JPH0469175A - Auxiliary robot for heavy equipment precise assembly and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To correctly move a heavy equipment support part in a desired direction, by providing an operation control means which moves the heavy equipment support part in the revolving direction, telescopic direction and vertical direction with a revolving motor, telescopic motor and vertical hydraulic cylinder being controlled according to a motion command signal transmitted from a moving direction command operation part. CONSTITUTION:A worker has a rotary cylinder of a moving directional command operation part 30, outputting an ascent or a descent command by moving the rotary cylinder up or down. Also, a command signal in the horizontal moving direction is output to an operation control means 1, by turning the rotary cylinder in the horizontal direction he wants to move and pushing the horizontally moving switch of the outer peripheral part thereof. The operation control means 1 then moves the heavy equipment support part 26 of a vertical arm 17 lower end in the revolving direction, telescopic horizontal direction and vertical direction with a revolving motor 14, telescopic motor 22 and vertical hydraulic cylinder being controlled in accordance with the motion command signal transmitted from the moving direction command operation part 30.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention is an arm crane-type precision assembly of heavy objects suitable for precision assembly of heavy objects, loading work into machine tools, packaging work, palletizing work, etc. Regarding assistive robots.

<Conventional technology> The assembly work of heavy objects and the loading work into machine tools are
Due to equipment constraints, there are many cases where complete automation using automatic robots is not possible, and workers must manually assemble and reload heavy objects using hoists, arm cranes, etc. It's full.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, when lifting and transporting heavy objects using a normal hoist or arm crane, the heavy object is lifted and moved forward, backward, left, and right by operating a switch, but Heavy objects are moved by turning on/off switches on the front, back, left and right sides, making it difficult for workers to move heavy objects exactly as desired, making it difficult to perform precision work such as precision assembly of heavy objects! ! There was a problem.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has good operability, allows for easy precision assembly of heavy objects, and has a repeat function.
The purpose is to provide auxiliary robots for E-assembly, etc.

Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the auxiliary robot for precision assembly of heavy objects of the present invention has an arm support that is arranged so as to be rotatable with respect to a swivel base, as shown in Figure 1J1. A tag-like arm mechanism in which an upper horizontal arm, a lower horizontal arm, and a vertical arm are linked in a parallelogram shape is attached to the arm support, and a heavy load is attached to the lower end of the vertical arm via a vertical hydraulic cylinder. The auxiliary robot main body 10 with the supporting part attached, the swing motor 14 that drives the arm support to swing, the rotation sensor 27 that outputs a signal according to the rotation speed of the swing motor 14, and the lower horizontal arm. A telescopic motor 22 that drives the heavy object support section horizontally in the direction of extension and contraction of the arm by horizontally moving the end; and a telescopic motor 22. A rotation sensor 28 outputs a signal according to the rotation speed of the rotary cylinder, and a horizontal movement switch is provided on the outer periphery of the rotary cylinder that can move up and down and rotate. A lowering switch that outputs a lowering switch and a potentiometer that outputs a signal according to the rotation angle of the rotary tube are provided, and a moving direction command operating section 30 disposed directly above the heavy object support section; Operation 111JiO means to control the swing motor 14, the telescoping motor 22, and the vertical fluid pressure cylinder in response to operation command signals from the controller to move the heavy object support part in the swing direction, the telescopic horizontal direction, and the vertical direction. While the swing motor 14 and the telescoping motor 22 are drive-controlled by the operation control means 1 and the heavy object support section is moved horizontally, position data in the swing direction and the telescoping horizontal direction at each teaching point are acquired based on the ON operation of the teaching switch. When the repeat switch is turned on during normal operation, the storage means 2 sequentially stores position data in the turning direction and the horizontal direction of expansion and contraction, and based on these position data, the rotation motor 14 and the expansion and contraction The repeat control means 3 drives and controls the motor 22 to move the heavy object support part toward the starting point or the ending point while passing through each teaching point.

