JPH04503796A - Gripping and/or handling device for plate-like workpieces of arbitrary shapes - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The invention relates to a gripping and/or handling device for a plate-shaped workpiece having an arbitrary shape. Gripping and/or handling device for plate-shaped workpieces, especially plate parts with punched holes In this case, based on the vacuum suction principle (the device has several suction grips that can be connected to the intake pipe) Work with the elements.

Plate workpieces, such as those required for equipment construction, have irregular contours and some voids. and have complex shapes with very different sizes and can be made of different materials. . Therefore, it is difficult to provide a universally effective gripping technique. Flexible plate parts It is possible to incorporate gripping technology into a universal take-out device within the framework of flexible production. I have to come. However, in reality, all contingencies in flexible production A number of constraints arise, each with the requirement to deal with such situations.

Therefore, full automation that is not restricted by predetermined access conditions is not possible with conventional technology. Ru.

Although various clues for solving the above problems are known from the prior art, there are only a few. However, all these clues are only limited solutions. For example, European patents No. 0135095 describes individual suction gripping elements actuatable via the intake line. A gripping device is described which is equipped with an element and which allows for both stamping and Automatic loading and unloading of nibbling machines is possible using industrial robots. Ru.

Furthermore, recently, the Federal Republic of Germany Patent Application No. 3723743 from a board cutting machine with an attached device that allows for the removal of highly permeable boards. A removal method is proposed, in which handling of plate parts is possible without gripping. . The constraints here relate to the removal path from the board cutting machine. Because the leftover lattice Or you can only guide the parts in the window-shaped scraps downwards, but this is often not possible for large parts.

Therefore, in the case of the latter method, problems with gripping or suspending the workpiece On the other hand, in the case of the first method, there is no mention of the The shape or contour of the plate part must be known and the remaining suction cup contact surface must be known. It should not be too small. On the other hand, for multiple applications, different contours and multiple individually any successive parts of various sizes with different numbers of punched holes This is a problem (it should be possible to grasp it). shall be attached to the plate cutting machine or the tested cutting machine equipment shall be This happens when you want to make almost no changes.

For elements of this type, the known vacuum suction principle comes into consideration. For example, the specialized magazine Lugstadt Land Bethso Volume 141311 (1984), No. 10 , pages 641-646 describe a gripper formed from a number of suction gripping elements. A flexible production system is described in which this gripper is universally used. described as available. However, in reality, this type of gripper is For example, even with 60 individually controllable suction gripping elements, equipment manufacturing companies can still It was found that only a very limited number of parts of the specimen could be extracted.

The part in question cannot be gripped and handled using a known suction gripper. I can't.

In contrast, the object of this invention is to provide a device that can also grasp problem parts. It's about doing.

This problem is solved based on the present invention, in which a large number of relatively small suction and holding elements are used in a narrow space. The individual suction gripping elements with hydraulically actuated valves are arranged on a large grid, in which case the individual suction gripping elements with hydraulically actuated valves are closed. This problem can be solved by configuring the structure so that a predetermined amount of air can flow through it. .

By suction gripping elements, the surfaces of individual hexagonal cells with a spacing of opposite sides smaller than 20 mm can be used. Advantageously, a grid for use is formed. In this case, especially if the surfaces of the suction gripping elements become clogged, In the case of the arrangement, there are 61 pieces per section at the opposite side spacing of 144 mm. A number of occupancies are created, the individual suction gripping elements having a diameter d=16 mm.

Using the device based on this invention, it is possible to grasp the problem part blindly, so to speak. There was found. On the one hand, this is due to the miniaturization and increase in the number of suction gripping elements, and on the other hand, On the other hand, it can be explained by the self-regulating configuration of the gripper. especially the gripping elements By dividing the working surface into a large number of small cells, the support ratio of the working surface becomes functionally decisive. It can be mathematically and statistically proven that this increases.

without loss of gripper capacity due to loss of vacuum or complete closure of the gripping suction elements. First, the ability to grasp the sky is essential for blind grasping.

