A kind of luggage cart grabbing robot mechanical arm is used to clamp jaw

Abstract

The application relates to a mechanical arm gripper for a luggage trolley grabbing robot, which comprises a gripper body provided with a hook claw at one end for hooking a luggage trolley frame body; a pressing block located on one side of the gripper body close to a luggage trolley handle, one end of the pressing block being rotationally connected with the gripper body, and the other end of the pressing block corresponding to the position of the luggage trolley handle; and a driving component installed on the gripper body, which drives the pressing block to rotate and press the luggage trolley handle. The application has the effects of integrating the functions of grabbing and unlocking the luggage trolley, reducing the maintenance cost and lowering the use threshold.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the technical field of gripper devices, and in particular to a gripper for a robotic arm of a luggage cart grabbing robot. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, in airport pick-up and drop-off scenarios, passengers carrying a lot of luggage usually need to use luggage carts for transfer. However, after passengers use the luggage carts, they are often parked haphazardly, resulting in the carts being scattered in multiple undesignated areas within the terminal. The current management methods mainly rely on dedicated personnel to conduct regular manual inspections and centralized collection, or deploying grabbing robots to perform grabbing operations using robotic arms.

[0003] The aforementioned technologies are primarily applicable to baggage carts that can move without unlocking. In fact, to prevent baggage carts from accidentally sliding on slopes or in densely populated areas and to ensure passenger safety, most airports currently widely use baggage carts equipped with safety locking mechanisms. For example, patent CN211391410U discloses an airport baggage cart with a brake. The two handles of this cart are rotatably connected to the top of the brake lever via propulsion bearings. When the baggage cart is parked, the handles remain horizontal. At this time, the brake lever, under the action of structural linkage, drives the brake pads to make close contact with the wheels, locking the wheels through friction and preventing accidental sliding. Only by pressing down on the handles can the brake lever be driven to lift the brake pads, disengaging them from the wheels, thereby releasing the brake lock and allowing the baggage cart to switch to a movable mode.

[0004] The robotic arms of existing gripping robots mostly use a general gripper structure, which only has the function of grasping and lacks the ability to apply downward pressure to the push handle. Therefore, they cannot complete the unlocking operation of the baggage carts that require pressing to unlock, resulting in failure to grasp or failure to start the recycling process at all. Ultimately, the mainstream security locking baggage carts used in airports still need to be recycled manually, making it difficult to improve management efficiency through automation. Utility Model Content

[0005] In order to be able to grasp luggage carts that need to be pressed down to unlock, this application provides a gripper for the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot.

[0006] This application provides a gripper for a robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot, which adopts the following technical solution: A gripper for a robotic arm of a luggage cart grabbing robot includes: a gripper body, one end of which is provided with a hook for hooking with the luggage cart frame; a pressing block, located on the side of the gripper body near the luggage cart handle, one end of which is rotatably connected to the gripper body, and the other end of which corresponds to the luggage cart handle; and a driving component, mounted on the gripper body, which drives the pressing block to rotate and press the luggage cart handle.

[0007] By adopting the above technical solution, the hook can first be hooked and fixed to the baggage cart frame to achieve the initial positioning of the gripper and the baggage cart; then the drive component drives the pressing block to rotate around the rotating shaft, so that the end of the pressing block corresponding to the baggage cart handle presses down on the handle, accurately triggering the safety locking mechanism of the baggage cart to unlock; effectively solving the technical shortcoming of existing grippers that can only grasp and cannot unlock, and adapting to mainstream airport baggage carts with press unlock function.

[0008] Preferably, the pressing block is a cam, which includes a base circle segment and a lift segment. The lift segment is offset radially outward relative to the base circle segment to form a pressure surface for pressing down the luggage cart handle.

[0009] By adopting the above technical solution, the base circle section of the cam can abut against the luggage cart handle in a non-pressed state. When the drive component drives the cam to rotate, the radial offset of the lift section is used to apply a steadily increasing downward pressure to the handle, ensuring that the pressure required for unlocking is met, and improving the stability and safety of the unlocking operation.

[0010] Preferably, the driving component includes a servo motor, a worm gear, a worm wheel, and a rotating shaft; the servo motor is fixed to the gripper body, and its output shaft is coaxially and fixedly connected to the worm gear through a coupling; the worm wheel meshes with the worm gear, the worm wheel is mounted on the rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft is rotatably mounted on the gripper body; the base circle segment of the cam is coaxially and fixed to the rotating shaft.

