tool socket (1) side, that is, the stationary side, the holding part ( 1b) is guided toward the center of the receiving hole (2a) by the guide surface (1c) at its tip, and their axes (Ll) (L2) are aligned.

Further, as the grip socket (2) continues to descend, the engaging portion (9) at its tip engages the engaged portion ( 5). At this time, the engaged part (5) slides on the slope connecting the peak and valley while contacting the top of the engaging part (9),
Rotate the angle indexer (50) or tool socket (1). Therefore, the amount of eccentricity (θ) between the corner of the fitting part (4) on the grip socket (2) side and the corner of the fitted part (3) on the tool socket (1) side is corrected. become.

Moreover, in this case, since the fitting part (4) is formed to have twice the size of 12 corners as compared to the hexagonal part of the part to be fitted (3), good angle alignment can be achieved with a small number of angle corrections. .

After that, as shown in the same figure (d), pusher (72)
is moved upward to push up the tool socket (1) and engage the engagement circumferential groove (1d) with the locking pin (63) of the spring plunger (62) constituting the holding mechanism (6).
The tool socket (1) is held in the grip socket (2) so that it cannot fall off. At this time, the angle indexing body (50) is
2) is slid into the elongated hole (31) and retracted downward.

Thereafter, the working part (10) is moved to the bolt position on the workpiece (W), and bolt tightening work is performed.

In this case, the fitted part (3) consisting of a hexagonal column formed on the tool socket (1) is securely held in the dodecagonal fitting part (4) of the gripping socket (2), and is rotated in the direction of rotation. It can guarantee sufficient strength to transmit torque,
That spiral can definitely be achieved.

In the above embodiment, 12
Although the corner fitting part (4) is used, the number of corners of the fitting part (4) is as follows.
The number may be the same as the number of the fitted portions (3), or may be three times or more, and in short, the number may be an integral multiple of the number of the fitted portions (3). However, the ease of angle correction and the tool socket (1)
Considering the strength of torque transmission to, it is most preferable to use a dodecagonal shape as in this embodiment.

Further, in the above embodiment, the angle indexing body (50) having the engaged portion (5) is provided on the tool socket (1) side, and the engaging portion (9)
is provided on the grip socket (2) side, but the angle indexing body (50) is provided on the grip socket (2) side, and the engaging portion (
9) may of course be provided on the tool socket (1) side.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the polygonal fitted part (3) on the tool socket (1) side was made into a column, and the polygonal fitted part (4) on the grip socket (2) side was made into a thank-you note. Of course, the relationship may be reversed, and the fitted part (3) on the tool socket (1) side may be formed into a thank-you letter, and the fitting part (4) on the grip socket (2) side may be formed into a columnar body. It is.

(Effect of the invention) The gripping socket (2) and the tool socket (1) that are attached to the robot working part are configured such that the engaging part (9) provided on the socket (2 or 1) on the -blade side is connected to the engaging part (9) on the other side. socket (1 or 2)
By simply engaging the engaged portion (5) of the angle indexing body (50) interposed on the side, the polygonal fitting portion (4) on the grip socket (2) side and the tool socket (1) Polygonal mating part on the side (
Even if there is an angular deviation between the corners of the tool socket (1), the corners of the tool socket (1) are matched and a strong connection is made in the direction of rotation. This prevents it from falling out of the gripping socket (2). Therefore, the tool socket (1) can be easily and reliably replaced with the grip socket (2) by the robot.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of the robot working unit according to the exchange mechanism of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view thereof in the direction of the ■ arrow, Fig. 3 is a front view of the area around the socket support stand where the tool socket is placed on standby, and Fig. 4 is its side view. A plan view, FIG. 5 is an exploded explanatory view of the tool socket, FIG. 6 is an exploded explanatory view of the gripping socket, FIG. 7 is a plan view of the trunk spring used when the tool socket is on standby, and FIG. 8 is an external view of the robot system. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the operation. (1)...Tool socket (2)...Grip socket (3)...Polygonal mated part (4)...Polygonal fitting Part (5)...Engaged part (6)...Holding mechanism (9)...Engaging part (50)...Angle indexing body

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Tool socket (1) with torque transmission tool,
A replacement mechanism for replacing a gripping socket (2) mounted on a robot working part, the tool socket (1) having a polygonal fitted part (3), and the gripping socket (2)
are respectively provided with polygonal fitting parts (4) into which the polygonal fitted parts (3) are inserted and fitted, while the engaged parts (5) having concavities and convexities in the insertion direction are arranged radially around the angle. Indexing body (5
0), and the angular indexing body (50) is interposed in the socket (1 or 2) on one side so as to be non-rotatable and freely slidable in the insertion direction, and Socket (2
or 1), an engaging part (9) that engages with the engaged part (5) in the insertion direction to correct the angular position of the fitted part (3) with respect to the fitting part (4); and a holding mechanism (6) for preventing the tool socket (1) from falling off in the insertion direction when the tool socket (1) is fitted is provided on the grip socket (2). mechanism.