JPH0244680B2 - KATOSEIAAMU - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a flexible arm that is attached to an industrial robot, etc., and particularly relates to a flexible arm that has a main body in which a plurality of rotating members are arranged in series so as to be rotatable about parallel first axes. The present invention relates to a supported flexible arm.

Conventionally, for example, in painting robots, by attaching a flexible arm, the spray nozzle attached to the tip of the arm can be easily set to any desired position, making it possible to easily paint the sides and back of the workpiece. It is well known that These flexible arms include those using a link type and those using spur gears. However, the link type has a complicated structure, and the one using spur gears has a large outer diameter. If you try to make this outer diameter smaller, the distance between the bending axes of the flexible arm will become too short, and if you try to make that distance enough, you will have to add a spur gear for relay, which will complicate the structure. I get used to it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible arm that has a simple structure and can provide a sufficient distance between the bending axes.

Examples will be described in detail below. In this example,
Although the present invention will be described as a flexible arm attached to a multi-jointed arc welding robot, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a base, and a rotating base 2 is pivotally supported on the upper part of the base so as to be rotatable in the _α1 direction. Further, a first rotating arm 3 is pivotally supported on the rotating table 2 so as to be rotatable in the α ₂ direction. Further, a second rotating arm 4 is pivotally supported at the tip of the arm 3 so as to be rotatable in the α ₃ direction. Further, a rotating body 5 is pivotally supported at the tip of the arm 4 so as to be rotatable in the α ₄ direction. Further, a flexible arm A according to the embodiment of the present invention is pivotally supported on the rotary body 5 so as to be rotatable in the _α5 direction, and a welding torch T is supported at the tip of the arm A.

Arm A will be explained below. First, a schematic perspective view for explaining the basic structure of the arm A of this embodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described. For the sake of explanation, the left side in FIG. 2 will be referred to as the rear of the arm A, and the right side will be referred to as the front of the arm A.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a main body that is rotatable in the α5 direction with respect to the rotating body ₅ .

In the embodiment, reference numerals 12 and 13 are two rotating members rotatably supported in series by first shafts 14 and 15 parallel to the front of the main body 11, respectively.

16 and 17 are respectively supported by the main body 11 and the member 12 adjacent thereto, and are connected to the first shaft 14,
15 is a second axis orthogonal to each other. That is, the shaft 14
The centerline and the axes 16 and 17 centerline intersect at the O ₁ point, and the axis 15 centerline and the axis 17 centerline intersect at the O ₂ point.

Note that one of the shafts 16 and 17 is configured as a drive shaft, and in this embodiment, shaft 16 is the drive shaft.

18, 19 are the second axes 16, 17 and their axis 1
The first links 20 to 23 are swingably pivoted between the front links 6 and 17 and the adjacent links 12 and 13, respectively. That is, the link 18 is connected to the shaft 16 and the member 12.
The link 19 is pivoted 20, 21 between the shaft 17 and the member 13, and the link 19 is pivoted 22, 23 between the shaft 17 and the member 13.

For each type 20 and 21, their center lines intersect
The axes ₂₂ and 23 are set so that their center lines pass through the intersection O ₂ .

Further, the shaft 20 is located behind the shaft 21, and the shaft 20 is located behind the shaft 21.
A plane including the 0 center line and the axis 14 center line is the axis 21
It is set so as not to coincide with a plane including the center line and the center line of the shaft 14. Furthermore, the shaft 22 is the shaft 23
A plane located further rearward and including the center line of the shaft 22 and the center line of the shaft 15 is set so as not to coincide with a plane including the center line of the shaft 23 and the center line of the shaft 15.

24 is a pivot 2 that is swingably mounted between the main body 11 and a second shaft 17 supported on the member 12 adjacent thereto.
This is the second link with 5,26 points. Axis 25, 26
are set so that their center lines pass through the intersection _O1 .

Further, the shaft 25 is located behind the shaft 26, and the shaft 25 is located behind the shaft 26.
5 center line and axis 14 center line is axis 26
It is set so as not to coincide with a plane including the center line and the center line of the shaft 14.

Note that if, for example, another rotation member is additionally supported with a first shaft in series in front of the member 13, a second shaft is additionally supported on the member 13, and the second shaft and the additional rotation member are The first link is also pivoted between the rotating member 12 and the added second shaft, and the second link is also pivoted between the member 12 and the added second shaft. Of course, the pivots of the added first links must be set so that their axis center lines pass through the intersection point O ₃ (not shown) of the center lines of the added first and second axes. However, the pivoting of the added second link must be set so that its axis center line passes through the intersection _O2 .

In this way, each time a rotating member is added, the second rotating member is added.
An axis, first link, and second link are also added.

The basic configuration of arm A has been described above, and the actual arm structure based on this will be explained with reference to FIG.

The main body 11 is formed by tightening a rear main body 11a and a front main body 11b with a bolt _B1 , and has a fixed arm 11c projecting forward from the main body 11b.

The members 12 also include a rear member 12a and a front member 12b.
and is formed by tightening with bolt B ₂ , and the rear member 12
A fixed arm 12c protrudes rearward from the front member 12b, and a fixed arm 12c extends forward from the front member 12b.
2d is provided protrudingly. Note that the front member 12b is the same part as the front body 11b.

The members 13 also include a rear member 13a and a front member 13b.
and is formed by tightening with bolt B ₃ , and the rear member 13
A fixed arm 13c is provided to protrude rearward from a. Note that the rear member 13a is the same part as the rear member 12a. Although not shown, a torch T is supported on the front member 13b.

