JPH07148686A - Workpiece processing hand - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a label attaching hand compact, lightweight and capable of performing label affixing of high quality. CONSTITUTION:An affixing head part 13 is supported on a turning member 12 by a flexible coupling 22, rotatably in the specified biaxial directions, and the distance between the turning member 12 and an affixing head 24 is regulated by a regulating chain 26 and a compression coil spring 25 in the state of the affixing head 24 not being in contact with the label affixed face 1a of a workpiece. At the label sucking time, the affixing head 24 can be held parallelly, and label affixing of high quality can be performed to the label affixed face 1a at the label affixing time (in the state of a drawing).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work processing hand, and more specifically, in attaching a label or the like to a processing target surface of various products (hereinafter referred to as a target work), stamping, or a processing target surface. The present invention relates to a work processing hand that performs various kinds of processing such as suction holding of a work.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an example of the work processing hand, there has been provided an apparatus for adsorbing a label at a predetermined adsorbing position and affixing the adsorbed label to the surface of a target work. As such a labeling device, there is a labeling device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-150508. As shown in FIG. 8, this label sticking apparatus includes a rotating mechanism 62 for rotating the suction head 61 around two axes that are substantially orthogonal to the reciprocating direction indicated by the arrow in the figure, and the suction head 61 for covering the target work. A compression coil spring 63 that urges the label sticking surface, a moving member 64 that reciprocally supports the suction head 61 in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and a rotation of the suction head 61 when the suction head 61 is located at the backward movement end. A stopper member 65 that restricts the dynamic displacement and a rodless cylinder 66 that drives the stopper member 64 in the reciprocating direction are provided. According to this label sticking apparatus, since the suction head 61 can be rotated around the above-mentioned two axes, the moving member 64 can be rotated.
Thus, the entire surface of the suction head 61 driven by is easily brought into close contact with the label sticking surface of the target work, and the sticking accuracy at the time of sticking the label can be improved. In addition, since the rotation of the suction head 61 is restricted by the stopper member 65 urged by the rodless cylinder 66 during the label suction, the label suction processing can be stably performed.

[0003]

However, according to the label sticking apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, since the rotating mechanism 62 for rotating the suction head 61 around the two axes and the stopper member 65 driven by the cylinder are adopted, There is a problem that the label sticking apparatus becomes large and complicated, and the weight of the label sticking apparatus becomes large. More specifically, in order to make the suction head 61 rotatable in two axial directions, the distance of the center of the rotation axis is inevitably longer than that in the configuration in which the suction head 61 is rotated about one axis. The total length becomes long and the size becomes large, and the mechanism around each axis becomes complicated and the number of parts increases, resulting in an increase in weight.

Further, a stopper member 65 and a rodless cylinder 66 for restricting the rotational displacement of the suction head 61 are provided in the reciprocating direction of the suction head 61 when the suction head 61 is located at the backward movement end. Causes the label sticking device to become large in the reciprocating direction and also significantly increases the weight of the device. When the label sticking device becomes large and heavy in this way, it becomes difficult to attach it as a label sticking hand to the tip of the arm of a small robot having a turning function, and the type of applicable robot is limited. Occurs.

The above problem is not limited to the label sticking hand for sticking the label on the label sticking surface of the target work, but the stamp hand for stamping the processing target surface of the target work, and the work target surface of the target work. The same problem occurs in a work processing hand that performs various kinds of processing such as a work suction hand that performs suction holding.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and can perform processing such as sticking, gripping, sucking and stamping with high accuracy and high quality even if the work surface is inclined or has a curvature. The object is to provide a small and lightweight work processing hand that can be used.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a work processing hand according to a first aspect of the present invention is a work processing for performing a predetermined processing on a base body attached to the tip of an arm of a robot. A member, a slide member whose one end side is slidably held by the base member in a direction substantially orthogonal to the base member, and a slide member that is provided at a substantially central portion of a surface of the work processing member opposite to the work processing surface and the other end of the slide member. A flexible coupling that supports the workpiece processing member so as to be rotatable about two axes that are substantially orthogonal to the sliding direction by being connected to the side, and is interposed between the base and the workpiece processing member. And an elastic member for urging the work processing member in a direction away from the base for pressing the work processing member on the surface to be processed, and the elastic member being hung between the base and the work processing member. Moni, work processing member and a plurality of linear body having flexibility in length is adjusted so as to define a reference posture relative to the base body of the workpiece processing member in a state that does not contact the workpiece.

In the work processing hand of claim 2, the linear body is a chain, and the work processing member is a label sticking head for sticking a label to the work.

