JPH09388U - Plate material gripping device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) An object of the present invention is to provide a gripping device that supplies a narrow plate material to a press brake or the like without using an intermediate table or a reversing machine and takes out a product. SOLUTION: A vacuum pad 1 for adsorbing one surface of a plate material.
0 and a pad swinging drive mechanism 9 are provided to be expandable and contractable with respect to the base 4 by a suction bar 5, and a front edge sandwiching chuck 12 and a side edge sandwiching chuck for sandwiching a front edge and a side edge of a plate material are sandwiched by a bar 6, respectively. 7 is a structure of the gripping device 1 that is provided to be expandable and contractable with respect to the base 4 by means of 7, and is attached to the third arm 103 of the robot via the horizontal reversing mechanism 2. With this configuration, the production takt time is improved, and the positioning work such as the reversing machine is not necessary, so that the production efficiency is improved.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

 The present invention relates to a plate material holding mechanism. More specifically, the present invention relates to a plate material gripping device used for a material transfer robot for supplying a plate material to a press brake and taking out a molded product.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, for example, an industrial robot for transportation (hereinafter referred to as a robot) R shown in FIG. 15 has been used in order to automate the work of supplying a plate material into a mold of a press brake and taking out a product. This robot R is connected to a first arm 101 having a center line C1 of a mold D of a press brake P as a center of rotation and a tip end thereof so as to rotate with a line C2 parallel to the center line C1 as a center of rotation. The second arm 102 has a third arm 103 at the tip thereof, which extends in the direction of a line C3 which is also parallel to the center line C1 and which rotates about its own axis. A gripping mechanism 105 having two rows of vacuum pads 104 is attached to the tip of the third arm 103. An upper part of the press brake P is provided with a revolving machine 108 having two openable and closable panels 107 having vacuum pads 106 arranged on the inner surface thereof. Reference numeral 109 is a control panel that controls the bending system including the robot R, the press brake P, and the reversing machine 108 while successively synchronizing them. The folding system described above operates as follows. First, the robot R sucks and lifts one plate material from the original plate stock 110 by the gripping mechanism 105 (step a in FIG. 16) and inverts it around the center line C3 of the third arm 103 to a predetermined position in the mold D, Insert at an angle (step b in FIG. 17). Then, the ram of the press brake P is raised, bent and lowered, and at the same time, the gripping mechanism 105 rotates around the rotation center C1 of the first arm while gripping the plate material 111 (step C). When the processing is completed, the robot R transfers the plate material 111 whose one side edge is bent to the lower panel 107a of the reversing machine 108 (step d), closes the panel 107, and transfers it to the mating panel 107b (steps e to e). f). After the lower panel 107a is further opened, the robot R grips the other side edge of the inverted plate material 111 (step g in FIG. 18) and processes the remaining side edge of the plate material 111 (steps h to i). ). Then, after further reversing by the reversing machine 108 as necessary (step j), the product 112 whose cross-sectional shape is bent into an N shape is stacked on the product stand 113 (step k). Even if both side edges are bent in the same direction (see FIG. 9A), if the width of the plate material is narrow, for example, if it is 150 mm or less, once place it on the panel in order to shift the suction position of the vacuum pad 106, Need to change.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In the above-mentioned conventional processing method, it is necessary to use an intermediate table such as the reversing machine 108 to carry over, so that the production takt time is as long as 10 to 20 seconds. Further, it is difficult to adjust the position and height of the vacuum pad 106 of the reversing machine 108. The first object of the present invention is to shorten the production tact while utilizing the conventional robot R, press brake P, mold D and the like. Another object of the present invention is to provide a gripping device for a robot that can perform the same work without using a reversing machine.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The plate material device of the present invention has a suction mechanism for sucking and holding one surface of the plate material, and a sandwiching mechanism for sandwiching and holding the peripheral edge of the plate material sucked by the suction mechanism from both sides. And the pinching mechanism can operate independently of each other, and when one of them operates, the other can be moved relative to each other so as to retract the other.

The suction mechanism and the sandwiching mechanism are usually attached to a common base connected to the third arm of the robot via the suction bar, respectively, but other connection methods can be adopted.

The sandwiching mechanism may be one that sandwiches the front edge of the plate material as viewed from the base, one that sandwiches both side edges, or both.