Further, the second shaft 16 has a rear shaft portion 16a and a front shaft portion 1.
6b with a bolt _B4 , and the rear shaft portion 16a is connected to a drive source (not shown) to serve as a drive shaft. A fixed arm 16c projects forward from the front shaft portion 16b.

Furthermore, the second shaft 17 is also formed by tightening the rear shaft portion 17a and the front shaft portion 17b with bolts _B5 , and a fixed arm 17c is provided rearwardly protruding from the rear shaft portion 17a, and the front shaft portion A fixed arm 17d projects forward from 17b. Furthermore, the rear shaft part 17b
is the same part as the front shaft portion 16b.

The first link 18 is pivoted 20, 21 between the ends of the fixed arm 16c and the fixed arm 12c.

Further, the first link 19 is pivoted 22, 23 between the ends of the fixed arm 17d and the fixed arm 13c.

Further, the second link 24 is pivoted 25, 26 between the distal end of the fixed arm 11c and the distal end of the fixed arm 17c.

The actual arm A is configured as described above.

Furthermore, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

The robot of this embodiment is driven in directions α ₁ to _{α 5} via a control device (not shown), and the position and orientation of the torch T with respect to the work (not shown) is controlled.

At this time, if there is a part to be welded on the side or back side of the workpiece, and the arm A is in a straight line as shown by the solid line in Figure 2 or the two-dot chain line in Figure 3, the torch T is moved to the part to be welded. Sometimes it is difficult to make it exist.

In such a case, a drive source (not shown) of the arm A is activated to rotate the shaft 16, for example, in the direction of arrow θ in FIG.

Then, the fixed arm 16c also rotates in the θ direction, but at this time, since the shaft 20 is behind the shaft 21, the fixed arm 12c is pushed forward via the link 18, and the member 12 is rotated clockwise around the shaft 14. It will rotate.

Then, the shaft 17 also rotates around the shaft 14 together with the member 12, but since the shaft 25 is at the rear of the shaft 26 at this time, the fixed arm 17c is rotated in the θ direction with respect to the member 12 via the link 24. It turns out.

Then, the fixed arm 17d also rotates in the θ direction, but at this time, since the shaft 22 is behind the shaft 23, the fixed arm 13c is pushed forward via the link 19, and the member 13 is rotated clockwise around the shaft 15. It will rotate.

That is, by rotating the shaft 16 in the θ direction, the arm A
is curved from the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3 to the position indicated by the solid line.

On the other hand, if the shaft 16 is rotated in the anti-θ direction, it is obvious that the arm A will curve in the direction opposite to the solid line direction in FIG. 3, so a description thereof will be omitted.

By curving arm A in this way, the torch T can be used even in areas that are difficult to weld, such as the sides and back of the workpiece.
can exist.

The above description is an example, and if it is desired to increase the angle of curvature of the arm A, it is sufficient to support the arm A in series by the first shaft if it has a rotating member. Also axis 2
0 and 22 may be located in front of the shafts 21 and 23, and the shaft 25 may be located in front of the shaft 26. Furthermore, if the shaft 20 is to be located behind the shaft 21 and the shaft 25 is to be located in front of the shaft 26, the shaft 22 may be located in front of the shaft 23. Furthermore, if the shaft 20 is to be located in front of the shaft 21 and the shaft 25 is to be located behind the shaft 26, the shaft 2
2 may be located in front of the shaft 23. It goes without saying that the technical scope of the present invention also includes the replacement of each component with equivalents.

As described above, this invention includes a main body 11, a plurality of rotating members 12, 13, second shafts 16, 17, a first
Since the combination of the elements of the links 18, 19 and the second link 24 is configured so that the arm A can be curved, compared to the conventional link type,
The structure is simple. Further, changing the distance between the bending axes of arm A, that is, the distance between the first axes 14 and 15,
All you have to do is change the lengths of the rotating member 12 and the second shaft 17, and there is no need to add another component unlike in conventional spur gears, and there is no need to increase the outer diameter. do not have.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Each of the figures shows an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is an overall view of a flexible arm applied to an articulated arc welding robot, Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view for explaining the basic structure of the flexible arm of this embodiment, and Figure 3 is based on Figure 2. FIG. 4 is a sectional view for explaining the actual structure. In the figure, A...flexible arm, 11...main body,
12, 13... Rotating member, 14, 15... First shaft, 1
6, 17...Second axis, 18, 19...First link, 2
0 to 23...axis, 24...second link, 25, 26...
Axis, O ₁ ... Axis 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 2
5, the intersection of each center line, O ₂ ...Axes 15, 17, 22,
The intersection point of each of the 23 center lines.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A flexible arm in which a plurality of rotating members are rotatably supported in series on a main body by parallel first axes, at least the main body and the rotating member adjacent thereto. a second shaft rotatably supported by the main body and the rotating member and perpendicular to the first axis; and a second shaft supported by the main body and the rotating member. a first link that is pivotably pivoted between the main body and the second shaft supported by the rotating member, and a second link that is pivotably pivoted between the main body and the second shaft supported by the rotating member. , the respective pivots of the first link and the second link are arranged such that their axis center lines pass through the intersection of the first axis center line and the second axis center line, and one of the first links The center line of the shaft attachment and the first
so that the plane including the axis center line does not coincide with the plane including the other axis attachment center line of the first link and the first axis center line, and the axis attachment center line of one of the second links. The plane including the line and the first axis centerline is set so as not to coincide with the plane including the other pivoting centerline of the second link and the first axis centerline, respectively. flexible arm.