Long-stroke PPU manipulator with multi-point and multi-angle rotary grabbing function

Abstract

The application discloses a long-stroke PPU manipulator with multi-point and multi-angle rotating grabbing functions, and belongs to the technical field of PPU manipulators, and comprises two parts of a PPU moving mechanism and a terminal manipulator. The PPU moving mechanism comprises a rack, a guide assembly, a driving assembly, a transmission assembly and a gripper fixing plate; wherein the driving assembly drives the transmission assembly to form a closed-loop transmission structure, and drives a Y-axis guide rail on the guide assembly to realize multi-point position movement and parking of the terminal along the guide rail in a long-stroke range. The terminal manipulator is installed on the gripper fixing plate, adopts a motor-driven rotating plate structure, and can realize large-angle range rotating grabbing. Compared with a traditional PPU manipulator which only supports two-point reciprocating movement, the application adopts a chain transmission to replace a cam structure, reduces movement inertia, improves operation stability, realizes multi-point grabbing and multi-angle grabbing, and improves flexibility and adaptability of the equipment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of PPU robotic arms and robots, specifically a long-stroke PPU robotic arm with multi-point and multi-angle rotational grasping functions. Background Technology

[0002] A PPU (Pick Place Unit) robot is a transfer device commonly used in automated production lines. It is widely used in scenarios such as electronic assembly, food processing, pharmaceutical sorting, and light manufacturing where high-speed handling and positioning of small workpieces are required.

[0003] However, existing PPU robotic arms mostly use fixed cam profiles to achieve motion, and their structural form limits the motion stroke, usually only suitable for short-distance reciprocating motion; at the same time, their operation mode is mostly repeated picking and placing between two fixed points, making it difficult to achieve flexible grasping in multiple positions.

[0004] In existing technologies, such as the PPU transport mechanism described in patent CN121696139A, the workpiece is transported by a clamping component and a moving component, using a slide rail-slider structure combined with a vertical rod and an inverted U-shaped guide rail. While it achieves high-speed pick-and-place operations through a preset fixed trajectory, improving work efficiency, it still has significant limitations: firstly, its movement path and stopping position are usually limited by the fixed guide rail structure, and the terminal actuator mostly performs two-point reciprocating motion between the pick-up and drop-off points, making it difficult to flexibly stop and grip at multiple positions along the movement path according to actual workstation requirements. Therefore, when there are multiple pick-and-place stations, stations with different spacing, or continuous transfer requirements across multiple processes on the production line, this type of mechanism struggles to achieve multi-point gripping and multi-position allocation, limiting its adaptability. On the other hand, due to the limitations of the cam profile and the inverted U-shaped guide rail, its stroke is difficult to extend and is usually only suitable for short-distance movement. If the stroke is extended by increasing the cantilever length, it will lead to a significant increase in structural weight and motion inertia, which will easily cause vibration or deformation during start-up and stop, affecting motion accuracy, and aggravating the wear of guide rails and connecting parts, shortening service life and increasing operating costs.

[0005] Secondly, as a crucial component of the end effector of industrial robots, the performance of the end effector directly impacts the system's operational efficiency and automation level. It is widely used in scenarios with high requirements for gripping posture, such as electronic component assembly, precision component handling, and automated sorting. However, most existing end effectors are fixed-posture structures, lacking independent posture adjustment capabilities. They rely on external mechanisms to achieve angle changes, resulting in a limited adjustment range and difficulty in flexibly adjusting the gripping direction within a large angle range. This reduces their adaptability to workpieces with different postures and their gripping flexibility. For example, patent CN121670751A uses a gripper structure that opens and closes horizontally, lacking its own posture adjustment capability. Its gripping direction mainly relies on the overall movement of the main mechanical structure. By setting a rotating device above the end effector, the gripper can rotate or tilt as a whole, thereby adjusting the angle.