The suction mechanism and the sandwiching mechanism are provided so as to be capable of expanding and contracting with respect to a common base. When they are provided at the tips of the suction bar and the gripping bar, the suction mechanism is structured so as to swing freely and is oriented in the lateral direction. It is preferable to deliver it to the pinching mechanism when it is present.

It is preferable that the gripping device includes an inversion mechanism that inverts the plate material sandwiched by the sandwiching mechanism on the spot.

Such a reversing mechanism can be realized by reversing the base to the left and right in a device having a sandwiching mechanism that sandwiches the front edge of the plate material.

Further, in the case of including the sandwiching mechanism for sandwiching both side edges of the plate material, those sandwiching mechanisms can be realized by a reversing mechanism for reversing the plate material in the front-back direction.

[0011]

[Embodiment of the invention]

 The suction mechanism is used when sucking the plate materials one by one from the stock stock. The plate material once lifted is supported by the clamping mechanism by pinching the front edge or both side edges and supplying it to the press brake. Furthermore, it supports it while following it during processing, and after processing it is taken out as it is and piled up in the product stock. In the case of a device having a reversing mechanism, after processing along one side edge of the plate material, it is reversed in place and the other side edge is processed. In addition, at the position where there is reversal in the left-right direction (large registration mark) and reversal in the front-rear direction (small registration mark), the reversing operation is quick, so it is possible to easily bend both side edges in the opposite direction.

[0012]

【Example】

 Next, the gripping device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the gripping device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a robot equipped with the gripping device of FIG. 1 and peripheral machines thereof, and FIG. 3 is a suction mechanism according to the present invention. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a front edge pinching mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a side edge pinching mechanism according to the present invention, 6A and 6B are a front view and a side view showing an embodiment of a suction pad swinging mechanism according to the present invention, and FIGS. 7A and 7B are an embodiment of a front edge pinching mechanism according to the present invention. 8A and 8B are a front view and a cross-sectional view, respectively, and FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are a plan view and a side view, respectively, showing one embodiment of the side edge pinching mechanism according to the present invention, and FIGS. Perspective view showing an example of the target product, 10 to 12 are process explanatory views showing an example of processing a plate material using the gripping device of the present invention, and FIGS. 13 to 14 show other examples of processing a plate material using the gripping device of the present invention. FIG.

The gripping device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a left-right reversing mechanism 2 attached to the third arm 103 of the robot R shown in FIG. 2, and a main shaft 3 driven to be reversed by the mechanism. A rectangular rod-shaped base 4 is attached to the tip of the main shaft 3 so as to rotate in a plane parallel to the third arm 103. On the front surface side of the base 4, a pair of suction bars 5, a front edge sandwiching bar 6, and a side edge sandwiching bar 7 are attached in order from the inner side to the outer side so as to be symmetrical with respect to the center line C4 of the main shaft 3. The base end side of the suction bar 5 is supported by a vacuum pad shift drive mechanism 8 provided on the rear surface side of the base 4 so as to be able to extend and contract, and the front end side of the suction bar 5 is attached to a vacuum pad 10 via a pad swinging drive mechanism 9. Is provided. The base end side of the front edge sandwiching bar 6 is supported by the front edge chuck shift drive mechanism 11 so as to extend and contract automatically, and the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 is provided on the tip end side. Furthermore, the base end side of the side edge sandwiching bar 7 is supported by the side edge chuck shift drive mechanism 13 so as to be able to expand and contract, and the side edge sandwiching bar 7 is faced inward so that the pair of chucks face each other. A chuck 14 is provided (see FIG. 5).

Each of the shift driving mechanisms 8, 11, and 13 may be a rectilinear reciprocating driving unit such as an air cylinder. Further, it is general that each bar 5, 6, 7 is slidably guided by a guide (not shown) provided on the base 4 to relax the moment concentration due to the cantilever load. It should be noted that as the shift driving mechanisms 8, 11, and 13, it is also possible to employ a mechanism that converts the rotation of the motor into a straight traveling direction by a rack and pinion mechanism or the like.