[0009]

According to the work processing hand of claim 1, since the work processing member is supported by the flexible coupling with respect to the base body, even if the surface to be processed of the work is inclined or has a curved shape. The workpiece processing member can be placed in an optimum posture for processing a workpiece according to the state of the surface to be processed. Further, since the elastic member is interposed between the base body and the work processing member and the linear body has flexibility, the entire surface of the work processing member can be brought into a good pressure contact state according to the state of the processing target surface of the work. can do. Further, since it has a plurality of linear bodies whose lengths are adjusted so as to define the reference posture of the work processing member with respect to the base body, when the work processing member is not in contact with the surface to be processed of the work, By the biasing force of the elastic member, the work processing member can be maintained in the reference posture (for example, parallel state) determined by the length of the linear body with respect to the base body. Furthermore, since the function of rotating about two axes is performed by the flexible coupling as described above, the weight of the work processing hand can be significantly reduced and the size can be reduced as compared with the conventional configuration. it can. Further, since a light linear body is used as the posture maintaining means when the workpiece processing member is not in contact with the surface to be processed of the workpiece, it is significantly lighter than the conventional configuration using the cylinder, Miniaturization can be achieved. As described above, the work processing hand according to claim 1 can be mounted on a small industrial robot, which has been difficult to mount in the related art in terms of size and weight, and the types of applicable robots can be expanded to each stage. .

In the work processing hand of claim 2, since the linear body is a chain and the work processing member is a label sticking head for sticking a label to the work, the label sticking head is used at the label suction position. The label can be held parallel to the substrate to achieve good label adsorption, and even when the label-attached surface is tilted or has a curvature in the label-attaching process on the label-attached surface of the workpiece. Since the label sticking head is held in pressure contact with the surfaces corresponding to those surfaces, it is possible to stick labels with high accuracy and high quality.

[0011]

Embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a label sticking apparatus having a label sticking hand as an embodiment of a work processing hand of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the industrial robot 3 is arranged on a base 3h that is slidable in a direction parallel to the conveyor line 2 that conveys the target work 1. A label sticking hand 4 is provided at the tip of the robot arm 3b of the industrial robot 3. The base 3h is arranged on the frame 3a, and two conventionally known label printers 3c and 3d and one conventionally known label peeling machine 3e are arranged at predetermined positions on the upper surface of the frame 3a. A sequencer 3f for controlling peripheral devices and a robot controller 3g are arranged below the. Further, as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 2, the label printers 3c, 3 are driven by the reciprocating motion of the base 3h and the pivotal motion of the robot arm 3b.
The label sticking hand 4 can be located at the label discharge position of d and the label peeling position of the label peeling machine 3e. Also, a computer 5 that performs print issuing processing of the label printers 3c and 3d and the label peeling machine 3e.
Are arranged.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing an example of the label sticking hand 4 in this embodiment, FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the label sticking hand 4, and FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing the main part of the label sticking hand 4. is there. As shown in FIG. 5, the labeling hand 4 mainly has a support base 11 to which the tip of the robot arm 3b is connected, and an axis so that it can be swung (bent) within a predetermined angle range with respect to the support base 11. The swivel member 12 supported, the sticking head portion 13 supported by the swivel member 12, the swivel member 12, the pulleys 14 and 15, and the belt 1.
6 rotary actuator 17
(See FIG. 4).

The sticking head portion 13 (see FIG. 5) includes a slide shaft 21 slidably mounted in a central portion of the swivel member 12 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the swivel member 12, and a slide shaft opposite to the swivel member 12 side. The flexible coupling 22 provided at the central portion of the support member 23 to which the tip end of the support member 21 is connected, the sticking head 24 fixed to the support member 23, and the slide shaft 21 are provided substantially in parallel with each other. 23 and a plurality of compression coil springs 25 interposed between the swiveling member 12 and the swiveling member 12, and a plurality of restricting chains 26 provided so as to bridge the swiveling member 12 and the supporting member 23 at predetermined positions on the peripheral portions thereof. . In addition, all the regulation churns 26 are set to the same length. Further, a rotation stopping member 27 that prevents rotation around the slide shaft 21 is provided at the base of the revolving member 12 on which the slide shaft 21 slides.

The flexible coupling 22 connects the slide shaft 21 and the support member 23, and has two axes that are substantially orthogonal to the slide shaft 21 (for example, substantially parallel to the swivel member 12 and orthogonal to the slide shaft 21). It has a function of supporting the support member 23 rotatably within a predetermined angle range around the shaft and the two shafts of the pivot member 12 and the slide shaft 21 which are orthogonal to each other.

