KR20140094155A - Robot For Connecting Cable And Method Of Connecting Cable Using The Same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a robot for connecting a cable which includes: a body unit; a camera unit which is connected to the body unit and is moved in all directions; a gripper unit which is arranged on the lower side of the camera unit and includes an upper gripper and a lower gripper to insert the cable into the connector by gripping the cable; and a roller unit which closes a latch of the connector by horizontally moving.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a robot for connecting a cable,

The present invention relates to a robot for cable fastening, and more particularly to a cable fastening robot including a gripper portion for inserting a cable into a connector and a roller portion for fastening the cable to the connector, and a cable fastening method using the robot.

A liquid crystal display (LCD), which is one of flat panel displays (FPDs), includes first and second substrates formed with pixel electrodes and a common electrode and spaced apart from each other, 2 substrate, and displays an image by changing the transmittance of the liquid crystal layer by an electric field generated between the pixel electrode and the common electrode.

In addition, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) includes a first substrate on which a thin film transistor and a light emitting diode are formed, and a second substrate on which the first substrate is protected, The image is displayed by changing the amount of light emitted from the light emitting layer by adjusting the applied current.

Such a liquid crystal display device is manufactured through a TFT process, a CF process, a cell process, and a module process, and an organic light emitting diode display device is manufactured through a TFT process, an organic process, a cell process, and a module process.

That is, after a liquid crystal panel is manufactured through a TFT process, a CF process, and a cell process, a polarizer is attached to both surfaces of a liquid crystal panel through a module process, and then a driving unit such as a driving integrated circuit is connected. The liquid crystal panel and the backlight unit are modularized through a bottom frame or the like to complete a liquid crystal display device.

Similarly, a driving circuit such as a driving integrated circuit is connected to the organic light emitting diode panel through a module process after the organic light emitting diode panel is manufactured through a TFT process, an organic material process, and a cell process, and a top frame, a main frame, Thereby completing the organic light emitting diode display device.

As described above, the manufacturing process of the flat panel display device includes a module process of connecting a driving unit such as a driving integrated circuit to a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel or an organic light emitting diode panel. The driving unit includes a printed circuit board a printed circuit board (PCB) and a chip-on-film (COF).

In particular, the printed circuit board may be connected to an external system via a cable such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC), which will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a view for explaining a conventional cable fastening method.

1, a connector 12 is formed on a printed circuit board 10, which is one of the driving units of the flat panel display. The connector 12 is provided with a flexible printed circuit (FPC) a cable 20 such as a flexible flat cable (FFC) may be inserted and a latch 14 is formed in the connector 12 for fastening and fastening the inserted cable 20.

That is, after the cable 20 is completely inserted into the connector 12 of the printed circuit board 10, the inserted cable 20 is fastened to the connector 12 by applying pressure and pressing the latch 14 downward And is fixed.

The printed circuit board 10 can receive a plurality of signals and a plurality of power sources from an external system (not shown) through the cable 20 and generates a plurality of control signals, a plurality of power signals, It is possible to display an image by outputting it to a panel (not shown).

The coupling between the cable 20 and the connector 12 is mainly performed by hand, and there is a high possibility that a misalignment between the cable 20 and the connector 12 will occur. When the cable 20 is inserted into the connector 12 And thus there is a problem that process time and manufacturing cost are increased.

In order to solve this problem, a first robot for inserting the cable 20 into the connector 12 and a cable 20 using the second robot for pressing the latch 14 and fastening the cable 20 to the connector 12, However, in this case, an excessive time is required for the fastening process, which raises the manufacturing cost, and there is a problem that the second robot is used only for pressing the latch 14, .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector for a robot, And a manufacturing cost can be reduced, and a cable fastening method using the same.

In the present invention, the alignment state of the cable and the connector is checked by using the camera unit, the cable is inserted into the connector by using the gripper unit, the latch of the connector is pressed by using the roller unit, And a cable clamping method using the same, which can be applied to fastening cables and connectors of a position.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus comprising: a body portion; A camera unit connected to the body unit and having a variable position vertically and horizontally; A gripper portion disposed at a lower portion of the camera portion, the gripper portion including an upper gripper and a lower gripper capable of holding the cable and inserting the cable into the connector; And a roller portion that can move in the horizontal direction to close the latch of the connector.

The roller unit includes: a roller that rotates while passing through the latch to close the latch; A cover connected to the shaft of the roller; At least one air cylinder for supplying a force to the roller; A bracket to which the at least one air cylinder is fixed; And a tension spring connected between the cover and the bracket.

In addition, the at least one air cylinder may include a bar extending and contracting at the distal end.