[0006] In summary, existing PPU robotic arms are limited by their structure, making it difficult to achieve long-stroke motion and multi-position docking. Furthermore, the end effector's posture adjustment capabilities are insufficient, hindering flexible multi-angle grasping and resulting in poor overall operational flexibility. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a PPU robotic arm capable of long-stroke motion, multi-point grasping, and multi-angle rotational grasping. Summary of the Invention

[0007] To overcome the problems of limited stroke of PPU manipulators, difficulty in achieving multi-position docking, and insufficient adjustment capability of the gripping angle of the terminal manipulator in the existing technology, the present invention provides a long-stroke PPU manipulator with multi-point gripping and multi-angle rotation gripping functions. It achieves long-stroke motion through a flexible transmission structure and combines a rotatable gripper structure to achieve flexible gripping at multiple positions and angles, thereby improving the adaptability and work efficiency of the equipment under complex working conditions.

[0008] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: a long-stroke PPU manipulator with multi-point gripping and multi-angle rotation gripping functions, comprising a PPU motion mechanism and an end-effector assembly; the PPU motion mechanism includes a frame, a guide assembly for guiding the trajectory of the PPU manipulator during movement, a drive assembly, a transmission assembly, and a gripper fixing plate; the drive assembly is mounted on the frame and is drively connected to the transmission assembly; the drive assembly controls the movement position of the transmission assembly, enabling the end-effector assembly to dock at multiple preset docking positions on the guide path of the guide assembly, and the number and position of the multiple preset docking positions can be set or expanded according to the actual workstation requirements; the transmission assembly is a ring... A flexible transmission component with a shaped configuration is connected to the guide assembly and is used to drive the terminal manipulator assembly to perform a long-stroke movement along the guide direction of the guide assembly under the drive of the drive assembly; the gripper fixing plate is mounted on the guide assembly; the terminal manipulator assembly is mounted on the gripper fixing plate of the PPU motion mechanism and includes a gripper connecting frame, a clamping plate and a rotary drive mechanism; the gripper connecting frame is used to mount the rotary drive mechanism and is connected to the PPU motion mechanism; the rotary drive mechanism is used to drive the clamping plate to rotate around a preset axis, so that the clamping plate can perform a gripping action with an opening and closing angle greater than 180°.

[0009] During operation, the drive component drives the flexible transmission component to move cyclically along a closed path. The flexible transmission component drives the PPU motion mechanism to move along the guide direction through the connecting structure, thereby realizing the long-stroke reciprocating motion of the terminal manipulator component. Compared with the traditional cam mechanism, this structure avoids the problem of increased inertia caused by the increase in cantilever length, which is conducive to improving motion stability and running accuracy.

[0010] Meanwhile, the PPU motion mechanism can achieve compound motion in different directions under the constraint of the guide component, enabling the terminal robot arm component to dock at multiple positions. The number of docking positions can be expanded according to the actual workstation requirements and is not limited by a fixed number, thereby meeting the needs of multi-workstation operation and realizing multi-point grasping.

[0011] The terminal robotic arm assembly is mounted on the gripper fixing plate in the PPU motion mechanism, and includes a gripper connecting frame, a rotary drive mechanism and a clamping plate. The rotary drive mechanism is used to drive the clamping plate to rotate around a preset axis, thereby changing the clamping direction and realizing multi-angle gripping.

[0012] Furthermore, the frame includes a front plate and a rear plate, the guide assembly includes an X-axis guide rail and a Y-axis guide rail, the X-axis guide rail is fixedly connected to the front plate, the drive assembly is mounted on the rear plate, and the frame is mounted on an external support plane through a fixed structure.

[0013] Furthermore, the X-axis guide rail is arranged in the horizontal direction, the Y-axis guide rail is arranged in the vertical direction, the Y-axis guide rail is slidably connected to the X-axis guide rail by a slider, and the gripper fixing plate is fixedly connected to the near-ground end of the Y-axis guide rail.

[0014] Furthermore, the drive assembly includes a motor and a rotating shaft fixedly connected to the motor output shaft, the rotating shaft being connected to the transmission assembly for transmission.

[0015] Furthermore, the flexible transmission component is a chain, a synchronous belt, or a conveyor belt, and the flexible transmission component is supported by multiple rotating shafts and wrapped around the outside of each rotating shaft to form a closed-loop transmission structure.

[0016] Furthermore, the flexible transmission component is connected to the Y-axis guide rail via a chain connector to drive the Y-axis guide rail to move along the guide direction.

[0017] Furthermore, the terminal robotic arm assembly is mounted on the lower end of the Y-axis guide rail via a gripper fixing plate and moves synchronously with it.

[0018] Furthermore, the rotary drive mechanism includes a motor and a rotating component fixedly connected to the motor output shaft, and the clamping plate is mounted on the rotating component.

[0019] Furthermore, the clamping plates are disposed on both sides of the rotating component and can rotate within a large angle range under the drive of the rotation drive mechanism to adapt to the gripping needs in different directions.

[0020] Furthermore, the clamping plate is a detachable structure to adapt to the gripping needs of workpieces of different shapes or sizes.

[0021] Preferably, a vision inspection module can be integrated into the terminal robotic arm component to identify and locate the workpiece, thereby assisting in the grasping operation.

[0022] After adopting the above technical solution, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: (1) By replacing the traditional cam drive method with a ring flexible transmission structure, the present invention breaks through the structural constraints of the limited stroke of the cam mechanism, realizes the long stroke motion of the terminal manipulator component, and avoids the problems of increased inertia and vibration caused by the increase of cantilever length, thereby improving motion stability and positioning accuracy.

[0023] (2) The present invention enables the terminal robot arm component to dock at multiple positions through the cooperation of flexible transmission components and motion mechanism. The number of docking positions can be expanded according to the actual work station requirements and is not limited by a fixed number, thereby realizing multi-point grasping and significantly improving the adaptability and work efficiency of the equipment in multi-work station operation scenarios.

[0024] (3) By setting a rotary drive mechanism, the present invention enables the clamping plate to rotate around a preset axis, thereby enabling the clamping plate to perform a gripping action with an opening and closing angle greater than 180°, thus improving the adaptability to workpieces with different postures. Compared with the mechanism in which two motors are responsible for the opening and closing of the clamp and the adjustment of the clamp direction, the solution of the present invention is simple in structure, and the two motors drive the clamping plate separately, resulting in small rotational inertia and fast response. Attached Figure Description

[0025] Figure 1 This is a front view of the present invention. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the rear structure of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a perspective view of the front panel of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the chain connector of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the connection of the driving component of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the terminal robotic arm assembly of the present invention; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the rotary drive mechanism in the terminal robotic arm assembly of the present invention.

[0026] In the diagram: 1. Frame; 2. Guide assembly; 3. Gripper fixing plate; 4. Terminal robot assembly; 5. Drive assembly; 7. Transmission assembly; 101. Front plate; 102. Rear plate; 201. X-axis guide rail; 202. Y-axis guide rail; 203. Slider; 501. Motor; 502. Rotating shaft; 701. Chain; 702. Sprocket; 703. Chain connector; 7031. Y-axis guide rail connecting plate; 7032. Chain guide rail connecting shaft; 7033. Fixed flange; 401. Gripper connecting frame; 402. Clamping plate one; 403. Clamping plate two; 404. Rotary drive mechanism; 4041. Motor one; 4042. Rotating plate one; 4043. Motor two; 4044. Rotating plate two. Detailed Implementation