At least one pair of compression coil springs 25 (two pairs in this embodiment) are provided at substantially symmetrical positions with respect to the slide shaft 21, and the sticking head 24 urges the sticking head 24 to the label sticking surface of the target work 1. It has a function. The regulation chain 26 is attached to the head 2 by the compression coil spring 25.
4 opposes the force urged in the direction away from the swivel member 12, and the distance between the sticking head 24 and the swivel member 12 is set to the length of the regulation chain 26, so that the swivel member 12 and the sticking head 24 are separated from each other. It is provided to hold in parallel. Therefore, the plurality of restriction chains 26 are arranged at predetermined positions where the flexible coupling 22 can be fixed in one posture. Further, the chain attachment portion 25a on the turning member 12 side can adjust the distance between the turning member 12 and the support member 23 by adjusting the position of the bolt 25a2 fixed to the nut 25a1.
The label suction surface 24a of the sticking head 24 is provided with a label suction hole (not shown) of a predetermined shape, and the label suction hole is connected to a vacuum generator (not shown) by the vacuum hose 3i shown in FIG. Has been done.

The operation of the label sticking apparatus having the above structure is as follows. First, in FIG. 1, a desired label is printed by operating the computer 5 and the label printers 3c and 3d. Then, the industrial robot 3 is operated based on a command from the robot controller 3f and the sequencer 3g in accordance with the timing of printing the label, and the label printed by the label printer 3c or the label printer 3d is applied to the label of the sticking head 24. Adsorption is performed on the adsorption surface 24a. And the robot arm 3b
Is driven to position it at the label peeling position of the peeling machine 3d and peel the label. In this operation, when the label is attracted and the label is peeled off, the regulation chain 26 is in the state of being stretched to the maximum by the urging force of the compression coil spring 25 as shown in FIG. It is parallel to. Therefore, the label adsorption process and the label peeling process can be performed accurately and stably.

After the label is peeled off, it is confirmed that the label is firmly adsorbed at a predetermined position on the label adsorbing surface 24a, and then the industrial robot 3 is operated and the rotary actuator 17 is driven if necessary. The sticking head 24 is brought close to the target work 1 so that the sticking head 24 is substantially perpendicular to the sticky label surface 1 a of the target work 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which the sticking head 24 abuts when the sticky label surface 1a of the target work 1 is slightly inclined. As can be seen from FIG. 6, even when the label surface 1 a to be attached is tilted, the attaching head 24 moves the flexible coupling 22 with respect to the swiveling member 12.
Since it is held by, the sticking head 24 can freely tilt about two axes orthogonal to the slide shaft 21 in accordance with the tilt of the sticky label surface 1a.

That is, the attaching head 24 is used as the target work 1.
When the sticking head 24 is moved to the side, the sticking head 24 first comes into contact with the sticking label surface 1a from the protruding portion, and as the sticking head 24 sequentially moves, the compression coil spring 25 on the sticking side strongly compresses. The compression coil spring 25 on the non-protruding side is weakly compressed. Not only when the sticking head 24 is parallel to the sticky label surface 1a in this way, even when the sticking head 24 is inclined, the label held by the sticking head 24 is spread over the entire sticky label surface 1a. I will receive the force to press,
High quality labels can be attached. Further, when the label can be attached to the affixed label surface 1a, the industrial robot 3 is driven to move the attaching head 24 in the direction away from the target work 1, so that the target work 1 is pressed. Since the compression coil spring 25 that has been compressed expands, when the sticking head 24 is separated from the target work 1, the sticking head 24 is held in a parallel state determined by the restriction chain 26, and the next label can be accurately adsorbed. Becomes The label printer 3c, the label printer 3d, and the label peeling machine 3d are sequentially driven according to the type of the target work 1, and the operation of applying a desired label is repeated.

As described above, according to the label sticking apparatus of this embodiment, in the label sticking hand 4, the label sticking head 24 is supported by the swivel member 12 by the flexible coupling 22. Even if the sticky label surface 1a of the work 1 is inclined or has a curved shape, the sticking head 24 can be placed in an optimum posture for sticking the label according to the state of the sticky label surface 1a. Further, the compression coil spring 25 is interposed between the swiveling member 12 and the sticking head 24, and the distance of the sticking head 24 to the swiveling member 12 is regulated by the regulation chain 26 that is stretched between the two. The sticking head 24 can always be kept parallel during the suction, and the label can be sucked with high accuracy. In addition, since the compression coil spring 25 is provided, a good pressure contact force can be obtained on the entire surface by the compression coil spring 25 at the time of attaching the label, and in combination with the effect of the flexible coupling 22, high precision and high quality can be obtained. It is possible to perform various labeling processes. By adopting the flexible coupling 22 and the regulation chain 26, the weight of the label sticking hand 4 has the same weight as that of the conventional structure (actual flat 1
-150508 label sticking device) compared to about 1/3
It is possible to reduce the weight to about 1/4 and downsize.
The types of applicable industrial robots can be greatly expanded.

[0020]

[Embodiment 2] Next, the second embodiment of the work processing hand of the present invention.
A stamp hand as an example will be described. The stamp hand of this embodiment differs from the label sticking hand 4 of the above embodiment shown in FIG. 5 in that the sticking head 24 supported by the supporting member 23 is replaced with a stamping head and is connected to the sticking head 24. That is, only the components for vacuum suction (vacuum generator, vacuum hose, etc.) are removed.

According to the stamp hand of this embodiment,
Even if the stamped surface of the target work has a slight inclination or is curved,
The stamping head can satisfactorily perform stamping in a state in which it is in close contact with the surface to be stamped on the entire surface.

[0022]

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the work processing hand according to the present invention.
It is a schematic side view which shows the principal part of the workpiece adsorption | suction hand as an Example. The work suction hand 30 of this embodiment is different from the label sticking hand 4 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 5 in that a suction head 32 having a plurality of vacuum suction portions 31 is attached to a sticking head supported by a support member 23. Only the points replaced by.

In the work suction hand 30 of this embodiment, the suction head 32 is in close contact with the work suction surface even if the work to be suctioned is installed with a slight inclination. Since 31 can be abutted, the work can be reliably held by suction. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-mentioned label sticking hand, stamping hand, and work processing hand such as a work suction hand, the sticking head,
Rotary stamp head and suction head
Although the structure is made to rotate by the actuator, it is also possible to remove the rotary actuator and make a hand structure without considering the rotating motion. In this case, the volume and weight of the rotary actuator are reduced, and
In the above, since the turning member 14 itself can be used as the support base, further weight reduction and size reduction can be achieved.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the work processing heads such as the sticking head, which are regulated by the regulation chain, are in the parallel state has been described as an example, but the length of the regulation chain is adjusted by the chain mounting portion. By doing so, it is also possible to set in advance a state such as tilting at a predetermined angle. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the regulation chain is used as the linear body and the compression coil spring is used as the elastic member. However, the linear body is a flexible and light member such as a warer, and the elastic member is various springs, elastic rubber, etc. The member of can be adopted.

[0025]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the work processing member is supported on the base by the flexible coupling by the slide member and is also bridged between the base and the work processing member. Since it is equipped with a linear body, it is possible to perform various types of processing on the work with high precision and quality, and to achieve a significant reduction in weight and size compared to conventional processing hands. It has the unique effect of expanding the types of robots that can be created.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, since the linear body is a chain and the work processing member is a label sticking head for sticking a label to a work, label sticking is performed. In the position, good label adsorption can be achieved, and in the label sticking process on the label sticking surface of the work, there is a peculiar effect that high quality label sticking can be performed with high accuracy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a label sticking apparatus having a label sticking hand as an embodiment of a work processing hand of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a label sticking apparatus having a label sticking hand as an embodiment of the work processing hand of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing a label sticking hand according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a label sticking hand in the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a main part of the label sticking hand according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view schematically showing a state in which the sticking head abuts when the sticking label surface of the target work is slightly inclined in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing a main part of a work suction hand as a third embodiment of the work processing hand according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a conventional label sticking device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Target Work 1a Labeled Label Surface 3 Industrial Robot 3b Robot Arm 12 Swiveling Member 21 Slide Axis 22 Flexible Coupling 24 Sticking Head 25 Compression Coil Spring 26 Control Chain 32 Adsorption Head

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A substrate (12) attached to the tip of an arm (3b) of a robot (3) and a work processing member (24) (3) for performing a predetermined process on a work (1).
2), the slide member (21) whose one end side is slidably held by the base body (12) in a direction substantially orthogonal to the base body (12), and the work processing surface of the work processing members (24) and (32) on the opposite side. The workpiece processing members (24) and (32) can be rotated about two axes substantially orthogonal to the sliding direction by being provided at the substantially central portion of the surface of the slide member and connected to the other end side of the slide member (21). A flexible coupling (22) for supporting the
2) and the work processing members (24) and (32), and an elastic member (25) for urging the work processing members (24) and (32) away from the base body (12); and a base body (12). ) And the work processing members (24) and (32), and the bases of the work processing members (24) and (32) in a state where the work processing members (24) and (32) are not in contact with the work (1). A workpiece processing hand, comprising: a plurality of linear bodies (26) having a length adjusted so as to define a reference posture with respect to (12). 2. The linear body (26) is a chain (26), and the work processing member (24) (32) is a label sticking head (24) for sticking a label to the work (1). The described work processing hand.