Source: http://www.google.com/patents/USRE33466?ie=ISO-8859-1&dq=inventor:%22Arthur+R.+Hair%22
Timestamp: 2014-07-12 09:36:01
Document Index: 192949280

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 8', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 8']

Patent USRE33466 - Industrial robot with automatic centering - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsThe horizontal movement actuators 3 of an industrial robot arm 2 are deenergized after an initial engagement between a workpiece 8 grasped by a robot hand and a base member 10 disposed on a support table 12 so that any axial misalignment between the workpiece and a hole 11 in the base member is automatically...http://www.google.com/patents/USRE33466?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent USRE33466 - Industrial robot with automatic centeringAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUSRE33466 EPublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 07/509,939Publication dateDec 4, 1990Filing dateApr 16, 1990Priority dateFeb 7, 1986Publication number07509939, 509939, US RE33466 E, US RE33466E, US-E-RE33466, USRE33466 E, USRE33466EInventorsHisao KatoOriginal AssigneeMitsubishi Denki Kabushiki KaishaExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (3), Referenced by (6), Classifications (14) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetIndustrial robot with automatic centeringUS RE33466 EAbstract The horizontal movement actuators 3 of an industrial robot arm 2 are deenergized after an initial engagement between a workpiece 8 grasped by a robot hand and a base member 10 disposed on a support table 12 so that any axial misalignment between the workpiece and a hole 11 in the base member is automatically corrected with the guidance of a chamfer 8a, 10b provided on the workpiece and/or the hole.
What is claimed is: 1. An industrial robot for fitting in assembly part (8) held by a holding means (7) into a hole (11) of a base member (10) fixedly mounted on a support structure (12), comprising:(a) a robot arm (2) fixedly mounting said holding means on an end thereof, (b) elevation means including a vertical shaft (14;19) for vertically moving said holding means, (c) a plurality of actuators (3) for swinging said robot arm horizontally, and (d) control means for controlling operations of said elevation means and said actuators, (e) at least one base and an insertion end of said assembly part being chamfered (8a, 10b), said control means being responsive to a detection of said assembly part being lowered by said elevation means to a position near said hole of said base or to a position at which said part is inserted slightly into said hole to deenergize said actuators, and to cause said elevation means to further lower said part to thereby fit said part in said hole, the deenergization of the actuators rendering the holding means freely movable in a horizontal plane such that any axial misalignment between the assembly part and the hole is automatically corrected by a centering effect of the chamfer during the further lowering of the elevation means. 2. The industrial robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein both said hole and said insertion end of said part are chambered.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a hand of a conventional industrial robot for fitting a part to a base, in which an automatic alignment device 6 is composed of a upper plate 6a fixedly secured to a rotary shaft 5 extending vertically from a free end of a robot arm 4, a core member 6b extending vertically from the upper plate 6a, a lower plate 6c arranged in parallel to the upper plate 6a, and a link mechanism for movably supporting the lower plate 6c in parallel to the upper plate 6a. The link mechanism is composed of three parallel links each having, at opposite ends thereof, spheres which are received in spherical bearings 6d' and 6d"' provided correspondingly on a lower surface of the upper plate 6a and an upper surface of the lower plate 6c.
When an elevation shaft of the robot is lowered to fit the rod member 8 into the hole 10a with a center axis of the rod member 8 deviating slightly from a center axis of the hole 10a, the fitting can be achieved as long as the mount of deviation is within the range of the chamfer 8a of the rod member 8, due to the deformation of the elastic member 6f as shown in FIG. 2. Therefore, under these conditions, by lowering the elevation shaft, the rod member 8 can be inserted automatically into the hole 10a and the desired assembling operation is achieved.
FIG. 3 illustrates a general arrangement of an embodiment of the present inventions;
The operation of the robot shown in FIG. 4 is controlled by a controller C which is constructed as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 6. The controller C is composed of a shaft control section 33, and I/O port 37, an information processing device 39 and a work position detector 35 for supplying work position information through the I/O port to the processing device 39. The shaft control section 33 is operatively connected to the respective actuators 3 through the I/O port 37. The processing device 39 includes a central processing unit 42, a read only memory 44 for storing a program, and a random access memory 40 for storing various temporary data.
