JPS6140515B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic hand changing device, and is effective for use in exchanging a plurality of chuck bodies, for example, in an industrial robot.

Conventionally, in this type of exchange device, the chuck body is detachably held by a hand portion. The engagement and disengagement between the chuck body and the hand portion has been accomplished solely by moving the air cylinder. For this reason, the air cylinder must be housed within the hand section, resulting in a problem that the size of the hand section becomes large. In addition, there was a problem in that the signal passage for the air cylinder had to be specially formed, and the piping of the signal passage became complicated.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to enable the engagement between the hand portion and the chuck body to be performed by mechanical operation.

Therefore, in the present invention, the hand part is provided with a guide rod that is displaced according to the movement of the hand part, and has a locking part that determines the position of the guide rod, and the chuck body is engaged with the chuck according to the position of the guide rod. A configuration is adopted in which a grip section that grips the head is driven.

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a chuck, which is rotatably supported by a chuck housing 2 via a support pin 3. A spring is housed in the chuck housing 2, and the chuck 1 is always biased in the closing direction by the spring. Therefore, when the chuck 1 is pressed against an object to be gripped, the chuck 1 opens due to the pressing force and clamps the object.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a flange portion formed on the side of the chuck housing 2, and has two communication holes 5 around the periphery. Reference numeral 6 denotes an engaging head formed on the opposite side of the chuck housing 2 with the flange 4 in between, and is formed in a bulge at the tip of the shaft 7 so that it can be easily gripped by a gripping portion to be described later. . The chuck main body 13 is constituted by each of the above configurations 1 to 7.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a base, and two support rods 9 are attached to this base at positions facing the communication hole 5. A cylindrical receiving member 10 with a flange is slidably disposed on the support rod 9, and when the support rod 9 is inserted into the front communication hole, the flange of the receiving member 10 comes into contact with the flange 4. come into contact with Reference numeral 11 denotes a coil spring 11 disposed around the outer periphery of the support rod 9, which biases the receiving member 10 toward the flange 4 side. Therefore, the flange 4 is held in the middle of the support rod 9 by this coil spring 11. The chuck holding portion 12 is formed by each of the above-mentioned structures 8, 9, 10, and 11.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a housing, and the housing 14 has storage holes 15 and 16 formed at positions facing the support rods, and a connecting rod 17 is slidably supported in the storage holes 15 and 16. Connecting rod 17
A first flange 18a is formed in the middle, and a second flange 18b is formed at the tip of the connecting rod 17. Further, a locking protrusion 19 is formed on the outside of the housing 14 of the connecting rod 17 . Further, a drive section 20 is disposed on the lower surface of the flange 18 of the connecting rod. The drive section 20 is made of a plate member, and the connection rod 17 is inserted into the drive section connection hole 21.

22 and 23 are springs disposed between the housing and the flange 18, and between the first flange 18a and the second flange 18b. Therefore, the drive unit 20 is held in the middle of the housing 14 by the springs 22 and 23.

Reference numerals 24 and 25 are gripping claws that support support parts 26 and 2, respectively.
7 is rotatably supported by the housing 14. Further, the ends of the gripping claws 24 and 25 are rotatably supported by the drive section 20 via drive bars 28 and 29. Therefore, the gripping claws 24 and 25 are driven to open and close according to the displacement of the drive section 20. Note that the gripping claws 24 and 25 are for gripping the engaging head 6, so when the gripping claws 24 and 25 are open, they do not come into contact with the engaging head, and when they are closed, they are not in contact with the engaging head. It is adapted to come into contact with the head 6.

Locking pieces 30 and 31 are rotatably supported by the housing 14, and springs 32 and 3
3. It is pressed outward by 3. Further, guide surfaces 30a, 31a are formed on the outer surface of the locking piece, and locking grooves 30b, 31 are formed inside the locking piece.
b is formed. Relief pieces 30c, 31c and relief spaces 3 are provided on the inner surfaces of the locking grooves 30b, 31b.
0d and 31d are formed to protrude.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the locking piece.

The locking pieces 30, 31 engage with the locking protrusion 19 of the connecting rod 17, and their operation is as follows. When the connecting rod is displaced to the locking side, the locking protrusion first comes into contact with the guide surface, and the spring 32,
33 to displace the locking pieces 30, 31 inward against the biasing force. When the locking projection is further displaced, the locking pieces 30 and 31 open outward due to the force of the springs 32 and 33, so that the locking projection 19 is accommodated in the locking groove. That is, if the connecting rod 17 moves forward by a predetermined amount (the amount that reaches the locking grooves) and then retreats, the connecting rod 17 remains held in the locking grooves 30b and 31b. Thereafter, if the connecting rod is further displaced, the locking protrusion 19 moves along the side walls of the relief pieces 30c, 31c and moves into the relief spaces 30d, 31d. At this time, the locking pieces 30 and 31 are
It is further displaced outward by the urging force of 2 and 33,
The locking protrusion 19 moves relatively to the innermost position of the relief spaces 30d and 31d. That is, the locking protrusion 19 is located at a position opposite to the tips of the relief pieces 30c, 31c.

