Material or article handling – Horizontally swinging load support – Swinging about pivot
Patent
1986-02-12
1987-12-15
Spar, Robert J.
Material or article handling
Horizontally swinging load support
Swinging about pivot
414918, 901 50, 248 52, B25J 1100
Patent
active
047129727
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a cable supporting arrangement intended for use in industrial robots, and more particularly, to an arrangement for supporting cables which are led through the interior of the base body of an industrial robot into a movable body provided pivotably on the base body.
BACKGROUND ART
Generally, in industrial robots having a base body and a movable body pivotably provided thereon, the power cable, signal cable, etc. are led into the movable body through the interior of the base body. As the movable body is pivoted, the cables are moved in that pivoting direction. Therefore, there should be normally housed in the base body a length of cables large enough to ensure smooth movement of the movable body.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional industrial robot has a body base with a cylindrical inner surface and having a guide cone 2 provided concentrically therein. A movable body 3 is pivotably provided atop the base body 1. A cable 4 led into the movable body 3 through the interior of the base body 1 is wound about one turn about the guide cone 2. Usually, a plurality of power and signal cables (not shown for simplicity of the illustration) is housed in the base body in a similar manner.
In the case of such conventional industrial robots, the cable 4 is freely movable in the space defined between the inner wall of the base body 1 and the guide cone 2, so the cable 4, inner wall of the base body 1 and the guide cone 2 rub against each other. In this way, the surface of the cable 4 is likely to be abraded. Also, where plural cables are housed inside the base body 1, they entwine with each other and are bent beyond their bending limits, possibly resulting in damage to them.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has the object to provide a cable supporting arrangement for use in an industrial robot, which can support the cables led into the movable body of the robot, through the interior of the base body, in such a manner that they do not incur any excessive bending stress and surface abrasion.
The above object is attained by providing, according to the present invention, a cable supporting arrangement for use in an industrial robot comprising a base body with a cylindrical inner surface and a movable body mounted atop the base body pivotably about the axis of the latter, which supports inside the base body at least a cable led through the interior of the base body into the movable body, comprising an inner cylinder fixed to the movable body as disposed concentrically within the base body so that an annular space is defined between the inner cylinder and the base body; a resilient strip member having one end thereof fixed to the inner surface of the base body and the other end fixed to the cylindrical outer face of the inner cylinder, the strip member having one side thereof socurved at a selected portion thereof that portions of the strip member before and after the curved portion are faced to each other, and the strip member being forced under its own resilience onto the inner surface of the base body and outer face of the inner cylinder; and a plurality of cable holders disposed on one side of the strip member, spaced from each other along the length of the strip member, to hold the cable.
In this cable supporting arrangement according to the present invention, the cables are held by means of the cable holders to the strip member forced onto the inner surface of the base body and the outer face of the inner cylinder. Therefore, abrasion of the surface of the cable can be prevented. Also, where plural cables are to be supported, they can be surely prevented from entwining with each other. The strip member is curved along the cylindrical inner surface of the base body and the cylindrical outer face of the inner cylinder of the movable body, respectively. Further, the strip member is curved generally semicircularly between the inner surface of the base body and the outer face of the inner cylinder. The minimum bend radius of the semicircular cur
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Inagaki Shigemi
Nakashima Seiichiro
Otsuka Kazuhisa
Toyoda Kenichi
Alexander Jay I.
Fanuc Ltd.
Spar Robert J.
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