Robot automatic marking device

Abstract

To provide a robot automatic marking device that can perform marking in various surfaces without changing the attitude of a workpiece.SOLUTION: A robot automatic marking device is provided with a marking machine in a tip of a robot.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a robotic automatic marking device. [Background technology]

[0002] A marking device used in conventional in-line equipment in automobile factories and the like is described in Patent Document 1, and is configured with a marking unit mounted on a stand, which has a vibration pen, a cylinder that moves in the Z-axis direction, and a slide table that moves in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. This marking device is often used to mark alphanumeric lot numbers and match marks on engine parts and the like. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 08-318568 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, marking machines attached to a stand can only mark in a certain direction, and if you want to mark on multiple sides of the object (hereinafter referred to as the workpiece), you need to either rotate the workpiece or install marking machines for each marking surface, which means that there is a problem with the low degree of freedom in marking direction. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present invention is an automatic robot marking device characterized in that a marking machine is provided on a robot to perform marking. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] In the robotic automatic marking device of the present invention, the means for moving the marking machine is a robot, which increases the degree of freedom in the position of the marking machine and enables marking in many directions without changing the position of the workpiece. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a robotic automatic marking device according to the present invention; [Figure 2] This is an illustration showing the appropriate marking distance between the stylus and the workpiece. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the robot automatic marking device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the robot automatic marking device of the present invention. The robot automatic marking device 1 has a marking machine 3 installed at the tip of the robot 2. In addition, a force sensor 8 is installed between the robot flange 9 and the marking machine 3 depending on the application.

[0009] The robot 2 can be any conventionally known robot. For example, types of robots include vertical articulated robots, horizontal articulated robots, and Cartesian coordinate robots. In addition, for industrial applications in particular, a six-axis vertical articulated robot is desirable, as it has a high degree of freedom due to its three-dimensional movement. In recent years, the coexistence of humans and robots has been attracting attention, and the use of collaborative robots is also desirable.

[0010] The marking machine 3 can be any known marking machine. For example, there are dot marking type engraving machines and laser engraving machines. A dot marking type stamping machine is particularly desirable in terms of weight and cost.

[0011] The dot marking type marking machine is composed of a vibration pen 4 and a vibration pen drive unit 5. The vibration pen 4 is composed of a stylus 6, which is a marking tool, and a vibration pen body 7, which is a holding case.

[0012] The vibration pen drive unit 5 can be driven by any conventionally known power source. For example, air pressure and electromagnetic force can be mentioned.

[0013] The dot marking stamping machine vibrates the stylus 6 in the Z-axis direction using the vibration pen drive unit 5, and stamps dots by contacting the stylus 6 with the stamping surface 10 of the workpiece, and forms any character or mark by a collection of dots.

[0014] The automatic robot marking device 1 of the present invention has a vibration pen 4 and a vibration pen drive unit 5 installed at the tip of the robot 2 directly or via a force sensor 8, and movement during marking is controlled by the coordinate system of the robot 2.

[0015] The advantages of the present invention include reduced costs and weight. In the case of a method such as that in Patent Document 1 [JP Patent Publication No. 08-318568] in which a marking machine having a vibrating pen movable cylinder in the Z-axis direction and a vibrating pen movable slide table in the X-axis and Y-axis directions is attached to the tip of robot 2, the robot's weight capacity and cost become problems, but by using robot 2 as the moving method during marking as in the present invention, the number of parts can be reduced and the above problems can be solved.

[0016] The force sensor 8 can detect forces acting along three three-dimensional directions, that is, X, Y, and Z directions, and torques acting around axes in these three directions.

[0017] Figure 2 illustrates the marking distance between the stylus 6 and the marking surface 10. For a dot marking machine, the distance between the tip of the stylus 6, which is the marking tool, and the marking surface 10 is important. If the distance from the tip of the stylus 6 to the marking surface 10 is too close or too far, it will cause poor quality of the engraved characters, so it is necessary to maintain an appropriate marking distance. The appropriate marking distance is determined by the structure of the vibration pen 4, the material of the workpiece, the height, and the surface roughness, and the distance must be set appropriately. For example, there are vibration pens 4 whose appropriate marking distance is 8 mm to 12 mm, and vibration pens 4 whose appropriate marking distance is 5 mm to 10 mm, and there are various other vibration pens 4.

[0018] 3 is a flowchart showing the marking operation of the robot automatic marking device 1. First, each operation in the flowchart will be explained. S100 and S101 operate differently depending on the workpiece positioning accuracy. The reason for the different operations is to maintain the appropriate marking distance. As a guideline for positioning accuracy, less than 0.5 mm is considered high accuracy, and 0.5 mm or more is considered low accuracy. If the workpiece positioning in S100 is highly accurate, the marking surface 10 is considered to be the original position, and the marking machine 3 is moved to a position at an appropriate marking distance from the original position. At this time, it is desirable that the attitude of the marking machine 3 is perpendicular to the marking surface 10. After the marking machine is moved, the vibration pen 4 is driven, and the robot 2 is moved in the X-axis and Y-axis directions or in the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis directions if the marking surface 10 is spherical, according to the characters to be marked, and the characters are marked. In the case of S100, the force sensor 8 is not required because the original position is set in advance.

[0019] If the workpiece positioning in S101 is inaccurate, the force sensor 8 must be used to set the original position each time. First, the marking machine 3 is moved so that its orientation is perpendicular to the marking surface 10. The distance between the marking surface 10 and the marking machine 3 is arbitrary, but 10 to 20 mm is desirable. The tip of the stylus 6 is then brought into contact with the marking surface, and the force sensor detects a desired pressure. The position where the pressure is detected is designated as the original position. By moving the tip of the stylus 6 an appropriate distance from that position and setting the appropriate marking distance as the appropriate marking distance, workpiece position misalignment can be corrected, maintaining character quality. After the marking machine is moved, the vibration pen 4 is activated, and the robot 2 is moved in the X-axis and Y-axis directions (or in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions if the marking surface 10 is spherical) to match the characters to be engraved, thereby marking the characters. [Explanation of symbols]

[0020] 1. Robotic automatic marking device 2. Robot 3 Stamping machine 4 Vibration pen 5 Vibration pen drive unit 6 Slyrus 7 Vibration pen body 8 Force sensor 9 Robot Flange 10 engraved surfaces

Claims

1. An automatic robot marking device characterized in that a marking machine is installed at the tip of the robot.

2. 2. The robot automatic marking device according to claim 1, wherein the marking machine is of a dot marking type.

3. 3. The robot automatic marking device according to claim 1, further comprising a force sensor.

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