And, the roller can close the latch by expansion of the bar, and return to the original position by the tension spring.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gripping apparatus comprising: gripping a gripper portion including an upper gripper and a lower gripper; Confirming a holding state and an alignment state of the cable; Inserting the cable into the connector; The roller portion moving in the horizontal direction to close the latch of the connector; And the camera unit confirms the state of engagement of the cable and the connector.

The roller unit includes: a roller that rotates while passing through the latch to close the latch; A cover connected to the shaft of the roller; At least one air cylinder for supplying a force to the roller; A bracket to which the at least one air cylinder is fixed; And a tension spring connected between the cover and the bracket.

In addition, the at least one air cylinder may include a bar extending and contracting at the distal end.

The step of moving the roller portion in the horizontal direction to close the latch of the connector includes the steps of: the roller closing the latch by expansion of the bar; And returning the roller back to its original position by the tension spring.

The present invention has the effect that the accuracy of the fastening process is improved, the process time is shortened, and the manufacturing cost is reduced by inserting the cable into the connector by using one robot and pressing the latch of the connector by fastening the cable to the connector .

In the present invention, the alignment state of the cable and the connector is checked by using the camera unit, the cable is inserted into the connector by using the gripper unit, the latch of the connector is pressed by using the roller unit, There is an effect that can be applied to the fastening of the cable and the connector of the position.

1 is a view for explaining a conventional cable fastening method;
2 is a perspective view illustrating a cable-securing robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a front view showing a robot for securing a cable according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a view showing a body portion, a camera portion, and a gripper portion of a cable clamping robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view showing a roller portion of a cable clamping robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a cable clamping robot and a cable clamping method using the same according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 and 3 are a perspective view and a front view, respectively, of a cable clamping robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 3, the cable connecting robot 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a body 120, a camera 130, a gripper 140, and a roller 150, .

The body part 120 is connected to the camera part 130, the gripper part 140 and the roller part 150 to support the camera part 130, the gripper part 140 and the roller part 150 .

The camera unit 130 includes a camera 132 and a support stand 134. The camera unit 130 includes a gripping state of the cable 160 and an alignment state of the cable 160 with the connector 172 on the upper portion of the printed circuit board 170, Thereby confirming the engagement state of the connector 160 and the connector 172. [

The camera 130 may be mounted on the support table 134 by varying its position vertically and horizontally according to the size and position of the cable 160 and the connector 172.

The gripper portion 140 includes an upper gripper 142, a lower gripper 144 and a first air cylinder (not shown) The cable 160 can be gripped or set by adjusting the spacing distance of the lower gripper 144.

At this time, the first air cylinder may be a double acting type air cylinder, and the lower gripper 144 may be moved up and down by the first air cylinder.

The upper gripper 142 and the lower gripper 144 may be formed to have a relatively large area in order to improve the gripping force of the cable 160 to maximize the contact area with the cable 160.

The roller portion 150 includes a roller 152, a cover 153, a second and a third air cylinder 154, a bracket 156 and a tension spring 158 (Fig. 5) And serves to close the latch 174 of the connector 172 by pushing the roller 152 in the direction of the gripper part 140 by the pressure of the air cylinder 154.

At this time, the cover 153 is connected to the shaft of the roller 152 to receive the force of the second and third air cylinders 154, and the second and third air cylinders 154 serve to receive the force of the second and third air cylinders 154, And the tension spring 158 may be connected between the bracket 156 and the cover 153. The bracket 156 may be fixed to the bracket 156,

The second and third air cylinders 154 may be a double acting type air cylinder and one or more air cylinders may be provided depending on the size of the cable 160 and the connector 172. [

The roller 152 may be made of a material having elasticity such as silicone rubber so as to prevent the latch 174 from being worn or damaged.

The configuration and functions of each part of the cable securing robot 110 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a body part, a camera part, and a gripper part of a cable clamping robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a view showing a roller part of a cable clamping robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, 2 and Fig. 3 together. Fig.

As shown in FIG. 4, the camera unit 130 and the gripper unit 140 are connected to and supported by the body 120.

The camera unit 132 is mounted on the support table 134 by varying its position vertically and horizontally according to the size and position of the cable 160 and the connector 172, It is possible to confirm the alignment state of the cable 160 and the connector 172 with the connector 172 on the printed circuit board 170 so that the accuracy of the fastening process of the cable 160 and the connector 172 Improvement.

The gripper portion 140 grasps the cable 160 by adjusting the distance between the upper gripper 142 and the lower gripper 144 by the force of the first air cylinder (not shown) The upper gripper 142 is fixed and the lower gripper 144 is moved upward so as not to interfere with the printed circuit board 170 and the like when the upper gripper 142 and the lower gripper 144 move toward the connector 172, (160).

After the grip of the cable 160 and the alignment of the cable 160 and the connector 172 are checked by the camera unit 132 and the gripper unit 140 grips the cable 160, The portion 140 moves toward the printed circuit board 170 and inserts the cable 160 into the connector 172.