[0011] By adopting the above technical solution, the servo motor can provide precise speed and torque control. Combined with the worm gear transmission structure, on the one hand, the high speed of the motor is converted into the low speed and high torque of the rotating shaft by utilizing the reduction characteristics of the worm gear, ensuring that the cam can output sufficient downward pressure to complete the unlocking. On the other hand, the worm gear has a reverse self-locking property, which can prevent the reaction force generated by the handle on the cam during the unlocking process from causing the rotating shaft to reverse, avoiding insufficient pressing force that leads to unlocking failure.

[0012] Preferably, two pressing blocks are provided, and the two pressing blocks are symmetrically installed on both sides of the worm gear along the axial direction.

[0013] By adopting the above technical solution, two cams are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the worm gear, so that the pressing force is symmetrically distributed on the rotating shaft, effectively balancing the axial pressure and further improving the stability of the unlocking operation.

[0014] Preferably, the gripper body includes four base plates and three hooks; the four base plates are arranged in parallel, and one hook is fixedly connected between each two adjacent base plates; the four base plates form three receiving chambers distributed along the axial direction of the rotation axis, the rotation axis passes through the three receiving chambers in sequence, the worm gear is located in the middle receiving chamber, and the worm gears are located in the receiving chambers on both sides respectively.

[0015] By adopting the above technical solution, the three hooks increase the contact area between the gripper and the luggage cart, improve the stability after gripping, and prevent the luggage cart from shaking or falling off during transportation. At the same time, the three accommodating chambers can accommodate the worm gear and cam separately, which not only ensures the independent installation of each component, but also protects the internal transmission structure through the base plate, extending the service life of the components.

[0016] Preferably, the four substrates are provided with mounting holes coaxially, ball bearings are fixed in the mounting holes, and the rotating shaft is coaxially fixed with the inner ring of the ball bearing.

[0017] By adopting the above technical solution, the ball bearing can convert the sliding friction between the rotating shaft and the base plate into rolling friction, which greatly reduces the frictional resistance when the rotating shaft rotates, making the pressing action of the cam smoother and reducing the load loss of the servo motor.

[0018] Preferably, the cross-section of the rotating shaft is D-shaped, and the center holes of the worm gear and the cam are both D-shaped holes adapted to the rotating shaft.

[0019] By adopting the above technical solution, the D-shaped structure can achieve circumferential fixation between the rotating shaft, the worm gear, and the cam, avoiding relative slippage between the three due to insufficient friction during transmission. This ensures that the power of the servo motor can be accurately transmitted to the cam through the worm gear, making the rotation angle of the cam completely synchronized with the output of the motor, thereby ensuring precise control of the pressing depth.

[0020] Preferably, it also includes a top cover plate, which is disposed between the servo motor and the gripper body, the top cover plate is fixed on the gripper body, and the servo motor is fixed on the top cover plate; the top cover plate is provided with a through hole for the coupling to pass through.

[0021] By adopting the above technical solution, the top cover plate can serve as a transitional connection structure between the servo motor and the gripper body. The motor is stably fixed by fasteners such as bolts, which prevents the relative displacement between the motor and the gripper body due to vibration and ensures the meshing accuracy of the worm and worm wheel. At the same time, the top cover plate can also shield the components on the top of the gripper body and protect the internal structure of the gripper.

[0022] Preferably, the top cover plate has a side plate on the side near the hook, and the side plate covers the accommodating chamber between the substrates.

[0023] By adopting the above technical solution, the claw and the top cover plate work together to form a closed protective space, which can isolate the worm gear, cam, and rotating shaft in the cavity from the outside world, effectively preventing dust, baggage debris, water stains and other impurities in the airport environment from entering the cavity, and significantly improving the environmental adaptability and service life of the claw.

[0024] Preferably, the top cover plate has a flange structure for connecting the robotic arm on the side away from the hook.

[0025] By adopting the above technical solution, the flange structure provides a standardized connection interface for the gripper and the robotic arm. Assembly can be completed simply by fixing the flange to the end of the robotic arm with bolts, which greatly improves the versatility and ease of installation of the gripper and reduces the cost of replacing or upgrading the gripping equipment at the airport.