The left / right reversing mechanism 2 for reciprocally reversing the base 4 is also preferably a rotary actuator using an air cylinder and a rack and pinion, or an air driven type such as a rotary cylinder, but a motor (with a speed reducer) or the like is preferable. You may use it. The gripping device 1 configured as described above is used by being attached to the tip of the third arm 103 of the conventionally known robot R as shown in FIG. At this time, the base 4 is arranged so as to be parallel to the mold D of the press brake P.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pair of vacuum pads (suction mechanism) 10 are capable of sucking and holding the central portions of the elongated plate members 16 arranged on the left and right symmetrically and from the right angle direction. The inside of the vacuum pad 10 is connected to a Venturi-type or pump-type vacuum generator or the like so that adsorption and release can be performed electrically. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 has upper and lower fingers 17 rotatably (or slidably) supported by a base portion, and a front edge (long side) 16a of a plate member 16 which is long in the left and right direction. It is held by sandwiching it with a pair of fingers 17, and when it is released, it is operated in the opposite direction. In order for the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 to access the plate material 16, the front edge sandwiching bar 6 extends so that the front edge 16a of the plate material 16 is disposed between the upper and lower fingers 17, and when the front edge sandwiching bar 6 is separated, it moves in the opposite direction.

As shown in FIG. 5, the side edge sandwiching chuck 14 sandwiches and holds near the center of the left and right short sides 18 of the plate member 16 with the upper and lower fingers 19. In order for the side edge sandwiching chuck 14 to access the plate material 16, the side edge sandwiching bar 7 may be extended and the upper and lower fingers 19 may be moved along the short side 18. The side edge holding bar 7 can be configured to open and close in the left-right direction from the base end portion, as indicated by an imaginary line arrow 20. The vacuum pad 10, the front edge sandwiching chuck 12, and the side edge sandwiching chuck 14 all show a basic form. Depending on the size and weight of the plate material 16, the number and size of the vacuum pads 10 may be changed. It is optional to change the width of the fingers 17 and 19 or to provide a guide pin that makes direct sliding contact with the edge of the plate member 16. Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, since both the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 and the side edge sandwiching chuck 14 are provided, they can be used properly according to the shape of the product to be processed, or they can cooperate to carry or reverse. It can be carried out. However, depending on the product shape, the gripping device may be provided with only one of the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 and the side edge sandwiching chuck 14. As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, since the access direction of the vacuum pad 10 and the access directions of the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 and the side edge sandwiching chuck 14 are substantially perpendicular to each other, the gripping device 1 shown in FIG. In order to avoid interference with the original plate stock, a pad swinging drive mechanism 9 is provided near the tip of the suction bar 5 so that the suction bar 5, the front edge sandwiching bar 6 and the side edge sandwiching bar 7 are held on a common base. I am trying to do it. The pad swing drive mechanism 9 can be realized by the configuration shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, for example. In the mechanism shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the member 21 supporting the vacuum pad 10 is rotatably supported by the pin 22 at the tip of the suction bar 5, and the sector gear 23 coupled to the end of the pin 22 and the air cylinder. It engages with a rack 25 driven by 24. As a result, the reciprocating motion of the air cylinder 24 can be converted into the swinging motion of the vacuum pad 10 by the rack and pinion mechanism.

The opening / closing mechanism of the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 can be realized by the configuration shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, for example. In this device, the base ends of a pair of fingers 17 are rotatably connected to a front end of a holder 26 by a pin 27, and lever portions 28 protruding outside the base ends are respectively connected to an air cylinder 30 via an intermediate link 29. It is a push-pull drive. In this case, when the rod 31 of the air cylinder 30 advances, the finger 17 is closed by the action-direction changing action of the lever portion 28, and opens when it retracts. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the side edge sandwiching chuck 14 includes a chuck rotation drive motor 31 provided at the tip of the side edge sandwiching bar 7 and a U-shaped bracket 33 fixed to a rotary shaft 32 of the motor. A pair of air-driven bellows 34 attached to the upper and lower plates of the bracket so as to face each other, and a chuck plate 35 at the tip of the bellows 34. In this case, after the plate material 16 is arranged between the chuck plates 35, the plate material 16 can be sandwiched by sending air into the upper and lower bellows 34. Further, by rotating the chuck rotation drive motor 31 while holding the plate member 16, the plate member 16 can be rotated around the major axis, that is, in the front-back direction.

