JPH04164565A - Automatic change device for grinding wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify and miniaturize the structure of the whole device, by providing an exclusive grinding wheel fixing jig rotating mechanism which performs the detachment of a grinding wheel fixing jig for fixing a grinding wheel to a grinder rotating shaft, and performing the replacement, removal, etc., of the grinding wheel itself via a grinding wheel storage rack with the movement of a grinder main body by a robot. CONSTITUTION:The approach operation of a grinder main body 9 to a grinder rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2 with the operation of a robot 8, the moving operation to a grinding wheel storage rack 7 of the grinder main body 9 after releasing a grinding wheel fixing jig by a grinding wheel fixing jig rotating mechanism 3, the separating operation of the grinding wheel in this position and the grinder main body, and the reverse order of each operation, are carried out. Consequently the removal of a used grinding wheel from the grinder main body and the installation and fixture of a new grinding wheel onto the grinder main body can be performed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention is an automatic work device using a grinder.

In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic grindstone exchange device that replaces the grindstone as necessary when the grinder is used as an end effector of a machine tool or a robot.

(Conventional technology) Currently, we are improving the versatility of machine tools and industrial robots,
There is a trend to make it as versatile as possible, and to promote labor-saving and automation.

On the other hand, 5 For example, there are machines such as machining centers that have an automatic tool change function and perform various machining operations by sequentially changing tools, and work robots that have mechanical hands, paint sprayers, welding guns, grinders, etc. as end effectors. Tools that automatically and remotely change tools as needed have been developed and are in use.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in any of the above cases, only the grinder, which is a tool, is automatically and remotely replaced, and the grindstone, which is a consumable item, is automatically and remotely replaced. No replacement device has been developed.

However, the whetstone of a grinder wears out relatively quickly, and even if the grinder, which is a tool, can be replaced automatically as described above, it would be labor-saving to have to replace the whetstone manually each time it wears out. This is inconvenient for promoting automation.

If a grinder's whetstone is to be replaced automatically and remotely, the device must be capable of attaching and detaching the jig that holds the whetstone in place, removing worn out whetstones, and installing new whetstones. . Since this type of device requires a large degree of freedom, it has a complicated structure and configuration, which may result in an increase in the size of the entire device. Furthermore, there was a risk that problems would arise in terms of controllability and operability.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and has only the minimum necessary functions for replacing a grindstone, and is capable of automatically and remotely replacing a grindstone, which is a consumable item. is intended to provide.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The automatic grindstone exchange device of the present invention includes a rotating shaft fixing mechanism that non-rotatably supports the grinder rotating shaft of a grinder body used as an end effector of a robot. and a grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism that rotates a grindstone fixing jig fixing a grindstone to the non-rotatably supported grinder rotating shaft;
The grinder includes a grindstone storage rack capable of detaching and storing the used grindstone from the grinder main body by moving the grinder main body, and temporarily attaching the stored grindstone to the grinder main body. Features.

(Function) In the automatic grindstone exchange device of the present invention having the above configuration, the operation of the robot causes the grinder main body to enter the grinder rotation shaft fixing mechanism, and the grindstone fixing jig is detached from the grindstone fixing jig by the grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism. By moving the grinder main body to the grindstone storage rack, separating the grindstone from the grinder main body at this position, and performing the above operations in the reverse order, the used grindstone can be removed from the grinder main body and a new one can be inserted into the grinder main body. The grindstone can be installed and fixed. Furthermore, since the operation of the robot and the various mechanisms described above can be operated automatically, the grindstone of the grinder main body, which is the end effector, can be automatically replaced.

(Embodiment) Fig. 1 is a front view showing a grindstone fixing jig attachment/detachment mechanism and a grindstone storage means in an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows movement and positioning of the grinder in which the grindstone is replaced in the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the robot. In Fig. 1, numeral 1 indicates a grindstone fixing jig attachment/detachment mechanism for loosening and tightening the grindstone fixing jig that fixes the grindstone of the grinder, and numeral 7 stores the used grindstone removed from the grinder body. The grinder main body, which is not shown in this figure, moves between the grindstone fixing jig attaching/detaching mechanism 1 and the grindstone storage rack 7, which shows a grindstone storage rack in which a new grindstone to be replaced is stored. , removing the used whetstone from the grinder body and storing it in the whetstone storage rack 7;
A new grindstone is taken out from the grindstone storage rack 7 and is attached to the grinder main body.