[0026] In summary, this application includes at least one of the following beneficial technical effects: 1. Through the coordinated design of hook positioning, cam unlocking, and servo motor drive, the core pain point of existing grippers being unable to unlock push-to-unlock baggage carts is solved. Unlocking and grabbing of baggage carts can be completed without manual assistance, significantly improving the efficiency of automated baggage cart recycling at airports and reducing labor costs. 2. The symmetrical cam and multi-claw structure ensures that the handle is subjected to balanced force when unlocking and that the luggage cart is stable after being grabbed, avoiding unlocking failure or shaking during transportation. 3. The enclosed protective chamber formed by the base plate and top cover plate, and the low-friction design of the ball bearings, can reduce impurity interference and component wear, and extend the service life of the gripper; the compact frame structure and standardized flange interface are suitable for narrow spaces in airports and different models of robotic arms, making it applicable to a wide range of scenarios. Attached Figure Description

[0027] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the cam in the extended state according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the top cover plate in an embodiment of this application; Figure 3 This is a side sectional view of the gripper in an embodiment of this application; Figure 4 This is a front sectional view of the gripper in an embodiment of this application; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the cam structure and bushing structure in the embodiments of this application; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the cam in the retracted state according to an embodiment of this application.

[0028] Reference numerals: 1. Gripper body; 11. Hook; 12. Base plate; 2. Cam; 21. Base circle segment; 22. Lift segment; 23. Bushing; 3. Drive component; 31. Servo motor; 311. Motor bracket; 32. Worm gear; 33. Worm wheel; 331. Spacer ring; 34. Rotating shaft; 35. Coupling; 4. Top cover plate; 41. Main board; 42. Side plate; 43. Flange structure; 5. Luggage cart frame; 6. Luggage cart handle. Detailed Implementation

[0029] The following is in conjunction with the appendix Figure 1 -Appendix Figure 5 This application will be described in further detail.

[0030] This application discloses a gripper for the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot, referring to... Figure 1 It includes a gripper body 1 adapted to the contour of the luggage cart handle 6, a pressing block located on the side of the gripper body 1 near the luggage cart handle 6, and a drive component 3 mounted on the gripper body 1, the drive component 3 being used to drive the cam 2 to rotate around an axis.

[0031] The gripper body 1 includes a base plate 12 and hooks 11. Four base plates 12 are provided, all of uniform size and parallel to each other, and are made of high-strength alloy material. Three hooks 11 are provided, all of the same size, and are arranged alternately with the four base plates 12, their sidewalls abutting against each other. The hooks 11 are fixed to the base plates 12 with bolts, forming a robust and lightweight gripper structure. The hooks 11 have a hook-shaped structure, and the inner arc surface of the hook matches the contour of the upper crossbeam of the luggage cart frame 5, forming a highly conforming arc-shaped gripping area. A top cover plate 4 is installed at the top of the gripper body 1, located on the side of the base plate 12 away from the hooks 11. The top cover plate 4 is embedded and welded to the four base plates.

[0032] Reference Figure 2 The top cover plate 4 includes a main plate 41, side plates 42, and a flange structure 43. The main plate 41 is a rectangular metal plate that is fastened to the frame composed of four base plates 12. The side plates 41 are located on the side of the main plate 41 closest to the hook 11, covering the top of the gaps between the base plates 12. The side plates 41 also have four positioning grooves machined corresponding to the four base plates 12 for engagement and positioning. The flange structure 43 is located on the side of the top cover plate 4 away from the hook 11. This flange structure 43 has a set of evenly distributed mounting holes for connection to the robotic arm. The main plate 41, side plates 42, and flange structure 43 are all sheet metal parts formed by bending a single piece of metal.

[0033] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2The drive component 3 includes a servo motor 31 and a motor bracket 311. The motor bracket 311 is fixed to the main board 41 with screws, and the servo motor 31 is fixed to the motor bracket 311 with screws. A through hole is provided at the center of the main board 41 for the motor shaft to pass through. The top cover plate 4 is connected by bolts, which realizes the stable installation of the servo motor 31, and at the same time can shield the components in the top cavity of the gripper body 1, protecting the internal structure of the gripper in this embodiment.

[0034] The main body of the motor bracket 311 is a horizontally placed rectangular plate. A through hole is opened in the center of the motor support seat for the output shaft of the servo motor 31 to extend out. Two symmetrically distributed rectangular plates extend vertically downward from both sides of the motor bracket 311. The bottom end of the plates extends horizontally away from the center to form mounting ears, which are fixed to the top cover plate 4 by bolts.

[0035] Reference Figure 3 and Figure 4 The drive component 3 also includes a worm 32, a worm wheel 33 meshing with the worm 32, and a rotating shaft 34 passing through the central hole of the worm wheel 33. A coupling 35 is provided between the worm 32 and the servo motor 31 to connect and fix them, so as to transmit the torque and speed output by the servo motor 31 to the worm 32.

[0036] The cross-section of the rotating shaft 34 is D-shaped. Correspondingly, the center hole of the worm gear 33 is also machined into a D-shaped hole to fit the rotating shaft 34. During assembly, simply passing the rotating shaft 34 through the D-shaped hole achieves synchronous rotation of all rotating components. The structure is simple, the connection is reliable, and it ensures that power transmission is slip-free and delay-free. Mounting holes are coaxially provided on the four base plates 12 of the gripper body 1. Bearing sleeves are coaxially installed at the mounting holes and fixed to the base plates 12 by bolts. Ball bearings are installed inside the bearing sleeves, and the rotating shaft 34 passes through the four ball bearings for rotatable mounting.

[0037] The worm gear 33 is sleeved in the middle section of the rotating shaft 34 and is located in the middle receiving cavity of the four base plates 12 of the gripper body 1. Spacer rings 331 are provided on both sides of the axial direction of the worm gear 33, and the two ends of the spacer rings 331 abut against the worm gear 33 and the base plate 12 respectively.

[0038] refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5The pressing block is a cam 2, which is an asymmetrical disc shape, comprising a base circle segment 21 and a lift segment 22. The rotation radius of the base circle segment 21 is constant, and the base circle segment 21 of the cam 2 is coaxial with the rotating shaft 34. Two cams 2 are mounted on the rotating shaft 34, symmetrically installed on both sides of the worm gear 33, and located in the left and right accommodating chambers respectively. This symmetrical layout ensures that the two cams 2 apply equal and synchronous downward pressure to both sides of the luggage cart handle, balancing the force on the handle and effectively avoiding problems such as handle deformation and movement jamming caused by single-point force or uneven force on both sides.

[0039] In addition, a bushing 23 is inserted into the center hole of the cam 2. A ring of positioning teeth is provided on the outer side of the bushing 23 along the circumference. The outer ring of the bushing 23 is interference-fitted with the center hole of the cam 2. The cam 2 is made of plastic. The center hole of the bushing 23 is designed as a D-shaped hole that matches the rotating shaft 24, ensuring that the rotating shaft 34 can accurately drive the cam 2 to rotate when it rotates, and avoiding slippage.

[0040] The working process of this embodiment is as follows: The gripping robot moves to the vicinity of the target luggage cart, and its onboard vision sensor identifies the luggage cart model and accurately locates the positions of its handle and the upper crossbeam of the frame. The robotic arm begins to move, adjusting the posture of the gripper so that the hook 11 of the gripper body 1 hooks onto the upper crossbeam of the luggage cart frame, such as... Figure 6 As shown. At this time, the gripper is in the initial state, the cam 2 is in the retracted state, and the base circle segment 21 of the cam 2 abuts against the luggage cart handle.

[0041] The control system of the gripping robot sends commands to the servo motor 31. The servo motor 31 rotates, and power is transmitted to the worm gear 32 via the coupling 35. The worm gear 32 drives the worm wheel 33 to rotate, thereby causing the rotating shaft 34 and the two cams 2 fixed thereon to rotate synchronously. The lift section 22 of the cams 2 begins to contact and press against the luggage cart handle, causing it to move downwards, overcoming the force of its internal return spring, and finally releasing the locking state of the brake device. Figure 1 As shown. In this embodiment, when the hook 11 just engages with the upper crossbeam of the luggage cart frame, the outer circular surface of the base circle segment 21 abuts against the luggage cart handle. The contour of the lift segment 22 smoothly offsets radially outward relative to the base circle segment 21, eventually forming a maximum lift point. This convex contour surface forms the pressure surface for pressing down on the luggage cart handle 6. The gripping robot can then move, grip the luggage cart, and transport it to the designated location.

