JPH1058376A - Robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To place no limitation on the operating range of a robot and to apply no large load on the robot by making a coiled electric wiring follow up the movement of a head in the state of being supported by a support member by a moving means. SOLUTION: An air piping and an electric wiring are bound and coiled to form a coil tube 38, which is supported by a support tube 31 disposed in such a manner as to be bent like an inverted U-shape between the upper part of a second arm 13 of a robot and a base 10 and connected to a relay box 29 fitted to the upper part of a hollow shaft 26. A support tube 31 uses an elastic material which is low-friction material and has high rigidity, and the coil tube 38 is passed through the inside of the tube, so that the relative movement of the above is made free not to take an unnatural attitude. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a trouble such as breaking of an electric wiring clogging due to crimp of an air piping, or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a robot, and more particularly, to a robot having a head movably supported by moving means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a scalar type robot for assembling, a second arm is pivotally attached to a tip of a pivotable first arm, and a head is supported on the tip of the second arm. Various actuators, tools, or tools are mounted on the head. Then, a robot hand is configured by a combination of a head, an actuator, a tool, or a tool.

In order to operate an actuator, a tool, a tool, or the like attached to the head, it is necessary to supply operating air or electricity to the head. Therefore, conventionally, air, vacuum pressure, or electricity has been supplied separately using flexible tubes or electric wires.

[0004]

However, in a conventional robot, a flexible tube or an electric wire for supplying air or electricity to various actuators and tools or a head to which the tools are attached is provided at the tip of the robot. However, the operation range of the robot is limited, or a heavy load is imposed on the robot. This tendency is remarkable especially when an air supply mechanism using a tube and a spline shaft is used. In some cases, it has caused troubles such as disconnection and clogging of a tube.

Further, the structure of a conventional air or electricity supply mechanism composed of such a flexible tube or electric wire is complicated, has poor maintainability, and has a problem that it takes time to deal with troubles. Such measures have reduced the operating rate of the robot and caused the assembly line to stop.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and can supply air, electricity, and the like to a head movably supported by moving means with high reliability. An object of the present invention is to provide a robot provided with a working fluid supply unit or an electric supply unit having a structure in which the operation range of the robot is limited or a large load is not applied to the robot.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in a robot having a head movably supported by a moving means, the movement of the head by the moving means is absorbed by elastic deformation, and a predetermined form is maintained. Member mounted between the head and the base side, and a coiled pipe for supplying a working fluid for operating the head and / or a coiled electrical wiring connected to the head Wherein the coiled pipe or the coiled electrical wiring follows the movement of the head by the moving means while being supported by the support member. It is.

Here, the head is an operating part of the robot, and means a part constituting a robot hand by mounting an actuator, a tool, a tool, and the like.

The support member is made of a low-friction material, and the coil-shaped pipe or the coiled electric wiring is formed by the support member penetrating through the coiled pipe or the coiled electric wiring. May be supported.

The support member is formed of a fluororesin tube, and a tip of the fluororesin tube is rotatably connected to the head via a rotary joint coaxially with the Z axis of the head. Good.

A pipe for supplying a working fluid for operating the head and the electric wiring may be bundled and formed into a coil shape.

[0012]

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a scalar type robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. The robot has an upright base 10. A first arm 11 is pivotally mounted on the upper end of the base 10. A first arm turning drive motor 12 for turning the first arm 11 is connected to the base 1.
It is arranged in 0. The second end of the first arm 11
The arm 13 is pivotally mounted, and a second arm rotation drive motor 14 for rotating the second arm 13 is mounted on an upper portion on the base end side of the second arm 13.

A head 15 is mounted on the distal end of the second arm 13 and below it. The head 15 is for supporting various actuators, tools, tools, and the like. Here, the turret chuck 20 is attached by the head 15, and the tool 21 is supported by the turret chuck 20 so as to be pivotable. ing.

As described above, the head 15 allows various kinds of tools to be mounted. Instead of the turret chuck 20 having the tools 21, a vacuum pad 22 as shown in FIG. Good. The vacuum pad 22 is for sucking and holding, for example, a component used for assembling and moving it to a predetermined assembling position, where the component is assembled into a predetermined position by moving in the Z-axis direction.

