JPH0121749Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a robotic device that can detect when a person enters a work zone.

Generally, robots that perform predetermined work such as painting on automobile bodies are placed within a work zone such as a painting zone that defines the work area, and the car body is installed on a conveyor line that extends through the work zone. However, predetermined operations such as painting are performed on the automobile bodies transported in this manner. In order to prevent people such as operators from entering the work zone during work by the robot, a safety fence is provided as a peripheral wall surrounding the work zone. People can enter and exit this work zone by opening a door installed in the safety fence, and if a person opens this door while the robot is operating, the robot will automatically stop. ing.

However, since the safety fence is provided with the entrance and exit of the conveyor line, if a person accidentally enters the work zone through the entrance or exit, it cannot be detected, and safety measures cannot be taken. However, it was not perfect and had some flaws.

The present invention was developed by focusing on the fact that the shape of an automobile body consists of a front body and a roof section that is located behind the front body and is taller than the front body. To provide a robot device which can easily and surely detect intrusion of a person into a work zone from an entrance or an exit of a peripheral wall based on the difference in shape between an automobile body and a person.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the robot device according to the present invention is provided with two intruder detection devices at different heights at the entrance and exit of the peripheral wall, respectively, to detect objects entering the work zone. , one of the intruder detection devices is installed at a height position where a front body part of an automobile body installed on the conveyor belt is located, and the other one is installed at a height position between the front body part and the loop part. The present invention is characterized in that a circuit is provided to stop the robot when the time difference between the output signals from both intruder detection devices is within a predetermined time.

With this configuration, when the automobile body passes through the entrance and exit sections, the intruding object detection device located below first detects the passage of the front body section, and then waits for a while before detecting the intruding object above. The device detects the passage of the roof section. However, when a person passes through the entrance or exit, both the upper and lower intruder detection devices detect it almost simultaneously. Therefore, when the time difference between the output signals from both intruder detection devices is within a predetermined time, it is determined that a person has intruded and the operation of the robot is stopped, making the safety measure almost complete.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings when used as a painting robot device.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 indicates a conveyor line provided along the walls 2, 2, and a trolley 3 is provided on the conveyor line 1. A car body 4 is placed thereon, and the car body 4 is conveyed on the conveyor line 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG.

Next, 5A, 5B and 6A, 6B indicate safety fences, and each of the safety fences 5A, 5B and 6A, 6B is provided opposite to the conveyor line 1 in a direction perpendicular to the conveyor line 1, and one end thereof is connected to a wall. 2, and the other end extends to a position close to the conveyor line 1. And safety fence 5A, 5
An entrance part 7 is formed between B, and safety fences 6A, 6B
An outlet portion 8 is formed in between. In this way, the safety fences 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B and the wall portions 2,
The interior of the area surrounded by the peripheral wall 2 is a coating zone 9. Inside the coating zone 9, coating robots 10, 1 are installed along the conveyor line 1.
0 is arranged, and each robot 10 has a traveling mechanism 11.
It is now possible to move parallel to the conveyor line 1.

Next, 12 and 13 are safety fences 5A and 6A, respectively.
Doors 14 and 15 for entering and exiting people are provided in the respective doors 12 and 13, and when each door 12 and 13 is opened, the limit switches 14 and 15 are activated, and the limit switch 14 is activated. , 15, the robot 10
is configured such that its operation is stopped. Further, between the safety fences 5A and 5B, light emitting parts 16A and 17A and light receiving parts 16B and 17B are provided toward the entrance part 7.
Two sets of phototube switches 16 and 17 are provided as intruder detection devices, each consisting of a phototube switch 16 and 17, so that an intrusion from the entrance portion 7 into the painting zone 9 can be detected. It's getting old. In order to make it possible to identify whether the object entering the painting zone 9 is an automobile body 4 or a person, a phototube switch 16,
17 are provided at different positions only in the height direction. First, the lower phototube switch 16 is set at a height position H ₁ where the front body portion 4A is located when the automobile body 4 is installed on the conveyor line 1.
The upper phototube switch 17 is provided within a height range _H2 from the front body portion 4A to the roof portion 4B. Furthermore, two sets of phototube switches 18 and 19 as intruder detection devices are provided between the safety fences 6A and 6B toward the exit portion 8, each consisting of light emitting sections 18A and 19A and light receiving sections 18B and 19B. The phototube switches 18 and 19 are also provided at different positions only in the height direction, and the phototube switches 18 and 19 are arranged within the range of height positions H ₁ and H ₂ , respectively.

The robot device according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, and the automobile body 4 is installed on the conveyor line 1 and carried into the coating zone 9 from the entrance section 7 between the safety fences 5A and 5B. Painting work is carried out by a robot 10 inside. Then, it is transported out of the painting zone 9 via the exit section 8 between the safety fences 6A and 6B.

