JPS597573A - Industrial robot - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an industrial robot, and more specifically, it is equipped with a plurality of arms, and these arms are operable alternately or simultaneously and can cross each other. This is about industrial robots.

Many manipulator-type industrial robots are currently being proposed for handling purposes such as welding, painting, and logistics, but considering the appearance of the robot, most of them have one arm, that is, single-arm type. However, there are not many industrial robots with two arms. An example of a robot with two arms is a two-arm rotating robot that is incorporated into a crank press line, as shown in FIG. It is configured in an open state with a phase angle, and is arranged so as to horizontally rotate at an angle of 90 degrees about a rotation axis 14 common to the two arms.

and the workpiece pedestal 16 at a phase angle of 90°. A first crank press 18 and a second crank press 20 are sequentially arranged,
By intermittently rotating the two arms to and 12 by 90 degrees, the arm 10 loads the workpiece on the workpiece pedestal 16 onto the first crank press 18, and the arm 12 loads the workpiece on the first crank press 18. The work is carried out to load the workpiece into the second crank press 20.

However, in this type of robot 1-, the arms do not have degrees of freedom relative to each other, so tasks by each arm are always performed simultaneously, so for example, while one arm is performing a specific task, It was not possible for the other arm to move into a preparatory action for the task in question.

There are also assembly robots, generally called double-hand type, in which multiple independent manipulators are placed on a common base and each arm is controlled independently; However, there are disadvantages such as an increase in installation space, an increase in manufacturing cost, and a complicated control system. In addition, there are other manipulators with two arms, such as the magic hand and slave hand, which faithfully follow human manual operations, but these can be operated using sequence control, playback control, and other numerical control. It is difficult to include it in the concept of so-called industrial robots.

The present invention was devised in view of the current state of industrial robots, and includes a plurality of arms, these arms operate independently and alternately or simultaneously, and furthermore, they cross each other. The purpose is to expand the work area and increase the operating efficiency per unit time, and also to reduce the installation space.

In order to achieve this object, the industrial robot according to the present invention has a plurality of arms disposed above and below a support body so that they can freely rotate and move forward and backward independently, and these arms alternately or They are characterized in that they are configured to operate simultaneously and to be able to cross each other.

Next, preferred embodiments of the industrial robot according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a side view of one embodiment of the industrial robot of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the robot shown in FIG. 2 installed on a transportation line for physical distribution. The illustrated industrial robot has a plurality of arms arranged on a support such as an upright column with a predetermined height difference, and each of these arms is configured to be able to horizontally rotate and horizontally expand and contract. Therefore, first, this basic configuration will be explained. In addition, in this example, the case where the number of arms is two is illustrated.

In the drawings, reference numeral 22 indicates a support that forms the base of the robot body, and in this embodiment, this support 22 is a cylindrical upright column attached to a fixed base 24. Depending on the environment, it may be an upright wall or a portal-shaped pedestal. The support body 22 has two sleeves 26 with a predetermined height difference in vertical relationship.
．． 28 are arranged and brackets 33° 3 are attached to shoulders 30 and 32 correspondingly provided on these sleeves 26 and 28.
5 is pivotably supported. And shoulder 30.
The brackets 33 and 35 are connected to the shoulders 30 and 32 by means of DC servo motors 34 and 36 respectively arranged on the shoulders 30 and 32.
A horizontal turning motion is applied to the These DC servo motors 34 and 36 are all of the type that integrates a tacho generator and a pulse encoder, and signals from the tacho generator are sent to a motor driver provided in the control section and from the pulse encoder. The signals are fed back to encoder units, respectively, and are configured to digitally servo control the appropriate rotational speed of the DC servo motor. In addition, DC servo motor 34.36
The rotational power from the brackets 33.35 is transmitted to the brackets 33.35 through suitable timing belts and other mechanical components such as gear trains, and the rotational power is transmitted to the brackets 33.35, together with the arms 42.44 (described later), to the support body 22 as required. It rotates horizontally at a rotation angle of .

In the illustrated embodiment, the shoulder 3 located vertically above
A holder 38 is attached to the brackets 33 and 35, which are pivotably supported horizontally on the shoulder 32 located vertically downward.
, 40 are attached, and a first arm 42 and a second arm 44 are disposed on these holders 38 and 40, respectively, so as to be able to move forward and backward.

That is, each arm can slide forward and backward in the horizontal direction relative to the holder, for example via a linear motion bearing (linear way), and the forward and backward movement of these arms is controlled by the movement of the arms through the holder 38°. 40 respectively by DC servo motors 46,48. Like the servo motor 34.36, the DC servo motor 46.48 has a built-in tacho generator and pulse encoder, and is set to an appropriate rotation speed by a digital servo control command from the control unit, and also controls the movement of the arm 42.44. Drive is accomplished through the use of a linear movement mechanism such as a ball screw or rack and pinion.

