Cover for upper arm

Abstract

To provide a cover for an upper arm capable of more surely suppressing falling from a coating robot.SOLUTION: In a cloth upper arm cover 10 covering an upper arm 20 of a coating robot having a vertical articulated arm, a locking hole 13 having a reinforced hole edge is provided as falling prevention means, and the locking hole 13 is locked to a head of any bolt B projecting from a surface of the upper arm 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an upper arm cover that is placed on the upper arm of a painting robot equipped with a vertically articulated arm. [Background technology]

[0002] In the manufacturing process of automobiles, etc., painting robots are used to spray paint onto the car body. If paint splashes during painting and adheres to the painting robot, it may drip onto the workpiece. In particular, the arm part is easily soiled and needs to be protected.

[0003] To cope with this problem, a cloth protective cover that is placed over the painting robot has been proposed. By attaching the protective cover to the painting robot, the protective cover captures the splashed paint, preventing the robot from getting dirty and reducing the occurrence of defective painting of the workpiece.

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes a protective cover that is placed on a painting robot. The protective cover shown in Fig. 3 of Patent Document 1 is a single cover that covers the entire painting robot arm 10. Products that cover the entire arm with a single cover like this are widely used. However, with such a protective cover, for example, even if only a part of the cover becomes dirty, the entire cover must be replaced, which is problematic in terms of cost.

[0005] Therefore, a protective cover made up of parts of multiple sizes has been proposed. The protective cover of Example 4 of Patent Document 1 includes a tip protective cover 21 that covers the vicinity of the paint nozzle, a middle protective cover 24 that covers the movable part in the middle, and a body protective cover 26 that covers the body part. As shown in Fig. 10 of Patent Document 1, the middle protective cover 24 covers the upper arm of the painting work robot, and the body protective cover 26 covers the lower arm. If the protective cover is made up of multiple parts in this way, it is preferable because only the parts that are most dirty can be replaced as appropriate. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4659786 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] By the way, the arm of a painting robot can move freely by the action of joints, and can perform complex movements in various directions. When a protective cover divided into an upper arm and a lower arm is used, there is a risk that the cover covering part of the upper arm will fall off the tip of the paint gun onto the workpiece when the upper arm faces downward. If the protective cover falls onto the workpiece being painted, it will cause product defects and process delays.

[0008] In the invention described in Patent Document 1, the end of the protective cover is sewn into a hollow stitch and a string or rubber is inserted to prevent the protective cover from falling off. However, since the upper arm performs large continuous movements, these conventional fixing means may not be able to prevent the protective cover from falling off, for example, because the string or rubber may slip or become loose. In particular, when a plastic cover is attached to the upper arm, the diameter of the upper arm becomes significantly larger, making the protective cover more likely to fall off.

[0009] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to provide a cloth upper arm cover which solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional art and can more reliably prevent the cover from falling off the painting robot. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to solve the above problems, an upper arm cover made of cloth is provided which is placed over the upper arm of a painting robot equipped with a vertically articulated arm, and which has a locking hole with reinforced edges as an anti-falling means, and which is locked to the head of any of the bolts protruding from the surface of the upper arm.

[0011] It is also preferable that the periphery of the engagement hole is reinforced with a patch.

[0012] It is also preferable that the upper arm cover is formed of knitted fabric made by smooth knitting or plain knitting synthetic fiber yarn. Effect of the Invention

[0013] The present invention makes it possible to provide a cloth upper arm cover that can be more reliably prevented from falling off the painting robot. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an upper arm cover according to the embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an upper arm of a painting robot. [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which an upper arm cover according to an embodiment is attached to an upper arm. FIG. [Figure 4] 5 is a schematic diagram showing a locking hole of the upper arm cover of the embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The following describes an embodiment of the invention. As shown in Fig. 1, an upper arm cover 10 according to the embodiment has an elongated outer shape and is formed into a cylindrical shape with both longitudinal ends open. Note that Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic view of the shape of the upper arm cover 10, and the dimensional ratios in the drawing do not correspond to the actual dimensional ratios.

[0016] (Example of a painting robot) The upper arm cover 10 of the embodiment is attached to, for example, the upper arm 20 of a painting robot shown in Figures 2 and 3, and covers at least a middle portion of the upper arm 20. In this specification, the term "upper arm" refers to an arm located between a lower arm and a wrist portion of a painting robot equipped with a vertically articulated arm.

[0017] The painting robot in the embodiment is a vertical articulated robot fixed to the floor surface, and includes a fixed base (not shown) fixed to the floor surface, a swivel base having a base end supported by the fixed base, a lower arm having a base end supported by the swivel base, an upper arm 20 having a base end connected to the tip end of the lower arm via a joint, and a wrist 30 connected to the tip end of the upper arm 20. When the painting robot is in operation, a paint gun (not shown) is attached to the tip of the wrist 30.

