Self-adaptive sucker at tail end of manipulator

Abstract

The utility model relates to the field of industrial robots, in particular to a manipulator tail end self-adaptive suction cup which comprises a mechanical arm and a suction cup body, the suction cup body comprises an outer rubber sleeve and an expansion mechanism, the expansion mechanism comprises a second gear, a mounting frame is assembled on one face of the second gear, an expansion piece is assembled on the mounting frame, and a guide groove is formed in the surface of the second gear. According to the expanding device, the second gear in the expanding mechanism is driven by the driving assembly to rotate, and after the second gear rotates by a certain angle, the guiding groove can push the expanding part to do linear movement on the mounting frame; the moving expansion piece pushes the outer rubber sleeve to be amplified in an equal proportion while being far away from the center of the second gear, so that the contact area between the suction cup body and a workpiece is enlarged, suction force can be evenly distributed on the surface of the workpiece, and attachments such as a protective film or paint on the surface of the workpiece cannot be damaged while the workpiece is firmly sucked.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of industrial robots, in particular to an adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator. Background Art

[0002] Industrial robots, also known as manipulators or robotic arms, are mechanical devices used to simulate the movements of human arms and hands. They can perform various tasks on industrial production lines, such as handling, assembly, welding, painting, etc. Manipulators are usually composed of various joints, sensors, actuators and control systems. They can perform precise movements according to pre-set programs or real-time feedback, which makes manipulators play an important role in automated production, improve production efficiency and reduce labor costs.

[0003] In the existing manufacturing industry, the robot is one of the indispensable equipment. Its end can be equipped with various types of tools, such as grippers, drills and suction cups. Among them, the suction cup installed at the end of the robot is usually used to suck and move the workpiece. In the production line, the sizes of different workpieces are also different. When facing larger workpieces, a single-sized suction cup can only firmly absorb the workpiece by increasing the suction force. This behavior not only consumes energy, but may also cause damage to the surface of the workpiece. Utility Model Content

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the utility model is to propose an adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator to solve the technical problem that the suction cup assembled at the end of the existing manipulator has a single size and cannot reasonably absorb workpieces of different sizes.

[0005] Based on the above purpose, the utility model provides an adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator, including a mechanical arm that drives the suction cup to move and a suction cup body that is threadedly installed at the end of the mechanical arm to suck a workpiece;

[0006] The suction cup body comprises an outer rubber sleeve and an expansion mechanism arranged inside the outer rubber sleeve for expanding the outer rubber sleeve;

[0007] The expansion mechanism comprises a second gear, one side of which is equipped with a mounting frame, on which are mounted a plurality of slidable expansion members, and a guide groove is provided on the surface of the second gear for driving the expansion members to move and guide them;

[0008] A driving assembly for driving the second gear to rotate is installed on one side of the second gear.

[0009] Preferably, the mounting frame is provided with a first slide groove, and clamping strips are provided on both sides of the inner wall of the first slide groove, and the expansion member includes a moving strip sliding inside the first slide groove, and second slide grooves matching the clamping strips are provided on both sides of the moving strip, and a sliding column sliding inside the guide groove is provided at one end of the moving strip, and a limit block is fixedly provided at one end of the sliding column, and a curved plate for expanding the outer rubber sleeve is fixed at the other end of the moving strip;

[0010] Preferably, the second gear is equipped with a through pipe for air intake, and a flange for connecting to the end of the robot arm is fixed at one end of the through pipe.

[0011] Preferably, the drive assembly includes a fixing plate fixed on the surface of the flange, a servo motor is fixedly mounted on the fixing plate, an output end of the servo motor is fixedly connected to a first gear for meshing with a second gear, and an auxiliary hole is also provided on the mounting frame for matching with the output shaft of the servo motor.