The grindstone fixing jig attaching/detaching mechanism 1 drives a rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2 of the grinder main body, a grindstone fixing jig rotating mechanism 3 located coaxially with the rotating shaft, and this grindstone fixing jig rotating mechanism. A drive motor 4 is provided. Furthermore, the frame structure 1a of the grindstone fixing jig attachment/detaching mechanism 1 includes a position sensor 5 for detecting the position of the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2, and a rotation number detector for detecting the number of rotations of the grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3. 6 is provided.

In FIG. 2, 8 is a robot that uses a grinder body 9 as an end effector.

This is the object of the grindstone replacement according to the above embodiment. The details of this robot 8 will be explained later in connection with grindstone exchange.

3A is a front view showing details of the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2 and grindstone fixing jig rotating mechanism 3, and FIG. 3B is a shaft of the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2. FIG. 3C is a partially cutaway plan view of the fixing member, and FIG. 3C is a partially cutaway front view thereof. In Figure 3A.

The rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2 includes a rotating shaft fixing member 21 whose details are shown in FIG. 3B and FIG. The slide mechanism 22 has a rail 23 and a rail guide 24 that guide the slide mechanism.

The rotating shaft fixing member 21 has a plate shape with a surface perpendicular (horizontal) to the rotating shaft of the grindstone fixing jig rotating mechanism 3, and its base end is slidably supported by the slide mechanism 22.
A spring force is applied in the protruding direction by springs 21a disposed on both sides of the base end. Furthermore, a U-shaped notch 21b that engages with the shaft of the grinder main body 9 is provided at the tip of the rotating shaft fixing member 21. The rotating shaft fixing member 21
is provided with two elongated holes 21c in its longitudinal direction, and each elongated hole is engaged with a guide pin 22a set in the slide mechanism 22.

FIG. 4A is a partially cutaway front view of the grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3;
FIG. 4B is a bottom view thereof, and FIG. 3C is a sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 4A. In FIG. 4A, the drive shaft 32 that transmits the rotation of the drive motor 4 has a hollow cylindrical actuating member 3.
1 is slidably engaged in the axial direction and restrained in the rotational direction. As shown in FIG. 4B, a claw member 31b having a pair of claws 31a at symmetrical positions with respect to the center on the bottom surface is detachably attached to the lower end of the operating member 31.

As shown in FIG. 4C, the distal end of the drive shaft 32 has a non-circular cross section with an axial protrusion 32a projecting over one diameter, and the internal cross section of the actuating member 31 has a complementary shape to the cross section. It is considered a thing. Due to the engagement of the non-circular cross sections, the actuating member 31 is engaged with the drive shaft 32 while being slidable in the axial direction and restrained in one rotation direction.

As shown in FIG. 4B, a claw 31 is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the claw member 31b.
An opening 31c is provided inside a. As shown in FIG. 4A, a small diameter portion of a stepped cylindrical permanent magnet 34 is inserted into and engaged with this opening. Furthermore, the drive shaft 32
A spring 33 is elastically installed between the end surface and the upper surface of the permanent magnet 34, and a spring force is applied to the actuating member 31 in the protruding direction.

5A is a plan view of the grindstone storage rack 7, FIG. 5B is a front view thereof, and FIG. 5C is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 5A. At the front edge of the shelf board 71 which is provided in multiple stages (only two stages in FIG. 5B) and on which the disc-shaped grindstone 70 is placed,
Arc notch 71 to avoid interference with the grinder body
A is provided, and three clamps 72 are provided around this notch to press and support the grindstone.

Hereinafter, the procedure for replacing the grindstone will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6E. These figures show the movement of the grinder main body 9 in the grindstone fixing jig attachment/detachment mechanism 1. At the beginning of the grindstone exchange, as shown in FIG.
is brought close to the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2 with the grindstone 92 facing upward. The robot 8 has two degrees of freedom of movement in the vertical axis direction of the robot arm 8a shown in FIG. 2, and one degree of freedom of expansion and contraction of the arm 8a in the direction perpendicular to the vertical axis. Arm 8 of support post 81
a Degree of freedom of movement θ around a vertical axis located off the sliding surface; a support rack (a kind of pan head) 8b on which the grinder main body 9, which is an end effector, is attached to the tip of the arm 8a;
degree of freedom α of rotation about the expansion and contraction direction of the supporting frame 8b, degree of freedom γ of rotation about the direction perpendicular to the expansion and contraction direction of the support frame 8b, and direction perpendicular to the degree of freedom γ of the grinder main body 9. This is done by appropriately utilizing all the degrees of freedom of movement, such as the degree of freedom β of rotation about the axis.

