Striate-body-processing device, striate-body-processing method, and robot

Abstract

A striate-body-processing device (10) for routing a plurality of striate bodies (11) between a first member (3) and a second member (2) that are supported so as to be capable of relatively rotating about a prescribed axis (O), wherein: the striate body processing device (10) comprises an attachment unit (10c) for attaching to the second member (2), and a striate-body-securing part (14a, 14b) that passes along the axis (O) of the first member (3) and the second member (2) through a central hole (6) provided to a space including the axis (O), the striate-body-securing part (14a, 14b) securing the striate bodies (11) that are bent in a direction intersecting the axis (O) to the second member (2); and the striate-body-securing part (14a, 14b) secures groups of striate bodies (11) that are bent in different angular directions about the axis (O), said groups being obtained by dividing the plurality of striate bodies (11) into a plurality of groups, to respectively different positions in a circumferential direction about the axis (O).

Description

Stroma processing device, Stroma processing method, and robot

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wire body processing device, a wire body processing method, and a robot.

[0002] A robot is known that includes a base and an arm rotatably attached to the base about a first vertical axis (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The cables of this robot rise vertically upward from the base, then curve in a U-shape, extend vertically downward near the first axis, and enter the arm. The cables entering the arm are aligned in a single row in the radial direction, and are fixed in the single row within the arm by a fixing member.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-140456

[0004] When the arm is rotated relative to the base, the fixed member inside the arm moves, causing twisting in the cable group. When the cables are arranged in a single row, the cross section of the cable group increases in the parallel direction. To prevent friction with the surroundings even when a large cable group moves due to twisting, it is necessary to ensure a large space through which the cable group passes. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the size of the space through which the cable group passes while also reducing friction between the cable group and the surroundings.

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure is a wire material processing device for wiring multiple wire materials between a first member and a second member supported so as to be rotatable relative to each other about a predetermined axis, the wire material processing device comprising: an attachment portion for attaching to the second member; and a wire material fixing portion that passes through a hollow hole provided in a space including the axis of the first member and the second member along the axis and fixes the wire material bent in a direction intersecting the axis on the second member side, the wire material fixing portion being a wire material of each of multiple groups of the multiple wire materials, the wire material being bent in different angular directions about the axis, at different circumferential positions about the axis.

[0006] Fig. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing a robot equipped with a wire object processing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the wire object processing device of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a seating surface of a base to which the wire object processing device of Fig. 2 is attached, and a positional relationship between a pulley and a belt. Fig. 6 is a plan view illustrating the wiring direction of a wire object pulled out from a guide member of a top plate of the wire object processing device of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing a robot equipped with a first modified example of the wire object processing device of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing another modified example of the wire object processing device of Fig. 2.

[0007] A wire body processing apparatus 10, a wire body processing method, and a robot 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The robot 1 according to this embodiment is, for example, a horizontal articulated robot. As shown in FIG. 1 , the robot 1 includes a base (second member) 2 that is installed on an installation surface (not shown) such as a ceiling. The robot 1 also includes a first arm (first member) 3 that is supported rotatably relative to the base 2 around a vertical axis (predetermined axis) O.

[0008] The robot 1 is provided with a motor 4 that generates a rotational force on the side of the base 2. The robot 1 is provided with a reducer 5 that reduces the rotation speed of a shaft 4a of the motor 4 and drives the first arm 3 around a vertical axis O relative to the base 2. The reducer 5 is sandwiched between the base 2 and the first arm 3 in the vertical direction.

[0009] The base 2, the first arm 3, and the reducer 5 have a hollow hole 6 that penetrates in the vertical direction in a space including the vertical axis O. The robot 1 has a resin pipe 7 that is disposed so as to penetrate the hollow hole 6 from the first arm 3 side to the base 2 side, and has its lower end fixed to the first arm 3.

[0010] The reducer 5 has a cylindrical input shaft 5a radially outward from the pipe 7 that protrudes toward the base 2. The robot 1 has pulleys (movable parts) 8a and 8b fixed to the shaft 4a of the motor 4 and the input shaft 5a, respectively. The robot 1 also has a belt (movable part) 9 stretched between the pulleys 8a and 8b. The rotation of the shaft 4a of the motor 4 is transmitted to the input shaft 5a by the pulleys 8a and 8b and the belt 9, and is input to the reducer 5.