[0027] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the various embodiments of this invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, those skilled in the art will understand that many technical details have been provided in the various embodiments of this invention to facilitate a better understanding of this application. The preferred embodiments of this invention do not constitute a limitation on the scope of this invention. Figures 1 to 7As shown, this embodiment provides a long-stroke PPU manipulator with multi-point and multi-angle rotational gripping function, including a PPU motion mechanism and an end-effector assembly 4. The PPU motion mechanism includes a frame 1, a guide assembly 2 for guiding the trajectory of the PPU manipulator during movement, a drive assembly 5, a transmission assembly 7, and a gripper fixing plate 3. The drive assembly 5 is mounted on the frame 1 and is connected to the transmission assembly 7. The drive assembly 5 controls the movement position of the transmission assembly 7, enabling the end-effector assembly 4 to dock at multiple preset docking positions on the guide path of the guide assembly 2. The number and position of the multiple preset docking positions can be adjusted according to the actual workstation requirements. The transmission component 7 is a flexible transmission component arranged in a ring and connected to the guide component 2. It is used to drive the terminal manipulator component 4 to perform a long stroke movement along the guide direction of the guide component 2 under the drive of the drive component 5. The gripper fixing plate 3 is installed on the guide component 2. The terminal manipulator component 4 is installed on the gripper fixing plate 3 of the PPU motion mechanism and includes a gripper connecting frame 401, a clamping plate and a rotary drive mechanism 404. The gripper connecting frame 401 is used to install the rotary drive mechanism 404 and is connected to the PPU motion mechanism. The rotary drive mechanism 404 is used to drive the clamping plate to rotate around a preset axis to achieve a gripping action with an opening and closing angle greater than 180°.

[0028] The frame 1 includes a front plate 101 and a rear plate 102, which are fixedly connected to form an overall frame structure and are installed on an external support plane through a fixed structure to provide overall support and installation foundation.

[0029] The guide assembly 2 includes an X-axis guide rail 201, a Y-axis guide rail 202, and a slider 203. The X-axis guide rail 201 is horizontally positioned and fixedly mounted on the front plate 101. The Y-axis guide rail 202 is mounted on the X-axis guide rail 201 via the slider 203, allowing for smooth sliding along the X-axis guide rail 201. The gripper fixing plate 3 is fixedly connected to the lower end of the Y-axis guide rail 202, used to mount the terminal robotic arm assembly 4, and moves synchronously with the Y-axis guide rail 202.

[0030] like Figure 5 As shown, the drive assembly 5 includes a motor 501 and a rotating shaft 502. The motor 501 is fixedly mounted on the rear plate 102, and its output shaft is connected to the rotating shaft 502 through a connecting structure to provide the system's motion power.

[0031] like Figure 3As shown, the flexible transmission component is a chain 701, and the transmission assembly 7 also includes sprockets 702 and chain connectors 703. The chain 701 is wound around the outside of multiple sprockets 702 to form a closed-loop transmission structure. Each sprocket 702 is mounted between the front plate 101 and the rear plate 102 via a rotating shaft 502. One sprocket 702 is connected to the rotating shaft 502, thereby driving the chain 701 to circulate under the drive of the motor 501.

[0032] like Figure 4 As shown, the chain connector 703 is disposed between the chain 701 and the Y-axis guide rail 202, and is used to transmit the movement of the chain to the guide assembly. Specifically, the chain connector 703 includes a Y-axis guide rail connecting plate 7031 and a chain guide rail connecting shaft 7032. One end of the chain guide rail connecting shaft 7032 is connected to the chain 701, and the other end is fixedly connected to the Y-axis guide rail connecting plate 7031 through a fixing flange 7033. The Y-axis guide rail connecting plate 7031 is fixedly installed on the Y-axis guide rail 202, thereby driving the Y-axis guide rail 202 to move synchronously during the movement of the chain 701 and ensuring reliable connection during the movement, preventing separation. During operation, when the motor 501 starts, it drives the rotating shaft 502 to rotate, thereby driving the sprocket 702 connected to it to rotate, and thus driving the chain 701 to move cyclically along a closed path. During the movement of the chain 701, its displacement is transmitted to the Y-axis guide rail 202 through the chain connector 703, so that the Y-axis guide rail 202 moves along the X-axis guide rail 201; at the same time, the Y-axis guide rail 202 can be adjusted in the vertical direction, thereby driving the gripper fixing plate 3 to change its spatial position.

