Robotic transport systems in press work

Abstract

The present invention relates to a robot transfer system for press operations, wherein a workpiece punched by a press device and falling into an outlet is transferred to the next press device, and the system comprises an industrial robot, wherein the robot hand is positioned inside the outlet before the press device punches, catches the workpiece falling into the outlet from directly below, transfers it to the next press device, and then positions itself inside the outlet before punching again.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a robot transfer system for press operations, wherein a workpiece punched by a press device and falling into an outlet is transferred to the next press device, and the system comprises an industrial robot, wherein the robot hand is positioned inside the outlet before the press device punches, catches the workpiece falling into the outlet from directly below, transfers it to the next press device, and then positions itself inside the outlet before punching again. Background Technology

[0003] When manufacturing products using coils as a material, the wound coil is flattened using a flat NC feeder, and the coil exiting the NC feeder undergoes press processing to manufacture the designed product.

[0004] A press is a machine that applies force to an NC feeder material to plastically deform it, performing processes such as bending, shearing, and cross-sectional shrinkage. Types of press processing include cutting, which involves cutting into a predetermined shape with a cutter; cutting, which involves removing a required shape using a die and punch; piercing, which involves making holes in the material; bending, which involves bending the material into a required shape; and drawing, which involves creating seamless containers with a bottom, such as cylinders and rectangular tubes.

[0005] Meanwhile, in this press processing, the final product is produced by sequentially operating multiple presses through various die processes, and additional processing is performed using a welding machine as needed.

[0006] However, the material processed by one press is collected in a large container and transferred to the next press. Since the collected material falls from the press into the container and accumulates irregularly, it must be stacked and aligned using a separate device or personnel for the next press processing. The aligned material is then moved to where the press is installed, placed in the press mold, and the processing process is repeated. However, there was a problem in that the entire processing time was long and a lot of space was required due to the installation and transfer processes.

[0007] In order to improve upon these conventional problems, the present inventor’s Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1993977 discloses a “one-stop processing system including a press and a spot welder” comprising a press unit including a plurality of presses and a transfer robot between the presses, a material supply unit that directly supplies a blanked material to the transfer robot by unwinding an NC feeder wound on a coil at both sides of the press unit, a welding unit that welds the material with a spot welder, a conveyor unit for transporting the material, and a product collection container for collecting the product. By processing the material supplied from the material supply unit with a press or a spot welder and collecting the processed material into the product collection container via a conveyor, the supply, processing, and collection of the material are carried out in one system, resulting in excellent productivity. Furthermore, since material supply and movement are possible in any direction, it is easy to change and apply to various processing steps of the press that change according to the material, thereby providing high processing efficiency. Prior art literature

[0009] Registration Number / Date 1019939770000 (2019.06.21) The problem to be solved

[0010] However, in the "one-stop processing system including a press and a spot welder" of the present inventor's domestic patent registration No. 10-1993977, the transfer of processed products by the press device at each stage is mainly carried out via a conveyor, which has the problem of taking up a lot of space and time, and the problem of increased costs due to the installation of a vision camera on an industrial robot for precise transfer of the workpiece. means of solving the problem

[0012] Accordingly, the present invention aims to solve the aforementioned problems by transferring a workpiece that is punched by a press device and falls into an outlet to the next press device, comprising an industrial robot, wherein a robot hand is positioned inside the outlet before the punching of the press device, catches the workpiece falling into the outlet from directly below and transfers it to the next press device, and then positions itself inside the outlet before punching again, thereby sequentially transferring the workpiece to the next press device without a conveyor.

[0013] In addition, a position control device is configured in a support plate transfer device corresponding to the shape of the workpiece, including a passage formed in the support plate for a robot hand to pass through and a guide formed upward from the edge of the support plate. The robot hand catches the workpiece falling into the discharge port from below and passes it from above the position control device through the passage below, releases the workpiece to place it on the support plate, and the robot hand catches the workpiece on the support plate and transfers it to the next press device, thereby allowing the workpiece to be precisely caught in the correct position and transferred to the next press device without a device such as a vision camera. Effects of the invention

[0015] As such, the present invention has the advantage of reducing the cost, space, and time constraints associated with the use of a conveyor, by positioning a robot hand inside the discharge port before punching the press device, catching the workpiece falling into the discharge port from directly below, transferring it to the next press device, and then positioning it inside the discharge port again before punching, thereby allowing the workpiece to be transferred sequentially to the next press device without a conveyor.

