WO1997032696A1

WO1997032696A1 - Robot

Info

Publication number: WO1997032696A1
Application number: PCT/EP1997/001133
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stefan Kerpe
Original assignee: KöRa Verpackungsmaschinen
Priority date: 1996-03-07
Filing date: 1997-03-06
Publication date: 1997-09-12
Also published as: DE19608843C2; AU2095997A; DE19608843A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a robot with a preferably multi-axis manipulator and a coupling transmission used to drive the latter. The robot is characterized in that a first wheel arrangement (6) of the coupling transmission (5) comprises a drive belt (7, 9, 11) for driving the manipulator (3) about each working axis (19, 23, 27), each drive belt (7, 9, 11) being guided in a closed loop and arranged such that its outer side engages with a drive wheel (13, 15, 17) is a second wheel arrangement (8) of the coupling transmission (5), the wheel arrangement (8) being associated with the manipulator (3).

Description

robot

description

The invention relates to a robot with a preferably multi-axis manipulator and with a coupling gear serving to drive the manipulator.

Robots of the type mentioned here are known. It has been found that the assembly or disassembly of the manipulator is very complex and therefore expensive.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a robot which does not have this disadvantage.

To solve this problem, a robot is proposed which comprises the features listed in claim 1. The fact that a first wheel arrangement of the coupling gear for each of the driven axes of the manipulator has a closed drive belt, the outside of which engages with the drive wheel of a second gear arrangement of the coupling gear associated with the manipulator, is easy assembly / disassembly of the manipulator possible, since its drive wheels only have to be pressed against the closed loop of the drive belt. When installing and removing the manipulator, the drive belt can still be attached to the first wheel Order of the coupling gear remain, so that no assembly work is required in this regard.

An embodiment of the robot is preferred which is characterized in that the manipulator has three driven axes and three drive wheels lying one above the other, to which three drive belts / loops are assigned. It is therefore possible to drive a three-axis manipulator in a simple manner and thus to implement a simple construction of a corresponding robot.

Further refinements result from the remaining subclaims.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. Show it:

Figures 1 and 2 show a section of a robot, namely a manipulator in the disassembled and assembled state together with a coupling gear;

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show a schematic cross section through part of a robot, namely through a complete coupling gear in three different levels;

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a schematic cross section through a coupling gear of a robot in two different planes. Robots of the type mentioned here can be used as desired and can be coupled with a wide variety of manipulators. In the following, only those manipulators are relevant which are driven by the robot and which perform a rotary movement in at least one axis. A three-axis manipulator is described below purely by way of example.

FIG. 1 shows a section of a robot 1, which comprises a manipulator 3, and also a coupling gear 5, via which drive forces are transferred from the robot 1 to the manipulator 3. The coupling gear 5 comprises a first wheel arrangement 6 assigned to the robot 1 and a second wheel arrangement assigned to the manipulator 3 or arranged thereon. The first wheel arrangement 6 has a number of drive belts 7, 9 and 11, which here can interact with three drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 of the second wheel arrangement 8, that is to say the manipulator 3. The drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 of the second wheel arrangement 8 serve to make the manipulator rotate about an axis 19, furthermore to make a partial element 21 of the manipulator 3 rotate about an axis 23 and finally about a second partial element designed here as a gripper 25 to set an axis 27 in rotation. The number of drive wheels 13 to 17 thus depends on how many axes the manipulator 3 or its parts can be rotated.

FIG. 1 shows the manipulator 3 in the disassembled position, that is to say the drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 are not touched by the drive belts 7, 9 and 11, so that drive forces cannot be transmitted.

The embodiment of the robot 1 shown in FIG. 1 has three drive shafts 29, 31 and 33, at the ends of which rollers are attached, over which the drive belts 7, 9 and 11 are guided. The drive belts 7, 9 and 11 form closed loops, in the interior of which the drive shafts 29, 31, 33 and the rollers placed thereon lie. The drive shafts 29 to 31 and the rollers as well as the drive belts 7 to 11 are part of the first wheel arrangement 6 here.