[0033] Through the synergistic effect of the above-mentioned guidance and transmission, the terminal robotic arm component 4 can achieve stable movement over a long stroke range and can start and stop at multiple positions; wherein, the stopping positions can be set and expanded according to the actual workstation requirements, without being limited by a fixed number, thereby realizing multi-point grasping.

[0034] like Figure 6 As shown, the terminal robotic arm assembly 4 is mounted on the gripper fixing plate 3, and includes a gripper connecting frame 401, a rotary drive mechanism 404, and a clamping plate for performing gripping actions. The gripper connecting frame 401 serves as a mounting base, fixedly mounted on the gripper fixing plate 3, and is used to support the rotary drive mechanism 404 and provide structural stability.

[0035] like Figure 7 As shown, the rotary drive mechanism 404 includes a first motor 4041, a second motor 4043, and a first rotary plate 4042 and a second rotary plate 4044, which are respectively fixedly connected to their output shafts, for realizing the rotary drive of the clamping plate. The clamping plate includes a first clamping plate 402 and a second clamping plate 403, which are respectively mounted on the first rotary plate 4042 and the second rotary plate 4044.

[0036] During the gripping process, the rotary drive mechanism 404 drives the first rotating plate 4042 and the second rotating plate 4044 to rotate around a preset axis, thereby causing the first clamping plate 402 and the second clamping plate 403 to rotate synchronously, changing the gripping direction and enabling the terminal robot assembly 4 to grip workpieces in different postures from multiple angles. In this embodiment, the rotary drive mechanism 404 can drive the first clamping plate 402 and the second clamping plate 403 to adjust the gripping angle to be greater than 180°, thereby realizing gripping operations in opposite directions or different sides. The first clamping plate 402 and the second clamping plate 403 can be detachably installed on the first rotating plate 4042 and the second rotating plate 4044. In practical applications, they can be replaced according to the shape or size of different workpieces to improve gripping adaptability. The terminal robot assembly 4 is equipped with a vision detection module to assist in identifying the position of the target workpiece, thereby improving gripping accuracy.

[0037] In actual operation, the PPU robotic arm of this invention operates as follows: First, the control system drives the motor 501 to start, causing the chain 701 to move cyclically, moving the Y-axis guide rail 202 along the X-axis guide rail 201, thereby moving the terminal robotic arm assembly 4 to the target workstation position. Upon reaching the preset position, the terminal robotic arm assembly 4 stops moving, and the rotation drive mechanism 404 adjusts the spatial posture of the first clamping plate 402 and the second clamping plate 403 to match the clamping direction with the target workpiece. Subsequently, the first clamping plate 402 and the second clamping plate 403 complete the gripping of the workpiece, and the rotation drive mechanism 404 adjusts the angle as needed to meet different gripping posture requirements. After gripping, the drive assembly continues to work, moving the terminal robotic arm assembly 4 to the next target position, realizing multi-point transport or pick-and-place operations. Through the above process, collaborative operations involving long-stroke movement, multi-position docking, and multi-angle gripping can be achieved.

[0038] In this embodiment, the various structures can be fixedly connected by bolts, screws or other connectors; for connection methods not described in detail, conventional technical means in the art can be used, and will not be elaborated here.

[0039] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "lateral", "longitudinal", etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship, are all based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only used to facilitate the description of this invention and simplify the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed or operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this invention.