For this purpose, hydraulically actuated valves are integrated into the individual suction gripping elements or integrated. be done. In order to realize a hydraulically operated valve, the existing attachment of the original suction cup is replaced with a special part. , it turned out to be particularly simple to use the base of this part as a valve seat. Ta. In this case, for example, a valve seat made of highly elastic plastic is used with a surface structure and and/or roughness, thereby ensuring complete sealing by the attached sealing element. It is important that it cannot be closed. This sealing property can be achieved by using a metal valve seat. Both are possible.

Therefore, instead of the conventional valve seat made of elastomer, the present invention provides a predetermined valve seat. A valve seat made of stable plastic with a desirable defect fit may be used. It is extremely simple because it uses .

Already recently, a fluid-operated valve that provides a variable flow-through force on the sphere for suction grippers has been developed. This allows the valve to remain open even under the assumption of a porous surface. Proposed in the specialized industry (Schmalz's technical information "Conveyance and Handling") 6) If the surface of the workpiece to be gripped is too porous, the valve closes. The valve will then no longer work against this porous surface. Additionally, multiple single fluid-operated valves Commonly used for suction gripping elements, which can result in a honeycomb shape. proposed in the technical information. This results in particular freedom in the structural formation of the gripping device. There is only a change in the degree of freedom, since the supporting force of one large gripping element is Supporting force of a large number of small suction gripping elements interconnected to form a single honeycomb This is because it is about the same. When this one valve closes, the supporting force is Lost. However, the suction gripping element that grips the air does not significantly affect the vacuum. the rim at the closed valve seat so that it nevertheless remains operational. Based on this invention, the amount of air is increased (the proposal is not discussed in the above technical information). Not yet.

Further details and advantages of the invention will now be explained in conjunction with the embodiment section and with reference to the drawings. An example will be explained.

Figure 1 has a complex contour and numerous punched holes and notches, and is called the problem part. The plan view of the plate material shown in FIG.

Figure 2 shows the support surface of a suction gripping element with a diameter of 50 mm on a grid of hexagonal cells. Shows the divided state.

Figure 3 shows a 144mm section divided into 61 16mm small cells. .

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a valved suction gripping element used in the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows the entire device completed with the suction gripping elements shown in FIG.

FIG. 1 shows a plate 1 which is considered to be the problematic part. Plate 1 is an irregular ring It has a shell 2, various cuts 3 and/or punched holes 4. This type of plate material is conventionally Handling is difficult using a suction gripper device.

FIG. 2 shows that in this invention, the supporting force of the gripper is increased by a large number of suction gripping elements. The code 11 indicates that the probability of being maintained can be improved. The contours of two suction gripping elements are shown. This type of suction gripping element has three irregular cuts and When placed on a plate 1 shown in FIG. 1 having cut and/or punched holes 4, and/or hit the punched hole, thereby causing the suction gripping element 11 to lose its supporting force. There is a high probability that it will happen.

Differently from this, one suction gripping element 11 has a contour of 17 mm or 16 mm. Seven suction gripping elements 12-18 having a diameter are incorporated. Opposite side spacing 16 Basic hexagonal cells with mm and adapted to individual suction gripping elements 12-18 10 are assembled to form a cell 19 with an opposite side spacing of 48 mm. , it becomes clear that the required area is almost the same here. Therefore use the surface A grid dimension can be formed.

FIG. 3 shows a conventional gripper device in a compartment 20 having an opposite side spacing of 144 mm. One 50 mm suction gripping element is shown, which is used on average in the case of . A plurality of gripping elements are likewise arranged in the compartment 20 in a close-sided arrangement.

A study on the probability of effectiveness of multiple gripper-occupied surfaces reveals that the previously used adsorption It is possible that the gripping elements are actually selected one or two orders of magnitude too large for blind gripping. found. In particular, even if the sacrifice of relatively low occupancy density has to be paid, Regardless of the diameter of 50 mm and approximately 20 Instead of a suction gripping element 11 with a working area of 16 mm, 61 suction gripping elements 12 to 18 each having a working area of about 2 cm" are provided. It is more effective to From Figure 2, there is one hole with a size of 1 mm in the plate. In this case, if there are seven suction gripping elements 12 to 18, one of them becomes invalid. However, it becomes clear that there is still an operating area of 6 x 2 cm" = 12 cm". . On the other hand, the operating area of the suction gripping element 11 is a16 mm, which is zero in this case. 61 suction gripping elements with a diameter of 144 mm for clarity This effect becomes even stronger ( appear. Supporting capacity is still guaranteed even when multiple 1mm” size holes are present has been done.

