Machine element or mechanism – Gearing – Plural power paths to and/or from gearing
Patent
1986-08-27
1988-03-29
Wright, Dirk
Machine element or mechanism
Gearing
Plural power paths to and/or from gearing
901 23, 901 25, G05G 1100
Patent
active
047335769
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention refers to an industrial robot (manipulator) for various purposes, comprising a stationary base, a rocker arm swingably mounted thereto and an outrigger swingably supported on the rocker arm, whereby the drive for the actuation of the oscillation of the outrigger is located on the rocker arm and the rocker arm, with the weight of the outrigger,is at least approximately statically balanced with respect to its oscillation axis.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An industrial manipulator as aforedescribed is known from the German open application No. 31 15 061. There, the drive for the rocker arm is mounted in the base and the rocker arm is balanced by a counterweight. This industrial manipulator is built for manipulating heavy loads and, primarily, it is conceived as a welding manipulator.
Industrial manipulators are however increasingly being used for assembly purposes and therefore are being aquired in larger quantities. For these purposes, where generally smaller loads are to be manipulated, the industrial manipulators can be built lighter, but have to be more economical than the heretofore known manipulators, because of the higher numbers of manipulators used.
The heretofore known manipulators, such as the one according to German open application No. 31 15 061, can be adjusted to the mentioned purpose only within limits. The use of these manipulators is particularly uneconomical, since they were conceived as individual constructions for a single specific purpose.
It is the object of the present invention to develop an industrial manipulator which can be adjusted economically to be used for various purposes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The robot is economical to manufacture because it is constructed in a modular fashion easily permitting adjustment to achieve the desired function. The core module is the rocker arm which remains the same for all purposes and therefore can be produced in correspondingly large series in an economical manner. The rocker arm is then combined, according to the purpose of use, with various stands and/or outrigger arms. By changing the location of the drive motor for the drive of the oscillatory motion of the arm to the rocker arm itself, the stationary base can be designed simply and cheaply.
Generally, there has to be a standardization of the separation lines between the stands and the rocker arm,on the one hand, and the rocker arm and the outrigger, on the other hand. As a result the outrigger and the stationary base, as well, can be conceived as components of an assembly, independently from each other and combinable with each other over the rocker arm. The manipulators optimally adjusted to their task have thereby only the exactly required number and kind of axes, which makes them very economical. The modular construction made possible by the rocker arm design also permits an economically advantageous exterior revamping of the industrial robot according to the invention, for other tasks.
The above-mentioned advantages are of importance not only in a modular construction system, but also in a universal individual model of, for instance, a six-axes industrial manipulator. The change of the location of oscillation drives for the rocker arm and outrigger, to the rocker arm,simplifies the design for the outrigger and the stationary base.
Insofar as the oscillation drives of the main arm and the outrigger have transmissions, parts of these transmissions can also be located in the stand, respectively the outrigger, with corresponding standardization. However, it is particularly advantageous when the rocker arm, as a complete subassembly, totally incorporates the mentioned oscillation drives, and only the two off-drive members of the two oscillation drives protrude outwardly.
In the shown embodiments, which are particularly economical, the drive-off members are standardized wheel flanges with a centering means, which have only to be screwed to the stand or the outrigger. If, as a variation, planetary gears or the like are used,the outer hollow wheel,
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patent: 4636138 (1987-01-01), Gorman
Binder Karl L.
Zimmer Ernst
Dubno Herbert
Kuka Schweissanlagen
Roboter GmbH
Ross Karl F.
Wright Dirk
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