JPS6231271Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to a portable articulated robot.

For example, in shipbuilding, there are a considerable number of locations where longitudinal materials are welded, and even if this is to be automated using robots, it must be portable.

By the way, in the case of a multi-jointed robot, an electric lamp is generally inserted between two adjacent arms and connected through a tube. Therefore, when carrying the robot on board a ship or attaching it to and removing it from a longitudinal member, there is a risk that the tube may be accidentally caught on a protrusion or the like and the electric lamp may be cut off.

This invention was created in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a portable multi-jointed robot that does not use the tube and does not have to cut the electric lamp. Detailing an example.

Although this embodiment will be described as an articulated robot for butt welding the longitudinal materials, the invention is not limited to this embodiment. Further, for the following explanation, in FIG. 2, the left will be referred to as the front, the right will be referred to as the rear, the top will be referred to as the right, and the bottom will be referred to as the left.

A is the shoulder of the multi-jointed robot, and the workpiece W
Clamping means CL for (longitudinal material) is provided. That is, this embodiment clamping means CL
The robot is configured to be able to clamp the robot to a mounting base 13, which will be described later, and which is attached to the workpiece W.

1 is the base of the shoulder portion A. The base 1 includes a pair of left and right side plates 1a and a bottom plate 1b. Base 1
Two protrusions 1c are protruded from each side of the left and right sides. In the embodiment, the protrusion 1c is a cylindrical pin.
Handles 1d are fixed to the left and right sides of the base 1. Bottom plate 1
At the bottom of b, there are inclined side surfaces 1e, 1e facing front and rear.
A dovetail groove in the left and right direction is formed by. Note that the projections 1c, 1c and the inclined side surfaces 1e, 1e are arranged symmetrically on the left and right sides in FIG. This is base 1
This is so that the mounting base 13, which will be described later, can be coupled in either direction.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a first rotating arm, which is supported by a joint pivot 2a (hollow) on the base 1 in the left-right direction. The arm 2 is divided into a rear portion 2b and the aforementioned 2c, which are connected by bolts 3. The rotation angle α ₁ of the arm 2 is forced by the power M ₁ attached to the base 1. A known DC servo motor is used as the power M ₁ (the same applies to the following powers), and the arm 2 can be rotated via an encoder E ₁ and a speed reducer (not shown) on the rotating shaft of this motor. .

B is an elbow portion, which corresponds to the distal end portion of the arm 2 (the joint portion with the second rotating arm 4, which will be described later).

Reference numeral 4 designates a second rotating arm, which is supported by a joint shaft 4a at the tip of the arm 2. The shaft 4a, like the shaft 2a, extends in the left-right direction and is hollow. Arm 4 is rear 4
b and a front part 4c, which are connected by bolts 5. And the rotation angle α ₂ of arm 4 is the forearm 2
Forced by power M ₂ attached to c. Power _M2
is equipped with an encoder E ₂ and a speed reducer.

C is a wrist portion, which corresponds to the distal end portion of arm 4 (joint portion with torch attachment arm 7, which will be described later).

6 is an end effector (torch) mounting shaft provided at the tip of the arm 4. The shaft 4 is supported in the left and right direction, and a power M ₃ is mounted inside the arm portion 4c.
The rotation angle α ₃ is forced through a speed reducer (not shown), and the power M ₄ attached to the arm portion 4c is
The configuration is such that the position X in the left and right direction is forced through a ball screw means (not shown). Encoders E ₃ and E ₄ are attached to the power sources M ₃ and M ₄ .

Reference numeral 7 denotes an end effector (torch) mounting arm provided at the left end of the shaft 6, that is, at the wrist C. The base end of the arm 7 is configured so that the rotation angle relative to the shaft 6 can be adjusted and fixed, and the tip of the arm 7 is configured so that the attachment of the welding torch T can be adjusted and fixed.

8 is a rotatable hollow shaft that is coaxially inserted into the shaft 2a and through which the electric lamp 9 is inserted. At the right end of the shaft 8 and on the base 1, there is a connector 9a for the electric lamp 9.
is installed.

10 is a first insertion tube of the electric lamp 9 connected between one end (left end) of each hollow portion of the shafts 2a and 4a. The pipe 10 is divided into a rear part 10a and a front part 10b, which are connected by bolts and nuts 11. In this embodiment, the rear end of the tube 10 is integrally attached to the left end of the shaft 8, and the front end of the tube 10 is rotatably supported 10c on the left end of the shaft 4a. Note that the front part 10b of the tube
A tube 10d for passing through the electric lamp 9 is connected between the intermediate portion of the arm and the arm portion 2c. In addition, Denran 9 is
The pipe 10 is connected at the dividing point by a connector 9b.

12 is the other end (right end) of the hollow part of the shaft 4a and the forearm part 4
This is the second insertion tube of the electric lamp 9 connected between the electric lamp 9 and the electric lamp 9. The tube 12 can be attached or detached using a bolt 12a.