However, it is dangerous if a person such as an operator accidentally enters the painting zone 9 during painting work by the robot 10, so in such a case, the robot 10
It is necessary to stop the operation. Here, when a person opens the doors 12, 13 of the safety fences 5A, 6A and enters the painting zone 9, limit switches 14, 15 attached to each door 12, 13 are activated. The operation of the robot 10 can be stopped by signals from the limit switches 14 and 15.

On the other hand, when a person enters the coating zone 9 from the entrance section 7 or the exit section 8, each pair of phototube switches 16 and 1 provided at the entrance section 7 and the exit section 8 are activated.
7, 18, and 19 make it possible to detect this. By the way, it is usually the automobile body 4 that passes through the entrance section 7 and the exit section 8. Therefore, the phototube switches 16, 17 and 18, 19 identify whether the object passing through the entrance section 7 and exit section 8 is the car body 4 or a person, and operate the robot 10 only when a person passes through. must be made to stop. For this purpose, the phototube switches 16 and 18 are provided within the height position H1 of the front body part 4A of the automobile body ₄ , and the phototube switches 17 and 19 are provided within the range of the height position H1 from the front body part 4A to the roof part 4B. It is set within the range of ₂ . Therefore, when the automobile body 4 passes through the entrance section 7, for example, the front body section 4A first passes through the entrance section 7, thereby blocking the phototube switch 16, and as shown in FIG. 3A, the front body section 4A passes through the entrance section 7. Passage of portion 4A is detected. After a while, the roof part 4B passes through the entrance part 7, and at this time the phototube switch 17
is blocked from light, and the passage of the roof portion 4B is detected as shown in FIG. 3B. Therefore, these phototube switches 16 and 17 are connected to one-shot circuits that emit one-shot pulses as shown in FIG. 3C and D, respectively, when the light is interrupted. On the other hand, when a person passes through the entrance section 7, the phototube switches 16 and 17 are almost simultaneously blocked from light as shown in FIG. 4A and 4B. Therefore, one-shot pulse signals as shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D can be transmitted during these light-shielding periods. Therefore, if the hold time of these one-shot pulse signals is set to one second, the signals from each one-shot circuit are connected to the control device of the robot 10 via an AND circuit, so that a person can pass through the entrance section 7. However, only when the signals are output from the phototube switches 16 and 17 almost simultaneously, the AND circuit is established as shown in FIG. 4C and D, and the robot 10
operation can be stopped. On the other hand, when the automobile body 4 passes, the phototube switches 16 and 17 transmit signals at different times as shown in FIG. will not stop operating. In this way, by providing the phototube switches 16 and 17 at different height positions, it is possible to easily and reliably identify whether the intruding object from the entrance part 7 is the automobile body 4 or a person. At times, the operation of the robot 10 can be stopped.

In addition, a phototube switch 18 provided at the outlet section 8,
19 also performs the same operation as described above. Therefore, these phototube switches 16, 17,
18 and 19, it is possible to detect the intrusion of a person into the painting zone 9 from the entrance section 7 and the exit section 8, which is extremely advantageous in terms of safety measures.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the robot apparatus according to the present invention is used as a robot apparatus for painting has been described, but it can also be used for other robot apparatuses such as for welding, for example. In addition, a phototube switch 16 is used as an intruder detection device.
17 is shown, however, an ultrasonic detector, a capacitance detector, etc. may be used instead. Furthermore, phototube switches 16, 17
Not only by a one-shot pulse signal that holds the output from the conveyor for a predetermined time, but also by whether or not signals are output from both phototube switches 16 and 17 within the same pulse range of a pulse transmitter installed on the conveyor, for example. It may be possible to identify whether the intruder is a person or a car body.

As explained above, according to the robot device according to the present invention, two intruder detection devices are provided at different heights at the entrance and exit portions of the work zone, and the output signals from both intrusion object detection devices are If the time difference is within a predetermined time, it is assumed that a person has intruded and the robot stops operating. Therefore, by determining the time difference between the signals output from both intruder detection devices, it is possible to detect intrusion into the work zone. It can easily and reliably detect whether an object is a car body or a person, and the robot will automatically stop operating if the intruder is a person, making safety measures almost perfect. be able to.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a robot device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of phototube switches, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams showing signals of the phototube switches. 1... Conveyor line, 2... Wall, 4... Car body, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B... Safety fence, 7... Entrance section, 8... Exit section, 9... Painting zone, 10... ...Robot, 16, 17, 18, 1
9...Phototube switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A robot that performs a predetermined work on an automobile body, a work zone that defines a work range of the robot, and a conveyor line that extends through the work zone and conveys the car body to the work zone.
The robot device includes a peripheral wall surrounding the work zone and having an inlet and an outlet of the conveyor line, wherein the inlet and the outlet are each provided with an intruder detection device for detecting an intruder into the work zone. Two intruder detection devices are provided at different positions in the height direction, and one of the intrusion object detection devices is provided at a height position where the front body portion of the automobile body installed on the conveyor line is located; The other intruder detection device is installed at a height between the front body portion and the roof, and a circuit is provided to stop the robot when the time difference between output signals from both intrusion object detection devices is within a predetermined time. A robotic device characterized by: