JPH0373396B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus using a robot, and in particular to an improvement of its optical path.

[Prior art]

In a conventional laser processing device using a robot, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 134682/1982, a plurality of end effectors for supporting laser processing and moving along the processing surface of a workpiece are used. An optical path tube was provided along the outside of the arm for passing the laser light.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] Since the size of the movable part consisting of the arm and the optical path tube is large in such conventional products, it is difficult to process the deep part of the workpiece or the inside of a container such as a tank. When an end effector is inserted, there is a problem in that the movable parts, especially the optical path tube, interfere with the workpiece, limiting the working range. The present invention attempts to solve the above-mentioned problems by passing the optical path for transmitting the laser beam through the inside of the arm of the robot.

[Means for solving problems]

For this purpose, the laser processing apparatus using the robot of the present invention has a second arm 13 at the tip of a first arm 12 supported by a base 10, as shown in the attached drawings.
The base end of the second arm 13 is swingably supported.
An interlocking device 3 is provided to penetrate through the inside of the second arm 13 by controlling and driving the first arm 12 and pivotally supporting the wrist portion 14 at the tip of the second arm 13 so as to be able to swing.
The wrist unit 14 is connected to the drive device 1 via 0, 40.
8 and 19, an end effector 62 for laser processing is provided on the final wrist 14b, which forms at least a part of the wrist section 14 and is controlled and driven by the driving device 19. The laser beam introduced near the end portion is passed through the second arm 13 to the wrist portion 14.
The end effector 62 is supplied through a through hole 45a provided coaxially with a pivot 45 that rotatably supports the final wrist 14b.

[Effect]

A second arm 13 pivotably supported at the tip of the first arm 12 is controlled and driven relative to the first arm 12, and at the same time, a final arm 13 is pivotably supported at the tip of the second arm 13. 14a is the second arm 1
3, the tip of the end effector 62 provided at the final wrist 14b approaches the machining location of the workpiece, and the angle of the end effector 62 is adjusted. Move it along the machining surface of the workpiece while changing the direction. At the same time, the laser light introduced into the vicinity of the base end of the second arm 13 is supplied to the end effector 62 through the second arm 13, the wrist section 14, the through hole 45a of the pivot shaft 45, and the final mirror M6, and is focused. The beam is then irradiated onto the workpiece to perform machining.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the second arm 13 is connected to the interlocking device 40 that controls and drives the final wrist 14a, and the end effector 6 provided on the final wrist 14a.
Since the second arm 13 has a built-in optical path for the laser light supplied to the second arm 13, the second arm 13 is the only movable part that pivotally supports the wrist part 14 at the tip, and the entire body can be made thinner. Therefore, when machining the deep part of a workpiece or the inside of a container such as a tank, even if the wrist part 14 is inserted into the deep part of the workpiece or the inside of the workpiece together with the end effector 62, the movable part of the robot will not touch the workpiece. There is less interference and the work range can be expanded.

〔Example〕

To explain the entire robot with reference to FIG. 4 showing the entirety of this embodiment, the base 10 has a rotating base 1.
1 is pivotally supported around a vertical axis A1 and controlled and driven by a first servo motor 15, and the base end of the first arm 12 is attached to the upper end of the swing base 11 around a horizontal axis A2.
The second servo motor 1 is pivotally supported so as to be able to swing around the second servo motor 1.
6, and the base end of the second arm 13 is pivotally supported at the tip of the first arm 12 so as to be swingable about the horizontal axis A3, and is driven by a third servo motor (only the actuating rod 17 is shown). control driven,
A wrist portion 14 is pivotally supported at the tip of the second arm 13 so as to be swingable. The wrist part 14 consists of a bend wrist 14a and a swivel wrist 14b, and the bend wrist 14a is pivotally supported at the tip of the second arm 13 so as to be able to swing around the tilt axis A4, and is controlled and driven by a fourth servo motor (drive device) 18. The swivel wrist 14b is rotatably supported by the bend wrist 14a about a swivel axis A5, and is controlled and driven by a fifth servo motor (drive device) 19. An end effector 62 of a laser processing device is provided in the swivel list 14b forming the final list.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second arm 13 is pivotally supported at the forked tip of the first arm 13 by a hollow support shaft 20 fixed to the second arm main body 13a at the base end. As shown in FIG. 1, the bend wrist 14a has large diameter bearings 22, 23 in an opening formed at the tip of the second arm 13 perpendicular to the tilt axis A4.
It has a bevel gear 34 which is pivotally supported through the axially extending axis A4 and is formed coaxially with the tilt axis A4. bend list 14
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a indicates the first interlocking device 3 that is provided through the inside of the second arm 13.
0 - that is, the rotating shaft 31, gears 31a, 32a,
It is controlled and driven by a fourth servo motor 18 (see FIG. 4) via the rotating shaft 32, gears 32b, 33a, rotating sleeve 33, and bevel gears 33b, 34-. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the swivel wrist 14b is pivotally supported by the bend wrist 14a coaxially with the swivel axis A5 via an integrally formed pivot 45. A bevel gear 44 is attached to a tilting shaft 46 fixed to the bend wrist 14a coaxially with the tilting axis A4.
is pivotally supported, and the bevel gear 44 meshes with a bevel gear 45b formed at the inner end of the pivot shaft 45. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the swivel wrist 14b is
A second interlocking device 40 provided through the second arm 13, that is, a rotating shaft 41, a gear 41a,
42, 42a, 43a, hollow shaft 43, bevel gear 43
b, 44a, 44, 45b and a pivot shaft 45-, which is controlled and driven by a fifth servo motor 19 (see FIG. 4). The hollow shaft 43, the tilting shaft 46, and the pivot shaft 45 have coaxial through holes, and form an optical path for the laser beam L as described later.

Next, to explain the optical path of the laser beam, as shown in FIG. It is reflected at a right angle and sent along a vertical axis B1 that is an extension of the vertical axis A1, and is reflected at a right angle by a second optical joint 54 that also includes a mirror and is parallel to the horizontal axis A3. The light is sent along the axis B2, then reflected at right angles by a third optical joint 55 that incorporates a mirror, and is passed through an extensible tube 56 that is made of a double tube that can be moved axially to incorporate a mirror provided at the tip of the first arm 12. Fourth optical joint 57
sent to. 2nd to 4th optical joints 54, 55, 5
7 are the vertical axis B1 and the horizontal axis B2 and A, respectively.
Therefore, when the rotation base 11 of the robot rotates, the second optical joint 54 also rotates around the vertical axis B1, and the first arm 12 swings around the horizontal axis A2. For example, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4, the third and fourth optical joints 55, 57
rotates around the horizontal axes B2 and A3, and the telescopic tube 56 expands and contracts, whereby the optical path tube follows the movement of the robot and directs the laser beam from the laser oscillation device 51 to the second axis along the horizontal axis A3. Arm 1
Send it within 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the fourth optical joint 57 has a joint main body 57a and a mirror support 57b that supports the mirror M1 in an adjustable angle. It is pivotally supported by a cylindrical body 21 fixed to. Joint body 57
Small diameter portion 57a of the telescopic tube 57 with one end fixed to a
The laser beam L sent into the joint body 57a passes through the elongated hole 21a provided along the circumferential direction of the cylinder 21, and is reflected at right angles by the mirror M1, and is directed toward the horizontal axis A3, that is, the hollow support shaft. 2
0 into the second arm 13 along the axis. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the support shaft 20 has a window hole 20a near the center in the longitudinal direction, and a mirror support 57 having a mirror M2 at the tip has the window hole 20a.
The mirror support 57 is inserted into the mirror support 57 and is provided with a mirror support protrusion 58 that projects outward from the support shaft 20 through a part of the window hole 20a. The laser beam L introduced along the axis of the support shaft 20 is reflected at a right angle by a mirror M2, exits the support shaft 20 through the window hole 20a, and is then reflected at a right angle by a mirror M3 provided on the mirror support protrusion 58. and is coaxially fed into the through hole 43c of the hollow shaft 43.

