JPH0459196A - Device for removing workpiece for robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To dissolve a trouble hard to remove a work falling in a bagshaped or recessed part by catching a work material or a workpiece cut in accordance with the timing of cutting or separation of the work by the attracting operation of an electromagnetic device. CONSTITUTION:When the work is cut or separated, the electromagnetic device 10 of a work removing device moves back to a retreating position shown by a broken line because an actuating rod 9 of an air cylinder device 8 performs a retreating operation. Accordingly, the work and the electromagnetic device 10 do not interfere with each other in the course of the cutting operation of the work. Then, when the cutting or separation of the work approaches to its completion time, the actuating rod 9 of the air cylinder device 8 is advanced and operated by the operation of an electromagnetic valve 5. The electromagnetic device 10 of a workpiece removing device set at the tip of the actuating rod 9 moves to the workpiece attracting position approaching to a laser beam outgoing port 6 of a laser beam head 5 and attracts the workpiece magnetically in accordance with the timing of cutting or separation of the workpiece. In this way, the workpiece is prevented from falling downward.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an industrial laser robot, and in particular, when cutting or separating a workpiece with a laser head provided at the tip of the laser robot, the present invention relates to an industrial laser robot. The present invention relates to a workpiece removal device that is applied to enable workpiece removal without dropping the workpiece.

[Prior art]

In the field of industrial robots, laser robots are recently being used for various industrial applications.

Laser robots generally have a structure in which a laser beam is emitted from a laser head installed as an end effector at the end of the arm of an articulated robot or a horizontally articulated robot, and the energy of the laser beam is used to target the material to be processed. Performs work such as cutting or separating workpieces and removing deburrs. Therefore, in recent years, laser robots have tended to be effectively used, for example, in assembly lines of automobiles, when assembling vehicle body parts.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, when a laser robot is used for cutting or separating workpieces, for example, when the workpiece is a door of a car body and unnecessary parts of the door part are to be cut and removed during the process of assembling the door part to the car body frame. If used for this purpose, the cut pieces of the iron plate work may fall into the bag-shaped part of the door and become extremely difficult to remove. Further, even if it is not impossible to remove the workpiece fragments, problems such as the need to remove workpiece fragments in the subsequent work process occur because they remain within the vehicle body frame.

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to cut or separate workpiece materials or workpiece fragments, especially metal workpieces, when the laser head is applied to a laser robot to cut or separate workpieces. It is an object of the present invention to provide a work piece removing device that can capture work piece pieces in accordance with separation timing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a workpiece removal device for a laser robot that can be retracted to a retreat position without interfering with the workpiece while the laser robot is cutting or separating the workpiece. It is in.

A further object of the present invention is that during the workpiece cutting or separation process using the laser head of a laser robot, it is difficult to capture the workpiece pieces at the end of the workpiece cutting or separation operation with the function of removing the workpiece pieces only at a fixed position. In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a workpiece removal device for a laser robot, which has a configuration that can move to an optimal workpiece capture position, and is also capable of scattering and removing spatter caused by laser work. be.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the invention, the present invention moves from a retreat position to a workpiece adsorption position in response to a command signal in accordance with the cutting timing of a metal workpiece by laser operation, and captures the workpiece using electromagnetic adsorption force. It is designed to remove workpiece pieces without causing them to fall.

That is, according to the present invention, there is provided a workpiece removal device for a laser robot that captures and removes a workpiece to be cut or separated by a laser head mounted at the tip of a laser robot before it falls, comprising: A laser robot equipped with an electromagnetic device that is movable between a work piece capturing position and a retreat position set behind the tip of the laser head, and magnetically attracts a work piece after cutting or separation at the work piece capturing position. A work piece removal device for use in the present invention is provided. Also,
The electromagnet device is attached to the tip of an operating ring of a cylinder device that responds to a command signal, and is movable between a work piece capturing position and a retreating position according to the operation of the cylinder device. Furthermore, preferably, a work piece is connected to an air outlet formed in the workpiece adsorption portion of the electromagnetic device.
It is equipped with an ejection pipe and is configured to scatter spatter during laser processing. Preferably, a rotation mechanism is provided that allows the electromagnetic device to be rotated about the axis of the laser head so that the work piece suction position can be set to any position around the axis of the laser head. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in further detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration in which a workpiece removal device for a laser robot according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided on the side of a laser head portion of a laser robot, and FIG.
A front view of the workpiece removal device shown in the figure, seen from the ■-n line direction,
Figure 3 is a side view seen from the direction of the arrow ■-I [I] in Figure 1;
FIG. 4 is a side view showing one example of the structure of the laser robot, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the structure of another embodiment.

