JPH0691573A - Hand gripper of robot and apparatus for automatically changing gripper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable more kinds of workpieces to be handled by enabling the change of grippers of a work hand equipped on a robot arm for supplying the workpieces to a machine tool. CONSTITUTION:A work hand 60 mounted changeably to an end of an arm of a gantry robot attached to a machine tool has sliders 620 driven to open and close radially for a casing 600. On the upper surface of a stocker 450 for receiving a hand equipped changeably on the gantry robot is disposed a base 70 for holding a set of grippers 650. The sliders 620 of the work hand 60 engage with grooves in the gripper 650 to automatically attach and detach the grippers 650 by the opening and closing operations of the sliders 620.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a composite machining machine tool,
The present invention relates to a device for automatically replacing a gripper (joint) of a hand attached to a robot that handles a work in a production system including an automatic work supply device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been proposed a lathe cell which is equipped with a combined machining lathe and a conveying device for automatically supplying a work, and which is capable of processing many kinds of works by unmanned operation. The material work, for example, is carried into a lathe cell while being accommodated in a pallet,
The gantry robot grips the work and supplies the work to the spindle chuck of the lathe. Gantry robot
Gripper (jaw) for gripping the work at the tip of the hole
The gripper has a structure similar to that of a three-jaw scroll chuck, for example.

[0003]

Since the lathe cell is capable of automatically processing various kinds of work, the shape and size of the material work to be supplied also vary widely. Robot arm
The hand of the mumm has an opening / closing mechanism for the gripper, but since the size of opening and closing is limited, the range of work that can be handled by one type of gripper is limited. Therefore,
In order to support a work having a wide range of sizes, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of grippers. However, in the conventional device, the gripper cannot be automatically replaced, and the gripper is manually replaced and adjusted on the slider having a "T" cross section. Therefore, it was difficult to continue the production by unmanned operation. Therefore, the present invention is
(EN) A device for automatically replacing a gripper of a work hand attached to the end of an arm of a gantry robot.

[0004]

As a basic means, the work hand of the present invention is attached to and detached from a slider by opening and closing the slider in the radial direction of the casing of the work hand and inserting and sliding the slider. And a gripper having a nail. The gripper is provided with a pin that engages with the slider to ensure reliable engagement. A plurality of bases for holding a set of grippers are prepared on a stocker of jigs and tools constituting a lathe cell, and the necessary gripper sets are automatically exchanged by a robot hand.

[0005]

The gantry robot, which carries the work in the lathe cell, automatically replaces the gripper of the work hand equipped at the arm tip of the robot and is suitable for the shape and size of the work. With a gripper, many kinds of work are automatically processed by unmanned work.

[0006]

1 and 2 are a front view and a plan view to which the present invention is applied. The lathe cell comprises a combined machining lathe, generally designated 10. The combined machining lathe 10 includes, for example, two opposing spindles. Each of the two spindles has a corresponding tool rest, and the work machined by the first spindle is used as the second spindle.
It is possible to perform complicated machining by shifting to the main spindle of. A stocker device indicated by reference numeral 30 is provided on the side of the combined machining lathe 10. The stocker device 30 has a jig / tool stocker 40 and a pallet stocker 50. The stocker device 30 covers the whole with a fence 300 to ensure safety.
The jig / tool stocker 40 accommodates various jigs / tools used in the combined machining lathe 10 and jigs / tools used in the transfer device. The pallet stocker 50 accommodates the pallets 520 in a stacked state, and each pallet 520 is handled by the pallet transfer device 500. Combined processing lathe 10 and stocker device 30
The transfer device 20 is disposed between the two. The transfer device 20 has a multi-tasking lathe 10, a guide rail 200 provided between the stocker devices 30, and a gantry robot 210 running on the guide rail. Gantry-robot 21
Numeral 0 is provided with a retractable arm 220 and various hands that are replaceably attached to the tip of the arm 220, and conveys jigs and tools between the stocker device 30 and the multi-tasking lathe 10. The operation of the carrier device 20 and the stocker device 30 is
It is controlled by the cell controller 90. The cell controller 90 cooperates with the NC device 12 of the multi-tasking lathe 10 to automatically perform the work automatically.

Tool stocker 4 in stocker device 30
0 has a base 400. On the base 400
A rail 452 is provided, and a box-shaped box stocker 450 is movably mounted on the rail 452. The box stocker 450 is controlled so that its position can be determined on the rail 452. Inside the box stocker 450, the gantry
Various hands that can be exchangeably attached to the tip of the arm 220 of the robot 210 are housed. The types of hands include, for example, a work hand 60, a jaw hand 62 for exchanging a jaw of a spindle chuck, a tool hand 64 for exchanging a tool of a tool post, and a shaft-shaped work.
There is a shaft work hand 66 for handling the work. A gripper base 70 holding a hand gripper is attached to a flange portion on the upper surface of the box stocker 450. The gripper base 70 is provided with various grippers according to the size of the work. Base 400
A chain stocker 410 is provided on both sides of the chain stocker 410. The chain stocker 410 is, for example, of a type that circulates endlessly. There are many tools 412 in the chain.
And the chuck jo-414 is held. Tool 412
Is sent to the tool rest of the combined machining lathe 10 by the tool hand 64 attached to the gantry robot 210. The Jaw-414 is sent to the spindle chuck of the combined machining lathe 10 by the Jaw hand 62 attached to the gantry robot 210. The pallet stocker 50 is a base 500.
And a traveling carriage 510 guided by the base 500. The traveling carriage 510 is a guide rail 51 of the base 500.
Moved along 0 and positioned. The traveling carriage 510 includes a fork device 512 that moves up and down. The fork device 512 holds both sides of the pallet 520, and raises the pallet 520 to a point where the gantry robot 210 meets the work hand 60.

FIG. 3 shows details of the box stocker 450. The box stocker 450 runs on the rail 452 and is positioned. Box stocker 45
In 0, work hand 60, joe hand 62, and tour hand 60
The ru-hand 64 and the shaft work hand 66 are housed. A plurality of gripper bases 70 are attached to the flange portion on the upper surface of the box stocker 450.
The gripper base 70 is provided with grippers that are attached to the work hand and correspond to the respective work sizes, and the work hand 60 is equipped with the grippers exchangeably.

FIG. 4 shows an outline of the whole work hand.
5, 6, 7 and 8 show details of the work hand. Work Hand 60 is a gantry robot arm 2
It is attached to the tip of 20 through a wrist 61 in a replaceable manner. The work hand casing 600 has a substantially box-like appearance, and two cylinder chambers 602 are formed therein. A piston 602A is slidably inserted into the cylinder chamber 602. The cylinder chamber 602 is an air supply pipe 6
It is connected to the arm 220 of the gantry robot via 04. Gantry-Air sent from the robot side
The piston 602A is driven. A shaft 607 provided upright on the casing 600 of the work hand supports the cam plate 605 via a bearing. Air piston 60
The pin 603 attached to the tip of the 2A piston rod is
The cam plate 605 is engaged and the cam plate 605 is rotated. The cam plate 605 has three cam grooves 606. A cam follower 608 of a slider 620 engages with each cam groove 606. The slider 620 is a guide 618.
And is supported slidably in the radial direction. Therefore, when the cam plate 605 rotates, the slider 620
Are driven radially. A pressure plate 610 is arranged between the three sliders 620. The pressure plate 610 is constantly urged by a spring 612 in a direction away from the casing 600. The pressure plate 610 pushes out the work so that the work is surely pressed against the chuck when the gripper of the work hand 60 releases the work.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a slider and a gripper (joe) which is replaceably engaged with the slider, and FIG. 10 is a plan view of the jaw. The cross section of the slider 620 is “engineered”.
The main body 622 has a V shape. The upper and lower surfaces of the main body 622 have a wide portion 624 and a narrow portion 625. Slider 620
A recess 627 in the front end of which receives the pin of the gripper
Have. The gripper, generally designated 650, comprises a body 6
51, and a claw 652 is formed on the main body 651. Two plates 660 are fixed to the side of the main body 651 opposite to the claws 652. This block 660 has a narrow portion 662 in the center.
Have. The narrow portion 662 has a size that allows the wide portion 624 of the slider 620 to pass through. The pin 665 is attached to the gripper 650 on the side opposite to the claw 652.

In FIG. 11, the work hand 60 has a gripper base.
The function of exchanging the gripper 650 in cooperation with the switch 70 is shown. FIG. 12 shows a main part of FIG. First, the work hand 6
The operation of attaching a new gripper 650 to 0 will be described. The slider 620 of the work hand 60 is opposed to the gripper 650 held by the gripper stand 720.
The open position of the slider 620 is set such that the wide portion 624 of the slider 620 passes through the opening formed by the plate 660 of the gripper 650. In this state, the arm of the gantry robot is extended and the slider 620 is moved to the gripper 6
Insert in 50. In this state, air is supplied to the air cylinder to slide the slider 620. Slider 620
The groove 627 at the tip end of the gripper 650 engages with the pin 665 of the gripper 650, and the slider 620 and the gripper 650 are integrally connected. By contracting the arm, the gripper 650 is pulled out from the gripper stand 720. As a result, a new gripper 650 is attached to the work hand 60. The action of returning the gripper 650 attached to the work hand 60 to the gripper stand 720 of the gripper base 70 is achieved by performing the reverse process of the action described above.

FIG. 13 shows the function of the gripper base 70 to absorb a positioning error. The gripper base 70 has a supporting plate 715 fixed on a base plate 710, and a gripper stand 720 is independently provided on the supporting plate 715 via a separate spring 730.
The gripper 650 is provided with respect to the gripper stand 720.
It is held with a light force by the spring pin 722.
When the work hand slider is pressed against the gripper 650 with force F ₁ , the gripper stand 720 moves the spring 7
It is pushed down a distance of Stroke S ₁ against 30. Due to the existence of this stroke, it is possible to absorb the positioning error of the robot and the difference in the height position of the three sliders.

FIG. 14 shows a slider 620 and a gripper 650.
Shows the engaged state. The slider 620 and the gripper 650 are firmly engaged by the pin 665 in the gripper tightening direction, but the engaging force is weak in the opposite direction. Therefore, the slider 620 is provided with a pressing pin 628 by a spring, and the pressing pin 628 is attached to the slider 650.
By engaging with the groove formed on the back surface of the main body 651, the engagement between the slider 620 and the gripper 650 is ensured.

FIGS. 15, 16 and 17 show a state in which grippers of different sizes are prepared according to the dimensions of the work. The gripper 650 of FIG. 15 has a work outer diameter dimension D0.
Shows the one having the claw 652 corresponding to the one having a large size.
The gripper 650A shown in FIG. 16 has a work outer diameter dimension D.
1 has a claw 652A corresponding to the work having an outer diameter dimension D0 smaller than that of FIG. The gripper 650B shown in FIG. 17 further has a claw 652B corresponding to a work having a smaller outer diameter dimension D2. The grippers shown in FIGS. 15 to 17 are all grippers that grasp the work from the outer diameter side. In the gripper that grasps the work from the inner diameter side, the engaging direction of the slider 620 and the gripper is set to be opposite. That is, the gripper 650
The pin 665 to be attached to is attached in the direction in which the slider 620 engages when opening outward. According to the present invention, the gripper for grasping the work is attached to the slider which opens and closes in the radial direction as described above in a replaceable manner. Attachment / detachment of the slider and the gripper is performed using the opening / closing force of the slider. Therefore, a new actuator for attaching and detaching the gripper to the slider is not required.

Although the above description shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a hand provided with three sliders that open and close in the radial direction, the present invention is also applied to other types of hands. can do. As described above, since the gripper suitable for the work size can be selectively attached to the work hand, it is possible to handle the work of various sizes accommodated on the pallet supplied to the pallet stocker. it can. Therefore, various work supplied to the lathe cell
It is possible to automatically process various kinds of work by sending the work to a compound processing lathe and unmanned for a long time.

[0016]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the present invention is a robot hand for handling a work provided in an automatic machining system for a lathe cell or the like, which automatically includes a gripper for gripping a work attached to the hand. Since it is structured such that it can be exchanged, various types of work can be handled by selecting a gripper according to the shape and size of the work. By preparing a gripper of each size as a set and preparing it on the base, the robot hand automatically replaces the gripper by the opening and closing action of the slider of the hand, so a special mechanism is provided for the replacement of the gripper. No need. Therefore, the lathe cell can process more kinds of work by unmanning for a long time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a lathe cell embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a lathe cell.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a jig / stocker.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a work hand.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a cam plate.

6 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.

FIG. 7 is another explanatory view of the work hand.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a slider.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of essential parts of a slider and a gripper.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the gripper.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing the relationship between the gripper base and the work hand.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing the relationship between the gripper on the gripper base and the slider.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing the engaging action of the hand and the gripper.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing an engaged state of a slider and a gripper.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing a replacement gripper.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view showing another example of the exchange gripper.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory view showing still another example of the exchange gripper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Multi-tasking lathe 20 Conveyor device 30 Stocker device 40 Jig tool stocker 50 Pallet stocker 60 Work hand 70 Gripper base 600 Case 602 Air cylinder 602A Piston 605 Cam plate 606 Cam groove 608 Cam follower 620 Slider 627 Gripper 6 627 groove Nail 665 pin

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A hand equipped at the tip of an arm of a robot for supplying a work to a machine tool, the hand being supported slidably with respect to the casing and in the radial direction. A plurality of sliders that are driven to open and close in a vertical direction and have a "K" -shaped cross section that is orthogonal to the sliding axis, and a gripper that has a claw that can be attached to and detached from the slider by inserting and sliding the slider. Hand gripper. 2. The gripper is provided with a pin that engages with a groove formed in the slider, and the groove of the slider is fitted into the pin of the gripper when the slider slides in the direction of gripping the work. 1. The hand gripper described in 1. 3. A combined machining lathe, a stocker device for work and jigs, and a gantry for conveying work and jigs.
A lathe cell work hand equipped with a robot, which is attached to a stocker device for jigs and tools and has a plurality of gripper bases for holding grippers corresponding to works of different sizes, and a gantry robot arm. A work hand having a slider attached to the tip of the gripper, a means for making the work hand slider face the gripper on the gripper base, and an automatic opening and closing operation of the work hand slider Automatic gripper exchanging device for a work hand, which is equipped with means for selectively attaching and detaching.