The inclined shaft 46 at the tip of the second arm 13 is hollow, and a window hole 4 is formed in the side surface facing the axis of the hollow shaft 43.
6a, and the tilting shaft 46 is provided with a mirror support 59 that supports the mirror M4 at a position facing the window hole 46a. Also, bend list 1
4a is provided with a mirror support 60 that supports the mirror M5 on the tilt axis A4, and the swivel wrist 1
4b is provided with a mirror support 61 that supports the final mirror M6 on the swivel axis A5. Laser light L passing through the through hole 43c of the hollow shaft 43
passes through the window hole 46a, is reflected by the mirror M4, travels along the tilt axis A4, is then reflected by the mirror M5, and travels along the pivot axis 45 of the swivel wrist 14b.
It is fed coaxially into the through hole 45a provided in the. The laser beam L that has passed through the through hole 45a is reflected by the final mirror M6 and reaches the end effector 6.
2 and built-in lenses, etc. (not shown)
becomes a focused laser beam that processes the workpiece. As mentioned above, the laser beam L introduced into the second arm 13 from the fourth optical joint 57 always aligns with the joint axes A3, A at the joints of the robot.
4, A5, so it is always supplied to the end effector 62 regardless of the operating state of the robot.

In the above-described embodiment, the rotating base 11, the first and second arms 12, 13, and the wrist parts 14a, 14b of the robot are controlled and driven around the respective axes A1 to A5 by the respective servo motors, and the final wrist is controlled by the respective servo motors. An end effector 62 provided on a certain bend list 14b is moved along the processing surface of the workpiece while changing the angle. The laser beam from the laser oscillation device 51 is transmitted through the fixed pipe 52 and the first
- Guided by a flexible optical path tube consisting of third optical joints 53, 54, 55, telescopic tube 56, and fourth optical joint 57, it follows the movement of the robot into the second arm 13 along the horizontal axis A3. The through hole 43 of the hollow shaft 43 provided in the second arm 13
A through hole 45 of a pivot 45 that enters the bend wrist 14a through c and supports the swivel wrist 14b.
a and the final mirror M6 to the end effector 62, where it is focused and irradiated onto the workpiece,
Perform processing.

As shown in the embodiment, in the portion beyond the horizontal axis A3 of the second arm 13, first and second interlocking devices 30 and 4 actuate the wrist portion 14 consisting of a bend wrist 14a and a swivel wrist 14b.
0 and the optical path for guiding the laser beam to the end effector 62 are both built into the second arm 13 and the wrist section 14, so the tip of the second arm 13 including the wrist section 14 is made smaller as a whole. It becomes possible to insert the end effector 62 together with the wrist part 14 into a narrow place such as the inside of a tank and perform processing, and the working range can be expanded.

Note that the introduction of the laser beam to the base end of the second arm 13 is not limited to the structure of the above embodiment;
2 or directly into the second arm 13 from a small laser oscillator attached to the base end of the second arm 13.

Further, in the above embodiment, the laser beam is guided through the through hole 43c of the hollow shaft 43 of the second interlocking device 40 that controls and drives the swivel wrist 14a, but according to this structure, a separate space is required for passing the laser beam. Since this is not necessary in the second arm 13, the second arm 13 can be further miniaturized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of a laser processing device using a robot according to the present invention, and FIGS. 1 and 2 are longitudinal cross-sectional views of the tip and base ends of the second arm, respectively; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken from FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the entire device. Explanation of symbols, 10...Base, 12...First arm, 13...Second arm, 14...Wrist part,
14b...Final list (swivel list), 18,
19... Drive device (fourth servo motor, fifth servo motor), 40... Interlocking device (second interlocking device),
45... Pivot, 45a... Through hole, 62... End effector, M6... Final mirror.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A second arm is attached to the tip of the first arm supported by the base.
The base end of the arm is swingably supported to drive the second arm in a controlled manner relative to the first arm, and the wrist part is swingably supported at the tip of the second arm to drive the second arm inside the second arm. In a robot in which the wrist part is controlled and driven by a driving device through an interlocking device provided through the robot, the final wrist, which forms at least a part of the wrist part and is controlled and driven by the driving device, includes a final wrist for laser processing. an end effector is provided, and the laser beam introduced near the base end of the second arm is guided into the wrist portion through the second arm;
A laser processing device using a robot in which the final wrist is supplied to the end effector through a through hole provided coaxially with a pivot that rotatably supports the final wrist.