JPH04331088A - Aligning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an aligning device that is capable of alignment absorbed with a tilt with a fixed flange other than in the horizontal direction, capable of setting a compliance operated variable to be large enough without adding any superfluous load to, for example, a robot hand as its compliance operating force is small, and high in the accuracy of centripetal repeatability. CONSTITUTION:This aligner performs a job for relative alignment by way of the centripetal operation of a movable flange 1 relatively moving to a fixed flange 4 by an action of external force, and it is provided with two first centripetal means 2, 3, performing lateral centripetal operations of the movable flange 1, and two second centripetal means 5, 6 performing inclination centripetal operations of the movable flange 1.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an alignment device, and more particularly to an alignment device that performs alignment using the restoring force of a plurality of elastic bodies.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional centering device that performs centering using the restoring force of an elastic body is disclosed in Utility Model Publication No. 1983-63071.

To briefly describe the present proposal with reference to the drawings, FIG. 7 is a central sectional view of the main part of the proposed alignment device. In this figure, the movable flange 20 is aligned with a fixed frame 100 fixed to the robot hand 30, and for this purpose, the movable flange 20
A concave seat 101 is buried in the side, while a fixed frame 1
A concave seat 90 is embedded in 00, and a ball member 60 is interposed between these concave seats 90 and 101 at intervals divided into three equal parts in the radial direction, and a tension coil spring 110 is used to connect the fixed frame 100 and the movable flange. It consists of a structure that attracts 20.

In the conventional structure described above, even if the movable flange 20 is displaced relative to the fixed frame 100, the ball member 60 is stabilized between the concave seats 90 and 101, so that the ball member 60 functions as an alignment device due to the centripetal effect. It can be used.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above conventional example, the compliance is
As a result of the centripetal effect of the concave seats 90 and 101, the following drawbacks occurred. That is, (1) centering can only be performed in the horizontal direction. (2) Since a spring reaction force is generated when the ball member 60 climbs from the concave part of the concave seat to the flat part, the compliance actuation force is large, and an extra load is applied to, for example, the robot hand. (3) Since the ball member can only operate within the range where it does not protrude from the concave portion of the concave seat, the amount of compliance operation is small. In addition, (4) the centripetal action is simply caused by the ball member 60 falling into the recess of the concave seat, so the accuracy of centripetal reproducibility is poor.

Therefore, the alignment device of the present invention has been developed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to be able to perform alignment while absorbing inclinations in directions other than the horizontal direction with respect to the fixed frame. It is an object of the present invention to provide an alignment device in which the compliance actuation force is small, so no extra load is applied to, for example, a robot hand, the amount of compliance actuation can be set to a large value, and the accuracy of centripetal reproducibility is high.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objects, the alignment device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the centering device performs relative centering by centripetal movement of a movable flange that moves relative to a fixed frame due to the action of an external force, the first centripetal means for centripetal movement of the movable flange in the lateral direction; and a second centripetal means for performing centripetal movement in the direction of inclination of the flange.

[0008] Also, preferably, the first centripetal means:
The second centripetal means is made up of a plurality of elastic bodies whose upper and lower ends are immovable by the fixed frame and whose outer shapes abut against holes drilled in the movable flange, and the second centripetal means is configured to move between the upper and lower surfaces of the movable flange. It consists of multiple movable spheres that hold the ball in a tiltable manner.

Furthermore, preferably, the movable flange is integrally provided with a movable plate, and a locking mechanism for preventing relative displacement with the fixed frame is further provided between the fixed frame and the movable plate. Consisting of:

0010

[Operation] In the above configuration, error absorption in the horizontal direction (X, Y, θ directions) using the lateral restoring force of the elastic body;
The upper rolling ball member holding the movable plate is pressed against the elastic body, and its restoring force is used to absorb errors in the tilt direction (α direction).

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the alignment apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the alignment device,
Only the movable side is shown. In this figure, movable flange 1
has a circular outer shape as shown in the figure, and a coil spring 2 that moves in the radial direction and performs a centripetal action as described later is drilled concentrically into three equal parts in the movable flange 1. The coil spring 2 is inserted through the hole 3 so that the outer portion of the coil spring 2 is substantially in contact with the hole 3.

[0013] The coil spring 2, which is disposed with its outer shape in contact with the hole 3, has both ends 2a and 2b inserted into and held in holes 4a and 4b of a fixed frame 4, which will be described later.

The movable flange 1 is provided with a plurality of rolling ball members 5 on its upper and lower surfaces, and is held movably between fixed frames 4. A rolling ball member 5 located on the upper surface of the movable flange 1 is pressed against the surface of the movable flange 1 by the action of a small coil spring 6.

The movable plate 1 is fixed to the movable flange 1 constructed as described above using screws 17, and by fixing the gripping device etc. to the movable plate 1, it can be attached to the hand of the robot device. Fixed frame 4 to be fixed
It is a way of aligning oneself with the other.

Next, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the centering device provided with the movable flange 1 shown in FIG. 1, taken along the coil spring 2. As shown in FIG.

