JPS6240152B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a battery gripping hand for an industrial robot, and more particularly to an improvement in a battery gripping hand necessary for automating the battery mounting process on an automobile assembly line.

The inventors of the present application have previously proposed an automatic battery loading system as shown in FIG. This is done by positioning a car 2 being transferred by a conveyor 1 at a battery mounting position on an automobile assembly line, and installing a robot R having an articulated arm 3 in an insulated manner in a work area close to the conveyor 1. , the battery gripping hand H is attached to the end attachment part of the multi-joint arm 3, and the pallet 4 is attached based on the teaching information of the robot R.
The batteries B, which are conveyed in an orderly line without any gaps, are gripped by the battery gripping hand H, and then automatically transported and loaded into the engine room E of the automobile 2. In this system, the battery gripping hand H
As shown in FIG. 2, the robot grips a base member 5 fixed to the robot arm 3 and a pair of terminals 6 (hereinafter referred to as battery terminals) provided at the bottom of the base member 5 and protruding from the top surface of the battery B. The gripping mechanism 7 is fixed to the base member 5 via a connecting member 8, and is actuated by an actuator such as an air cylinder 9. Note that an insulator 10 is attached to the lower surface of the base member 5. Therefore, according to this battery gripping hand, even if the batteries B are conveyed on the pallet 4 in an orderly line without any gaps, it is possible to directly grip the batteries B. This eliminates the need for manual work that is required when using a hand to grip the batteries, such as separating the battery B to be loaded from other battery B groups to secure a space for gripping the batteries B. This makes it possible to automate the entire process of installing battery B.

However, in such a battery gripping hand, the pair of gripping mechanisms 7 are attached to the base member 5.
Therefore, the pitch l between the terminals 6 of the battery B that can be held by the battery gripping hand H is also unique. However, the pitch l between the battery terminals 6 may differ due to differences in the capacity of battery B or differences in manufacturer even if the capacity is the same, and in order to install battery B with the desired specifications depending on the vehicle model,
The husband and wife had to prepare a battery gripping hand H that matched the pitch between the battery terminals 6 for each specification, which resulted in a problem of lack of versatility.

The present invention has been made based on the above points, and its object is to provide an industrial robot that can reliably and safely grasp batteries of various specifications with different pitches between battery terminals. An object of the present invention is to provide a battery gripping hand.

The gist of the present invention is that, in a type equipped with a gripping mechanism for gripping battery terminals, a moving mechanism is provided that changes the relative position of the gripping mechanism according to the pitch between the battery terminals, and the vehicle power supply This is a battery gripping hand for an industrial robot which is provided with an insulating member so as not to deteriorate the battery mechanism. Specifically, a base member fixed to a robot arm, a pair of gripping mechanisms each including a finger for gripping a battery terminal and a drive means for driving the finger in a gripping and releasing direction, and a gripping mechanism provided on the base member for gripping and releasing the battery terminal. a moving mechanism that supports the mechanism and changes the relative position of the gripping mechanism according to the pitch of the pair of battery terminals, and is formed between the battery terminals via the pair of gripping mechanisms, the moving mechanism, and the base member. An insulating member is interposed in the middle of the electrical path.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 to 8, the basic structure of the battery gripping hand H is as follows: a base member 5; a pair of gripping mechanisms 7 for gripping a pair of battery terminals protruding from the upper surface of the battery B; The moving mechanism 1 is provided on the base member 5, supports the gripping mechanism 7, and makes the relative position of the gripping mechanism 7 variable depending on the pitch of the pair of battery terminals.

In this embodiment, the upper base member 5 is a flat plate member made of metal, and a mounting bracket 12 connected to the robot arm 3 is attached to the approximate center of the upper surface of the base member 5 with bolts and nuts. On the other hand, an insulator 10 made of epoxy resin, rubber, etc. is adhered to the lower surface of the base member 5.

Further, a pair of moving mechanisms 11 is disposed on both sides of the lower part of the base member 5, and this moving mechanism 11 has a plate-shaped inner plate extending in the left-right direction, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 7. It consists of a case 14 and an outer case 17 that is slidably mounted along the longitudinal direction of the inner case 14 via balls 15 and rails 16. The inner case 14 is fitted with a bolt 21 and a nut 2 through an insulating cylinder 19 and an insulating washer 20 at the lower part of the base member 5.
2, and this inner case 14
and the base member 5 are insulated. Furthermore, the outer case 17 comes into contact with a stopper (not shown), and the movement stroke of the outer case 17 relative to the inner case 14 is set by the position of this stopper.