A hand portion such as a gripper or a finger is attached to each end of the first arm 42 and second arm 44 of the industrial robot configured as described above, and in this embodiment, the degree of freedom of this hand portion is further improved. For this purpose, various exercise functions such as rotation of the wrist (wrist) and a function of raising and lowering the hand are additionally provided.

That is, each wrist 50.52 is attached to the tip of each arm 42.44 so as to be able to rotate horizontally, and each wrist can be rotated in the horizontal direction by a DC servo motor 54.56 correspondingly disposed at the top of the wrist. Given. This rotation may be either rotation in one direction or reciprocating rotation at a predetermined central angle.

Furthermore, a bending motion and a swinging motion of the wrist may be added. Furthermore, in Lists 50 and 52, pneumatic cylinders 58 and 60 are respectively installed vertically as linear actuators, and vacuum cups 66 and 68 are installed at the ends of piston rods 62 and 64 of these cylinders 58 and 60 as hand parts. are arranged respectively. In this case, the length of the cylinder 58.6'O is the same as that of the bracket 26.
．． Since cylinder 28 has a height difference, cylinder 60 is set to be shorter than cylinder 58.
Each corresponding vacuum cup 66, . 68 are designed so that their maximum lowering limits are the same. Furthermore, the hand section is not limited to this vacuum cup, and it goes without saying that various types of grippers such as claw-type grippers and multi-fingered fingers can be used depending on the purpose of use.

In this way, in the industrial robot according to the present invention, each arm basically has two degrees of freedom: horizontal rotation and forward/backward movement, and since both arms can independently rotate, they can also cross each other. It becomes. In addition, in order to provide mutual crossing function, both arms are provided with a step on the top and bottom to prevent them from touching or interfering during their operation, and as will be described later, each hand section is designed to move in a separate trajectory. It has become. In addition, in this embodiment, as described above, two degrees of freedom are additionally provided, including movements such as rotation of the wrist and lifting and lowering of the hand section. Although not shown, it is possible in design to move the sleeves 26 and 28 up and down with respect to the support body 22 manually or automatically, or to connect the support body 22 itself to a rotary actuator or the like to make it rotatable. It is extremely easy to do, and this further expands the degrees of freedom and working area.

Next, an example of controlling the industrial robot according to the present invention will be explained. As mentioned earlier, the robot of the present invention is equipped with a plurality of arms, and these arms are configured to be able to intersect with each other, so that the hand section provided at the end of the arm does not collide and interfere during work. It is necessary to control the movement trajectory. There are various control methods to program and teach the movement pattern of this arm, but in this embodiment, the required work is stored in the robot, and the order 1 position of the work and other information are read out. A teaching/playback method is preferably used in which the task is repeatedly executed. For example, data input through teaching work is stored in the main memory (CPU) in a microcomputer in a control unit (not shown), and the stored data is processed by the microcomputer and sent to a digital servo unit. Given. Digital DC servo control of the DC servo motor is performed by a control unit consisting of a digital servo unit corresponding to each axis, a motor driver, a DC servo motor, a tacho generator, and a pulse encoder.

In this case, by simply teaching the three points, the starting point (point P), the origin, and the end point (point Q), the radius can be calculated from these three points to find the locus of the arc, and each axis can be adjusted so that the circumferential speed is constant. The robot according to the present invention can be smoothly controlled by providing the control unit with a circular interpolation function that determines the velocity component of and gives circular motion to the arm. For example, as shown in Figure 4 →
The first arm 42 and the second
When moving the arm 44 between the point P and point Q,
Each arm is given its own origin so that the arms 42 and 44 do not interfere with each other.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4(1), the first arm 42 is given the origin α, and the second arm 44 is given the origin 02.
If the points P → origin → Q are sequentially taught for each arm, the first arm 42 will move from point -P' to origin α, as shown in (2) to (4) in FIG. Perform a circular arc movement to point Q. In addition, the second arm 44 conversely performs an arc movement from point Q to point P via the origin α. In this way, when the first arm 42 takes out the workpiece 70 from point P and transfers it to point Q (this is taken as the forward route), the second arm 44 simultaneously moves from point Q to point P with no load. On the other hand (this is considered the return path), and since the arcuate trajectories of both arms have different origins, the trajectories will never intersect, so it is absolutely impossible for both arms 42 and 44 to interfere with each other during their reciprocating motion. Not in.