In FIG. 4, the suction gripping element 30 consists of an actual suction cup 31, the rear side of which The part 33 is attached to the main part of the part via a connecting element 38 configured as a cap nut. The six parts 33 , 34 connected to 34 form a hydraulically operated valve 35 . hydraulic actuation The valve 35 has a valve seat 36 and a sealing element pushing towards the valve seat 36, as is known per se. For example, it consists of a ball 37. In the case of conventional technology, the valve seat 36 is usually made of elastomer. Equipped with a padskin. In the case of FIG. 3, the valve seat 36 has a surface structure relative to the ball 37. It has a defective fit achieved by the structure and/or surface roughness. Thereby valve 3 5 is closed, the valve seat cannot be completely closed, but rather the predetermined amount of air is closed. will flow through. A grate 32 separates the suction cup 31 from the hydraulically operated valve 35.

In FIG. 5, the gripping device 40 is mainly provided with an intermediately provided sealing element 43,44. It consists of two plates 41 and 42, the upper plate 41 having a fixed flange 4. 5 is provided for coupling with a handling device or robot. Upper plate 4 1 is provided with a vacuum connection port 46, and the connection between the plates 41 and 42 is connected through this vacuum connection port. The space is evacuated. Holes 47, 48... are provided on the bottom surface on a hexagonal grid. , suction grippers 30, 30', etc. can be incorporated into these holes.

In the case of the suction gripping element 30 shown in FIG. 4 or the gripping device 40 shown in FIG. 31 and the valve seat 36 are mounted so that the main part 34 of the parts can be easily replaced. This allows you to easily replace worn parts. This is advantageous for practical use. It is. Otherwise, the entire device would have to be replaced.

For example, 16 x 13 = 208 individual suction gripping elements 3 with a distance of 16 mm between opposite sides. The use of a planar gripping device with It will be done. At that time, any workpiece up to about 4 times the size of the gripper can be handled almost blindly. It is particularly advantageous to be able to grasp it. For workpieces smaller than the gripper size If the workpiece is protruding or raised from the floor or Handle the workpiece only when it is placed on the stack without any adjacent objects interfering with it. It must be noted that it is possible to

This applies to workpieces that are to be removed from the coordinate table of a cutting machine. This means that the conventional large grippers used for this purpose can operate over the entire surface. resulting in unacceptable results. It is true that the gripper operates in the central area of the workpiece. surface is desirable, but in the peripheral area, if there is a residual material grid surface there, for example, it may be difficult to remove it. Grasping beyond the boundaries of the workpiece to be delivered is not allowed; The solution consists of individually programmable or shut off Instead of large individual suction cups, they become hexagonal cells on a 100-20' Omm grid. For example, 1 A gripper module with a spacing between opposite sides of 44 mm is used.

This new device eliminates the need for large, individually switchable suction in the case of conventional grippers. Instead of gripping elements, correspondingly sized compartments with multiple gripper surfaces can be used. In this case, if the workpiece is small, a predetermined area can be appropriately cut off. I can do it. Large grid of individually switchable suction gripping element occupancy density The traditional face division of the paper can be maintained by finer patterning along the free cut edges. can be done. The separate plots are laid out on a selected basic grid, allowing for tight occupancy. To achieve this, for example, create a jigsaw puzzle-like pattern with a spacing of 16 mm on opposite sides. can be formed. The frame-shaped part must be lifted out of the residual material grid. If the workpiece is not available, the workpiece that is freely accessible within the free cutting edge must be removed. allows for more finely selective patterning across the gripper surface than when is purposeful.

In addition, we will further explain the meaning of leakage air when the suction gripping element grasps the air. Ru.