[0012] Preferably, one side of the outer rubber sleeve is sunken with a notch, a sealing sheet is fixed at the center of the notch, one end of the sealing sheet is provided with a butt joint tube connected to the through pipe, and an inner cavity is also opened inside the outer rubber sleeve.

[0013] Preferably, a base for supporting the robotic arm is fixedly connected below the robotic arm.

[0014] Beneficial effects of the utility model:

[0015] The utility model drives the second gear in the expansion mechanism to rotate through a driving component. When the second gear rotates a certain angle, the guide groove can push the expansion piece to move linearly on the mounting frame. The moving expansion piece pushes the outer rubber sleeve to enlarge proportionally while moving away from the center of the second gear, thereby expanding the contact area between the suction cup body and the workpiece, so that the suction force can be evenly distributed on the surface of the workpiece. While firmly sucking the workpiece, it will not damage the protective film or paint and other attachments on the surface of the workpiece. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present invention or the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only for the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0017] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the utility model;

[0018] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the position of the expansion mechanism and the driving assembly of the utility model;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the drive assembly of the utility model;

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the expansion mechanism structure of the utility model;

[0021] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the mounting frame structure of the utility model;

[0022] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the expansion member structure of the utility model;

[0023] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the outer rubber sleeve structure of the utility model;.

[0024] The numbers in the figure are:

[0025] 1. Robotic arm; 11. Base; 2. Suction cup body; 21. Outer rubber sleeve; 211. Notch; 212. Inner cavity; 213. Sealing sheet; 214. Butt pipe; 22. Flange; 23. Driving assembly; 231. Fixing sheet; 232. Servo motor; 233. First gear; 24. Expansion mechanism; 241. Through pipe; 242. Second gear; 2421. Guide groove; 243. Mounting frame; 2431. First slide groove; 2432. Card strip; 2434. Auxiliary hole; 244. Expansion piece; 2441. Moving strip; 2442. Second slide groove; 2443. Sliding column; 2444. Limiting block; 2445. Curved panel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0027] It should be noted that, unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used in the present invention should be understood by people with ordinary skills in the field to which the present invention belongs. The words "first", "second" and similar words used in the present invention do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. "Include" or "comprise" and similar words mean that the elements or objects appearing before the word include the elements or objects listed after the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. "Connect" or "connected" and similar words are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "Up", "down", "left", "right" and the like are only used to indicate relative positional relationships. When the absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

[0028] In order to further understand the present invention, the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0029] Combination Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 4 The utility model provides an adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator, comprising a mechanical arm 1 for driving the suction cup to move and a suction cup body 2 threadedly mounted at the end of the mechanical arm 1 for sucking a workpiece;

[0030] The suction cup body 2 includes an outer rubber sleeve 21 and an expansion mechanism 24 disposed inside the outer rubber sleeve 21 for expanding the outer rubber sleeve 21;

[0031] The expansion mechanism 24 includes a second gear 242, one side of which is equipped with a mounting frame 243, on which are mounted a plurality of slidable expansion members 244, and a guide groove 2421 is provided on the surface of the second gear 242 for driving the expansion members 244 to move and guide them;

[0032] A driving assembly 23 is installed on one side of the second gear 242 to drive the second gear 242 to rotate;

[0033] In this embodiment, the outer rubber sleeve 21 is made of highly elastic rubber with good ductility. The robot arm 1 can be equipped with existing suction equipment, such as vacuum pumps and other equipment that can generate suction. The second gear 242 in the expansion mechanism 24 is driven to rotate by the driving component 23. When the second gear 242 rotates a certain angle, the guide groove 2421 can push the expansion member 244 to move linearly on the mounting frame 243. The moving expansion member 244 pushes the outer rubber sleeve 21 to be enlarged in proportion while moving away from the center of the second gear 242, thereby expanding the contact area between the suction cup body 2 and the workpiece, so that the suction can be evenly distributed on the surface of the workpiece. While firmly sucking the workpiece, it will not damage the protective film or paint and other attachments on the surface of the workpiece.