[0016] In addition, the robot hand catches the workpiece falling into the discharge port from below and passes it through the passage above the position control device, releases the workpiece to place it on the support plate, and the robot hand catches the workpiece on the support plate and transfers it to the next press device, so that the workpiece is placed on the support plate in the correct position by the guide of the position control device, and the workpiece in the correct position can be caught by the robot hand again and transferred to the next press device, which has the advantage of not requiring the use of equipment such as a vision camera. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0018] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view prior to press processing according to an example of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view after press processing of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a position adjustment device according to an example of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a side view of the use of Fig. 3. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0019] The present invention relates to a robot transfer system for press operations, wherein a workpiece (12) processed by a press device and falling into an outlet (23) is transferred to the next press device, and an industrial robot is configured, wherein a robot hand (31) is positioned inside the outlet (23) before the press operation of the press device, catches the workpiece (12) falling into the outlet (23) from directly below and transfers it to the next press device, and then positions itself inside the outlet (23) again before the press operation, thereby creating a circulating system.

[0020] Here, an entry / exit port for the workpiece (12) and the robot hand (31) is formed in the discharge port (23) of the press device, and the press device is preferably the press device (2) as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but other molding and press devices may also be used.

[0021] First, when describing the press device based on the press device (2), as shown in FIG. 1, a material (11) is positioned on the die (22) of the press device (2), and a punch (21) is placed on top of it, and an outlet (23) is formed below the die (22) based on the punch (21).

[0022] And the robot hand (31) of the industrial robot is positioned inside the discharge port (23) before punching the press device (2).

[0023] Next, when punching with the press device (2), the punch (21) and the movable stripper (24) come down, and as the punch (21) penetrates the material (11) and the workpiece (12) falls into the discharge port (23), the robot hand (31) located inside the discharge port (23) catches the workpiece (12) right underneath.

[0024] Here, the robot hand (31) is positioned at the point where the workpiece (12) is sheared from the material (11) by punching, so that when the punch (21) penetrates the material (11), the workpiece (12) being punched lands directly on the robot hand (31), and the robot hand (31) grasps and transports the workpiece (12) that lands on the robot hand (31) in the correct position.

[0025] Additionally, the robot hand (31) includes a spring in the punching direction, and before punching, the robot hand (31) may hold the underside of the material (11) to be the workpiece (12) in advance, and when punching, the spring absorbs the force applied to the robot hand (31) holding the material (11) so that the workpiece (12) may be held in the correct position.

[0026] Next, the robot hand (31) holding the workpiece (12) moves to the next press device. However, if there is a height difference between the workpiece (12) falling into the discharge port (23) and the robot hand (31) located inside the discharge port (23), even if the robot hand (31) holds the workpiece (12) from directly below, it may deviate from the correct position due to the movement of the falling workpiece (12). In this case, the robot hand is adjusted to the correct position by the position adjustment device (33) as shown in FIG. 3, and then moves to the next press device.

[0027] Here, the position adjustment device (33) includes a base plate (331) in a shape corresponding to the workpiece (12), a passage (332) formed in the base plate (331) for the robot hand (31) to pass through, and a guide (333) formed upward from the edge of the base plate (331).

[0028] And the guide (333) is configured to protrude upward at a certain position along the edge of the base plate (331), and to spread upward at a predetermined angle.

[0029] Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a robot hand (31) holding the workpiece (12) from below passes under the passage (332) above the position adjustment device (33), and places the workpiece (12) onto the support plate (331).

[0030] At this time, the workpiece (12) placed on the robot hand (31) is placed in the correct position on the support plate (331) by gravity and the guide (333).

[0031] After that, the workpiece (12) placed on the support plate (331) is picked up by the robot hand (31) and transferred to the next press device.

[0032] Here, when the robot hand (31), which has placed the workpiece (12) while passing under the passage (332) above the position control device (33), catches the workpiece (12) that has been placed on the support plate (331) again, it rotates according to the required direction and transfers it to the next press device, then positions it inside the discharge port (23) before punching the press device (2), and when punching the press device (2), catches the workpiece (12) falling into the discharge port (23) from directly underneath and repeats the previous operation.

[0033] Also, the robot hand (31), which has placed the workpiece (12) while passing under the passage (332) above the positioning device (33), is positioned inside the discharge port (23) before punching the press device (2) again to repeat the previous operation, and the robot hand (31) of the next (2nd) industrial robot grabs the workpiece (12) on the support plate (331), rotates it according to the required direction, and transfers it to the next press device.