Further, a pair of air cylinders 23 as actuators for operating the pair of moving mechanisms 11 are provided at the bottom of the base member 5 so as to be offset in the front-rear direction. It is attached via the attached bracket 24. Then, the air cylinder 2
The tip mounting portion 25a of the piston rod 25 of No. 3 is
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, a connecting member 32 is fixed with bolts 33 to the lower part of the outer case 17.
The tip attachment portion 25a of the piston rod 25 is connected to the connecting piece 26.
The flat washer 29 and the connecting piece 6 are arranged between the adjusting nut 28 and the connecting piece 26, which are arranged through the insertion hole 27 of the 6, and provided at the tip thereof, and between the connecting piece 26 and the flat washer 29 provided at the base end thereof.
Since the connecting member 3 is connected to the connecting piece 26 with springs 30 and 31 interposed between them,
2, a relative movement allowance of about ±3 mm is secured with respect to the tip attachment portion 25a of the piston rod 25, and the outer case 17 has a play of about ±3 mm in the sliding direction. Incidentally, since the springs 30 and 31 bias the connecting piece 26 from both directions, the normal position of the connecting piece 26 relative to the piston rod 25 is maintained at a constant position. Furthermore, the air cylinder 23 is
It is designed to operate in response to a command signal from a control device (not shown) based on the teaching information of the robot R, and when the air cylinder 23 is not in operation, the inside of the air cylinder 23 is open to the atmosphere, and the air cylinder 23, when the piston rod 25 is in operation, the piston rod 25 protrudes or retreats depending on the direction of air supply from the port.

Further, the gripping mechanism 7 is supported by the moving mechanism 11, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6,
It is provided with a finger 39 for gripping the battery terminal 6, and a driving means for driving the finger 39 in the gripping and releasing directions, which is comprised of an annular cam 36, an air cylinder 43, etc., which will be described later. And this gripping mechanism 7
has a cylindrical fixed body 35 connected to the lower part of the connecting member 32 by a bolt 34,
This fixed body 35 is formed with a through hole 35a that penetrates in the vertical direction, and this fixed body 3
A stepped cylindrical portion 35b having a reduced diameter is formed at the lower part of the cylindrical portion 5. An annular cam 36 is rotatably fitted into the cylindrical portion 35b, and the annular cam 36 is held between the stepped portion 35c of the fixed body 35 and a presser plate 37 fixed to the lower surface of the fixed body 35. As shown in FIG. 6, the inner circumferential surface of the annular cam 36 has a circumferential surface inscribed in the cylindrical portion 35b, and this circumferential surface has three arcuate cam grooves 36.
Recesses are provided at equal angular intervals. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, three guide grooves 38 are formed at equal angular intervals on the lower surface of the cylindrical portion 35b, extending in the radial direction from the inner circumferential surface to the outer circumferential surface. A finger 39 is mounted between the guide groove 38 and the presser plate 37 and is slidable in the radial direction of the cylindrical portion 35b. The finger 39 includes a guide portion 39a that fits into the guide groove 38, and a guide portion 39a that fits into the guide groove 38.
The presser plate 3 is bent downward at the inner end thereof and corresponds to the through hole 35a of the fixed main body 35.
The guide portion 39a has a built-in spring 41 whose one end is locked to a stopper 40 fixed to the fixed main body 35.
The finger 39 is always urged by the spring 41 so as to come into contact with the annular cam 36. On the other hand, the inner end of the terminal abutting portion 39b is formed into a tapered surface 42 having an arcuate cross section and abutting against the circumferential surface of the battery terminal 6.

Further, each of the connecting members 32 has a gripping mechanism 7.
An air cylinder 43 as an actuator is attached via a support bracket 44, and a connector 47 whose position can be adjusted in the axial direction by an adjustment nut 46 is provided at the tip of a piston rod 45 of the air cylinder 43. This connector 47 is connected with a pin 49 to a mounting piece 48 protruding radially outward of the annular cam 36, so that the linear movement of the piston rod 45 is converted into a rotational movement of the annular cam 36 via the connector 47. It's getting old. In addition, connector 47, mounting piece 4
The hole into which the pin 49 of No. 8 is inserted is a long hole (not shown). The air cylinder 43 is actuated by a command signal from a control device (not shown) based on teaching information from the robot R, and when the air cylinder 43 is not in operation, the inside of the air cylinder 43 is opened to the atmosphere. In addition, when the air cylinder 43 is operated and air is supplied from one port to move the piston rod 45 in the protruding direction, the finger 39 moves toward the annular cam 36 as the annular cam 36 rotates. When the piston rod 45 reaches the position where it contacts the cam groove 36a of the piston rod 45 and the piston rod 45 is moved in the backward direction by supplying air from the other port, the finger 39 moves centripetally as the annular cam 36 rotates. It's summery.