Next, the procedure for supplying and removing the plate material to the press brake using the gripping device 1 configured as described above will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the gripping device 1 has a product 37 in which both side portions 36 are bent in the same direction, a product 38 in which they are bent in the opposite direction, and a product 39 in which they are bent in the same direction and then outwardly bent. Can be used. 10 to 12 show steps of manufacturing the product 37 which is bent in the opposite direction. In step a in FIG. 10, the plate 4 is attracted by the vacuum pad 10 with the base 4 facing downward and taken out from the original plate stock 110. At this time, the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 retracts the front edge chuck shift drive mechanism 11 to retract it and extend the suction bar 5, and the pad swinging drive mechanism 9 causes the suction surface of the vacuum pad 10 to be perpendicular to the suction bar 5. Are operating.

Next, in step b, the vacuum pad 10 holding the plate material 16 is turned sideways, and in step C, the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 is advanced to sandwich the front edge of the plate material 16. Furthermore, the suction of the vacuum pad 10 is released, the vacuum pad 10 is returned downward by the swinging mechanism, and the suction bar 5 is further contracted. As described above, the roles of the vacuum pad 10, the suction bar 5, and the like are finished when the plate material 16 is taken out from the original plate stock 110, and the plate material 16 is held and conveyed by the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 in the following.

As shown in FIG. 11, the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 that firmly grips the plate member 16 is turned sideways together with the base 4 by rotating the third arm 103 in FIG. Further, the plate member 16 is aligned with the die D of the press brake (P in FIG. 2), and its free side edge is inserted to a predetermined bending position (step d in FIG. 11). Even in this state, the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 continues to hold the plate member 16 without placing the plate member 16 on the unstable lower mold. Further, as shown in step e of FIG. 11, the plate material 16 is bent in a V shape in accordance with the ram lowering operation of the press brake, and at that time also, the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 continues to hold the plate material 16 and The first arm of the robot R rotates around the axis C1 in synchronization with getting up. When the bending process is completed, the semi-finished product is once pulled out from the mold D, and the entire gripping device is rotated from the wrist (spindle 3 in FIG. 1). As a result, the semi-finished product is reversed right and left (large registration mark) (step f in FIG. 12). In the case of a product that is bent into an L shape, the processing ends here.

In the case of both bending products, the semi-finished products are again inserted into the mold D, and the parts different from the first bending position are fitted to the upper and lower molds (step g). In the case of general molding such as a 90-degree bending mold, the mold is commonly used, and the same mold D as the first time is used to perform bending in the opposite direction in the same manner as described above (Fig. 12). Step h). As a result, the product 38 shown in FIG. 9 is manufactured. The finished product is put on the product stand as it is or after a certain inspection is completed. After that, the process returns to the step a (FIG. 10) again to adsorb the next plate material.

As described above, the gripping device 1 provided with the front edge sandwiching chuck 12 and the vacuum pad 10 uses the vacuum pad 10 until one plate material 16 is picked up from the original stock 110 and lifted, and then the front The front edge of the plate material 16 is sandwiched, held, conveyed, and positioned until it is held in the edge sandwiching chuck 12, processed, inverted, reprocessed, and taken out. Therefore, it is not necessary to temporarily put it on a separate intermediate table or reversing device, which greatly improves the production tact. By the way, the conventional method (Figs. 17 to 18) required 14 steps (210 to 280 seconds), but now requires 7 steps (105 to 140 seconds), and the production tact has been improved by about 50%. In addition, when placed on an intermediate table or reversing device, there is a problem that misalignment errors accumulate, and if a guide pin or the like is provided on the panel to prevent this, position adjustment becomes difficult, but with the machining system in FIG. There is no.

Next, a case where the side edge sandwiching chuck 14 is used will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, it is the same as the case of FIG. 10 up to the point that the plate material 16 is lifted from the original plate stock 110 by the vacuum pad 10 and the direction of the vacuum pad 10 is changed. In this state, the left and right side edge sandwiching chucks 14 extend to grip both side edges of the plate material 16 (see FIG. 5). The vacuum pad 10 shrinks (Fig. 13c). Then, the plate material 16 is positioned and processed in the mold D while holding both side edges (steps d and e in FIG. 13). Further, after the semi-finished product is taken out, the semi-finished product is reversed in the front-rear direction by the front-back reversing mechanism (small register mark process shown in FIG. 14). Further, if necessary, after flipping left and right, the other side edge is bent. This produces the reverse bent product 38 of FIG. The front-rear inversion shown in FIG. 14 has a smaller moment of inertia than the left-right inversion, and has an advantage that it can be inverted quickly.