[0011] The robot 1 also includes a wire object processing device 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The wire object processing device 10 according to this embodiment is primarily formed by bending a metal plate of a certain thickness, as shown in Fig. 2. The wire object processing device 10 includes a rectangular top plate 10a arranged horizontally and vertically above the pipe 7 with a gap therebetween, as shown in Fig. 1.

[0012] 2, the wire material processing device 10 includes three partition walls 10b connected to three sides of the top plate 10a and extending in a direction perpendicular to the top plate 10a. The corners where the top plate 10a and the partition walls 10b connect are formed at obtuse angles, for example, by bending a metal plate twice at a 45° angle. This prevents the wire material 11, which will be described later, from being pressed against the corners at the boundaries between the top plate 10a and the partition walls 10b.

[0013] Each partition wall 10b has a flange (mounting portion) 10c at its tip for fixing the wire body processing device 10 to the seating surface 2a of the base 2 with a bolt 12. The flange 10c has a through hole 10d penetrating in the plate thickness direction. The bolt 12 is passed through the through hole 10d of the flange 10c and fastened to the screw hole 2b (see FIG. 3) of the seating surface 2a. This fixes the wire body processing device 10 to the base 2.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 3 , the bearing surface 2a of the base 2 is located radially outward from the pulley 8b fixed to the input shaft 5a in a plan view. When the flange 10c is fastened to the bearing surface 2a with bolts 12, each partition wall 10b rises from the base 2 radially outward from the pulley 8b. That is, the pulley 8b is located in a position surrounding the hollow hole 6 radially outward, and each partition wall 10b is located in a position surrounding the pulley 8b radially outward. As a result, the three partition walls 10b separate the space outside the partition wall 10b from the space inside where the pulley 8b and the belt 9 are located.

[0015] As shown in Fig. 1, the wire material processing device 10 has a circular through-hole 10e penetrating through the thickness direction of the top plate 10a. The wire material processing device 10 also has a cylindrical guide member 13 fitted into the through-hole 10e. The guide member 13 is disposed at a position spaced apart from the end of the hollow hole 6 in the direction of the vertical axis O. The guide member 13 is made of a resin with good slip properties, such as PTFE. When the wire material processing device 10 is fixed to the base 2, the through-hole 10e of the top plate 10a is positioned vertically above the pipe 7.

[0016] Each partition wall 10b has a plurality of through holes (wire body fixing portions) 14a and notches (wire body fixing portions) 14b that penetrate through the thickness direction. Through holes may be used instead of the notches 14b. The wire body 11 arranged along the outer surface of the partition wall 10b in the vertical direction can be easily fastened with a cable tie 15 that is passed through the through holes 14a and the notches 14b. This allows the wire body 11 that has passed through the pipe 7 to be fixed on the base 2 side.

[0017] As shown in Fig. 2, a through hole 14a and a notch 14b (hereinafter referred to as a wire fixing portion 14) are provided in each of the three partition walls 10b. As shown in Fig. 4, each wire fixing portion 14 fixes the wire 11 at a position spaced apart by a distance D from a perpendicular line V extending from the vertical axis O to each partition wall 10b. Therefore, when the wire treatment device 10 is fixed to the base 2, the wire fixing portions 14 are positioned at different angles around the vertical axis O relative to the hollow hole 6.

[0018] The robot 1 includes a plurality of wires 11, including cables and air tubes for a motor (not shown) mounted on the first arm 3. In the example shown in Fig. 4, there are six wires 11. Each wire 11 passes vertically through a pipe 7 disposed in the hollow hole 6. Each wire 11 is fixed to the pipe 7 on the base 2 side and the first arm 3 side.

[0019] Next, a wire object processing method according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the wire object processing method according to this embodiment, a plurality of wire objects 11 passing through the pipe 7 are divided into a plurality of groups on the base 2 side. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the number of groups is three. As shown in FIG. 1, the wire objects 11 of all groups are passed through the guide member 13 of the top plate 10a. Then, each wire object 11 is bent into a U-shape and fixed to a wire object fixing portion 14, which is different for each group.