Effect〉 The above-mentioned heavy objects P! When performing assembly work using an auxiliary robot such as a dense general assembly, the worker holds the P rotary cylinder of the movement direction command operation section 30 and issues a command for raising or lowering by moving the rotary cylinder upward or downward.

Further, by rotating the rotary cylinder in the horizontal direction in which the cylinder is desired to be moved and pressing a horizontal movement switch on the outer periphery, a command signal in the horizontal movement direction is output to the operation control means 1.

The operation control means 1 operates a swing motor 14, a telescopic actuator 22,
and a vertical hydraulic cylinder to move the heavy object support section at the lower end of the vertical arm in the rotation direction, the horizontal telescopic direction, and the vertical direction.

When performing teaching, the operator operates the movement direction command operation section 30 to move the arm mechanism, that is, the heavy object support section, in an arbitrary direction while turning on the teaching switch at multiple points. Position data of the teaching point in the turning direction and the horizontal expansion/contraction direction are sequentially stored in the storage means 2.

When repeating the teaching operation, the operator turns on the repeat switch. At this time, the repeat control means 3 sequentially reads each position data in the rotation direction and the telescopic horizontal direction from the storage means 2, drives and controls the swing motor 14 and the telescopic motor 22 based on these position data, and
The heavy object support section is moved toward the starting point or the ending point while passing through each teaching point.

<Example> Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

First, the structure of the auxiliary robot main body will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. A swivel base 12 is mounted on a column 11 supported on the floor, and an arm support 13 is rotatably mounted on the swivel base 12. A swing motor 14 with a speed reducer is disposed on the swing base 12, and rotates its swing axis.

A pantograph type arm mechanism is attached to the arm support 13. This arm mechanism consists of an upper horizontal arm 15, a lower horizontal arm 16, and a vertical arm 1f, forming a parallelogram link.

The east end of the upper horizontal arm 15 is pivoted to be movable in the vertical direction by a vertical guide 18 , the lower horizontal arm 16 is arranged parallel to the lower side of the upper horizontal arm 15 , and the end of the lower horizontal arm 16 is connected to the horizontal guide 19 . A vertical arm 17 is linked to the tips of an upper horizontal arm 15 and a lower horizontal arm 16, which are pivotally supported to be movable in the horizontal direction.
By moving the end of the upper horizontal arm 15 in the vertical direction, the end of the vertical arm 17 moves up and down, and by moving the end of the lower horizontal arm 16 in the horizontal direction,
The tip of vertical arm 1f moves horizontally.

20 is a vertical motor installed in the arm support 13. The shaft of this motor 20 is connected to a reducer 21, a pinion is fixed to the output shaft of the reducer 21, and this pinion is connected to the end of the upper horizontal arm 15. meshes with a vertical rack fixed to the As a result, the vertical rack, that is, the end of the upper horizontal arm 15 moves up and down as the vertical motor 20 rotates, and the tip of the vertical arm 1f moves up and down.

22 is a telescopic motor with a reducer that is horizontally fixed on the arm support 13; a screw shaft 23 is connected to the output shaft of the reducer;
3 has a female threaded portion of a horizontal moving portion (moves horizontally within the horizontal guide 19) fixed to the end of the lower horizontal arm 16. Therefore, the screw shaft 23 is rotated by the rotation of the telescopic motor 22, and the horizontal moving part 24 is rotated.
That is, the distal end of the lower horizontal arm 16 moves horizontally within the horizontal guide 19, and thereby the distal end of the vertical arm 17 moves in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the turning direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 2).

At the tip of the vertical arm 17, there is a vertical hydraulic cylinder 25.
is pivoted downward, and at the tip of the piston rod of the vertical hydraulic cylinder 25, '! A heavy object support section (hook) 26 for supporting a heavy object is fixed via a movement direction command operation section 30 as shown in Fig. J3.

As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 5, the upper and lower fluid pressure cylinders 25 are controlled by an electromagnetic exhaust flow rate control valve 52 and an air supply flow rate control valve 53, and are equipped with a cylinder pressure sensor 54 that detects the pressure inside the cylinder. An extrusion length detector 55 (a rotary encoder that rotates according to the movement of the piston rod) is provided to detect the extrusion length and moving speed of the piston rod.

Therefore, by controlling the eight-motion speed of the piston rod of the vertical hydraulic cylinder 25 to a preset speed, it is possible to control the cylinder internal pressure to be constant. As a result, the load can be maintained in a balanced state except when holding. During such balance control, that is, when the weight of the load and the lifting force are balanced, just by applying a slight external force, the load can be maintained in a balanced state. The piston rod, that is, the heavy object support section 26 can be moved up and down. This allows the workpiece to be supported with both hands in the vicinity of the assembly, which is highly effective for one combination of delicate fittings.

In addition, the above-mentioned swing motor 14 and telescopic motor 22 include:
Rotation sensors 2 and 28 are respectively attached to generate an analog signal or pulse signal of a frequency corresponding to the rotation speed,
Feedback control of the rotational speed is performed based on the detection signal, and horizontal position data, which will be described later, is created.

The movement direction command operation part 30 provided on the heavy object support part 26 is formed in a cylindrical shape, as shown in Figs. A moving switch 32,33 is mounted and configured.

That is, the movement direction command operation unit 3o has a cylinder 34 rotatably fitted around the outer periphery of the central shaft 33 serving as a skeleton, and a rotary cylinder 31 is attached to the outer periphery of the cylinder 34 so as to be movable up and down.
A rising switch 35 for issuing a rising command is mounted downward on the upper part of the cylinder 34, a lowering switch 36 for issuing a lowering command is mounted upward on the lower part of the cylindrical body 34, and a potentiometer 3 is mounted on a bracket on the upper part of the central shaft 33. A gear 38 is attached to the rotating shaft of the potentiometer 37 and meshed with a gear 39 fixed to the upper part of the cylindrical body 34.

Striker 4o of up switch 35 and down switch 36
The striker 41 is attached to a position facing the rotating cylinder 31, and the rotating cylinder 31 is supported in a neutral position via coil springs 42 and 43 at the upper and lower sides of the inner cylinder 34, and can be moved up and down with a light operation. It is possible to move.

Therefore, when the rotary WJ31 is rotated within a range of 360 degrees, the potentiometer 37 rotates and generates an electric signal (resistance value) according to the rotation angle of the rotary cylinder 31. Furthermore, when the horizontal movement switch 32 or 33 on both sides of the rotary cylinder 31 is turned on to an arbitrary angle, a command signal for horizontal movement in the direction in which the switch is pressed is generated. As shown in FIG. 6, for example, when the rotary cylinder 31 rotates by an angle α and the horizontal movement switch 32 is turned on, a horizontal movement command - is issued in the incoming direction, and the horizontal movement switch 33 on the opposite side When turned on, horizontal movement command 8 is issued in the B direction.

On the other hand, when the rotary cylinder 31 is slightly lifted upward, the lift switch 35 is turned on and a lift command signal is generated. Further, when the rotary cylinder 31 is lowered a little, the lowering switch 36 is turned on, and the lower end of the moving direction command operating section 30, which generates the lowering command signal, is connected to the heavy object support section 2. ,．． 6 is attached, and in order to facilitate the work of hooking and removing heavy objects, this heavy object support section 26 has a width of approximately 1 in the horizontal direction, as shown in FIG.
It is mounted so that it can be easily moved within a range of approximately 0 seconds, and furthermore, during transportation, the heavy object support section 26 can be fixed at the center position by the operation of a holding mechanism using a fluid pressure cylinder (not shown).