[0018] 2, a plastic cover 21 is detachably attached to the upper arm 20. The plastic cover 21 is fixed to the upper arm 20 by a plurality of bolts B. It is to be noted that the plastic cover 21 does not necessarily have to be attached to the upper arm 20.

[0019] (Upper arm cover material) The upper arm cover 10 of the embodiment is made of a knitted fabric made of yarn containing synthetic fibers. As the synthetic fibers, polyester, nylon, polyurethane, etc. are preferably used alone or in combination. The upper arm cover 10 of the embodiment uses polyester. By including polyester in the knitted fabric, the upper arm cover 10 can have good water absorption, high strength, and appropriate stretchability. In addition, in order to suppress ignition during the painting process, conductive yarns in which conductive materials are combined with these synthetic fibers may be used.

[0020] The knitted fabric is preferably a smooth knit or plain knit. The upper arm cover 10 of the embodiment is made of a smooth knit fabric. This makes the upper arm cover 10 highly durable and tear-resistant. It is further preferable that the knitted fabric is subjected to an anti-static treatment.

[0021] (Upper arm cover configuration) The upper arm cover 10 of the embodiment is formed so that the diameter of the base end opening 11 is larger than the diameter of the tip end opening 12 in accordance with the outer dimensions of the upper arm 20 .

[0022] The upper arm cover 10 of the embodiment is formed into a tubular shape by sewing a single flat piece of cloth into a loop. The upper arm cover 10 is not limited to this, and may be formed seamlessly by circular knitting.

[0023] In the embodiment, the ends of the base end opening 11 and the tip end opening 12 are each sewn together, but they may be left cut if the fabric is not prone to fraying. The upper arm cover 10 in the embodiment has good stretchability and can fit snugly to the upper arm 20. For this reason, in the embodiment, no tightening means such as elastic cords are provided in the base end opening 11 and the tip end opening 12. Depending on the nature of the knitted fabric of the arm cover 10, a cord or elastic cord that can tighten and close the base end opening 11 and the tip end opening 12 may be provided inside the sewn together.

[0024] 1 has a locking hole 13 on a side surface as a fall-off prevention means. The locking hole 13 is engaged with the head of a bolt attached to the upper arm 20.

[0025] The locking hole 13 in the embodiment is formed in a buttonhole shape as shown in Fig. 4. When the locking hole 13 is formed in a buttonhole shape, the opening area of ​​the locking hole 13 is small, so that the locking hole 13 is less likely to fall off the head of the bolt, which is preferable.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 4, the edge of the locking hole 13 is preferably reinforced by stitching or the like. Furthermore, a reinforcing member is preferably provided around the locking hole 13. In this embodiment, a patch 14 is sewn around the locking hole 13 for reinforcement. If the locking hole 13 is reinforced, the edge of the locking hole 13 can be prevented from tearing or fraying.

[0027] In the embodiment, a total of two locking holes 13 are provided, one on each side of the upper arm cover 10, but the number of locking holes 13 is not limited to this. The edges of the locking holes 13 may be reinforced by sewing a fabric tape. Alternatively, the locking holes 13 may be formed by sewing a buttonhole tape with multiple buttonholes formed therein to the side of the upper arm cover 10, and cutting open the buttonholes at positions to engage with the bolts B.

[0028] 3, the locking hole 13 in the embodiment is engaged with a bolt B that fixes the plastic cover 21 to the upper arm 20. Note that, in the embodiment, the locking hole 13 is engaged with the bolt B that is the most proximal end side among the multiple bolts B, but is not limited to this. Also, the bolt that locks the locking hole 13 is not limited to the bolt B for fixing the plastic cover, and may be any bolt.

[0029] In the present invention, even if the upper arm cover 10 begins to come off due to the movement of the upper arm 20, the locking hole 13 of the upper arm cover 10 is engaged with the bolt B, so that falling off can be more reliably prevented.

[0030] Although the present invention has been described above by taking the embodiment as an example, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be embodied in various forms. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 10 Upper arm cover 11 Proximal opening 12 Tip opening 13 Locking hole 14 Patch 20 Upper Arm 21 Plastic cover B Bolt 30 Wrist part

Claims

1. A cloth upper arm cover that is placed on an upper arm of a painting robot having a vertically articulated arm, As a means for preventing the device from falling off, a locking hole with a reinforced hole edge is provided. The upper arm cover has an engagement hole which is engaged with the head of any of the bolts protruding from the surface of the upper arm.

2. 2. The upper arm cover according to claim 1, wherein the periphery of the engagement hole is reinforced with a patch.

3. 3. The upper arm cover according to claim 1 or 2, which is formed from a knitted fabric obtained by smooth knitting or plain knitting synthetic fiber yarn.

Images