In order to operate various tools and actuators on the head 15, or tools and the like, the head 15
It is necessary to perform air piping, electric wiring, etc. A structure for such an air pipe or electric wiring will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a hollow shaft 26 is attached to the upper end of the second arm 13 so as to stand upright. This hollow shaft 26 is coaxial with the Z axis of the head 15. The hollow shaft 26 protrudes upward through an opening 28 of a cover 27 mounted on the second arm 13.

A relay box 29 is attached to the upper end of the hollow shaft 26, and the relay box 29
The rotary joint 30 is attached to the upper surface of the.
reference). The rotary joint 30 is coaxial with the Z axis of the head 15. The rotary joint 30 is connected to the distal end of the support tube 31. The support tube 31 is made of a fluorine resin (for example, Teflon) tube having a predetermined diameter, and is made of a tube that can be elastically deformed and has a certain degree of rigidity. Support tube 31
Is curved so as to protrude upward above a portion connected to the rotary joint 30, and the base end is bundled with the robot cord 32. That is, the support tube 31 is disposed between the base 10 and the head 15 in a state of being curved in a substantially inverted U-shape so as to protrude upward between the two. Robot code 32
Is a flexible tube through which electric wiring is inserted, and the second arm turning drive motor 14
To supply a drive current to the.

The air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 are provided as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively, so as to be supported by the support tube 31. The air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 are, for example, four bundled as shown in FIG. 6 and are formed into a coil in a bundled state, and the inside of a coil tube 38 formed into a coil is formed. The support tube 31 is inserted through the support tube 31 so that the coil tube 38 including the air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 is supported by the support tube 31 which is arranged in a substantially inverted U-shape. I have to.

FIG. 5 shows a portion of the coil tube 38 on the distal end side.
As shown in FIG. 5, the air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 are separated from each other, and the separated air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 are supported by the support plate 41 mounted on the relay box 29, respectively. It is guided through the box 29 into the hollow shaft 26.

The air pipe 36 passing through the hollow shaft 26 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the vacuum pad 22 is connected to the vacuum pad 22 attached to the head 15, thereby applying an air suction force to the vacuum pad 22 to enable a suction operation. On the other hand, the electric wiring 37 passes through the hollow shaft 26 and is connected to the sensor 44 of the vacuum pad 22.
, Or a detection signal from the sensor 44 is returned to the controller.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 are bundled and formed into a coil to form a coil tube 38, and the upper part of the second arm 13 of the robot, the base 10 and And is connected to a relay box 29 mounted on the upper portion of the hollow shaft 26 while being supported by a support tube 31 which is arranged in an inverted U-shape.

The support tube 31 which penetrates through the inside of the coil tube 38 and supports the coil tube 38 is made of a low friction material and an elastic material having a certain high rigidity, for example, a Teflon tube made of a fluorine resin. Since the coil tube 38 is inserted through the inside thereof, the relative movement between the coil tube 38 and the support tube 31 is free, and even if the second arm 13 of the robot operates at high speed over a wide area, The coil tube 38 does not become entangled or take an unnatural posture. Therefore, it is possible to prevent troubles such as disconnection of the electric wiring 37 and clogging caused by bending of the air pipe 36.

The rotary joint 30 provided in the relay box 29 has a Z of the head 15 at the center of the hollow shaft 26.
The support tube is free from rotation about the Z axis because it is mounted coaxially with the axis, and is a support tube generated when the head 15 of the second arm 13 of the robot rotates about the Z axis. 31 is prevented from being twisted.
A support plate 41 is attached to the relay box 29 so that the air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 separated from the coil tube 38 are fixed to the relay box 29 as appropriate. In this way, the air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 relayed by the relay box 29 pass through the hollow shaft 26 and are supplied to the head 15 attached to the tip of the second arm 13. .

As described above, in the robot according to the present embodiment, the compressed air for operation or the compressed air or I am trying to install a new mechanism for supplying electricity,
Such a new mechanism imparts high reliability to the robot without placing a large burden on the robot. Moreover, since the connection between the air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 is made possible by using a low-cost component composed of the coil tube 38 and the support tube 31, an increase in the cost of the robot can be minimized. become. Also, since there is no component of the mechanism for supplying air or electricity near the tip of the second arm 13,
There is no interference with other parts, and it is possible to fully use the operation area of the robot.