As shown above, the grinder body 9 is placed with the grindstone 92 facing upward.
After approaching the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2, the grinder main body 9
horizontally (degree of freedom R) to rotate the grinder rotation axis 93.
is pressed against the notch 21b of the rotating shaft fixing member 21, and the center of the grinder rotating shaft 93 and the grindstone fixing jig rotating mechanism 3 are pressed.
The grinder main body 9 is pushed forward until the center of rotation of At this time, the first rotation shaft fixing member 21 is pushed into the slide mechanism 22 against the spring force of the spring 21a. In the above state, the notch 21 of the rotating shaft fixing member 21
b and the grinder rotating shaft 93 are in contact with each other, but may not necessarily be in a completely engaged state, and the grinder rotating shaft 93 is not necessarily in its rotation inhibited state.

However, FIG. 6A shows a state in which the grinder rotating shaft 93 is completely engaged with the notch 21b, and its rotation is inhibited at the same time as its position is determined.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, the grinder main body 9 is raised together with the rotary shaft fixing mechanism 2 by the operation of the robot 8 (not shown in this figure) (2 degrees of freedom), and the grindstone fixing jig 91 is moved to the operating member 31. A pair of claws 31a provided on the lowest end surface of
contact with. When the grinder main body 9 and the like are further raised, the actuating member 31 is raised against the spring force of the spring 33, and the claw 31a on the lower end surface of the claw member 31b engages the grindstone fixing jig 9.
1 will be strongly pressed. In this press-contact state, the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2 is raised to a predetermined position, which is detected by the position sensor 5.

The grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3 is activated by the detection output of the position sensor 5.
is started in the loosening direction, and the wind 31a is applied to the grindstone fixing jig 91.
It is inserted into a hole that does not appear in each of the above-mentioned times, which is located at a position corresponding to the wind on the top surface (FIG. 6C). When entering this fitted state, the operating member 31 of the grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3 is lowered by the axial length of the claw 31a. As shown in FIG. 6A, as long as the grinder rotating shaft 93 is in the rotation inhibited state, the grindstone fixing jig 91 can be loosened by continuing to drive the grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3.

However, as described above, the grinder rotating shaft 93 and the notch 2
1b is not in a completely engaged state and the rotation of the grinder rotating shaft 93 is not inhibited.

By driving the grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3, the grinder rotation shaft 93 rotates together with the stop fixing jig 91.

During this rotation, when the direction of the shaft becomes appropriate, the grinder rotation shaft 93 and the notch 21b are completely engaged, and the grinder rotation shaft 93 is in a rotation inhibited state,
After that, the grindstone fixing jig 91 will be loosened.

In the sixth diagram, the operating member 31 resists the spring 33 to absorb the upward displacement of the grindstone fixing jig 91 when it is loosened.
The figure shows the state in which the material is being absorbed by sliding along the surface. In addition,
In this state, the grindstone fixing jig 91 is attracted to the stepped permanent magnet 34, which is not shown in this figure.

The grindstone fixing jig 91 is rotated by the rotation of the whetstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3.
further rises, detaches from the threaded portion of the grinder rotating shaft 93 for fixing the grindstone, and when the grindstone is separated by the distance necessary for replacing the grindstone, the rotation speed detector 6 detects this separation. The robot 8 lowers the grinder body 9 together with the rotary shaft fixing mechanism 2 based on the detection output (FIG. 6E).

Here, the robot 8 operates to move the grinder body 9 from the grindstone fixing jig attaching/detaching mechanism 1 with the grindstone 92 placed thereon, and if the grindstone is not to be reused, the grinder body 9 is brought to a grindstone disposal site. If the grindstone is to be discarded and reused, it is brought to the grindstone storage rack 7 and stored in the grindstone storage rack.

The grindstones are stored in the grindstone storage rack 7 in the following manner. That is, by operating the robot 8, the grindstone 92 is inserted and held between the shelf board 71 and the clamp 72 as shown in FIG. By pulling out the grindstone 92 from the center hole, the grindstone 92 is detached from the grinder main body 9 and is stored in the grindstone storage rack 7.

Next, a procedure for mounting a new grindstone on the grinder rotating shaft 93 in place of the grindstone that was discarded or removed and stored as described above will be explained. A new grindstone is stored in the grindstone storage rack 7 as shown at 70 in FIG. 5A. First of all,
Contrary to the storage of the used grindstone described above, the grinder main body 9 is brought close to a new grindstone by operation of the robot, and the grinder main body 9 is raised to engage the grinder rotation shaft 93 with the center hole of the grindstone. Pulling out the whetstone from the whetstone storage rack 7 by applying horizontal movement;
Thereby, the grindstone is temporarily attached to the grinder main body 9.