In this figure, the fixed frame 4 is fixed to the robot hand 30 and others, and is integrally provided with a lower fixed frame 4', and the above-mentioned movable flange 1
It has a structure that can hold the . Cylinder chambers 7a, 7b are arranged in this fixed frame 4, and locking pistons 8a, 8b are installed in these cylinder chambers 7a, 7b.
is slidably mounted.

By driving the locking pistons 8a and 8b downward, the recess 16 on the movable plate 16 is closed.
The spherical members 9a, 9b held within a are positioned. This positioning allows the fixed frame 4 and the movable plate 16 to be positioned relative to each other. This movable plate 16 has mounting holes 16 for attaching a gripping device, etc.
A is provided.

This gripping device has a base 18 that is fixed to the movable plate 16 by screws 17, and at this base 18, air is supplied to, for example, a pair of fingers 11 in the directions of arrows B and D in the figure. By doing so, the fingers 11 are inserted into the fitting holes 12 of the article 10 and then gripped.

At the time of this insertion, the center axis 11c of the finger 11 and the center axis 12c of the gripping hole 12 of the article 10 cannot be accurately aligned, so the movable plate 16 is automatically aligned.

The operation of the alignment device described above will be described based on FIGS. 3 to 6. In FIG.
When inserting the fingers 11 of the gripping device attached to the lower side of the gripping device 6 into the gripping hole 12 of the article 10, which is the member to be assembled, from above to below, if the relative position is shifted, the center The lower edge of the shaft 11c once contacts the chamfered portion 13 of the fitting hole 12. After this, Finger 11
By further lowering the finger 11, the lower end of the finger 11 becomes
A component force F directed in the horizontal direction is received along the chamfered portion 13.

This component force F acts on the movable flange 1 through the gripping device, and as a result, it is movably held by the fixed frame 4 and comes into contact with the hole 3 in the movable flange 1. As shown in FIG. 3(b), a force F acts on the coil spring 2 in the lateral direction, and the coil spring 2 moves in the lateral direction. As a result, error absorption is performed and horizontal alignment is completed. Gripping device releases grip (unclamp)
As a result, the movable flange 1 is restored to its original relative position with respect to the fixed frame 4 by the restoring force of the coil spring 2, as shown in FIG. 3(a).

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when the gripping hole 12 of the article 10 has an angle α with respect to the gripping fingers 11, the lower end of the finger 11 touches the chamfered portion 13 of the gripping hole 12. In contact, the movable flange 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the upper rolling ball member 5 is lifted upward to perform centering in the direction of inclination.

In this way, the fingers 1 of the gripping device
The alignment of the inclination (alpha direction) of the gripping hole 12 of the article 10 of the member to be assembled with respect to the central axis 11c of the assembly member 1 is completed.

[0025] This gripping device releases gripping (unclamping)
As a result, the movable flange 1 is restored to its original relative position with respect to the fixed frame 4 by the restoring force of the coil spring 6.

On the other hand, a gripping device integrated with the alignment device described above is attached to the tip of the robot arm 30, for example, and compressed air is supplied to the cylinder chambers 7a and 7b when the robot arm 30 moves in the horizontal direction. By pushing the pistons 8a, 8b downward from the retracted state against the force of the corresponding coil springs 14a, 14b, the taper portions 15a, 15b of the locking pistons 8a, 8b are attached to the balls 9a, 9b on the movable flange 1. By abutting against each other, the relative positions of the fixed frame 4 and the movable flange 1 can be locked.

As explained above, the alignment device enables alignment in the horizontal direction (X, Y, θ directions) and the tilt direction (α direction), and also reduces the lateral restoring force of the coil spring. Therefore, it can operate even if the amount of relative position error absorption is large and the error absorption moving force is weak.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to align the fixed frame while absorbing inclination in a direction other than the horizontal direction, the compliance actuation force is small, the compliance actuation amount can be set large, and centripetal reproduction is possible. Therefore, it is possible to provide an alignment device with high accuracy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a movable part of an alignment device.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of the alignment device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the principle of horizontal direction error absorption of the alignment device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the principle of tilt error absorption of the alignment device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the horizontal error absorption operation of the alignment device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the tilt direction error absorption operation of the alignment device.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the conventional alignment device disclosed in Utility Model Publication No. 1983-63071.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Movable flange 2 Coil spring 3 Hole 4 Fixed frame 5 Rolling ball member 6 Small coil spring 8 Piston 10 Goods 11 Finger 12 Gripping hole 13 Chamfered part 16 Movable plate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An alignment device that performs relative centering by centripetal movement of a movable flange that moves relative to a fixed frame due to the action of an external force, the apparatus comprising: a first centripetal means for centripetal movement of the movable flange in a lateral direction; and a second centripetal means for performing centripetal movement in the direction of inclination of the movable flange. 2. The first centripetal means includes a plurality of elastic bodies whose upper and lower ends are immovable by the fixed frame and whose outer shapes abut against holes formed in the movable flange, 2. The centering device according to claim 1, wherein the second centripetal means comprises a plurality of movable spheres that tiltably clamp the upper and lower surfaces of the movable flange. 3. The movable flange is integrally provided with a movable plate, and a locking mechanism is further provided between the fixed frame and the movable plate to prevent relative displacement with the fixed frame. The alignment device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein: