JPH09225881A - Manipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a work from being damaged and broken down due to the grasping action of a hand by controlling the holding amount of the work by the hand to a work inherent holding rate. SOLUTION: A displacement sensor 11 for detecting the holding amount of a hand B and sliding sensors 12A, 12B for detecting a sliding amount between the hand B and a work, are arranged on the hand B for holding the work, and a controller is arranged in this manipulator so that at the time of grasping action of the work by the hand B, the holding amount of the hand B detected by the displacement sensor 11 is controlled to a work inherent holding rate and a sliding amount detected by the sliding sensors 12A, 21B is controlled to a work inherent sliding amount or below.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manipulator for handling materials, semi-finished products, products and the like (hereinafter referred to as "workpieces"), which are used, for example, when repairing nuclear-related equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional manipulator having, for example, three joints and two arms has a first arm 1 and a second arm 2 as shown in FIG.
The arm 2 is rotatably attached, and at the tip of the second arm 2,
A hand B that holds the work A is rotatably attached.

The hand B is composed of a supporting member 3 and gripping members 6 and 7, and the supporting member 3 is, as shown in FIGS.
The pin 4 and the cylinder 5 rotatably support the second arm 2, and the left and right gripping members 6 and 7 of the hand B are opened and closed supported by the support member 3 by the pin 8 as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9. Further, the left and right gripping members 6, 7 of the hand B are opened and closed by a hydraulic cylinder 9 provided in the support member 3, and the work A
Can be gripped. The hydraulic cylinder 9 is driven by operating a switching valve (4 way valve) (not shown) at 4 ports and 3 positions. The support member 3 is a cylinder 5
Alternatively, the holding members 6 and 7 may be driven not by the hydraulic cylinder 9 but by an air cylinder or a combination of a ball screw and a motor.

When the operator grasps the work A with the hand B, the operator manually operates the four-way valve of the hydraulic cylinder 9 while judging the actual shape, texture and installation condition of the work A.

[0005]

However, in the case of the work A having a soft surface, the work A may be deformed or damaged only by the judgment of the worker.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a manipulator capable of automatically generating a gripping amount suitable for a work when gripping a work with a hand and preventing damage or breakage of the work. It is a thing.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a manipulator according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a hand gripping a work with a displacement sensor for detecting a gripping amount of the hand, and the hand by the hand. A control device for controlling the gripping amount of the hand detected by the displacement sensor to a gripping amount peculiar to the work at the time of the gripping operation is provided.

Here, as the displacement sensor, a cylinder type linear potentiometer, a wire reel winding type or non-contact type proximity switch, or a sensor applying a photoelectric switch is used.

With the above construction, the gripping amount of the work by the hand is controlled to the gripping amount peculiar to the work, and damage or breakage of the work due to the gripping operation of the hand is prevented. The manipulator of the second aspect of the present invention is the manipulator of the first aspect of the present invention, wherein a slip sensor that detects the amount of slip between the hand and the work is added to the hand, and the gripping operation of the work by the hand is added to the control device. At the same time, a feature is added to control the slip amount detected by the slip sensor to be equal to or less than the slip amount specific to the work.

Here, the slip sensor includes, for example, a roller for converting the slip of the work into a rotary motion, a rotary encoder for detecting the rotation of the roller, and a pulse signal of the encoder for counting and converting the pulse signal into a slip amount for a predetermined time. It is composed of a converter.

With the above structure, the slip amount of the work is controlled to be equal to or less than the slip amount peculiar to the work, and when the hand is gripped,
The work is prevented from slipping down from the hand.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hand portion of a manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the left and right gripping members 6, 7 of the hand B are respectively provided with touch sensors 10A, 10B for detecting the contact of the work A, and the gripping members 6, 7 are operated in parallel with the hydraulic cylinder 9. A displacement sensor 11 consisting of a cylinder-type potentiometer that detects strokes is provided.
Further, slip sensors 12A and 12B are provided adjacent to the touch sensors 10A and 10B, respectively.

The touch sensors 10A and 10B are respectively
As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the gripping members 6 and 7 are partially opened, and an ultrasonic sensor 23 that emits ultrasonic waves inward through the openings and detects the distance to the work A is formed. There is.
This ultrasonic sensor 23 is a support member provided on the outer surface of the opening.
Supported by 24.

Further, as shown in detail in FIG. 3, the slip sensors 12A and 12B respectively open the gripping members 6 and 7 partially so as to project from the openings, contact the work A, and contact the work A. Roller 13 that converts the slippage (vertical displacement) of the roller into rotational motion, and a coupling 15 on the support shaft of roller 13
It is composed of the rotary encoder 14 connected by. The roller 13 is supported by a support bearing member 25 provided on the outer side surface.

The control configuration of the hand B is shown in FIG. Touch sensor 10A, 10B (ultrasonic sensor 23) and displacement sensor
The detection signals of 11 and the slip sensors 12A and 12B (rotary encoder 14) are input to signal converters 16A to 16E, respectively.

The signal converters 16A and 16B respectively judge the distance between the gripping members 6 and 7 and the work A based on the distance from the ultrasonic sensor 23 to the work A. When the distance becomes zero, that is, the gripping is performed. When the members 6 and 7 contact the work A, a touch detection signal is output to the controller 17.

Further, the signal converter 16C converts the displacement amount input from the displacement sensor 11 into the grip amount of the hand B and outputs it to the controller 17, and the signal converters 16D and 16E respectively receive the pulse input from the rotary encoder 14. Is converted into a slip amount for a predetermined time and output to the controller 17.