[0040] Furthermore, it should be understood that the above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention, used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and not to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, various modifications, substitutions, or equivalent improvements can be made to the above embodiments without departing from the technical concept of the present invention, and all such modifications, substitutions, or improvements should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the content defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A long-stroke PPU robotic arm with multi-point and multi-angle rotational gripping function, characterized in that, The system includes a PPU motion mechanism and a terminal manipulator assembly (4); the PPU motion mechanism includes a frame (1), a guide assembly (2) for guiding the trajectory of the PPU manipulator during movement, a drive assembly (5), a transmission assembly (7), and a gripper fixing plate (3); the drive assembly (5) is mounted on the frame (1) and is connected to the transmission assembly (7); the drive assembly (5) controls the movement position of the transmission assembly (7), enabling the terminal manipulator assembly (4) to stop at multiple preset stopping positions on the guide path of the guide assembly (2), and the number and position of the multiple preset stopping positions can be set or expanded according to the actual workstation requirements; the transmission assembly (7) The flexible transmission component is arranged in a ring and connected to the guide component (2). It is used to drive the terminal manipulator component (4) to perform a long stroke movement along the guide direction of the guide component (2) under the drive of the drive component (5). The gripper fixing plate (3) is installed at the lower end of the guide component (2). The terminal manipulator component (4) is set on the gripper fixing plate (3) and includes a gripper connecting frame (401), a clamping plate and a rotary drive mechanism (404). The gripper connecting frame (401) is used to install the rotary drive mechanism (404) and is connected to the PPU motion mechanism. The rotary drive mechanism (404) is used to drive the clamping plate to rotate around a preset axis to achieve a gripping action with an opening and closing angle greater than 180°.

2. The PPU robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frame (1) includes a front plate (101) and a rear plate (102). The X-axis guide rail (201) is fixedly connected to the front plate (101). The drive assembly (5) is installed on the rear plate (102). The frame (1) is installed on an external support plane through a fixed structure.

3. The PPU robotic arm according to claim 2, characterized in that: The X-axis guide rail (201) is set in the horizontal direction, and the Y-axis guide rail (202) is set in the vertical direction. The Y-axis guide rail (202) is slidably connected to the X-axis guide rail (201) through a slider (203).

4. The PPU robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drive assembly (5) includes a motor (501) and a rotating shaft (502) fixedly connected to the output shaft of the motor (501). The rotating shaft (502) is connected to the transmission assembly (7) for transmission.

5. The PPU robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flexible transmission component is a chain (701), a synchronous belt, or a conveyor belt. The flexible transmission component is supported by multiple rotating shafts (502) and is arranged around the outside of each rotating shaft (502) to form a closed-loop transmission structure.

6. The PPU robotic arm according to claim 5, characterized in that: The flexible transmission component is fixedly connected to the Y-axis guide rail (202) via a chain connector (703), and the chain connector (703) is used to realize the rotational connection between the flexible transmission component and the Y-axis guide rail (202).

7. The PPU robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The terminal manipulator assembly (4) is mounted on the lower end of the Y-axis guide rail (202) via the gripper fixing plate (3) and moves synchronously with the Y-axis guide rail (202). The gripper connecting frame (401) is mounted on the gripper fixing plate (3).

8. The PPU robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotary drive mechanism (404) is mounted on the gripper connecting frame (401). The rotary drive mechanism (404) includes a motor (4041), a motor (4043), and a rotary plate (4042) and a rotary plate (4044) that are fixedly connected to their output shafts respectively. The clamping plate is fixedly mounted on the rotary plate. The clamping plate includes a clamping plate (402) and a clamping plate (403), which are mounted on the rotary plate (4042) and the rotary plate (4044) respectively.

9. The PPU robotic arm according to claim 8, characterized in that: The clamping plate one (402) and clamping plate two (403) are respectively disposed on one side of the rotating plate one (4042) and the rotating plate two (4044). The clamping plate one (402) and clamping plate two (403) are arranged opposite to each other, and the rotation driving mechanism (404) drives the clamping plate one (402) and clamping plate two (403) to rotate around a preset axis in a wide range to achieve gripping in different directions.

10. The PPU robotic arm according to claim 9, characterized in that: The clamping plate one (402) and clamping plate two (403) can be detachably installed on the rotating plate one (4042) and rotating plate two (4044). In practical applications, they can be replaced according to the shape or size of different workpieces to improve gripping adaptability.

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