In the embodiment shown here, three rollers are attached to the ends of all three drive shafts 29 to 33 and are arranged so that they lie in three superimposed planes E1, E2 and E3 arranged parallel to one another. Each in one plane, one of the rollers is rigidly connected to a drive shaft, while the others are freely rotatable. The roller rigidly connected to the drive shaft is referred to as the driven wheel, the other, freely rotating rollers as deflection rollers.

FIG. 2 shows the coupling gear 5 in the assembled state, in which the drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 of the second gear arrangement 8 of the coupling gear 5 assigned to the manipulator 3 counter the free pull of the drive belts 7, 9 and 11, which is between the drive shafts 29 and 33 is located. Driving forces introduced into the drive belts via the drive shafts can are transmitted by frictional engagement between the drive belt and the drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 of the manipulator 3. In order to ensure optimum power transmission, the drive belts are preferably designed as toothed belts and at least the driven wheels provided on the drive shafts and the drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 of manipulator 3 are designed as toothed wheels. It is also possible to design the deflection rollers, which are freely rotatable on the drive shafts, as gear wheels. The toothed belt is provided with teeth on both sides. Due to the tooth provided on the inside, the drive forces applied by the driven wheels of the drive shafts are optimally transmitted and introduced into the drive belt. Due to the teeth provided on the outside of the drive belt, the drive forces are transmitted optimally, that is to say without slip, to the drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 of the manipulator 3. It is also conceivable that the slip-free coupling between the drive shafts and the manipulator means that the latter can be brought into defined positions repetitively.

It can be seen from FIG. 2 that the manipulator 3 is pressed against the free pull of the drive belts in such a way that they are deflected or bent in the direction of the central drive shaft 31 and thus touch the drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 in a peripheral region . This ensures that larger drive torques can be transmitted. In the event that only small forces are to be transmitted, a short loop of the drive belt can also be used are formed, wherein only two of the three drive shafts are spanned.

The drive shafts are arranged here at the corners of an imaginary, isosceles triangle, the free tension of the drive belts 7, 9 and 11 running along the imaginary hypotenuse of this triangle. In this way it is ensured that the free train can be pushed through and deflected sufficiently without the inside of the drive belts touching the rollers on the central drive shaft 31.

The coupling gear 5 comprises a housing which, for reasons of better clarity, has not been shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The housing is indicated from FIGS. 3 to 5 described below, in which a cross section through the coupling gear in the area of the planes E1, E2 and E3 is shown.

Figure 3 shows a cross section through the coupling gear 5 in the area of the plane El. The gear mechanism and the manipulator 3 are shown here in the assembled position which can also be seen in FIG. 2, in which the drive wheel 13 shown here in plan view shows the drive belt 1 or its free traction between the drive shaft 29 and the drive shaft 33, so that the drive belt 7 touches the drive wheel 13 in the region of a circumferential line. From the top view of the loop of the drive belt 7 lying in the plane E 1 it can be seen that it spans all three drive shafts 29, 31 and 33. It also becomes clear that all three rollers sitting on the drive shafts len lie within the loop. It is indicated in FIG. 3 that the roller on the drive shaft 33 is rigidly coupled to it and thus forms an output gear 35. The rollers which are provided on the drive shafts 29 and 31 and lie in the plane E1 are free-running deflection rollers 37 and 39. With this configuration, the toothed belt 7 is rotated by drive forces applied by the drive shaft 33, the movement of the drive belt 7 can take place independently of rotary movements of the drive shafts 29 and 31 and the drive forces applied by the drive shaft 33 can be transmitted to the drive wheel 13.

In FIG. 3 it is indicated that the coupling gear 5 comprises a housing 41, which here has two housing parts 43 and 45, of which the first housing part 43 has at least the lower ends of the drive shafts 29, 31 and 33 with those there in the planes E1, E2 and E3 receives lying rollers, that is to say parts of the first wheel arrangement 6. The second housing part 45 receives parts of the second wheel arrangement 8 or the manipulator 3, namely its drive wheels 13, 15 and 17. As an example, the parting line 47 is placed between the housing parts 43 and 45 so that it lies in the area of the axis 19, which also forms the axis of rotation of the drive wheels 13, 15 and 17. It is essential that the two housing parts 43 and 45 are designed such that when these parts are separated, the manipulator 3 is held by the second housing part 45, while the drive belts 7, 9 and 11 remain in the first housing part 43. When the two housing parts are removed, the drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 are lifted off the drive belts 7, 9 and 11, so that when the manipulator 3 is removed, the toothed belts can remain in their assembled position in the levels E1, E2 and E3. The division of the coupling gear 5 into at least two wheel arrangements 6, 8, which come into operative connection with one another, of which here the second wheel arrangement 8 is arranged on the manipulator 3, enables the manipulator to be separated quickly and easily from the robot.

The two housing parts 43 and 45 are connected by a flange 49, which is designed so that the distance between the housing parts 43 and 45, so that the width of the parting line 47 can be adjusted. Thus, the drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 are more or less pressed into the free train of the drive belts 7, 9 and 11 between the drive shafts 29 and 33 and thus an optimal tension of the drive belts 7, 9 and 11 is set .

The connection area between the two housing parts 43 and 45 can also be designed in such a way that the separating joint 47 is always covered, even when the distance between the housing parts changes, so that the housing 41 even when the drive belts 7, 9 are realized with different tensions and 11 is closed against external influences. The flange 49 can be designed so that the distance between the housing parts 43 and 45 can be varied even when the housing 41 is closed, in order to be able to optimally adjust the tension of the drive belt. FIG. 4 shows a section through the coupling gear 5 in the area of the plane E2. Parts that correspond to those in Figure 3 are provided with the same reference numerals, so that reference can be made to the description of Figure 3.

FIG. 4 differs from the representation in FIG. 3 only in that in the plane E2 the rollers provided on the drive shafts 31 and 33 are designed as deflection rollers 51 and 53, while the roller rigidly connected to the drive shaft 29 is designed as an output gear 55 serves. The drive belt 9 is thus subjected to drive forces via the drive shaft 29 and the driven wheel 55 and runs freely over the deflection rollers 51 and 53, regardless of whether the drive shafts 31 and 33 are rotating or not.

The drive belt 9 drives the drive wheel 15 of the manipulator 3 shown in plan view.

Finally, FIG. 5 shows a cross section through the coupling gear 5 at height E3, in which the drive belt 11 rotates around three rollers, one of which is rigidly connected to the drive shaft 31 and is designed as an output gear 57. The drive belt 11 runs freely around the guide rollers 59 and 61 mounted on the drive shafts 29 and 33, so that a torque applied by the drive shaft 31 is transmitted to the drive wheel 17 of the manipulator 3.

With regard to the housing 41 and its configuration, reference is made to the description of FIG. 3. From the explanations for FIGS. 1 to 5 it is readily apparent that the manipulator 3 can be removed very easily from the robot 1, in particular it becomes clear that the drive belts 7, 9 and 11 do not have to be loosened during disassembly . A relative movement of the housing parts 43 and 45 of the housing 41 can ensure that the drive belts 7, 9 and 11 are always optimally tensioned, so that torques applied by the drive shafts 29, 31 and 33 are preferably slip-free on the Drive wheels 13, 15 and 17 of the manipulator 3 are transmitted. If the drive belts are designed as toothed belts, repetitive positioning of the manipulator 3 or its sub-elements 21 and 25 is readily possible.

