Patent ID: 8240972

Claim:
A robot comprising: an arm having opposing first and second sides in a predetermined direction; a support member comprising: a first movable member supported to the arm to be reciprocable with respect to one of the first and second sides of the arm in the predetermined direction; and a second movable member reciprocably linked to the first movable member in the predetermined direction, the first and second movable members being telescopically supported to the arm, the second movable member being configured such that a gripper for gripping a workpiece is attachable thereto; a first rotary drive source installed in the arm and working to create rotary motion; and a rotary/linear motion converter comprising: a pinion coupled to the first rotary drive source; and a rack contacted to the pinion and linked to the second movable member, the rotary/linear motion converter working to: receive, by the pinion, the rotary motion created by the first rotary drive source with which the pinion is directly physically connected; and transfer the received rotary motion as linear motion to the rack through a transfer contact portion between the pinion and the rack to thereby move the rack together with the support member in the predetermined direction, the movement of the rack together with the second movable member of the support member causing the first movable member to move in the predetermined direction, after stop of the movement of the first movable member by a preset stroke, the linear motion being configured to further move the rack together with the second movable member in the predetermined direction, and the transfer contact portion between the pinion and the rack being located offset to the one of the first and second sides of the arm relative to the other thereof.