Therefore, according to the battery gripping hand according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. and reaches the position shown by the solid line or the position shown by the two-dot chain line. Therefore, the gripping mechanism 7 fixed to the outer case 17 also moves following the outer case 17, and assuming that the movement strokes of each outer case 17 are equal, the fingers 39 of the pair of gripping mechanisms 7 There are three possible dimensions for the relative distance between the parts.
That is, when the piston rods 25 of the pair of air cylinders 23 both project, the fingers 39
The distance between the finger parts 39 takes the maximum dimension lmax, and when one piston rod 25 moves forward and the other piston rod 25 moves backward, the distance between the finger parts 39 takes the normal dimension lmid, and both piston rods 25 When both move backward, the distance between the fingers 39 takes the minimum dimension lmin. Therefore, the distance between the 39 parts of the fingers,
If the three dimensions lmax, lmid, and lmin are set as three different pitches between the battery terminals 6, the battery gripping hand H can grip three types of batteries B with different pitches between the battery terminals 6. It will be configured.

Therefore, if the automatic loading system for the battery B using the battery gripping hand described above is explained based on FIGS. 3 to 10, as shown in FIG. , the battery gripping hand H is placed above the battery B to be loaded on the pallet 2. In this state, the pair of air cylinders 2 are
3 operates as appropriate, the moving mechanism 11 moves as appropriate, and the gripping mechanism 7 is arranged in accordance with the pitch between the battery terminals 6 of the battery B to be mounted. At this time, the fingers 39 of the gripping mechanism 7 are positioned in the vertical direction of the battery terminal 6 of the battery B to be mounted. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the air cylinder 43 for driving the gripping mechanism 7 is actuated in a direction to project the piston rod 45 by a command signal issued from a control device (not shown) at the same time as the specification selection command signal. However, the annular cam 36 rotates in the counterclockwise direction _M1 by that amount, and the finger 39 retreats radially outward to the position where it abuts on the cam groove 36a of the annular cam 36, and the finger 39 is in the open state. Set. At this time, the operating pressure of the air cylinder 43 is detected and a feedback signal is sent from the control device to the robot R.
The robot R lowers the battery gripping hand H to a position where the finger 39 can grip the battery terminal 6, as shown in FIG. 10b.

In this state, the terminal contact portions 39b of each finger 39 come into contact with the circumferential surface of the battery terminal 6, respectively. That is, since the pitch between the battery terminals 6 generally includes an error within the allowable tolerance (±3 mm), the center line of the finger 39 and the axis of the battery terminal 6 may not always be perfectly aligned. do not have. For this reason, a situation may occur in which only the terminal contacting portion 39b of one finger 39 contacts the circumferential surface of the battery terminal 6, and the terminal contacting portions 39b of the other fingers 39 do not contact the circumferential surface of the battery terminal 6. However, since the outer case 17 constituting the moving mechanism 11 has a play of approximately ±3 mm in the sliding direction due to the action of the springs 30 and 31, as the position of the finger 39 descends, the above-mentioned Finger 39 coupled to outer case 17
are guided by the tapered circumferential surface of the battery terminal 6 and move relative to each other in a self-centripetal manner, so that the terminal abutting portions 39b of each finger 39 come into contact with the circumferential surface of the battery terminal 6.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 6, the air cylinder 43 is activated by a command signal from the control device.
operates in the direction of retracting the piston rod 45, and the annular cam 36 rotates in the clockwise direction _M2 . At this time, each of the fingers 39 further moves centripetally while sliding in the cam groove 36a of the annular cam 36, and as a result, the terminal contact portion 39b comes into pressure contact with the circumferential surface of the battery terminal 6. The battery terminal 6 is gripped by the tightening force. At this stage, the clamping operation of the fingers 39 is completed.