First, referring to FIG. 4, an example of a laser robot is illustrated, and the laser robot includes a robot rotating body 2 erected on a robot base 1, and a pivotable body pivoted to the robot body 2 to be able to swing around a horizontal axis. The robot arm 3 is equipped with a robot arm 3, a robot wrist 4 is provided at the tip of the robot arm 3, and a laser head 5 is provided at the tip of the robot wrist 4. The laser beam introduced into the machine body through the robot arm 3, robot wrist 4, etc. is guided to the laser head 5 at the tip via a laser beam conduit (not shown) and a reflection mirror built into the robot arm 3, robot wrist 4, etc. It has a configuration that emits a laser beam focused by a condenser to a desired work target part of a workpiece such as a metal plate. In Figure 4, Mθ
is a drive motor for the robot rotating trunk 2, and Mu is a drive motor for the robot arm 3.

The work piece removing device according to the present invention is configured to be installed in the area around the laser head 5 of the laser robot, that is, in the area indicated by A in FIG. 4.

Here, referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the wrist 4 of the laser robot has a reflecting mirror unit 4a for the laser beam, and the laser beam is reflected by the reflecting mirror unit 4a inside the wrist 4 to guide the laser beam. The modified laser beam is emitted from an exit port 6 at the tip of the laser head 5 toward a workpiece (not shown). At this time, a fluid cylinder device, for example, an air cylinder device 8 , which is held by a bracket plate 7 that projects laterally from near the rear end of the laser head 5 , is provided, and an operating rod 9 of the air cylinder device 8 that can freely move forward and backward is provided. An electromagnetic device 10 is provided at the tip of the electromagnetic device 10, which is fixed by suitable fixing means such as bolts and screws. The electromagnet device 10 reaches a position close to the laser beam exit port 6 of the laser head 5 when the actuating rod 9 of the air cylinder device 8 moves forward, and on the other hand, the actuating rod 9 moves back due to the actuation of the air cylinder device 8. When operated, the laser beam exit port 6 is moved back to the position indicated by the broken line in the figure, which is away from the working range of the laser beam exit port 6. Arrow S in FIG. 1 indicates the movement of the electromagnet device 10, which moves in accordance with the forward and backward movements of the operating rod 9 of the air cylinder device 8. The former position corresponds to a work piece suction position, which will be described later, and the latter position corresponds to a retraction position.

The electromagnet device 10 is configured to be energized via an electric wiring 12, and when energized, it electromagnetically removes the workpiece parts and workpiece fragments that have been cut or separated by the laser beam at a position close to the laser beam exit 6 of the laser head 5. It acts by adsorbing, for example, a bag-shaped portion of the workpiece or the like to capture the workpiece or piece of workpiece so that they do not fall.

The air cylinder device 8 includes a solenoid valve 13, and has a configuration in which pressure crab T- is obtained from the air pipe 14a in accordance with the operation of the solenoid valve 13. Also, solenoid valve 3 is an electrical wiring! a
Air piping 1 in response to a command signal from the outside via 15.
It is provided so as to control the flow path of air supplied to the cylinder device 8 from the cylinder device 4a.

Further, according to the present invention, a small air outlet 10b is provided approximately at the center of the work piece attraction surface 10a of the electromagnet device 10, and an air pipe 14b is connected to this air outlet 10b. The structure is such that pressurized air is ejected from the air ejection port 10b in accordance with the air ejection port 10b.

The operation of the work piece removing device described above will be explained below.

During robot work in which the laser head 5 of the laser robot performs the work of cutting or separating an electromagnetically attractive workpiece, at the time when the workpiece is being cut or separated, the electromagnetic device 10 of the workpiece removing device is an air cylinder. When the actuating rod 9 of the device 8 is operated backward, the first
It has retreated to the retreat position indicated by the broken line in the figure. Therefore, at this time, since there is no electromagnet device 10 in the vicinity of the laser beam exit 6 of the laser head 5, the workpiece cutting or separation work can be performed without interference between the workpiece and the electromagnet device 10 during the workpiece cutting operation. It will be done.

Next, when the end of the workpiece cutting or separation operation approaches, the operating rod 9 of the air cylinder device 8 is moved forward by the operation of the solenoid valve 5. Therefore, the electromagnetic device 10 of the work piece removal device attached to the tip of the operating rod 9 moves to the work piece adsorption position close to the laser beam exit port 6 of the laser head 5, and moves to the work piece adsorption position close to the laser beam exit port 6 of the laser head 5 to match the timing of cutting or separating the work piece. It magnetically attracts work pieces. Therefore, the work piece is prevented from falling downward.

In addition, in the above, the electromagnet device 1 of the workpiece removal device
0 reaches the work piece adsorption position close to the laser beam exit port 6, the electromagnet device 1 is
Air outlet 10 bored in the workpiece adsorption surface 10a of 0
Pressure air is ejected from b to scatter and remove spatter generated when the workpiece is cut or separated by the Lede beam and spatter attached to the workpiece adsorption surface 10a of the electromagnet device 10 under pressure. Therefore, the work piece attracting surface 10a of the electromagnet device 10 is prevented from losing its attracting power due to contamination caused by spatter.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the work piece removing device. In this embodiment, elements designated by the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1-3 are the same as in the previous embodiment. In this embodiment, a gear 20 is attached to a suitable position in the tip region of the robot wrist 4 so as to be rotatable around a central axis, and the laser head 5 is provided in such a structure that it passes through the gear 20 and protrudes forward. There is. Further, a holder plate 18 is fixed to the front surface of this gear 20 and behind the laser beam exit port 6, and when the gear 200 rotates, it moves together around the center line of the laser head 5 in the direction of arrow T or arrow T2. It is freely rotatable. The air cylinder device 8 and the solenoid valve 13 are held on the holder plate 18, and when the operating rod 9 of the air cylinder device 8 expands and contracts through the through hole formed in the holder plate 18, the air cylinder device 8 is provided at the tip of the operating rod 9. The electromagnet device 10 is configured to be movable between a work piece adsorption position where it approaches the laser beam exit port 6 of the laser head 5 and a retreat position where it retreats from there.

On the other hand, a pinion 22 is engaged with the gear 20, and the pinion 22 is connected to a drive gear 26 provided on the output shaft of a suitable electric motor 28 via a shaft 22a1 and a reduction gear 24. Therefore, when the electric motor 28 is rotated, the gear 20 is rotationally driven via the drive gear 26, the reduction gear 24, the shaft 22a1 and the pinion 22, and thereby,
The electromagnet device 10 of the workpiece removing device can be rotated around the axis of the laser beam exit 6 of the laser head 5. As described above, if the electromagnet device 10 is made rotatable, it is possible to position the electromagnet device 10 to a position suitable for the final position where the work piece is cut or separated, and the laser head 5 can cut or separate the work piece. During the separation process, the workpiece removal device can be operated in an optimal position to capture the workpiece. In other words, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of removing the electromagnet device 10 one by one and changing it to the optimum position.

Note that 30 is a cover that protects gears and the like from spatter and external dust.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, when a laser head of a laser robot emits a laser beam to cut or separate a workpiece, the workpiece is cut in accordance with the timing of cutting or separating the workpiece. Since the material or work piece is captured by the adsorption action of the electromagnetic device, for example, a part of the material piece can be cut from a metal sheet metal object such as a door that has an internal recess or bag-like part during an automatic assembly process, etc. This also eliminates the inconvenience that the work piece falls into the bag-shaped portion or recess and becomes difficult to remove, and the finish of the laser work can be improved. Further, since the electromagnetic device eliminates the risk of interference between the workpiece removing device and the workpiece to be laser-worked in the preliminary process of capturing the workpiece, a workpiece removing device with high working efficiency can be obtained. In addition, it is possible to scatter and remove spatter that accompanies laser work, and the workpiece removal device can be positioned at a position corresponding to the final position of workpiece cutting or separation by the laser beam, so workpiece pieces can be removed with high efficiency. It is possible. Therefore,
The work performance of laser robots using laser beams can be further improved compared to conventional methods.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration in which a workpiece removal device for a laser robot according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided on the side of a laser head portion of a laser robot, and FIG.
A front view of the workpiece removal device shown in the figure, seen from the ■-■ line direction,
Figure 3 is a side view seen from the ■-■ arrow direction in Figure 1;
FIG. 5 is a side view showing one example of the configuration of a laser robot, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of another embodiment. 4... Robot wrist, 5... Laser head, 6...
・Laser beam exit aperture, 8... air cylinder device,
9... Operating rod, 10... Electromagnetic device, 10a...
Adsorption surface, 10b--air outlet, 13--electromagnetic valve,
14a, 14b...Air piping path, 15...Electrical wiring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A workpiece removal device for a laser robot that captures and removes a workpiece to be cut or separated by a laser head mounted on the tip of a laser robot before it falls, comprising: A laser robot equipped with an electromagnetic device that is movable between a work piece capturing position and a retreat position set rearward from the tip of the laser head, and magnetically attracts a work piece after cutting or separation at the work piece capturing position. workpiece removal device. 2. The electromagnet device is attached to the tip of an operating rod of a cylinder device that responds to a command signal, and is movable between the work piece capturing position and the retreating position according to the operation of the cylinder device. A work piece debris removal device for a laser robot according to claim 1. 3. The laser according to claim 1, further comprising an air blowing pipe communicating with a blowing hole drilled in the work piece suction portion of the electromagnetic device, and capable of scattering spatter during laser processing. Work piece removal device for robots. 4. The laser robot according to claim 1, further comprising a rotation mechanism that allows the electromagnetic device to be rotated around the axis of the laser head so that the work piece suction position can be set at any position around the axis of the laser head. Work piece debris removal device.