Although the preferred 2-3 embodiments have been described above, other embodiments may be adopted. For example, instead of the vacuum pad, an electromagnet type suction mechanism may be used. Also, instead of expanding and contracting both the suction bar and the sandwich bar, it is possible to open and close from the root to avoid interference. If one bar is expanded and contracted in three steps, the other bar can be fixed. Alternatively, the final take-out may be performed by a separate robot to increase the production tact.

[0026]

[Effect of the invention]

 The suction mechanism lifts the plate material from the stock of stock, and then the gripping mechanism is used to feed, process, and invert the press brake, so there is no need to deliver it to the intermediate table or reversing machine. Therefore, the production takt time is improved, and the trouble of intermediate positioning can be saved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a plate material device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a robot equipped with the gripping device of FIG. 1 and peripheral machines thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the suction mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a leading edge pinching mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the side edge pinching mechanism of the present invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are a front view and a side view, respectively, showing one embodiment of the suction pad swing mechanism of the present invention.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic views showing an embodiment of an opening / closing mechanism of a leading edge sandwiching chuck.

8A and 8B are a plan view and a side view, respectively, showing one embodiment of the side edge pinching mechanism of the present invention.

FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C are perspective views showing examples of target products to be gripped by the gripping device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a partial process explanatory view showing an example of processing a plate material using the gripping device of the present invention.

11 is a partial process explanatory view showing a step following the step shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a partial process explanatory view showing a step following FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a partial process explanatory view showing another example of processing a plate material using the gripping device of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a partial process explanatory view showing a step following FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing an example of a robot provided with a conventional gripping device and peripheral machines thereof.

FIG. 16 is a side view of the conventional robot of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a partial process explanatory view showing an example of processing a plate material using a conventional gripping device.

18 is a partial process explanatory view showing a step following the step shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 103 ... third arm 1 ... gripping device 2 ... left-right reversing mechanism 4 ... base 5 ... suction bar 6 ... front edge sandwiching bar 7 ... side edge sandwiching bar 8 ... · Pad shift drive mechanism 9 · · · Pad swing drive mechanism 10 · · · Vacuum pad 11 · · · Leading edge chuck shift drive mechanism 12 · · · · Leading edge clamping chuck 13 · · · Side edge chuck shift drive mechanism 14 · .. Side edge sandwiching chuck 16 ... Plate material R ... Robot P ... Press brake D ... Mold

Claims (7)

[Utility model registration claims] 1. A suction mechanism for sucking and holding one surface of a plate material, and a sandwiching mechanism for sandwiching and holding a peripheral edge of the plate material sucked by the suction mechanism from both sides, and supporting the suction mechanism. When the base ends of the suction bar and the sandwiching bar supporting the sandwiching mechanism are held by the same base, the suction mechanism and the sandwiching mechanism can operate independently of each other, and when either one of them operates. A plate material gripping device configured to be movable relative to each other so as to retract the other. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nipping mechanism nips the front edge of the plate material when viewed from the base. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sandwiching mechanism is provided in a pair of left and right so as to sandwich both side edges of the plate material when viewed from the base. 4. The suction mechanism is provided at the tip of a suction bar that is driven to expand and contract with respect to the base, and the suction surface is configured to be swingable, and the sandwiching mechanism has the suction mechanism with respect to the base. 4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is provided at the tip of a sandwiching bar that is driven to expand and contract in parallel with and is configured to sandwich the peripheral edge of the plate material. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reversing mechanism that reverses the plate material sandwiched by the sandwiching mechanism on the spot. 6. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a reversing mechanism for reversing the base in the left-right direction. 7. The sandwiching mechanism for sandwiching both side edges of the plate material includes a reversing mechanism for reversing the plate material in the front-rear direction.
The described device.