After that, when the operating pressure of the air cylinder 43 is detected and a feedback signal (clamping operation completion signal of the finger 39) is sent from the control device to the robot R, the battery gripping hand H moves as shown in FIG. 10c. Move to the upper position and lift battery B. Then, based on the teaching information of the robot R, the battery gripping hand H
is battery B to engine room E of car 2.
is automatically transported and stopped at a position above the battery support 50 in the engine room E, as shown in FIG. 10d, and then lowered toward the battery support 50 position. Then, when the battery B reaches a position where it contacts or approaches the battery support 50, the air cylinder 43 is brought into a non-operating state by a command signal from the control device based on the teaching information of the robot R. At this time, the gripping state of the battery terminal 6 by the fingers 39 is naturally released, so that the battery B is mounted on the battery support 50 by its own weight, and the gripping operation of the battery B by the battery gripping hand H is completed. After this, based on the teaching information of Robot R,
The battery gripping hand H returns to its original position in preparation for the next battery loading process.

Further, according to the battery gripping hand H, an insulator 10 is provided between the base member 5 and the pair of gripping mechanisms 7.
etc., so even if the battery terminal 6 is held by the pair of gripping mechanisms 7,
Since the insulator 10 is present in the middle of the electric path formed between the pair of battery terminals 14, there will be no short circuit between the battery terminals 14, and there is no concern that the battery B will be over-discharged when the battery B is installed. Not at all.

Note that the gripping mechanism 7 is not limited to that shown in the above embodiment, and for example, as shown in FIG. The clamp arm 56 is opened and closed by an air cylinder 58.
The design may be changed as appropriate, such as by configuring the battery terminal 6 to be held between the terminals 6 and 6. Further, in the above embodiment, the base member 5 and the gripping mechanism 7 are insulated with an insulator 10, etc., but the insulation is not necessarily limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. In addition, a chuck 39 forming the gripping mechanism 7
An insulating cover 59 may be attached to the inner end surface of the terminal abutting portion 39b, so that the chuck 39 portion is insulated. In this case, at least the chuck 3 that grips the positive terminal of the battery terminal 6
If the insulating cover 59 is attached to the battery B, even if the battery gripping hand H that is in operation while gripping the battery B comes into contact with another device, etc., there will be no sparks due to electric discharge at the contact part. ,
Workplace safety can be ensured. Furthermore,
The moving mechanism 11 is also not limited to that shown in the above embodiments, and the design may be changed as appropriate. Furthermore, as an actuator for driving this moving mechanism 11, in addition to the above-mentioned air cylinder 23, a shift actuator, a step motor, or the like may be used. It goes without saying that the specific shape of the battery gripping hand H, the actuator of the gripping mechanism 7, etc. can also be selected as appropriate.

As described above, the battery gripping hand for an industrial robot according to the present invention supports the gripping mechanism provided on the base member to grip a pair of battery terminals, and also supports the gripping mechanism provided on the base member to grip a pair of battery terminals. Since a moving mechanism is provided that changes the relative position of the above-mentioned gripping mechanism, it is possible to directly grip the batteries that are conveyed in an orderly line on a pallet without using human hands, and the batteries can be handled using an industrial robot. In addition to realizing complete automation of the loading process, in the battery loading process,
Batteries of different specifications with different pitches between battery terminals can be reliably gripped with one battery gripping hand, and the versatility of the battery gripping hand can be improved. Further, according to the present invention, an insulating member is interposed in the middle of the electric path formed between the pair of battery terminals via the pair of gripping mechanism, the moving mechanism, and the base member, so that the battery terminals are not short-circuited when the battery is gripped. This can prevent damage to the product.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory diagram showing an example of a battery automatic loading system, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a battery gripping hand used in the system shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a battery gripping hand according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a right side view thereof, FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway bottom view of the embodiment, and FIG. 7
The figure is a perspective view showing the specific configuration of the moving mechanism, FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the middle part of FIG. 6, FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating state of the battery gripping hand, and FIGS. A perspective view showing each process of
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a modified example of the gripping mechanism;
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of main parts showing a modification of the insulation structure of the battery gripping hand. B...Battery grip, H...Battery gripping hand, R...
Robot, 3... Robot arm, 4... Palette,
5... Base member, 6... Battery terminal, 7... Gripping mechanism, 10... Insulator (insulating member), 11... Moving mechanism, 39... Finger, 59... Insulating cover (insulating member).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A base member fixed to the robot arm,
a pair of gripping mechanisms comprising fingers for gripping the battery terminals and driving means for driving the fingers in gripping and opening directions; and a pair of gripping mechanisms provided on the base member to support the gripping mechanisms and to adjust the pitch of the pair of battery terminals. a moving mechanism that changes the relative position of the gripping mechanism, the pair of gripping mechanisms;
A battery gripping hand for an industrial robot, characterized in that an insulating member is interposed in the middle of an electric path formed between battery terminals via a moving mechanism and a base member.