[0034] After the suction cup body 2 sucks the workpiece, the workpiece can be moved and transported to the next process through the robot arm 1.

[0035] Combination Figure 5 and Figure 6 The mounting frame 243 is provided with a first slide groove 2431, and both sides of the inner wall of the first slide groove 2431 are provided with clamping strips 2432. The expansion member 244 includes a moving strip 2441 sliding in the first slide groove 2431, and both sides of the moving strip 2441 are provided with second slide grooves 2442 matching the clamping strip 2432. One end of the moving strip 2441 is provided with a sliding column 2443 sliding in the guide groove 2421, and one end of the sliding column 2443 is fixedly provided with a limiting block 2444, and the other end of the moving strip 2441 is fixed with a curved plate 2445 for expanding the outer rubber sleeve 21;

[0036] In this embodiment, when the guide groove 2421 rotates around the second gear 242, the sliding column 2443 can be pushed to move along the guide groove 2421. The movement of the sliding column 2443 can transmit power to the moving bar 2441 and make it move linearly on the mounting frame 243. The mounting frame 243 is plum blossom-shaped and has a total of five slideways, one of which is different in shape from the other four slideways.

[0037] When the guide groove 2421 pushes the expansion piece 244, the moving bar 2441 can slide in the first slide groove 2431. During this process, the clamping bar 2432 on the inner wall of the first slide groove 2431 simultaneously displaces relative to the second slide grooves 2442 on both sides of the moving bar 2441. The setting of the clamping bar 2432 and the second slide groove 2442 can limit the expansion piece 244 to avoid positional displacement of the expansion piece 244 during movement. The moving moving bar 2441 pushes the curved plate 2445 to expand the outer rubber sleeve 21. The curvature of the curved plate 2445 is slightly larger than that of the outer rubber sleeve 21, which can ensure that the outer rubber sleeve 21 always maintains a complete disc shape during expansion.

[0038] Combination Figure 4 The second gear 242 is equipped with a through pipe 241 for air intake, and one end of the through pipe 241 is fixed with a flange 22 for connecting with the end of the robot arm 1;

[0039] In this embodiment, the through pipe 241 can be connected to the existing suction equipment, and the expansion mechanism 24 and the suction cup body 2 can be installed at the end of the robot arm 1 through the flange 22, so that the expansion mechanism 24 and the suction cup body 2 can change to the corresponding position according to the movement state of the robot arm 1.

[0040] Combination Figure 3 and Figure 5 The driving assembly 23 includes a fixing plate 231 fixed on the surface of the flange 22, a servo motor 232 is fixedly mounted on the fixing plate 231, an output end of the servo motor 232 is fixedly connected to a first gear 233 for meshing with a second gear 242, and an auxiliary hole 2434 for matching with the output shaft of the servo motor 232 is also provided on the mounting frame 243;

[0041] In this embodiment, the servo motor 232 can be started to drive the first gear 233 at its output end to rotate. The rotating first gear 233 engages with the second gear 242 to cause it to rotate. While the first gear 233 rotates, the output shaft of the servo motor 232 also rotates in the auxiliary hole 2434. This can avoid radial runout of the output shaft of the servo motor 232 during rotation, causing tooth jumping between the first gear 233 and the second gear 242. A bearing is installed inside the auxiliary hole 2434 to assist the output shaft of the servo motor 232 in rotating.

[0042] Combination Figure 7 The outer rubber sleeve 21 has a recessed notch 211 on one side, a sealing sheet 213 is fixed at the center of the notch 211, a butt joint 214 connected to the through pipe 241 is provided at one end of the sealing sheet 213, and an inner cavity 212 is also provided inside the outer rubber sleeve 21;

[0043] In this embodiment, the notch 211 is provided to form a gap between the contact surface of the outer rubber sleeve 21 and the workpiece. After the through tube 241 sucks air, the gap can form a vacuum zone, so that the workpiece is firmly adsorbed on the suction cup body 2. The sealing sheet 213 at the center of the notch 211 can prevent the outer rubber sleeve 21 from expanding and deforming, and a gap will appear at the center of the outer rubber sleeve 21. The setting of the docking tube 214 at one end of the sealing sheet 213 can make the suction force generated by the through tube 241 directly act on the surface of the workpiece. The inner cavity 212 inside the outer rubber sleeve 21 is used to install the expansion mechanism 24.