Next, when the connecting rod 17 moves inside the housing 14 toward the support rod 9 side, the locking protrusion 19 moves along the back surface of the relief piece 30c. That is, the relief piece 30 shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10
The tip of the locking protrusion 19 comes into contact with the rear wall of the relief pieces 30c and 31c in the figure, and the locking protrusion 19 slides along the rear wall of the release pieces 30c and 31c. At this time, the locking protrusion 19 is not restrained by anything else since its tip is only in contact with the back surface of the relief pieces 30c, 31c, so that the locking pieces 30, 31 and the locking protrusion 19 end up is disengaged. It should be noted that when the locking projection 19 moves to the base of the relief pieces 30c, 31c, the relief pieces 30c, 31c are pushed out to the front in FIGS. 8 and 9 by an amount corresponding to the amount of projection of the locking projection 19. Become.

That is, the locking pieces 30 and 31 operate to maintain the displaced state when the connecting rod 17 is displaced by a predetermined amount, and to release the engagement with the connecting rod 17 when the connecting rod 17 is further displaced.

In addition, the hand part 34 is comprised by each of the above structures 14-33. This hand portion 34 is fixed to an arm 35 of the robot, and is driven together with the arm 35 by receiving a driving force from a servo motor or the like.

Next, the operation of the above device will be explained.

A plurality of chuck bodies 13 are each held by a chuck holder 12, and the robot selects the chuck body 13 according to the object to be gripped. Now, when a particular chuck body is selected, the hand portion 34 is moved by the arm 35 to a position facing the chuck body 13, as shown in FIG. Next, the arm 35 is displaced toward the chuck holding portion 12. Then, the tip of the support rod 9 comes into contact with the tip of the connecting rod 17, and the lowering of the connecting rod ends at that point.
Thereafter, when the hand portion 34 is further lowered, only the housing 14 is lowered. That is, the connecting rod 17 is displaced relative to the housing 14. When the housing 14 is displaced (downward) by a predetermined amount, the locking protrusion 19 engages the locking groove 30 of the guide pieces 30, 31.
b, 31b and maintains that state. Incidentally, during this movement, the gripping claws 24, 25 are also displaced toward the chuck body 13, and the gripping claws 24, 25 are in contact with the engaging head 6 at the end of the above operation. That is, the connecting rod 17 and the housing 14
The gripping claws open at one end in response to the relative displacement between the two and then close again, resulting in the state shown in FIG.

In this way, the hand portion 34 automatically fixes and connects the chuck body 13 in response to its displacement.
In this way, the combined chuck body is connected to the hand portion 3.
4 and is driven by an arm 35, and is pressed against an object to grip it, and performs operations such as assembly and removal.

After completing the work, attach the chuck body to the chuck holding part 1.
2, the chuck main body 13 is moved by the arm 35 to the surface facing the support rod 9 of the holding section 12, and the hand section 34 is displaced (lowered) so that the support rod 9 is inserted into the communication grooves 5 and 16. . As a result, the tip of the support rod 9 comes into contact with the tip of the connecting rod 17,
The connecting rod 17 is further displaced to release the lock between the lock projection 19 and the lock grooves 30b, 31b. Therefore,
When the arm 35 rises again, the chuck body 13 remains in the chuck holding part 12 as shown in FIG. 1, and only the hand part 34 can be raised.

In the above example, the chuck 1 grips the object only by the spring force, but the chuck 1 may be opened and closed by an air cylinder or the like. In this case, a signal air passage is formed in the hand part 34, and with the chuck body connected to the housing part 34, this signal air passage is connected to the signal air passage of the chuck body. Then, the air pressure introduced into the signal air passage is controlled by a switching valve set on the robot body side, thereby controlling the opening and closing of the chuck 1.

Further, in the above example, the receiving member 10 is connected to the coil spring 11.
This coil spring 1
1, it may be held by an air cylinder. That is, the coil spring 11 must be able to withstand the load of the chuck body 13, and therefore, when the chuck body 13 becomes heavier, it must be a larger coil spring, which causes the problem that the coil spring 11 also becomes heavier. be. At the same time, there is also the problem that the coil spring 11 must be changed every time the chuck body 13 is changed. On the other hand, if an air cylinder is used, it is possible to always elastically support the chuck body 13 with a predetermined load depending on the chuck body 13.

3 and 4 show an embodiment using this air cylinder, FIG. 3 shows a state where the chuck body 13 is held by the chuck holding part 12, and FIG. 4 shows a state where the chuck body 13 is held by the housing 34. Indicates the condition. As is clear from the figure, an air passage 36 is formed in the support rod 9 and the base 8, a piston portion 9a is provided in the support rod 9, and a cylinder portion 10a is formed in the receiving member 10. Then, the air pressure supplied to the passage 36 is adjusted by the air signal switching valve. This makes it possible to supply air pressure to the inside of the air cylinder that is large enough to correspond to the load of the chuck body 13.

Furthermore, in the above example, the displacement of the connecting rod 17 is controlled by the drive unit 2.
0.Gripping claw 2 via link mechanism of drive bar 29
4 and 25, thereby mechanically driving the gripping section, but instead of mechanical control, pneumatic control may be used. Figures 5 to 7 illustrate this embodiment. Fluid cylinder 4 within housing 14
0 and 41, and gripping protrusions 42 and 43 are slidably supported within these cylinders 40 and 41. Piston portions 44 and 45 are formed on the gripping protrusion, and these piston portions slide into fluid cylinder 41 . Furthermore, signal passages 46 to 49 and 52 to 55 are formed in the housing 14 and open to the front and rear surfaces of the piston portions 44 and 45 within the fluid cylinders 40 and 41, respectively. This signal path is connected to the connecting rod 1
Signal passage holes 50 and 51 are formed in the connecting rod 17. and,
Depending on the displacement of the connecting rod 17, the signal passage holes 50, 51
and the signal passages 46-49, 52-55 are communicated with and cut off from each other. Note that high-pressure air is supplied from one of the two connecting rods 17, and the air is released from the other connecting rod 17.

Next, the switching operation of the signal path will be explained.

The connecting rod 17 is a support rod 19 of the chuck holding part 12.
Until the connecting rod 17 comes into contact with the spring 22
The upper signal passage hole 5 of the connecting rod 17 is pressed downward by the urging force of (the state shown in FIG. 8).
0 communicates with signal paths 46, 48 and 53, 55. Therefore, the upper passages 46, 48, 53, 55
Higher pressure air is supplied to a portion of the fluid cylinder 40 inward from the piston 44, and the gripping protrusion 42,
43 is open outward. At this time, the piston 44
The air in the more outward fluid cylinder 40 flows through the passage 4
It is missed to the outside from 6,48. Therefore, in this state, the gripping protrusions 42, 43 are retracted into the housing 14.

Next, the connecting rod 17 contacts the support rod 9 and the connecting rod 17 is displaced relative to the housing 14,
It is held in place (Figure 9). In this case, the lower signal passage hole 51 communicates with the signal passages 47, 49 and 52, 54. Therefore, high pressure air is supplied into the fluid cylinder 40 from the passages 52 and 54,
The gripping protrusions 42, 43 are displaced inward (as shown in FIG. 7). Due to this displacement, the tips of the gripping protrusions 42, 43 come into contact with the engaging head 6, and the chuck body 13 is fixed. At this time, the air inside the inner piston 44 of the fluid cylinder 40 is released to the outside through the passages 47 and 49.

Next, when the connecting rod 17 is again displaced and returns to the state shown in FIG. 8, the gripping protrusion is retracted by high-pressure air and the chuck body 13 is released. At this time, a spring 56 disposed at the tip of the engaging head 6 ensures that the chuck body is removed by the hand portion 34.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the connecting rod 17 itself operates as a switching valve, so that the overall shape of the housing 14 does not need to be increased significantly even though a fluid cylinder or the like is used as the gripping member.

Note that, as the fluid signal for driving the grip projection, other fluid pressure such as oil pressure may be used instead of high pressure air.

As explained above, in the first aspect of the present invention, the position of the connecting rod can be held at a predetermined position by the locking part, and the opening and closing of the gripping part is controlled according to the position of the connecting rod. It has the excellent effect that control can be easily performed by mechanical operation.

Further, in the second aspect of the present invention, since the displacement of the connecting rod is transmitted to the grip part by mechanical means such as a drive part, all the components for driving the grip part can be controlled by the displacement of the hand part. The overall configuration can be significantly simplified.