Immediately above the movement direction command operation unit 30, an operation panel 45 as shown in FIG. This operation panel 45 is provided with a hold switch 46 for holding the arm by setting all movement commands to the telescopic motor 22, the vertical motor 20, the swing motor 14, and the vertical hydraulic cylinder 25 to zero. Furthermore, the upper and lower fluid pressure cylinders 25
and an arm/cylinder changeover switch 4 for switching the operation of the vertical motor 20, and a teaching switch 4 for inputting a teaching point in the teaching mode.
8. A go switch 49 that moves the heavy object support part from the starting point (origin) toward the ending point when repeating the operation, and a back switch 50 that moves the heavy object support part from the ending point to the starting point. An operation/teaching changeover switch 51 for switching between normal operation mode and teaching mode is provided.

As shown in the block diagram of FIG.
The control device of the auxiliary robot for assembly etc. is composed of a microcomputer as the main part, and the CPU 60 is
Based on the program data stored in 61, operation panel 4
Drive control of each motor and flow control valve according to the operation command signal issued from 5 and the detection signal from each sensor,
Rotation and extension N (horizontal movement) of the arm (heavy object support section 26)
and vertical movement are controlled according to the operator's operations. Also,
In teaching mode, teach switch 4
8 is turned on (two-axis position data with the rotation direction as the X-axis and the horizontal direction of expansion and contraction as the Y-axis) is sequentially stored in the RAM 62, and then the go switch 49 and the back switch 50, read out these position data in order and perform a repeat operation.
PU60 executes control processing.

The input/output circuit 63, which is connected to the CPU unit etc. via a bus, includes an A/D converter that converts analog signals from various sensors into digital signals and manually inputs them, and an A/D converter that converts analog signals from various sensors into digital signals, and converts each motor into speed command signals and feedback signals. A driver for controlling the drive accordingly, a valve controller for controlling the flow rate control valves of the upper and lower fluid pressure cylinders 25, and the like are also built-in.

Next, the operation of the auxiliary robot for precision assembly of heavy objects with the above configuration will be explained.

When the power is turned on and the operation switch is turned on, the robot enters the operation state, and in this state, the movement direction command operation section 30
When the rotary cylinder 32 is moved up or down, the rise switch 35
Or the lowering switch 36 is turned on. At this time, the arm
When the cylinder changeover switch 47 is set to the arm side, the vertical motor 20 is driven at a predetermined speed,
The pantograph arm tilts up or down, and the heavy load support 26 at the lower end of the vertical arm 17 rises or falls vertically. Further, when the arm/cylinder changeover switch 47 is set to the cylinder side, the vertical hydraulic cylinder 25 pushes out or pulls back its piston rod, and raises or lowers the heavy object support section 26 at its lower end.

When the above-mentioned operation is stopped, the robot automatically enters a balanced state, and in the vertical direction, the heavy object support section 26 can be easily raised or lowered by the operator's light force. That is, in a state where no movement command is input, the pressure of the vertical fluid pressure cylinder 25 is lower than that of the exhaust flow control valve 52.
The air supply flow rate control valve 53 and the cylinder pressure sensor 54 control the flow rate to be constant, and the load of the heavy object and the hanging force are balanced. Therefore, the heavy object support section 26 can be moved up and down with a slight external force.

In this state, hang the heavy object on the heavy object support section 26,
When the rotary cylinder 31 of the operating section is raised upward, the vertical motor 20 or the vertical hydraulic cylinder 25 is activated to raise the heavy object support section 26 as described above. And furthermore,
Turn the rotary barrel 31 of the operation unit in the direction you want to move horizontally, and then press the horizontal movement switch 32 located on the opposite side to that direction.
Or turn on 33.

For example, when the horizontal start switch 32 is turned on at an angle as shown in FIG. In order to do this, the rotation motor 14 and the telescopic motor 22 are drive-controlled. At this time, the speed VX in the turning direction is calculated as Va-cosα, and the speed vy in the horizontal direction of expansion and contraction is calculated as Va-sinα (Va is the moving speed).

By driving the swing motor 14 and the telescopic motor 22 in this manner, the heavy object hung on the heavy object support section 26 is horizontally moved in the direction in which the operator presses the horizontal movement switch. Then, when the user releases the switch of the operation section 30, the balance state is entered as described above, and the heavy object support section 26 becomes able to move up and down with a slight force.