5, after the cable 160 is inserted into the connector 172, the roller portion 150 closes the latch 174 of the connector 172. As shown in Fig.

The roller 152 is moved horizontally from its original position toward the latch 174 by the second and third air cylinders 154 and is retracted from the latch 174 side in the horizontal direction .

That is, the bar 155 at the end of the second and third air cylinders 154 is not fixed to the rollers 152 but extends in a state of being in contact with the rollers 152, Pushing the roller 152 causing the roller 174 to pass through the latch 174 so that the latch 174 is closed.

The bar 155 at the end of the second and third air cylinders 154 is then retracted and returned to its original position and the roller 152 is pulled back to its original position by the restoring force of the tension spring 158.

The reason why the bars 155 at the distal ends of the second and third air cylinders 154 are not fixedly coupled to the roller 152 is that the bars 155 of the second and third air cylinders 154 are arranged in the vertical direction When the second and third air cylinders 154 are fixedly coupled to the rollers 152, the direction of movement is different from that of the rollers 152, 2 and the bar 155 of the third air cylinder 154 may be worn or damaged.

Therefore, the bar 155 of the second and third air cylinders 154 is not fixed to the rollers 152, but hits the cover 153 of the rollers 152 to push them in the horizontal direction and then returns to the original position, Instead, the tension spring pulls the cover 153 of the roller 152 back to its original position.

Then, the camera unit 130 confirms the fastened condition of the cable 160 and the connector 172. [

The force of the second and third air cylinders 154 is changed to the rotation and movement of the roller 152 in the horizontal direction so that the latch 174 of the connector 172 is closed so that the success rate of closing the latch 174 .

That is, even when the initial position of the roller 152 is somewhat misaligned with the latch 174, the latch 174 can be completely closed by the roller 152 moving in the horizontal direction.

Since the second and third air cylinders 154 are not structured to push the latches 174 directly, the second and third air cylinders 154 can be connected to the cables 160 instead of the latches 174, Or a failure to transfer a force to the printed circuit board 170 can be prevented.

It is also contemplated that the latch 174 may be fully closed (when it has an angle of about 110 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane) as well as when the latch 174 is fully closed (with an angle of about 80 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane) (174) can be completely closed.

On the other hand, after the insertion of the cable 160, the roller 152 can be quickly moved by the second and third air cylinders 154, so that the time for closing the latch 174 is shortened.

Therefore, the process time for fastening the cable 160 is shortened, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

As described above, in the cable fastening robot 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention and the cable fastening method using the same, cable utilization and latch locking are performed using one robot, so that utilization of the robot is improved.

Further, since the latch is closed by the roller portion after the cable is inserted, the process time of the cable fastening is shortened and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

Further, since the cable holding state, the cable alignment state, and the cable fastening state are confirmed by the camera unit and the cable is fastened, the accuracy of the cable fastening process is improved.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It can be understood that

110: a cable fastening robot 120:
130: camera part 140: gripper part
150: roller portion 160: cable
170: printed circuit board 172: connector
174: Latch

Claims (8)

A body portion;
A camera unit connected to the body unit and having a variable position vertically and horizontally;
A gripper portion disposed at a lower portion of the camera portion, the gripper portion including an upper gripper and a lower gripper capable of holding the cable and inserting the cable into the connector;
A roller portion that can move in the horizontal direction and close the latch of the connector
And a cable-tightening robot.
The method according to claim 1,
The roller unit
A roller that closes the latch by rotating while passing through the latch;
A cover connected to the shaft of the roller;
At least one air cylinder for supplying a force to the roller;
A bracket to which the at least one air cylinder is fixed;
A tension spring connected between the cover and the bracket
And a cable clamping robot.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein said at least one air cylinder includes a bar extending and contracting at its distal end.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the roller closes the latch by expansion of the bar and returns to the original position by the tension spring.
Gripping the gripper portion including the upper gripper and the lower gripper;
Confirming a holding state and an alignment state of the cable;
Inserting the cable into the connector;
The roller portion moving in the horizontal direction to close the latch of the connector;
Wherein the camera unit confirms the state of engagement of the cable and the connector
.
6. The method of claim 5,
The roller unit
A roller that closes the latch by rotating while passing through the latch;
A cover connected to the shaft of the roller;
At least one air cylinder for supplying a force to the roller;
A bracket to which the at least one air cylinder is fixed;
A tension spring connected between the cover and the bracket
.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the at least one air cylinder includes a bar extending and contracting at an end thereof.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the roller portion moves in the horizontal direction to close the latch of the connector,
The roller closing the latch by expansion of the bar;
The roller returning to its original position by the tension spring
.

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