Furthermore, it can be seen that, depending on the design of the robot and / or the number of driven axes of the manipulator, it is possible that the deflection pulley rigidly connected to the respective drive shaft and serving to transmit the drive forces can be assigned to each drive belt. It is therefore freely selectable which drive shaft transmits the drive forces to the drive belt 7 or the drive belts 9 and 11. It is conceivable that the driving forces on the drive belt 7 from the drive shaft 31 (E1), that on the drive belt 9 from the drive shaft 29 (E2) and that on the drive belt 11 from the drive shaft 33 (E3). Accordingly, they are rigid with The deflection rollers connected to the drive shafts are assigned to the respective plane E1, E2 or E3.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show cross sections through a coupling gear 5 'in the area of the planes E1 and E2 of a manipulator 3 * which is rotatable in two axes. The coupling gear 5 'differs from the coupling gear 5 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 in that the first gear assembly 6 only has the drive shafts 29 and 33 and the second gear assembly 8 has the drive wheels 13 and 15. Parts which correspond to those in FIGS. 3 to 5 are provided with the same reference numerals, so that reference can be made to the description of FIGS. 3 to 5.

Figure 6 shows a plan view of the loop of the drive belt 9 lying in the plane E2. The drive shafts 29 and 33 of the first wheel arrangement 6 of the coupling gear 5 'are arranged within the loop in such a way that the drive belt 9 drives the drive wheel 15 in the region of a circumferential line touched. The driving forces are transmitted from the driven wheel 55 to the drive belt 9. The deflection roller 53 arranged on the drive shaft 33 only serves to guide the drive belt 9.

FIG. 7 shows a top view of the coupling gear 5 'in the area of the plane El. In the plane El, the driven wheel 35 is arranged on the drive shaft 33 and the deflection roller 39 on the drive shaft 29. The drive forces transmitted from the driven wheel 35 to the drive belt 7 are in the area of free traction between the drive Transfer waves 29 and 33 to the drive wheel 13 of the manipulator 3 '.

In each of the levels, the drive forces for a rotatable axis of the manipulator are transmitted from the first wheel arrangement to the second wheel arrangement. The coupling gear of a uniaxial manipulator accordingly has only one drive belt. The number of driven axes of the manipulator thus determines the number of levels of the coupling gear.

Claims

Expectations

1. Robot with a preferably multi-axis manipulator and with a coupling gear serving to drive the manipulator, characterized in that a first wheel arrangement (6) of the coupling gear (5) for each of the driven axes (19, 23, 27) ) of the manipulator (3) has a drive belt (7, 9, 11) which is guided in a closed loop and is arranged in such a way that its outside is connected to a drive wheel (13, 15, 17) of a second, the manipulator (3) assigned wheel arrangement (8) of the coupling gear (5) engages.

2. Robot according to claim 1, characterized in that the manipulator (3) has three driven axes (19, 23, 27) which have drive wheels (13, 15, 17) arranged one above the other, preferably concentrically.

3. Robot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first wheel arrangement (6) has three drive shafts (29, 31, 33) provided with an output wheel (35, 55, 57).

4. Robot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the loops drive the drive belt (7,9,11) by at least two drive waves are guided, an output gear and at least one deflection roller being arranged within a loop.

5. Robot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the loops are guided around all three drive shafts (29, 31, 33) and two deflection rollers are provided per loop.

6. Robot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive wheels and the deflection roller (s) are arranged in approximately one plane (E1, E2, E3).

7. Robot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at the ends of the drive shafts (29, 31, 33) an output gear and two deflection rollers are arranged one above the other.

8. Robot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the coupling gear (5) comprises a housing (41) with at least two housing parts (43, 45), the first housing part (43) having the drive belt (7, 9, 11) and the second housing part (45) is assigned to the manipulator (3).

9. Robot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing parts (43, 45) are designed to be movable relative to one another in order to be able to adjust the tension of the drive belt (7, 9, 11) in the assembled state.

10. Robot according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the drive belts, preferably all drive belts (7, 9, 11) as toothed belts, and that the drive wheels (13, 15, 17) of the manipulator ( 3) and the driven wheels (35, 55, 57) of the drive shafts (29, 31, 33) are designed as gear wheels.