In addition, when the hold switch 46 on the operation panel 45 is turned on in this state, the speed command value of each motor is set to zero, and the 1-air flow rate control valve 53 and the exhaust flow rate control valve 52 are closed. , all moving parts of the robot stop (
hold) state.

When lowering a heavy object that has been transported to an arbitrary position, turn off the hold switch 46, move the rotary cylinder 31 of the operating section 3o downward, and lower the vertical motor 2o or the vertical hydraulic cylinder 25 to lower the heavy object. from its support 26.

Next, the operation in the teaching mode will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 748.

When teaching the transport operation, first, press the operation/teaching changeover switch 51 to set the teaching mode. At this time, all data in the teaching data area in the RAM 62 is cleared.

In this state, the operator determines the starting point of the transport operation to be taught, and turns the teaching switch 48 at that location.
Turn on. Then, cpua.

The process proceeds from step 100 to step 110, and the rotation data (X-axis position data) at that position detected and captured by the rotation sensor 27 is stored in the teaching data area of the RAM 62. And step 12
0, the expansion/contraction data (Y-axis position data) at that position detected and captured by the rotation sensor 28 is stored.

Next, in step 130, it is determined whether or not this teaching switch is turned on for the first time. If it is turned on for the first time, the process proceeds to step 140, and the data stored above is stored as starting point position data.

Then, the operator drives the swing motor 14 and the telescopic motor 22 while operating the movement direction command operation section 30, that is, by turning the rotary tube 31 to specify eight movement directions and pressing the horizontal movement switch 32 or 33. Controlled heavy object support section 2
6 horizontally in a desired direction, and during this time, the teaching switch 48 is turned on at an appropriate position.

When the teaching switch 48 is turned on, steps 100 to 120 are repeated as described above, and the rotation position data and telescopic horizontal position data at that position are sequentially stored in the teaching data area of the RAM 62.

After the teaching is finished, if the mode is switched to normal operation mode, repeat operation becomes possible.

When performing repeat operation, go switch 4 on the operation panel 45
When 9 is turned on, repeat operation is performed from the start point to the end point, and when back switch 5o is turned on, repeat operation is performed from the end point to the start point.

That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.'fS9, first, when the go switch 49 is turned on, step 200
The process proceeds to 220, where the swing motor 14 and the telescoping motor 22 are driven and controlled so as to horizontally move the arm, that is, the heavy object support 26, from the current arm position to the nearest teaching point (point position memorized at the time of teaching). Move to that point position.

Next, in step 230, the point position data stored next to the teaching point is read from the RAM 62, and in step 240, the swing motor 4 and the telescopic motor 22 are driven 111Ja to move the arm, that is, the heavy object, to the point position. The support section 26 is moved horizontally. The operations of steps 230 and 240 are repeated while the go switch 49 is on, and when the end point of teaching is reached, the repeat operation is ended. Furthermore, when the operator puts his/her hand on the go switch 49 and turns it off, the repeat operation is stopped, ensuring the safety of the robot.

On the other hand, when the back switch 50 is turned on, the process proceeds from step 210 to step 260, and similarly to the above, the rotation motor 14 and the telescopic movement are performed so as to horizontally move the heavy object support section 26 from the current arm position to the nearest teaching point. The motor 22 is driven and controlled to move to that point position.

Next, in step 270, the point position data stored one point before the teaching point is read from the RAM 62, and in step 280, the swing motor 14 and the telescopic motor 22 are driven and controlled to move the arm, that is, support the heavy object, to the point position. The section 26 is moved horizontally. The operations of steps 270 and 280 are repeatedly executed while the go switch 49 is turned on, and when the heavy object support section 26 moves back toward the starting point and reaches the starting point at the time of teaching, the repeat operation ends.

Then, at the starting point or end point position, the rotary cylinder 3 of the operating section 30
1 up or down, the vertical motor 20 or the vertical hydraulic cylinder 25 is raised or lowered, and a heavy object is hung on or removed from the support part 26.