The operation of the robot is controlled according to the program stored in the ROM 44. Firstly, the elevation shaft 14 and then the actuators 3 are actuated so that the hand 7 is positioned above one of the workpieces 8 on the table 13. Then, the shaft 14 is lowered to allow the hand 7 to grasp the workpiece. Then, the shaft 14 and the actuators 3 are drives so that the hand becomes positioned above a hole of the base 10 as shown in FIG. 5, whereafter the shaft 14 is lowered until the chamfered ends 8a of the workpiece 8 enters into the chamfered edge 10b of the base 10 to a predetermined extent. When the chamfered end 8a reaches the predetermined depth from the chamfered edge 10b of the hole, positioned information corresponding thereto is inputted by the work positions information section 35 to the I/O port 37 as shown in FIG. 6. This information is processed together with information from the RAM 33 and the ROM 44 by the CPU 42, and an instruction is supplied from the I/O port 37 to the control device 33 to deenergize all of the actuators 3 so that the drive shaft 17 of the actuators become free from any influence by the stators 15. All of the joints of the robot are thus permitted to move freely with respect to their adjacent arms. Therefore, the hand 7 is put in a state where it can be moved by an external driving force.
FIG. 7 is a flow-chart showing the control operation of the robot mentioned above. As shown in FIG. 7, the hand 7 is firstly moved to a position above the parts table 13 corresponding to the part 8. Then, the part 8 is grasped by the grasping nails 7a of the hand. Thereafter, the hand 7 is moved just above the hole 11 of the base 10 by swinging the robot arms 2. Then, the part 8 is lowered by retracting the elevation shaft 14 to a first predetermined position, which is sensed by detecting the amount of vertical movement of the shaft 14 or by detecting contact between the part 8 and the base 10. When it is sensed that the part 8 reaches the first position, the stators 15 of the actuators 3 are deenergized to render the hand 7 free of control. Under these conditions, the elevation shaft 14 is lowered to further lower the part 8 to a second predetermined position.
Then, the part 8 is separated from the hand and the stators 15 of the actuators 3 are energized to retrieve the robot arms. Thus, fitting of the part to the base is completed.
As mentioned hereinbefore, according to the present invention, the actuators provide at various joints of the robot are deenergized to render the hand free from any restrictions due to the active actuators and to allow it to freely move in a horizontal plane when the initial positioning of the hand is completed. The hand can be further moved horizontally under the guidance of a chamfer formed in the workpiece held by the hand and/or the hole of the base so that the complete engagement thereof is achieved. Therefore, there is no need of a complicated automatic position regulator.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS4528747 *Dec 2, 1982Jul 16, 1985At&T Technologies, Inc.Method and apparatus for mounting multilead components on a circuit boardUS4557044 *Feb 26, 1985Dec 10, 1985Amp IncorporatedElectrical connector clinching meansUS4630344 *Jul 18, 1985Dec 23, 1986International Business Machines CorporationApparatus and method for assembling parts* Cited by examinerReferenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS5811951 *Oct 14, 1996Sep 22, 1998Regents Of The University Of CaliforniaHigh precision redundant robotic manipulatorUS6481093Aug 18, 2000Nov 19, 2002Seagate Technology LlcAutomated clampring installation stationUS7392582Dec 10, 2004Jul 1, 2008Infineon Technologies AgSocket and/or adapter device, and an apparatus and process for loading a socket and/or adapter device with a corresponding semi-conductor componentUS7453259Dec 16, 2004Nov 18, 2008Infineon Technologies AgLoading a socket and/or adapter device with a semiconductor componentDE10358691A1 *Dec 15, 2003Jul 7, 2005Infineon Technologies AgSockel- bzw. Adapter-Einrichtung, sowie Vorrichtung und Verfahren zum Beladen einer Sockel- bzw. Adapter-Einrichtung mit einem entsprechenden Halbleiter-BauelementDE10358691B4 *Dec 15, 2003Jun 21, 2012Qimonda AgVerfahren zum Beladen einer Sockel-Einrichtung mit einem entsprechenden Halbleiter-Bauelement* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification29/708, 901/15, 29/709International ClassificationB25J17/02, B25J9/16, B23P19/00Cooperative ClassificationB25J9/1687, B23P19/12, B25J17/0208, B23P19/102European ClassificationB23P19/10A, B23P19/12, B25J9/16T3, B25J17/02BRotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google