Patent ID: 7577497

Claim:
An industrial robot, comprising: a manipulator; a movable emergency stop unit comprising an emergency stop button configured when enabled to trigger an emergency stop of the manipulator upon activation; a control unit for controlling the manipulator, the control unit comprising a first receiving member configured to receive the emergency stop unit, the control unit further comprising a sensor configured to detect the presence of the emergency stop button in the first receiving member and a processor configured to enable the emergency stop button upon detecting the presence of the emergency stop unit in the first receiving member; and a portable operating unit for teaching and manually operating the robot, the portable operating unit comprising a second receiving member configured to receive the emergency stop unit removed from the control unit, the portable operating unit further comprising a sensor configured to detect the presence of the emergency stop button in the second receiving member and a processor configured to enable the emergency stop button and establish wireless communication with the control unit upon detecting the presence of the emergency stop unit in the second receiving member, wherein the emergency stop unit is movable back and forth between the first receiving member of the control unit and the second receiving member of the portable operating unit.