[0042] The implementation principle of this application embodiment is as follows: the robotic arm moves the gripper body, causing the hook to engage with the upper crossbeam of the luggage cart frame. The base circle section of the cam abuts against the luggage cart handle. Then, the servo motor starts, driving the worm and worm wheel to rotate. After deceleration by the worm wheel, torque is output to drive the cam to rotate. Simultaneously, during the rotation of the cam's lift section, pressure can be applied to the luggage cart handle, achieving an integrated "grab and unlock" operation. The worm wheel 33 and worm 32 have self-locking characteristics. When the worm 32 stops rotating, the worm wheel 33 cannot drive the worm 32 to rotate in the reverse direction. This unidirectional transmission characteristic ensures that even after the gripper has grasped the luggage cart, it remains in a fixed position even under external disturbances, such as the luggage cart shaking or the impact of ground bumps. This allows the cam 2 to maintain its lift section 22 abutment state, ensuring that the unlocking mechanism will not lock during the luggage cart retrieval process. This application, through the coordinated design of the drive components, cam, and gripper body, achieves an efficient, reliable, and intelligent luggage cart grasping solution. This gripper not only possesses excellent mechanical properties and control precision, but also fully considers safety, durability, and maintainability in practical application scenarios, making it a promising candidate for widespread application.

[0043] The above are all preferred embodiments of this application, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, all equivalent changes made in accordance with the structure, shape and principle of this application should be covered within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A gripper for a robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot, characterized in that, include: The gripper body (1) has a hook (11) at one end that is connected to the luggage cart frame. The pressing block is located on the side of the gripper body (1) near the luggage cart handle. One end of the pressing block is rotatably connected to the gripper body (1), and the other end of the pressing block corresponds to the position of the luggage cart handle. A drive component (3) is mounted on the gripper body (1) and drives the pressing block to rotate and press the luggage cart handle.

2. The gripper of the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The pressing block is a cam (2), which includes a base circle segment (21) and a lift segment (22). The lift segment (22) is offset radially outward relative to the base circle segment (21) to form a pressure surface for pressing down the luggage cart handle.

3. The gripper of the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot according to claim 2, characterized in that, The drive component (3) includes a servo motor (31), a worm (32), a worm wheel (33), and a rotating shaft (34); the servo motor (31) is fixed on the gripper body (1), and its output shaft is coaxially fixedly connected to the worm (32) through a coupling (35); the worm wheel (33) meshes with the worm (32), the worm wheel (33) is mounted on the rotating shaft (34), and the rotating shaft (34) is rotatably mounted on the gripper body (1); the base circle segment (21) of the cam (2) is coaxially fixed with the rotating shaft (34).

4. The gripper for the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot according to claim 3, characterized in that, Two pressing blocks are provided, and the two pressing blocks are symmetrically installed on both sides of the worm gear (33) axially.

5. The gripper for the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, The gripper body (1) includes four base plates (12) and three hooks (11); the four base plates (12) are arranged in parallel, and a hook (11) is fixedly connected between each two adjacent base plates (12); the four base plates (12) form three accommodating chambers distributed along the axial direction of the rotating shaft (34), the rotating shaft (34) passes through the three accommodating chambers in sequence, the worm gear (33) is located in the middle accommodating chamber, and the two pressing blocks are located in the accommodating chambers on both sides respectively.

6. The gripper for the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot according to claim 5, characterized in that, The four substrates (12) are provided with mounting holes on the same axis, and ball bearings (121) are fixed in the mounting holes. The rotating shaft (34) is fixed coaxially with the inner ring of the ball bearings (121).

7. The gripper for the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot according to claim 3, characterized in that, The cross-section of the rotating shaft (34) is D-shaped, and the center holes of the worm gear (33) and the cam (2) are both D-shaped holes adapted to the rotating shaft (34).

8. The gripper of the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot according to claim 5, characterized in that, It also includes a top cover plate (4), which is disposed between the servo motor (31) and the gripper body (1). The top cover plate (4) is fixed on the gripper body (1), and the servo motor (31) is fixed on the top cover plate (4). The top cover plate (4) has a through hole for the coupling (35) to pass through.

9. The gripper for the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot according to claim 8, characterized in that, The top cover plate (4) has a side plate (41) on the side near the hook (11), and the side plate (41) covers the accommodating chamber between the substrates (12).

10. The gripper for the robotic arm of a luggage cart grasping robot according to claim 9, characterized in that, The top cover plate (4) has a flange structure (43) for connecting the robotic arm on the side away from the hook (11).

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