[0020] That is, all of the filaments 11 rise vertically within the pipe 7 from the first arm 3 side toward the base 2 side and pass through the guide member 13. The filaments 11 of each group are oriented at different angles circumferentially with respect to the vertical axis O above the guide member 13. The filaments 11 of each group are then curved 180° and directed vertically downward, and fixed to the filament fixing portions 14 of different partition walls 10b. Below the pipe 7, the filaments 11 are curved in any direction intersecting the vertical axis O and fixed to the first arm 3 by any method.

[0021] When the first arm 3 is rotated about the vertical axis O relative to the base 2, the fixed position of the umbilical member 11 on the first arm 3 is displaced about the vertical axis O. The umbilical member 11 between the fixed position on the first arm 3 and the umbilical member fixing portion 14 on the base 2 absorbs the displacement by generating bending and twisting. The umbilical member 11 is routed along the vertical axis O inside the pipe 7 that passes through the hollow hole 6 including the vertical axis O, and is curved on both sides of the pipe 7. This makes it possible to minimize the bending and twisting that occurs in the umbilical member 11 due to the rotation of the first arm 3 relative to the base 2.

[0022] According to this embodiment, the multiple filamentary bodies 11 passing through the pipe 7 are divided into multiple groups and curved at different angles around the vertical axis O. Because the filamentary bodies 11 are not curved in the same direction outside the pipe 7, it is not necessary to arrange all of the filamentary bodies 11 in a row when passing through the pipe 7. As a result, the maximum outer dimensions of the group of filamentary bodies 11 passing through the pipe 7 can be reduced. The inner diameter of the pipe 7 through which the group of filamentary bodies 11 passes and the diameter of the hollow hole 6 in the reducer 5 or the like can be reduced, allowing the robot 1 to be made more compact.

[0023] Furthermore, the filament 11 that has passed through the pipe 7 passes straight through the guide member 13 above it and emerges above the top plate 10a. Therefore, the filament 11 from the pipe 7 to the guide member 13 does not come into contact with the pulley 8b and belt 9 around the pipe 7. Furthermore, the portion of the filament 11 that emerges above the top plate 10a from the guide member 13 can be isolated from moving parts such as the pulley 8b by the top plate 10a and the partition wall 10b. As a result, even if the space inside the base 2 is narrow, interference between the filament 11 and moving parts inside the base 2 can be avoided.

[0024] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, a cylindrical guide member 13 is disposed above the upper end of the pipe 7 at a distance. This allows the outer surface of the umbilical member 11, which expands due to the U-shaped curve, to come into contact with the inner surface of the guide member 13, thereby suppressing the expansion. Therefore, the curved portion of the umbilical member 11 can be straightened to a compact shape, preventing strong contact between the umbilical member 11 and the upper edge of the pipe 7. Furthermore, the umbilical member 11 can be wired in a space-saving manner.

[0025] Furthermore, since the guide member 13 is provided separately from the pipe 7, the position of the guide member 13 can be adjusted according to the length of the filament 11, and the bulge can be properly corrected. If a large space can be secured within the base 2 and a curved portion of the filament 11 with a large bulge can be tolerated, the guide member 13 may not be provided.

[0026] In this embodiment, the position of the wire body fixing portion 14 on the flat partition wall 10b is located away from the position of the perpendicular line V from the vertical axis O. This allows the radius of curvature of the U-shaped curve of the wire body 11 to be set larger than when the wire body fixing portion 14 is located at the position of the perpendicular line V. As a result, the wire body processing device 10 can be configured compactly while the radius of curvature of the wire body 11 is increased, thereby improving the lifespan of the wire body 11.

[0027] In this embodiment, the wire body processing device 10 is applied to a joint portion that rotates the first arm 3 relative to the base 2. Alternatively, the wire body processing device 10 may be applied to any other joint, for example, a joint that rotates a second arm (not shown) relative to the first arm 3.

[0028] In the present embodiment, the wire body processing device 10 and method are exemplified, in which the wire body 11 passing through the pipe 7 is processed on the base 2 side. Alternatively, a similar wire body processing device 10 and method may be employed when processing the wire body 11 on the first arm 3 side. Furthermore, the wire body 11 may be processed on both sides of the pipe 7 using the same wire body processing device 10 and method.

[0029] In this embodiment, the filament 11 passing through the pipe 7 is bent into a U-shape on the base 2 side and fixed to the filament fixing portion 14. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 5, the filament 11 passing through the pipe 7 may be bent into an L-shape on the base 2 side and fixed to the filament fixing portion 14. In this case, too, the filament 11 of each group may be bent at different angles in the circumferential direction around the vertical axis O.