Thereafter, the new grindstone is fixed to the grinder rotating shaft 93 in the reverse procedure of removing the used grindstone. That is,
Operate the robot 8 to horizontally move the grinder body 9 as shown in FIG.
It continues to move together with the fixing member 21 while resisting the spring force, so that the fine point of the grinder rotating shaft 93 is located directly below the rotating shaft of the grindstone rotating mechanism 3.

Next, the robot 8 is operated to raise the grinder body 9 together with the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2 as shown in the sixth diagram.
The upper end of the grinder rotation shaft 93 is brought into contact with the grindstone fixing jig 91 which is attracted and held by the permanent magnet of the grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3. If the upward movement is continued, the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2 will be detected by the position sensor 5, and the drive motor 4 will be started in the opposite direction to the direction in which the fixing jig 91 was removed based on the detection output.

By starting the drive motor 4, as shown in FIG. 6C,
The grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3 descends along the threaded portion of the grinder rotating shaft 93, and the grindstone fixing jig 91 starts tightening against the grindstone 92. If the grinder rotation shaft 93 is not completely engaged with the notch 21b of the fixed member 21,
The grinder rotation shaft 93 is also rotated with the rotation of the grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 3, and the grindstone fixing jig 91 is not screwed in and the grindstone 92 is not tightened, but at the beginning of the rotation of the grinder rotation shaft 93. Complete engagement between it and 21b of the fixing member 21 is obtained, and from now on, the grinding wheel 9
2 begins.

The above tightening is moderate, and the tightening of the grindstone fixing jig 91 is proportional to the torque. The operating current of the drive motor 4 is monitored, and when this operating current reaches a specified value, the drive motor 4 is Stop power supply. Thereby, the grindstone 92 can be tightened and fixed by constant tightening torque.

Next, by operating the robot 8, the grinder body 9 is lowered together with the rotary shaft fixing mechanism 2 as shown in FIG.

By sequentially performing the above series of operations, the grindstone 92 of the grinder main body 9 can be automatically replaced.

As mentioned above, the loosening and tightening of the grindstone fixing jig is performed by the dedicated grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 1, and the replacement of old and new grindstones is performed via the grindstone storage rack 7 by the operation of the robot 8. Therefore, there is no need to provide a mechanism for attaching and removing the grindstone 92 from the grinder main body 9, and an automatic grindstone exchange device having a simple structure and a small size can be achieved.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, the automatic grindstone changing device of the present invention includes a dedicated grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism for attaching and detaching the grindstone fixing jig that fixes the grindstone to the grinder rotating shaft, Since the grindstone itself is replaced, removed, etc. by moving the grinder body by a robot via the grindstone storage rack, there is no need to provide a special means for attaching and detaching the grindstone to and from the grinder rotating shaft, and the entire system The configuration can be simplified and downsized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a grindstone fixing jig attachment/detachment mechanism and a grindstone storage means in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a robot that moves and positions the grinder for replacing the grindstone in the embodiment. , Fig. 3A shows the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2.
3B is a partially cutaway plan view of the shaft fixing member of the rotating shaft fixing mechanism 2, FIG. 3C is a partially cutaway front view thereof, and FIG. Figure A is a partially cutaway front view of the grindstone fixing jig co-rotating mechanism 3, Figure 4B is a bottom view of the blade, Figure C is a cross-sectional view taken along C-C@ in Figure 4A, and Figure 5A. is a plan view of the whetstone storage rack 7, FIG. 5B
is a front view thereof, FIG. 5C is a sectional view taken along the line C-C of FIG. It is a diagram. 1... Grindstone fixing jig attachment/detachment mechanism 1a...
・Frame structure 2... Rotating shaft fixing mechanism 21...
・Rotating shaft fixing member 22...Slide mechanism 3・
... Grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism 31 ... Operating member 4 ... Drive motor 5 ... Position sensor 6 ... Rotation speed detector 7. ...Whetstone storage rack 70...Whetstone (stored state) 8
......Robot 9...Grinder body 91...Whetstone fixing jig 92...Whetstone 93...Grinder rotation axis

Claims (1)

[Claims] A rotating shaft fixing mechanism that non-rotatably supports the grinder rotating shaft of a grinder body used as an end effector of a robot, and a grindstone fixing jig that fixes a grindstone to the non-rotatably supported grinder rotating shaft. A grindstone fixing jig rotation mechanism for rotating a tool, and a used grindstone can be removed from the grinder body and stored by moving the grinder body, and the stored grindstone can be disguised in the grinder body. What is claimed is: 1. An automatic grindstone exchange device comprising: a grindstone storage rack;