[0044] Referring to the figure, a base 11 for supporting the mechanical arm 1 is fixedly connected below the mechanical arm 1;

[0045] In this embodiment, the base 11 can be rotated so as to change the position of the robot arm 1 at any time to facilitate the transportation of the workpiece.

[0046] Those skilled in the art should understand that the discussion of any of the above embodiments is merely illustrative and is not intended to imply that the scope of the present invention (including the claims) is limited to these examples. Under the concept of the present invention, the technical features in the above embodiments or different embodiments may be combined, the steps may be implemented in any order, and there are many other variations of the different aspects of the present invention as described above, which are not provided in detail for the sake of simplicity.

[0047] The utility model is intended to cover all such substitutions, modifications and variations that fall within the broad scope of the appended claims. Therefore, any omissions, modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the utility model should be included in the scope of protection of the utility model.

Claims

1. An adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator, comprising a manipulator arm (1) for driving the suction cup to move and a suction cup body (2) threadedly mounted at the end of the manipulator arm (1) for sucking a workpiece, characterized in that: The suction cup body (2) comprises an outer rubber sleeve (21) and an expansion mechanism (24) arranged inside the outer rubber sleeve (21) for expanding the outer rubber sleeve (21); The expansion mechanism (24) comprises a second gear (242), one side of the second gear (242) is equipped with a mounting frame (243), a plurality of groups of slidable expansion members (244) are mounted on the mounting frame (243), and a guide groove (2421) is provided on the surface of the second gear (242) for driving the expansion members (244) to move and guide them; A driving assembly (23) is installed on one side of the second gear (242) to drive the second gear (242) to rotate.

2. The adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mounting frame (243) is provided with a first slide groove (2431), and both sides of the inner wall of the first slide groove (2431) are provided with clamping strips (2432). The expansion member (244) includes a moving strip (2441) sliding inside the first slide groove (2431), and both sides of the moving strip (2441) are provided with second slide grooves (2442) matching with the clamping strip (2432). One end of the moving strip (2441) is provided with a sliding column (2443) sliding inside the guide groove (2421), and a limiting block (2444) is fixedly provided at one end of the sliding column (2443), and the other end of the moving strip (2441) is fixed with a curved plate (2445) for expanding the outer rubber sleeve (21).

3. The adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second gear (242) is equipped with a through pipe (241) for air intake, and one end of the through pipe (241) is fixed with a flange (22) for connecting with the end of the mechanical arm (1).

4. The adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator according to claim 3, characterized in that: The driving assembly (23) comprises a fixing plate (231) fixed on the surface of the flange (22), a servo motor (232) being fixedly mounted on the fixing plate (231), an output end of the servo motor (232) being fixedly connected to a first gear (233) for meshing with a second gear (242), and an auxiliary hole (2434) for matching with an output shaft of the servo motor (232) being provided on the mounting frame (243).

5. The adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator according to claim 3, characterized in that: A notch (211) is recessed on one side of the outer rubber sleeve (21), a sealing sheet (213) is fixed at the center of the notch (211), a butt joint tube (214) connected to the through tube (241) is provided at one end of the sealing sheet (213), and an inner cavity (212) is also provided inside the outer rubber sleeve (21).

6. The adaptive suction cup at the end of a manipulator according to claim 1, characterized in that: A base (11) for supporting the mechanical arm (1) is fixedly connected below the mechanical arm (1).

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