[0030] In this embodiment, the partition wall 10b is exemplified as a flat plate. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, a cylindrical partition wall 10b may be employed. In this embodiment, the six filaments 11 are divided into three groups of two filaments each. Alternatively, any number of filaments 11 may be divided into any number of groups of two or more. The number of filaments 11 in each group may be any number as long as it is one or more, and the number of filaments 11 in each group may differ.

[0031] In addition, in this embodiment, a resin pipe 7 is used that is placed inside the hollow hole 6 of the reducer 5 or the like, to prevent the filament 11 from coming into contact with the inner wall of the hollow hole 6. Alternatively, if the hollow hole 6 has a sufficiently large inner diameter, the pipe 7 may be omitted.

[0032] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 robot 2 base (second member) 3 first arm (first member) 6 hollow hole 8a, 8b pulley (movable part) 9 belt (movable part) 10 wire body processing device 10b partition wall 10c flange (mounting part) 11 wire body 13 guide member 14 wire body fixing part 14a through hole (wire body fixing part) 14b notch (wire body fixing part) O vertical axis (axis) V perpendicular line

Claims

1. 1. A wire processing device for wiring a plurality of wires between a first member and a second member supported so as to be relatively rotatable about a predetermined axis, comprising: An attachment portion for attachment to the second member; a wire member fixing portion that passes through a hollow hole provided in a space including the axis of the first member and the second member along the axis and fixes the wire member curved in a direction intersecting the axis on the second member side, The wire fixing section fixes the wires in each of a plurality of groups into which the plurality of wires are divided, the wires being curved in different angular directions about the axis at different circumferential positions about the axis.

2. 2 . The apparatus for treating an umbilical cord according to claim 1 , wherein the umbilical cord of each of the groups passing through the hollow hole is curved into a U-shape or an L-shape and fixed to the umbilical cord fixing portion.

3. a guide member disposed at a position spaced apart from an end of the hollow hole in the axial direction; 3. The wire treatment device according to claim 1, wherein the guide member contacts an outer surface of the wire of each of the groups passing through the hollow hole to limit bulging of the curve of the wire.

4. 3 . The wire treatment device according to claim 1 , further comprising a partition wall separating a space in which the wire fixed to the wire fixing part is disposed from a movable part disposed on the second member side and movable relative to the second member. 4 . The wire treatment device according to claim 1 , further comprising a partition wall separating a space in which the wire fixed to the wire fixing part is disposed from a movable part disposed on the second member side and movable relative to the second member.

5. The movable portion is disposed at a position surrounding the hollow hole radially outward, The wire body processing device according to claim 4 , wherein the partition wall is disposed at a position surrounding the movable portion from the radially outward side.

6. The wire treatment device according to claim 4 , wherein the wire fixing portion is provided on the partition wall.

7. The partition wall is formed in a flat plate shape and is disposed in a plurality of positions surrounding the movable portion radially outward, 7. The wire treatment device according to claim 6, wherein the wire fixing portions are disposed at positions spaced apart from each other with respect to a line perpendicular to the axis of each of the partition walls.

8. A wire processing method for wiring a plurality of wires between a first member and a second member supported so as to be relatively rotatable about a predetermined axis, comprising the steps of: The plurality of filaments are passed through a hollow hole provided in a space including the axis of the first member and the second member along the axis, The plurality of filaments penetrating the second member side are divided into a plurality of groups, A method for processing a filament, comprising bending the filaments of each group in a direction intersecting the axis at different angles around the axis, and fixing each of the filaments to the second member at different circumferential positions around the axis.

9. The method for processing a wire according to claim 8 , wherein the wire of each group that passes through the hollow hole toward the second member is curved into a U-shape or an L-shape and fixed to the second member.

10. 10. The method for processing a filament according to claim 8 or claim 9, further comprising contacting an outer surface of the filament that penetrates the hollow hole toward the second member with a guide member at a position away from the end of the hollow hole in the axial direction, thereby limiting the bulge of the curvature of the filament.

11. a first member and a second member supported so as to be relatively rotatable about a predetermined axis; The wire body processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the attachment portion is fixed to the second member; a plurality of filaments passing through the hollow hole along the axis and curved in a direction intersecting the axis on the second member side and fixed to the filament fixing portion.