[0034] At this time, when the robot hand (31) holds the workpiece (12) on the support plate (331) and transfers it to the next press device, the workpiece (12) can be placed on the die of the next press device as is by holding it on the support plate (331) and moving it upward, or the workpiece (12) can be placed on the die of the next press device by holding it from below the passage (332), moving it upward, flipping it 180°, and placing the workpiece (12) on the die of the next press device.

[0035] Here, the method of holding the workpiece (12) under the passage (332), moving it upward, flipping it 180°, and transferring it to the next press device is used when the top and bottom surfaces of the workpiece (12) need to be swapped in the next press process.

[0036] And when the robot hand (31) grasps the workpiece (12) in the correct position without the help of the position adjustment device (33), the robot hand (31) rotates the workpiece (12) according to the required direction and transfers it to the next press device, then positions it inside the discharge port (23) before the punching of the press device (2), and when the press device (2) punches, it grasps the workpiece (12) falling into the discharge port (23) from directly underneath and repeats the previous operation.

[0037] At this time, the robot hand (31) flips the workpiece (12) held directly above it 180° and places the workpiece (12) on the die of the next (2nd) press device so that the top and bottom surfaces of the workpiece (12) can be switched and seated.

[0038] Also, when the robot hand (31) catches the workpiece (12) falling into the discharge port (23) from below and transfers it out of the press device (2), the robot hand (31) of the next (2nd) industrial robot catches the workpiece (12) on the front (1st) robot hand (31), rotates it according to the required direction, and transfers it to the next press device. The front (1st) robot hand (31), which has passed the workpiece (12) to the next (2nd) robot hand (31), is positioned back inside the discharge port (23) before the press operation, and when the press device (2) punches, it catches the workpiece (12) falling into the discharge port (23) from directly below and repeats the operation performed earlier.

[0039] At this time, the next (2nd) robot hand (31) can place the workpiece (12) as is on the die of the next (2nd) press device, and if the top and bottom surfaces of the workpiece (12) are maintained as they are, it can be seated.

[0040] Next, if the workpiece (12) falls into the discharge port (23) after processing in the subsequent press device and the press device, it is a system that continues in the same way as the previous one.

[0042] In this way, the present invention has the advantage of reducing the cost and space constraints associated with using a conveyor and other means of transport, as the robot hand (31) is positioned inside the discharge port (23) before punching the press device (2), catches the workpiece (12) falling into the discharge port (23) from directly below, transports it to the next press device, and then positions itself inside the discharge port (23) before punching again, thereby allowing the workpiece (12) to be transported sequentially to the next press device without a separate transport means such as a conveyor.

[0043] Additionally, the robot hand (31) catches the workpiece (12) falling into the discharge port (23) from below and passes it through the passage (332) above the position control device (33), places the workpiece (12) onto the support plate (331), and the robot hand (31) catches the workpiece (12) on the support plate (331) and transfers it to the next press device, so that the workpiece (12) is placed on the support plate (331) in the correct position by the guide (333) of the position control device (33), and the workpiece (12) in the correct position can be caught again by the robot hand (31) and transferred to the next press device (12), thus having the advantage of not needing to use equipment to increase precision, such as a vision camera. Explanation of the symbols

[0045] 2: Pressing device 11: Material 12: Workpiece 21: Punch 22: Die 23: Discharge port 24: Movable stripper 31: Robot hand 33: Position adjuster 331: Base plate 332: Passage 333: Guide

Claims

Claim 1 delete Claim 2 A robot transfer system for a press operation, characterized in that, in a system for transferring a workpiece processed by a press device and falling into an outlet to a next press device, an industrial robot is configured such that the robot hand is positioned inside the outlet before the press operation of the press device, catches the workpiece falling into the outlet from directly below and transfers it to the next press device, and is then positioned inside the outlet again before the press operation; a position control device is configured including a support plate with a shape corresponding to the workpiece, a passage formed in the support plate for the robot hand to pass through, and a guide configured upward from the edge of the support plate; the robot hand catches the workpiece falling into the outlet from below, passes it from above the position control device under the passage, releases the workpiece to settle it on the support plate, and the robot hand catches the workpiece on the support plate and transfers it to the next press device. Claim 3 A robot transfer system for a press operation according to claim 2, characterized in that the robot hand, having placed the workpiece while passing under the passage above the positioning device, is positioned inside the discharge port before the press operation of the press device, and the robot hand of the next industrial robot grasps the workpiece on the support plate, rotates it according to the required direction, and transfers it to the next press device. Claim 4 delete Claim 5 delete

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