LS ₁ is a limit switch attached to the base 1, which is operable by a protrusion 8a protruding from the shaft 8, and is used to align the origin of the arm 2.

_LS2 is a limit switch attached to the shaft 4a, and is used to align the arm 4 to its origin, operable by a projection 2d protruding from the arm front portion 2c.

Therefore, this robot is a multi-joint welding robot having four degrees of freedom α ₁ to α ₃ and X.

Next, a description will be given of the mounting base 13 that allows the base 1 of this robot to be connected and separated.

In this embodiment, the frame of the mounting base 13 is constituted by a pair of left and right side plates 13a, 13a, and a front connecting member 13b and a rear connecting member 13c that connect these side plates 13a.

The side surface of the side plate 13a has a U-shape with a groove, and a connecting material 13b is fixed to the upper and lower surface of the side plate 13a. It is formed.

At the lower front end of each side plate 13a, female threads are cut in the vertical and longitudinal directions, and screw means 13d, 13d' are provided to be screwed into these female threads. These screw means 13d, 13d' serve as means for attaching the mount 13 to the workpiece W.

At the rear of each side plate 13a, a claw 13e is provided on the inside thereof.
The middle part is supported by the left and right shafts 13f. A torsion spring 13g is provided around the shaft 13f between the claw 13e and the side plate 13a, and this spring 13g is connected to the claw 13e.
A force is applied to rotate the device counterclockwise in FIG. Further, a left-right shaft 13h is supported at the rear of the side plate 13a near the claw 13e. A notch 13i is formed on the outer periphery of the shaft 13h, and a stopper 13j protruding from the side plate 13a is configured to be guided by the notch 13i, so that the shaft 13h can be rotated by the arc angle of the notch 13i. It is freely configured. Furthermore, a female thread is bored in the shaft 13h in a direction perpendicular to the shaft 13h, and a screw means 13k is screwed into this female thread.
Moreover, the tip of the screw means 13k is brought into contact with one end of the claw 13e, that is, the side receiving the force from the spring 13g. The relationship between the claw 13e and the screw means 13k is such that when the shaft 13h is rotated counterclockwise against the spring 13g and the screw means 13k is tightened, the other end of the claw 13e is , and on the other hand, by loosening the screw means 13k, the shaft 13
When h is rotated clockwise, the claw 13e
The other end is set to separate from the rear inclined side surface 1e by a spring 13g.

An L-shaped groove 13l into which the projection 1c fits is bored inside the upper part of each side plate 13a. In this embodiment, the L-shaped upper part of the groove 13l is open upward, and the rear part of the lower part is in contact with the projection 1c.

On the top surface of each side plate 13a, there is a
The left and right position regulating lever 13m that can be protruded is the vertical shaft support 1
3n has been done. Lever 13m is locking means 1
3o, it is designed to be locked in the rear position or in either the left or right protruding position. Note that lever 1
As will be described later, when the 3m torch is protruded to the left or right, the position of its tip is made to approximately match the center position of the torch T in the X-axis direction when the robot is connected to the mounting base 13. .

The mounting base 13, the protrusion 1c of the base 1, and the inclined side surface 1e constitute a clamping means CL.

14 is a securing mechanism between the base 1 and the arm 4. This embodiment mechanism 14 includes a pin support 14b mounted on the left side plate 1a and having an L-shaped sliding pin 14a, and a pin support 14b fixed to the forearm portion 4c and having a pin 14a.
The locking member 14d has an insertion hole 14c at its tip. As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, the inclination angle of the arm 2 with respect to the base 1 is the minimum,
Furthermore, the pin 14a can be inserted into the hole 14c of the member 14d when the angle of inclination of the arm 4 with respect to the arm 2 is at its minimum. Although not shown, a spring for biasing the pin 14a to protrude is built into the support 14b, and means for locking or releasing the pin 14a is also built in when the pin 14a is in the retracted position, that is, at the solid line position in FIG. .

The lengths of the arms 2 and 4 of the robot and the distance between the shaft 6 and the tip of the torch T are within a range that satisfies the required action range of the torch T to facilitate welding the workpiece W. It has been decided to make it as small as possible.

D is a robot control device whose main parts include a CPU and a memory MEM. CPU bus line
Power sources M ₁ to M ₄ , encoders E ₁ to _{E 4} , welding power source WS for torch T, and teaching box TB are connected to BL. Note that the control device D also includes a known means for detecting welding current or welding voltage and causing the torch T to follow the welding line WL of the workpiece W.