The hydraulic cylinder 9 is a single rod type double-acting cylinder, and an electromagnetic switching valve (four-way valve) 18 at four ports and three positions is connected to both ports via a check valve 19 and connected to the electromagnetic switching valve 18. The hydraulic oil is supplied from the oil pump 20, and the hydraulic oil is returned to the oil tank 21 from the electromagnetic switching valve 18. This electromagnetic switching valve 18 is controlled by the controller 17, so that the hydraulic cylinder 9
Is controlled, and the grip amount of the hand B is controlled. In FIG. 4, 22 is a safety valve.

The gripping operation of the work A by the controller 17 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First,
When the shape, material, and weight of the work A are input (step-1), the grip amount and slip amount (hereinafter, referred to as a prescribed value) of the hand B peculiar to the work A are set based on the data of the work A (step). -2).

Next, when a gripping command signal is input (step-3), an excitation signal (hereinafter referred to as a closing signal) in the direction in which the rod of the hydraulic cylinder 9 is extended is output to the electromagnetic switching valve 18 to close the hand B. (Step-4), signal converters 16A, 16
When a touch detection signal is input from one of B (Step-
5) Next, the grip amount of the hand B input from the signal converter 16C (displacement sensor 11) is confirmed (step-6), and when the grip amount of the hand B reaches a specified value (step-7), the above-mentioned closing is performed. The signal is turned off, the electromagnetic switching valve 18 is returned to the neutral position, the closing operation (grasping operation) of the hand B is stopped, and the current open position is maintained (step-8).

Next, the signal converters 16D and 16E (slip sensor 12
A, 12B) calculates the average value of the slip amount of the hand B input (step-9), judges whether the slip amount of the hand B is equal to or more than the specified value (step-10), and determines the slip amount of the hand B. If the slip amount is less than the specified value, the process ends. If the slip amount is greater than the specified value, a close signal is output to the electromagnetic switching valve 18 to close the hand B (step-11), and the average value of the slip amount of the hand B is set again. The calculation is performed (step-12), and it is determined whether the slip amount of the hand B is equal to or more than a specified value (step-13). When the slip amount of the hand B is less than the specified value, the closing signal is turned off and the electromagnetic switching valve 18 is turned off. To the neutral position, stop the closing operation (grasping operation) of the hand B, and hold the current open position (step-1
4), end.

With the above structure, the gripping amount of the hand B is automatically controlled to the specified value peculiar to the work A.
It is possible to prevent the work A from being damaged or broken due to the gripping operation of the work A. Further, by controlling the slip amount to be equal to or less than the slip amount specific to the work A, the work A is prevented from sliding down from the hand B, and thus the work A is dropped. Damage and breakage can be prevented.

In the above embodiment, the data of the work A is input for each gripping operation of the work A. However, the data of each work A is input in advance to judge the worker and select the work A. It is also possible to call the data of the work A automatically selected by the signal.

Further, in the above embodiment, the displacement sensor 11
As the cylinder type linear potentiometer, a wire reel winding type or non-contact type proximity switch, or a sensor to which a photoelectric switch is applied may be used. Although the ultrasonic sensor 23 is used as the touch sensors 10A and 10B, a limit switch or a linear potentiometer may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the shape of the gripping members 6 and 7 of the hand B is circular in order to grip the work A having a columnar shape (drum can or the like), but may be polygonal or the like. You can also Further, although the electromagnetic control valve 18 is used in the hydraulic circuit, a proportional solenoid valve, a servo valve, or a pressure control valve may be used in combination.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
By controlling the gripping amount of the work by the hand to the gripping amount peculiar to the work, it is possible to prevent damage or breakage of the work due to the gripping operation of the hand.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the slip amount of the work is controlled to be equal to or less than the slip amount specific to the work, so that the work can be prevented from slipping down from the hand during the gripping operation of the hand, and the damage to the work can be prevented. It is possible to prevent damage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sensor mounting view of a hand portion of a manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a touch sensor mounting view of a hand portion of the manipulator.

FIG. 3 is a side view and a plan view of a slip sensor of a hand portion of the manipulator.

FIG. 4 is a control configuration diagram of a hand of the manipulator.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a controller of a hand unit of the manipulator.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part of the manipulator.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a hand portion of the manipulator.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a hand portion of the manipulator.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a main part of a hand portion of the manipulator (FIG. 7).
(X-X sectional view).

[Explanation of symbols]

 A work B hand 1 first arm 2 second arm 3 hand support member 6,7 hand gripping member 9 hydraulic cylinder 10A, 10B touch sensor 11 displacement sensor 12A, 12B slip sensor 13 roller 14 rotary encoder 16A-16E signal converter 17 Controller (Control device) 18 Electromagnetic switching valve 20 Oil pump 23 Ultrasonic sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hand for gripping a work is provided with a displacement sensor for detecting a gripping amount of the hand, and the gripping amount of the hand detected by the displacement sensor is gripped peculiar to the work when the hand grips the work. A manipulator characterized in that a control device for controlling the quantity is provided. 2. The manipulator according to claim 1, wherein a slip sensor for detecting a slip amount between the hand and the work is added to the hand, and the control device controls the slip when the hand grips the work. The feature is that a function for controlling the slip amount detected by the sensor to be equal to or less than the slip amount peculiar to the work is added.