Furthermore, in the third aspect of the present invention, since the valve operation for switching the fluid signal was used for the displacement of the connecting rod, the fluid pressure was used to drive the gripping part.
Switching operation can be performed with a simple configuration.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are cross-sectional views showing one embodiment of the first invention of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 shows the chuck main body held in the chuck holder, and FIG. 2 shows the chuck holder in the handpiece. The state shown is fixed at .
3 and 4 are sectional views showing other embodiments of the first invention, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the first invention.
A cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the invention, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 6.
8 and 9 are sectional views taken in the direction of arrows, FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the operating state of the essential parts of the device shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a locking piece. 1...Chuck, 4...Flange part, 5...Communication hole,
6... Engagement head, 9... Support rod, 10... Receiving member, 1
1...Coil spring, 12...Chuck holding part,
13...chuck body, 14...housing part, 17
... Connecting rod, 19... Locking protrusion, 20... Drive section, 2
4, 25...Gripping claw, 29...Drive bar, 30, 31
...Locking piece, 34...Hand part, 35...Arm part, 4
2, 43...Gripping protrusion, 46-49, 52-55...
Signal passage, 50, 51...Signal passage hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A chuck main body having a chuck for gripping an object to be gripped, an engaging head formed on the back surface of the chuck, and a flange portion formed on the side of the chuck and having a communicating hole. , a support rod inserted into the communication hole of the flange portion, a receiving member slidably disposed on the support rod and engaged with the flange portion, and a pressing member that presses the receiving member toward the flange portion. a chuck holding portion having: a housing; a connecting rod slidably housed within the housing at a position facing the support rod; and a connecting rod housed within the housing, the engaging head being detachably attached. a gripping portion disposed in the housing to lock the connecting rod when the connecting rod advances a predetermined amount in a direction away from the support rod according to the reciprocating movement of the connecting rod; a hand portion having a locking portion that releases the locking of the connecting rod when the hand moves forward in a direction away from the support rod; Automatic hand changing device that grips and releases. 2. The automatic hand changing device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is a coil spring disposed around the outer periphery of the support rod. 3. The automatic hand changing device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is an air cylinder formed between the receiving member and the support rod. 4. A chuck body having a chuck for gripping an object to be gripped, an engaging head formed on the back surface of the chuck, and a flange portion having a communication hole formed on the side of the chuck; A chuck holder having a support rod inserted into a communication hole, a receiving member slidably disposed on the support rod and engaging with the flange portion, and a pressing member pressing the receiving member toward the flange portion. a housing, a connecting rod slidably housed in the housing at a position facing the support rod, and a grip part housed in the housing and detachably gripping the engaging head. , which is disposed in the housing and locks the connecting rod when the connecting rod advances a predetermined amount in a direction away from the supporting rod in accordance with the reciprocating movement of the connecting rod, and the connecting rod further separates from the supporting rod. and a locking portion that releases the locking of the connecting rod when the hand moves forward in a direction in which the gripping portion is rotatably supported around a support portion fixed to the housing, and the gripping portion is rotatably supported around a support portion fixed to the housing, and The rod is formed with a driving part that is displaced integrally with the connecting rod,
The gripping portion is also rotatably supported by the drive portion, and the gripping portion grips the engaging head in response to displacement of the connecting rod. 5. The automatic hand changing device according to claim 4, wherein the pressing member is a coil spring disposed around the outer periphery of the support rod. 6. The automatic hand changing device according to claim 4, wherein the pressing member is an air cylinder formed between the receiving member and the support rod. 7. A chuck body having a chuck for gripping an object to be gripped, an engaging head formed on the back surface of the chuck, and a flange portion formed on the side of the chuck and having a communication hole, and communication between the flange portions. A chuck holder having a support rod inserted into the hole, a receiving member slidably disposed on the support rod and engaging with the flange portion, and a pressing member pressing the receiving member toward the flange portion. a housing; a connecting rod slidably housed in the housing at a position facing the support rod; and a grip part housed in the housing and detachably gripping the engaging head; The connecting rod is disposed in the housing and locks the connecting rod when the connecting rod advances a predetermined amount in a direction away from the supporting rod according to the reciprocating movement of the connecting rod, and the connecting rod further separates from the supporting rod. a hand portion having a locking portion that releases the locking of the connecting rod when the connecting rod moves forward in the direction; the gripping portion is driven by a fluid cylinder housed in the housing, and fluid pressure is applied to the fluid cylinder. The connecting rod is disposed in the middle of a signal path that guides the signal, the connecting rod has a signal path hole formed therein, and the signal path hole opens and closes the signal path according to displacement of the connecting rod. 8. The automatic hand changing device according to claim 7, wherein the pressing member is a coil spring disposed around the outer periphery of the support rod. 9. The automatic hand changing device according to claim 7, wherein the pressing member is an air cylinder formed between the receiving member and the support rod.