In this way, the teaching of the transport operation and its repeat operation can be performed with simple operations, so that assembly work of heavy objects, loading work into machine tools, etc. can be performed safely and easily.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, the heavy object 116 of the present invention! - According to the auxiliary robot for assembly, etc., a movement direction command operation part having a rotary cylinder that can move up and down and rotate is provided directly above the heavy object support part,
A horizontal movement switch is provided on the outer periphery of the rotary tube, as well as a rise switch that is turned on when the rotary tube moves up, a lower switch that is turned on when it moves downward, and a potentiometer that outputs a signal according to the degree of rotation of the rotary tube. Therefore, just by operating the rotary cylinder and horizontal movement switch of this operation part,
In addition to raising and lowering commands, horizontal movement commands can be issued in any direction, allowing the heavy object support to be accurately moved in the desired direction with simple operations. Also,
In the vicinity of the assembly point, the workpiece itself can be held in place with both hands for vertical operation and can be mated or combined, making it easy to perform precision assembly work.

In addition, while horizontally moving the heavy object support section in any direction, the movement process is taught, and the position data of each teaching point is stored in the storage means in order. By turning on the repeat switch, each position data is are sequentially read out and the rotation motor and the telescopic motor are driven and controlled based on the position data to move the heavy object supporting section toward the starting point or end point along each teaching point. Return conveyance work becomes very easy. Further, the same effect can be obtained by using the auxiliary robot in a ceiling-suspended structure such as a crane or a side-mounted structure such as a wall.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention, '! Figures J2 to 's10 show an embodiment of the present invention;
! Figure J2 is a front view of the auxiliary robot, Figure 3 is the movement direction command operation unit, Figure 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the operation unit, Figure 5 is a block diagram of the control device, and Figure 6 is the rotation direction of the rotating cylinder. An explanatory diagram showing the movement direction, Fig. 7 is a front view of the operation panel, Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation in teaching mode, Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of repeat operation, Fig. 10 is the use state of the auxiliary robot. FIG. ! ...Operation III control means, 2.Storage means, 3.Repeat control means, 10.Auxiliary robot body, 14.Swivel motor, 22.Extension motor, 2F, 28 ...Rotation sensor, 30...Movement direction command operation section. Patent applicant representative

Claims (1)

[Claims] An arm support is rotatably arranged with respect to a rotating base, and a pantograph-like arm mechanism in which an upper horizontal arm, a lower horizontal arm, and a vertical arm are linked in a parallelogram shape is attached to the arm support. , an auxiliary robot body having a heavy object support attached to the lower end of the vertical arm via a vertical hydraulic cylinder; a swing motor that drives the arm support to swing; a rotation sensor that outputs a signal in the direction of extension and contraction of the arm; A rotation sensor that outputs a signal according to the number of rotations, and a horizontal movement switch are provided on the outer periphery of a rotary cylinder that can move up and down and rotate.A rise switch is turned on when the rotary cylinder moves up, and a rise switch is turned on when it moves downward. A lowering switch and a potentiometer that outputs a signal according to the rotation angle of the rotary tube are provided, and a movement direction command operation section disposed directly above the heavy object support section; and an operation from the movement direction command operation section. an operation control means for controlling the swing motor, the telescoping motor, and the vertical fluid pressure cylinder in accordance with a command signal to move the heavy object support in the swing direction, the telescoping horizontal direction, and the vertical direction; While the swing motor and the telescoping motor are driven and controlled by the means and the heavy object support section is moved horizontally, the position data of each teaching point in the swing direction and the telescoping horizontal direction are sequentially stored based on the ON operation of the teaching switch. When the storage means and the repeat switch are turned on during normal operation, each position data in the rotation direction and the horizontal expansion/contraction direction is sequentially read from the storage means, and the rotation motor and the expansion/contraction motor are drive-controlled based on the position data. ,
An auxiliary robot for precision assembly of heavy objects, etc., comprising: repeat control means for moving the heavy object support part toward a starting point or an end point while passing through each teaching point.