Furthermore, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, a plurality of mounting stands 13 are prepared for one robot, and these are installed in advance in correspondence with each welding line WL. During this installation, the upper and lower surfaces of the mounting base 13 are brought into contact with the upper surfaces of the longitudinal members (angle members in the embodiment) in the left and right direction, and the rear surface of the connecting member 13b is brought into contact with the front end surface of the longitudinal member W by pulling it backward. let Furthermore, the left lever 13m is projected to the left as indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2, and the mounting base 13 is positioned in the left-right direction so that its tip substantially coincides with the welding line WL. and screw means 13d,
13d' to fix the mounting base 13 to the longitudinal material W.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the electric lamp 9 of the robot is not disconnected from the electric lamp 9 from the control device D by the connector 9a, and after loosening the screw means 13k and rotating it clockwise to the end, the first With the base 1 and the arm 4 secured by the mechanism 14 as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, hold the handle 1d, lift the robot, fit the protrusion 1c into the groove 13l from above, pull it backward, and then move the robot to the front. The inclined side surface 1e of the connecting member 13b is brought into contact with the connecting member 13b.

Then, the screw means 13k is rotated counterclockwise against the force of the spring 13g to tighten, and the claw 13e is rotated clockwise. Then, the claw 13e is caught on the rear inclined side surface 1e, the base 1 of the robot is pulled rearward, and the base 1 and the mounting base 6 are connected to the front with the protrusion 1c stuck deep in the groove 13l. Positioning in the front-rear direction is achieved by the contact between the part inclined side surface 1e and the connecting member 13b and the contact between the rear inclined side surface 1e and the claw 13e.

When the robot is mounted on the mounting base 13, the electric lamp 9 is inserted into the hollow part of the shaft 8, the pipe 10, the hollow part of the shaft 4a, and the pipe 12, and the electric lamp 9 is inserted into the hollow part of the shaft 4a and the pipe 12.
Since the electric conductor 9 is disconnected by the connector 9a, even if the tubes 10 or 12 accidentally collide with a protrusion of the workpiece W, for example, the electric conductor 9 will not be affected by the disconnection at all.

Therefore, the operator moves the pin 14a to the member 14d.
After removing the arm 4 from the base 1 and releasing the binding of the arm 4 to the base 1, the electric lamp 9 from the control device D is connected to the electric lamp 9 of the robot using the connector 9a. Then, operate the teaching box TB to perform manual control with the robot to position the point of action P of the torch T at the start and end points (including the orientation of the torch T) of the straight line portion of the welding line WL, and transmit the position information (encoder) at that time. _E1 ～
The output information of _E4 ) is input to the control device D and taken into the memory MEM as position information of each step of the user program.

After storing a series of user programs, the operator operates a playback start switch (not shown) on the teaching box TB. Then, the control device D controls the position and orientation of the torch T according to each step of the stored user program,
Welding along the welding line WL is automatically performed between each command point using preprogrammed welding conditions and by the above-described tracing control.

After completing the automatic welding of one welding line WL, the operator manually controls the robot to fold it as shown in the two-dot chain line in Figure 1.
It is secured by a mechanism 14. Furthermore, after disconnecting the connector 9a, the robot can be removed from the mounting base 13 in the reverse order described above, mounted on the next mounting base, and operated in the same manner as before. At this time, the user program can be commonly used anywhere as long as the shape and dimensions of the welding line WL are the same.

The above description is an example, and equivalents of each structure are also included within the technical scope of this invention.

This invention, as mentioned above, connects the electric lamp 9 of the robot to the hollow parts of the joint shafts 2a, 4a and the insertion tube 1.
0 and 12, so the electric lamp 9 is not exposed to the outside. Therefore, even if the operator accidentally collides with a protrusion on the workpiece W while carrying the robot or attaching or removing it from the workpiece W,
The electric lamp 9 is protected by the insertion tubes 10 and 12, and there is no risk of cutting the electric lamp 9. Moreover, the electric lamp 9 of the robot can be freely connected and disconnected from the electric lamp 9 from the control device D at the other end of the joint shaft 2a by the connector 9a, so if this is in the disconnected state, the robot can be carried and the workpiece can be easily connected and disconnected. Easy to attach and detach from W.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures all show examples of this invention, with Fig. 1 being a partially sectional side view, Fig. 2 being a plan view, Fig. 3 being a sectional view of the shoulder, Fig. 4 being a sectional view of the elbow, and Fig. 4 being a sectional view of the elbow. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control device. In the figure, W...work, A...shoulder, B...
...Elbow part, C...Wrist part, 2a, 4a...Respective joint axes, 6...End effector mounting shaft, 7...
...End effector mounting arm, 9...Electric power, 9a
... Connector, 10 ... First insertion tube, 12 ... Second
The insertion tube, CL...clamp means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The shoulder is equipped with clamping means for the workpiece,
The joint axes of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist are parallel to each other, and the end effector mounting arm is pivoted to the wrist, and the joint axes of the shoulder and elbow are parallel to each other. A hollow part for the electric lamp insertion is formed in the part, and the first insertion tube of the electric lamp is formed between these hollow parts, and the first insertion tube of the electric lamp is formed between the hollow part of the elbow part and the wrist part. The second insertion tubes of the electric lamps are connected to each other, and furthermore, an electric lamp connector is attached to the joint shaft hollow part of the shoulder, and this electric lamp connector is connected to the tip of the electric lamp from the control device. A portable articulated robot that can be separated.