JPH0645091B2 - Robot transfer chuck automatic attachment / detachment device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an automatic transfer chuck unit attachment / detachment device for a robot that inserts and assembles components installed in a factory or the like.

(B) Conventional Technology Conventionally, a technology such as a device for attaching / detaching a transfer chuck of a robot for inserting / assembling parts has been known.

For example, as shown in FIG.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention That is, as shown in FIG. 13, in the prior art, the fitting portion 2 to be mounted on the vertical axis 1 at the tip of the arm is provided directly on the upper end of the transfer chuck portion A, Insert the vertical axis 1 into the fitting part 2 and insert the bolt 3
The transport chuck portion A is attached to the tip of the arm by fastening at 3.

However, the above-mentioned conventional techniques have the following problems.

First, the work of attaching / detaching the transport chuck A is performed by using the bolt 3/3.
Since it took a direct human hand to fasten, etc., it took time to reach the attachment / detachment place, and the attachment / detachment work also required labor and time.

Secondly, since the work of attaching / detaching the transport chuck portion A needs to be performed by a person directly near the tip of the arm, there is a risk associated with the work.

Thirdly, from the above results, especially in a large factory or the like in which a large number of robots are installed, it is not possible to automatically manage the process and time of the attachment / detachment work of the transfer chuck A, or to perform many attachment / detachment works at once. I couldn't.

The present invention is configured to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional problems.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems The object of the present invention is as described above, and a configuration for achieving the object will be described below.

The desorption chuck unit is composed of an upper chuck C and a lower chuck D, and the upper chuck C is arranged on the vertical axis 1 at the tip of the arm 8.
The lower chuck D, and the mounting shaft 22a of the work part A at the center lower end of the lower chuck D.
A concave body 22 in which a plurality of balls 25 ... Are engaged and supported in the inner peripheral inclined surface 22c, and further a pinion ring body 26 is supported on the outer peripheral surface.
And the pinion ring body 26 has outer teeth 26 on its outer circumference.
a is bored, and the sliding rack 29 meshing with the external tooth 26a is linearly moved to rotate the pinion ring body 26,
.. are moved by the pinion ring body 26 to lock the lower chuck D to the upper chuck C.

(E) Embodiment The object and structure of the present invention are as described above, and the structure of the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings will be described below.

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of a horizontal articulated robot, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same, FIG. 3 is an overall front view of an automatic transfer chuck part attaching / detaching device according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the same. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the attachment / detachment work, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the main parts of the automatic transfer chuck attachment / detachment device, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 6, and FIGS. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional plan view showing the movement and locking state of the ball, FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view showing the joining state of the air intake portion and the air intake portion, and FIG. 11 is the rotation range of the ring body of the lower chuck. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view showing
FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view of the transfer chuck unit automatic attachment / detachment device after detachment, and FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic transfer chuck part attaching / detaching device of the present invention mounts various transfer chuck parts A ... On a factory robot represented by FA automation, etc. It is installed in a horizontal articulated industrial robot that inserts and assembles various small parts that are objects.

Such an inserting / assembling robot B pivotally mounts arms 7 and 8 on the upper end of the main body 4 for each of a plurality of vertical axes 5 and 6.
The vertical axis 1 is provided downward from the tip of the. The vertical axes 5 and 6 are driven by motors 10 and 9. 11 and 12 are compressed air pipes.

Then, a transport chuck portion A configured as an attachment suitable for various works is attached to the vertical axis 1, and the arms 7 and 8 and the transport chuck portion A are rotated and operated by compressed air sent from inside the main body 4. .

The detachable chuck portion that supports the transport chuck portion A of the present invention is roughly divided into an upper chuck C, a lower chuck D, and a chuck attaching / detaching station E, as shown in FIGS.

The upper chuck C, which constitutes the detachable chuck portion, is always mounted on the vertical axis 1, and is composed of a convex body 20 having an inverted conical shape with the lower surface 20b made into a planar shape. A mounting portion 20a for the vertical axis 1 is configured.

41 is a fastening bolt to the vertical axis 1. The outer peripheral surface 20c of the convex body 20 is formed by a circle having the same radius from the axis when viewed from the bottom, and is also formed by an inclined surface that becomes a small circle from the upper side to the lower side. The stopper surface 20d is provided at a plurality of positions at equal intervals.

Further, the tip of the pipe 18 for sending compressed air is embedded in the upper portion of the convex body 20 together with the mounting body 21, and the tip of the pipe 18 is connected to the air hole 20e which is pulled out to the lower surface 20b in the convex body 20. There is.

The lower chuck D constituting the detachable chuck portion is always mounted on the side of the transport chuck portion A, and is roughly divided into a concave body 22, a ring body 26, a plurality of balls 25, etc. .

The concave body 22 has a mounting shaft 22 of the transport chuck portion A at the center lower end.
It is configured by projecting a. Inner peripheral surface 22 of the concave body 22
c is formed of a curved surface having substantially the same shape as the outer peripheral surface 20c of the convex body 20 of the upper chuck C.

In addition, the end of the pipe 17 for taking in compressed air into the work portion A is embedded in the bottom surface of the concave body 22 together with the mounting body 23, and the end of the pipe 17 is connected to the air hole 22g that is pulled out to the upper portion of the concave body 22. Has been done.

The upper surface of the concave body 22 around the air hole 22g is composed of a pedestal 22f raised upward, and an O-ring 24 composed of rubber or soft resin is attached to the upper surface of the pedestal 22f. The O-ring 24 is provided to eliminate a gap generated between the upper surface of the pedestal 22f and the lower surface 20b in the convex body 20 of the upper chuck C when the convex body 20 is joined to the upper surface of the concave body 22. It is a thing.

Further, the outer peripheral surface 22b of the concave body 22 is formed of a curved surface having an equal radius from the axis of the mounting shaft 22a, and a support hole 22d having a ball 25 therein is provided from the upper portion of the outer peripheral surface 22b toward the inner peripheral inclined surface 22c. , A plurality of locations are provided at equal intervals.

The pinion ring body 26 is located on the outer periphery of the concave body 22, and is integrally formed by a bearing 27 provided between a lower portion of the outer peripheral surface 22b of the concave body 22 and a lower portion of the pinion ring body 26. ing.

A locking pin 28 is embedded inward from the outer peripheral end of the pinion ring body 26, and the distal end of the locking pin 28 is a wide locking groove 22e provided on the outer peripheral surface 22b of the concave body 22.
It is projected inside. Further, on the inner peripheral surface 26b of the pinion ring body 26, a plurality of ball grooves 26c are provided at equal intervals.

In the pinion ring body 26 thus configured, the left and right outer peripheral surfaces are further configured by the pinion 26a.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the transport chuck portion A has a mounting shaft 22 of a lower chuck D on the upper portion of the main body 14.
The mounting portion 15 for the a is provided, and the fastening bolt 16
・ I am equipped with 16.

When the attachment / detachment chuck portion, which is an essential part of the present invention, is not provided, the mounting portion 15 has a shape that can be directly fixed to the vertical axis 1.

Conversely, in the present invention, since the vertical axis 1 and the transport chuck portion A were conventionally directly connected, it took time to set up the attachment / detachment. By mounting it, the transfer chuck section A can be automatically set up by sequence control.

In addition, the lower part of the main body 14 has clamping fingers 13L and 13R.
Equipped with a compressed air from the inside of the pipe 17 connected from the lower chuck D,
It is configured to operate the L · 13R.

The chuck attachment / detachment station E is for automatically attaching / detaching the lower chuck D and the upper chuck C, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, and includes two parallel sliding racks 29L, 29R. And its sliding device. The sliding racks 29L and 29R form internal teeth facing each other.

One end of each of the sliding racks 29L and 29R has a pivotal support portion 31.
Main body 39L / 3 of chuck attachment / detachment station E
The rotating plate 30 supported by 9R is pivotally attached to both ends.

The other end of the sliding rack 29R is attached to the tip of the piston 34a of the cylinder 34. Sliding rack 29
The other end of L is attached to a sliding plate 35 having a long hole, and the sliding plate 35 is supported by a support plate 36 at the tip of the piston of a cylinder 38 via a pin 37. 40 is a support base.

Therefore, when the cylinder 34 operates, the two sliding racks 2
The 9L and 29R can be slid back and forth with respect to each other. Also, the sliding rack 29L is operated by the operation of the cylinder 38.
Can be expanded outward, and the lower chuck D can be reliably clamped and released.

Next, the object pinching detection device shown in FIGS. 14 to 18 will be described.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a clamping sensor and a flow of operation to each device, FIG. 15 is an entire front view of a transfer chuck automatic attachment / detachment device equipped with a clamping sensor, and FIG. 16 is a part of the clamping sensor. FIG. 17 is a front sectional view of the upper chuck part and the lower chuck part showing an attached state of the optical fiber wire, FIG. 17 is a side sectional view of the upper chuck part and the lower chuck part, and FIG. 18 is a plan view of the upper chuck part and the lower chuck part in a combined state. Is.

When the object G such as various small parts is clamped by the clamping fingers 13L and 13R, there may be a case where the object G is not at a clamping position or a clamping error occurs.

For such a case, a pinch detection device for the target object G as shown in FIG. 14 to FIG. 18 is configured to detect whether or not the target object G is reliably pinched, and it is not pinched. In this case, the transport unit is temporarily stopped to display its state, or is returned to the sandwiching posture.

The structure will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 15, in the transfer chuck portion A, the sandwiching fingers 13L.
On the front or back of the main body 14 located at the top of 3R,
The sensor rod support portions 44 and 45 are mounted in the vertical direction, and the rod-shaped sensor rod 43 is supported by the sensor rod support portions 44 and 45 so as to be vertically slidable.

A spring receiver 46 is attached to the sensor rod 43, and a compression spring 47 having a weak spring pressure is located between the spring receiver 46 of the sensor rod 43 and the sensor rod support portion 44.

Therefore, when the object G is not sandwiched, the sensor rod 43 is kept in a state of being lowered by the compression spring 47.

In this way, with the sensor rod 43 in the lowered state, the end portions of the optical fiber lines 40L and 40R are positioned to the left and right slightly above the upper end of the rod 43 with their cut surfaces facing each other.

42L and 42R are supporting members for the optical fiber lines 40L and 40R, and the supporting members 42L and 42R are attached to the main body 14 of the transport chuck unit A.

Optical fiber line 40L whose ends are supported in this way
40R, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 18, at the connecting portion between the lower chuck D and the upper chuck C, the lower connector optical fibers 40L and 40R are automatically connected together with the coupling of both chucks by the optical connectors 22h and 22i. , The upper optical fiber lines 48L and 48R are connected.

Then, as shown in FIG. 14, the optical fiber line 40L
48L is connected to the light source 50 upward, and one of the other optical fiber lines 40R and 48R reaches the light receiving device 51.

The light-receiving device 51 is connected to the arithmetic circuit 52 and the controller 53, and the display lamp 54, the motor temporary stop device 55, the pinching finger re-operation device 56, and the like are turned on by the operation of the controller 53. Further, the pinching finger actuation sensing device 57 is connected to the controller 53.

With this configuration, the sandwiching fingers 13L
・ When the object G is not sandwiched between 13R,
The light from the light source 50 is the lower optical fiber line 40L / 48.
The light is passed from L to the end of the lower optical fiber line 48L, is passed to the lower optical fiber lines 40R and 48R, and reaches the light receiving device 51 at all times.

However, when the transport chuck portion A moves down to the sandwiching position and sandwiches the object G with the sandwiching fingers 13L and 13R, the sensor rod 43 hits the object G and moves upward. Therefore, the space between the lower optical fiber lines 40L and 40R is blocked, and the light does not flow from the end of the optical fiber line 40L to the optical fiber line 40R and does not reach the light receiving device 51.

In this way, when the light reaching the light receiving device 51 is blocked, the result is calculated and is instructed to the controller 53. In this state, the object G is normally sandwiched, Each device 54 by the controller 53
No action is taken to 55/56.

On the other hand, when the transport chuck part A tries to move to the next process position without holding the object G, the light always reaches the light receiving device 51, and the calculation result is It commands the controller 53.

However, since the sandwiching fingers 13L and 13R are in operation, this result is also instructed in the controller 53 by the sandwiching finger operation sensing device 57.

Only when light is flowing to the light receiving device 51 with the sandwiching fingers 13L and 13R kept closed as described above, the controller 53 operates to temporarily stop the motor 5.
5 is actuated to temporarily stop the transport chuck portion A, and the display lamp 54 is turned on to notify.

In this state, the pinching finger re-actuating device 56
Thus, the clamping fingers 13L and 13R are activated again.

(F) Actions of the Invention By configuring the present invention as described above, the following actions can be performed.

FIG. 12 shows the state in which the lower chuck D and the upper chuck C, which constitute the detachable chuck portion, are separated from each other.

That is, the balls 25 in the concave body 22 can move between the inside of the support hole 22d of the concave body 22 and the inside of the ball groove 26c of the pinion ring body 26. Ball 2 for this
.. is in a free state, and even if it protrudes inward from the inner peripheral inclined surface 22c of the concave body 22, it can be easily moved outward. The upper chuck C is always attached to the vertical axis 1.

In order to mount the lower chuck D on the upper chuck C from this state, first, the upper chuck mounted on the vertical axis 1 at the tip of the arm 8 of the robot B is directly above the lower chuck D which is clamped by the chuck attaching / detaching station E. The chuck C is moved.

Since the tip of the arm 8 moves to a position just above the attachment / detachment station E and stops, it is necessary to store this position in the control circuit of the robot B in advance.

Then, the tip of the arm 8 is lowered, and the upper chuck C is fitted into the concave body of the lower chuck D. Then, the cylinder 34 of the chuck attaching / detaching station E is operated to move the sliding racks 29L and 29R as shown in FIG. Is moved in the direction of the arrow to rotate the meshed pinion ring body 26. The rotation range is a constant range L as shown in FIG.
Done in.

As a result of this rotation, the balls 25, ... Positioned up to the ball groove 26c of the pinion ring body 26, are pushed up to the inner surface circumference 26b of the pinion ring body 26 as shown in FIGS. A part of the support hole 22d of the body 22 projects from the inner peripheral sloped surface 22c. This makes the ball 25
The protruding portion is the ball engaging surface 2 of the upper chuck C.
The lower chuck D and the upper chuck C are integrated with each other so as to be fitted to each other so as to be pressed against 0d, thereby forming a detachable chuck portion.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, the air holes 20e and 22g of the upper chuck C and the lower chuck D are also vertically aligned, and compressed air can be connected. The air leakage is prevented by the O-ring 24.

Finally, pull the piston of the cylinder 38 slightly toward the front to separate the lower chuck D from the chuck attachment / detachment station E and raise the tip of the arm 8 together with the lower chuck C.
It suffices to turn the arms 7 and 8 to the designated work position.

When the work part A is detached or replaced, the operation opposite to the above may be performed.

(G) Effects of the Invention Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

First, since the machine can automatically perform the attaching / detaching work of the transport chuck part A, which was conventionally done by a person to the attaching / detaching place, the attaching / detaching time can be shortened, and the attaching / detaching time is also reduced. Was able to be omitted.

Secondly, since the attachment / detachment work of the attachment / detachment chuck portion can be automatically performed, the risk associated with the attachment / detachment work is reduced.

Thirdly, from the above results, especially in a large factory where a large number of robots are installed, it is possible to automatically manage the process and time of the attachment / detachment work of the transfer chuck part A, and also the large number of attachment / detachment works at one time. I was able to do it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of a horizontal articulated robot, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same, FIG. 3 is an overall front view of an automatic transfer chuck part attaching / detaching device according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the same. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the attachment / detachment work, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the main parts of the automatic transfer chuck attachment / detachment device, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 6, and FIGS. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional plan view showing the movement and locking state of the ball, FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view showing the joining state of the air intake portion and the air intake portion, and FIG. 11 is the rotation range of the ring body of the lower chuck. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view showing
FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view of the automatic transfer chuck attachment / detachment device after detachment, FIG. 13 is a side view showing the attachment / detachment state of the transfer chuck part in the prior art, and FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the operation of the clamping sensor device and each device. FIG. 15 is an overall front view of the automatic transfer chuck part attaching / detaching device equipped with a sandwiching sensor device, and FIG. 16 is an upper chuck part showing an attached state of an optical fiber line forming a part of the sandwiching sensor device. FIG. 17 is a side sectional view of the upper chuck and the lower chuck, and FIG. 18 is a plan view of the upper chuck and the lower chuck in a combined state. A ... Transport chuck C ... Upper chuck D ... Lower chuck 1 ... Vertical axis 8 ... Arm 20 ... Convex body 20a ... Mounting axis 20c ... Outer peripheral surface 20d ... Ball locking surface 22 ... Concave body 22a ... Mounting shaft 22c ... Inner peripheral slope 25 ... Ball 26 ... Pinion ring body 29 ... Sliding rack

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A detachable chuck section is composed of an upper chuck C and a lower chuck D, and the upper chuck C is provided with an arm 8.
The lower chuck D is composed of a mounting portion 20a on the vertical axis 1 at the tip and a convex body 20 having a plurality of ball locking surfaces 20d on the outer peripheral surface 20c, and a mounting shaft 22a of the work portion A at the center lower end. A plurality of balls 25 are provided in the inner peripheral slope 22c.
····························, and further comprises a pinion ring body 26 is supported by a concave body 22 which is supported on the outer peripheral surface, the pinion ring body 26 is provided with outer teeth 26a on the outer periphery, and the outer teeth 26a meshes with the sliding By linearly moving the moving rack 29, the pinion ring body 26 is rotated, and the ball 2 is moved by the pinion ring body 26.
An automatic device for attaching / detaching a transfer chuck part of a robot, characterized in that the lower chuck D is locked to the upper chuck C by moving 5 ...