As a means for transmitting and receiving air, electric power, or control signals to and from a head on the distal end of a robot that has a wide operating range and operates at a high speed, it has excellent reliability, cost, and maintenance. Although there was no practical technology capable of preventing interference with components, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to sufficiently satisfy such mutually contradictory purposes, As a result, it is possible to provide a robot having the air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 that is highly reliable, low-cost, easy to maintain, and capable of preventing interference with other parts.

As the structure of the coil tube 38, a structure in which the air pipe 36 and the electric wiring 37 are bundled as shown in FIG. 6 is adopted.
Various combinations can be performed as shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, the electric wiring 37 is indicated by A, and the air pipe 36 is indicated by B. Such combination deformation can be variously changed according to the structure of the actuator, tool, and the like attached to the head 15.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the support member mounted between the head and the base side so as to absorb the movement of the head by the moving means by elastic deformation and to maintain a predetermined form. A coil-shaped pipe for supplying a working fluid for operating the head and / or a coil-shaped electric wiring connected to the head, wherein the coil-shaped pipe or the coil-shaped electric wiring is a support member. In the state supported by the moving means, following the movement of the head by the moving means.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the coiled pipe or the coiled electric wiring is supported by the support member, the support member is elastically deformed even if the robot head is moved by the moving means. Following this will not restrict the robot's operating area or put a heavy load on the robot, or prevent piping and wiring from interfering with other parts .

The support member is made of a low-friction material, and the coil-like pipe or the coil-like electric wiring is supported by the support member penetrating through the coil-like pipe or the coil-like electric wiring. According to this, the coiled pipe or the coiled electric wiring is securely supported by the support member, and the relative movement between the pipe or the wiring and the support member is smoothly performed.

According to the structure in which the support member is formed of a fluorine resin tube and the tip of the fluorine resin tube is rotatably connected via a rotary joint coaxially with the Z axis of the head. Even if is rotated about the axis of the Z axis, the support member is not twisted.

According to the configuration in which the pipe for supplying the working fluid for operating the head and the electric wiring are bundled and formed into a coil shape, the pipe and the wiring are rationally put together and securely supported by the support member. It becomes possible to do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the overall configuration of a robot.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of a portion on the distal end side of the robot.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a main part of the robot showing a connection structure between an air pipe and electric wiring.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing a structure of a connection portion between a coil tube and a hollow shaft.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the same.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of the coil tube.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a coil tube according to a modification.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a coil tube according to a modification.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of a coil tube according to a modification.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of a coil tube according to a modification.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ‥‥ base, 11 ‥‥ first arm, 12 ‥‥ first arm turning drive motor, 13 ‥‥ second arm, 14 ‥‥
Second arm rotation drive motor, 15 ° head, 20 °
{Turret chuck, 21} Tool, 22} Vacuum pad, 26 {Hollow shaft, 27} Cover, 28}
Opening, 29 ‥‥ relay box, 30 ‥‥ rotary joint,
31 ‥‥ support tube, 32 ‥‥ robot code,
36 ‥‥ air piping, 37 ‥‥ electric wiring, 38 ‥‥ coil tube, 41 ‥‥ support plate, 44 ‥‥ sensor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A robot comprising a head movably supported by a moving means, wherein the head and the base side are moved so as to absorb a movement of the head by the moving means by elastic deformation and maintain a predetermined form. And a coil-shaped pipe for supplying a working fluid for operating the head, wherein the coil-shaped pipe is supported by the support member. A robot adapted to follow the movement of the head by a moving means. 2. A robot having a head movably supported by a moving means, wherein the head and the base side are moved by elastic deformation to absorb the movement of the head by the moving means and maintain a predetermined form. And a coil-shaped electric wiring connected to the head, respectively, wherein the coil-shaped electric wiring is supported by the support member by the moving means. A robot adapted to follow the movement of the head. 3. The coil-shaped pipe or the coil-shaped support member is made of a low-friction material, and the support member penetrates through the coil-shaped pipe or the coil-shaped electric wiring. 3. An electric wiring is supported.
The robot according to 1. 4. The support member is made of a fluorine resin tube, and a tip of the fluorine resin tube is rotatably connected to the head via a rotary joint coaxially with the Z axis of the head. The robot according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The robot according to claim 1, wherein a pipe for supplying a working fluid for operating the head and the electric wiring are bundled and formed into a coil shape.