Next, an example of the operation when the industrial robot according to the present invention is incorporated into a distribution line will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5. The distribution line shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 carries rectangular cosmetic cans 74 (for example, salad oil cans) that are carried on a belt conveyor 72 and conveyed in sequence.
This is for assembling them in an orderly manner into a presentation box 78 positioned and placed on a belt conveyor 76 disposed perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the conveyor 72. As clearly shown in FIG. 3, the belt conveyor 76 includes a conveyor 80 for supplying decorative boxes, an intermediate conveyor 82 for positioning the decorative boxes 78, and a conveyor 82 for carrying out the decorative boxes 78 whose contents have been assembled. It is divided into three blocks with a conveyor 84. The intermediate conveyor 84 is configured to maintain the plurality of belt conveyors at a predetermined distance from each other, from within this distance an X-direction positioning stopper 86 protrudes so as to be able to rise and fall freely, and a Y-direction positioning stopper 88 also protrudes in the direction shown. ing. Furthermore, the Y-direction positioning stopper 88
A Y-direction positioning pusher 90 is disposed opposite to the
A piston rod 94 of a pneumatic cylinder 92 is connected to this pusher 90, so that it is given forward and backward movement in the horizontal direction.

Therefore, the gift box 78 is supplied to the intermediate conveyor 82 by the conveyor 80, and is positioned by the stoppers 86, 88 and the pusher 90 at a predetermined position on the temporarily stopped intermediate conveyor 82. Next, the first arm 42 pivots clockwise under the rotational action of the servo motor 34 and stops at a predetermined position on the belt conveyor 72 (this becomes point P), and then the pneumatic cylinder 58 is energized to move the vacuum cup Lower the 66 and remove the makeup can 74.
Perform vacuum suction and hold. Due to the reverse bias of the cylinder 58, the vacuum cup 66 rises slightly while holding the cosmetic case 74, and the first arm 42 pivots counterclockwise to remove the cosmetic case 78 positioned on the intermediate conveyor 82.
Go above and stop here. During this counterclockwise turning process, the DC servo motor 46 is driven to appropriately move the first arm 42 forward, so that the tip of the first arm 42 moves toward the origin 0□ as shown in FIG. Draw a passing arc. Further, the DC servo motor 54 provided in the wrist 50 rotates to give the wrist 50 a clockwise twist, thereby controlling the feeding attitude of the makeup can 74. The cylinder 58 is then energized and the vacuum cup 66
After descending and placing the cosmetic can 74 at a predetermined position in the cosmetic case 78, the vacuum is released and the cosmetic can 74 is released (this released position becomes point Q).

On the other hand, the second arm 44 turns counterclockwise at the same time as the first arm 42 starts turning, and moves above the cosmetic case on the intermediate conveyor 82 while holding the cosmetic case 74 on the belt conveyor 72 under vacuum suction. After the cosmetic can 74 is released into the cosmetic case 78, it is turned clockwise. In this case as well, the tip of the second arm 44 draws an arc passing through the origin α as shown in FIG. Even if the two arms cross each other, there will be no interference or collision between the two arms.

Moreover, according to the industrial robot according to the present invention, the plurality of arms are independently controlled by predetermined playback control commands given to each arm, so that while one arm is performing a predetermined task, the other arm is can complete the preparatory actions required to start the work, doubling the work capacity and significantly improving the operating rate. Furthermore, since the turning angle can be made equal to the turning angle of each individual arm in a plurality of arms, the installation space can be reduced, and manufacturing costs can be reduced, and many other beneficial effects can be achieved. Furthermore, the robot of the present invention is highly versatile, as it can be suitably used for loading and unloading workpieces in press operations and other various assembly operations.

The industrial robot according to the present invention has been described in detail by giving preferred embodiments and referring to the attached drawings.
The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown, but can be modified in many ways within the spirit of the invention.

For example, in the illustrated embodiment, a case has been described in which there are two arms.

It goes without saying that a plurality of arms larger than that may be arranged so as to be rotatable with height differences. Further, as the drive source, an electric, hydraulic, or pneumatic drive source other than the DC servo motor can be used as appropriate.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a two-arm rotating robot according to the prior art, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of an industrial robot according to the present invention.
A side view of the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the robot shown in FIG. 2 installed on a distribution line, and FIG. 4 is an arc trajectory when two arms rotate simultaneously in the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the state shown in FIG. 3. 22...Support body 42...First arm 44
...Second arm patent applicant Fuji Kikai Seisakusho Co., Ltd. Engraving of drawings (no changes in content) FIG, 1 FIG, 2 Commissioner of the Patent Office Kazuo Wakasugi 1. Display of the case 1982 Patent Application No. 113391 2, Title of the invention Industrial robot 3, Person making the amendment Relationship to the case Patent applicant address 2-14-10 Kamejima, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya Name Company E Company Fuji Machinery Manufacturer Representative Satsun Samurai 4, Agent 460 Address 5-3-11-6 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya Subject of amendment (1) Type engraving specification (2) Official drawing 7, Contents of amendment (1) Attachment Attached (no changes in content) (
2) Attachment (no change in content)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of arms are arranged vertically relative to a support body so as to be able to freely rotate and move forward and backward, and these arms are configured to operate alternately or simultaneously and to be able to cross each other. Features of industrial robots.