A device with a large number of small suction and gripping elements that are packed tightly together has a sparse occupancy density. has less surface compliance than is known from large gripping elements. In addition, individual The suction gripping elements have seating tolerances, so all suction gripping elements are completely flat. It does not necessarily sit on the workpiece. Furthermore, in reality, the surface may have been warped to some extent due to the cutting process. There is a processed product. Parallelism when sitting cannot be easily guaranteed. Large gripper surface There is also a risk that the pressing force required for adequate seating in the case of heavy lifting cannot be controlled. found. For all these reasons, suction is required when seating the gripper on the workpiece. Only part of the gripping element closes completely, i.e. it is activated immediately when the vacuum is applied. It is presumed that this will not be effective. The rest of the suction gripping elements automatically It closes for the first time upon continuous follow-up, initially incompletely based on the residual activity of the leaking air, and then It becomes fully effective after the formation of the vacuum and the fall of the valve ball. Still empty on the punched hole Only suction gripping elements that grip are not effective for supporting force. If a temporarily closed valve is Fully closing does not provide this tracking effect, so it is sufficient under unfavorable assumptions. A suitable support surface ratio is not available. This new with a constant amount of air flowing through the bypass By means of suction gripping elements, the element is pressed against, for example, a dirty workpiece surface and is initially supported. Each element remains effective even when it does not contribute to the ownership percentage.

A special application of this new gripping element is the use of vacuum-based multiple grippers of arbitrary shapes. The workpiece can be gripped by pressing the whole part onto the workpiece. Vacuum is applied at the unloading area. By blocking the inlet line, the workpiece can be mechanically stripped off without the need to or scraped, for example by a blade, which is often not possible in mobile devices. It is advantageous if Another special application of the new gripping device is the circular overhead conveyor belt. It is used as part of the root. A large number of parts of this type can be linked together in a belt. They can be movably coupled to each other as links. Vacuum introduction and in some cases Various structural solutions exist for proper switching off.

In all cases of handover on the move, the device according to the invention ensures that the workpiece is Unlike the technology of It turns out that the vacuum works perfectly on closed surfaces.

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Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. Multiple suction gripping elements that can be connected to the intake pipe work according to the vacuum suction principle. Gripping and/or hacking of plate-like workpieces of arbitrary shape, especially plate parts with punched holes. In devices for handling, a large number of relatively small suction gripping elements (12-18, 30) are arranged on the grid and are equipped with hydraulically operated valves (35). The individual suction gripping elements (30) are arranged so that a predetermined amount of air can flow through them in the closed state. Gripping and/or handling of a plate-shaped workpiece, characterized in that it is configured as follows: Device. 2. The lattice dimension, which consists of individual hexagonal cells (10) and utilizes surfaces, is the suction gripping element ( 12 to 18, 30). . 3. When arranging suction gripping elements (12 to 18, 30) with their faces packed together, hexagonal A claim characterized in that a group of files is grouped together to form one section (20). 2. The device according to 2. 4. A hydraulically operated valve (35) is incorporated into each suction gripping element (30). 2. The device of claim 1, characterized in that: 5. Each suction gripping element (30) is attached to a valve seat for the realization of a hydraulically operated valve (35). a highly elastic intrusion (36) with a surface structure and/or surface roughness; 5. The valve seat according to claim 4, wherein the valve seat (36) is not completely closed due to this. Device. 6. The fluid operated valve (35) of the suction gripping element (30) is replaceable. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5. 7. The suction gripping elements (30) are connected in parallel to a common vacuum line (46). The device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 8. A plurality of suction gripping elements (12 to 18) each grouped into one section (20) Particularly, the partial surface with can be turned on or off in a common vacuum line (46). 8. The device according to claim 3 or 7, wherein the device comprises: 9. When the distance between the opposite sides of the section (20) is 144 mm, the number of occupancies is 61. ), the individual suction gripping elements (12 to 18, 30) having a diameter d=16 m. 4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that it has m. 10. The compartments (20) comprising a plurality of suction gripping elements (12-18) have the same size. Instead of the individual suction gripping elements (11) of the Device according to one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that it is inserted into the device. 11. A compartment (20) comprising a plurality of suction gripping elements (12-18) circulates in an annular manner. According to one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that it forms part of an overhead conveyor belt. The device described.