Operating device

Abstract

This operating device (10) is for an industrial machine and comprises: a first case (40) and a second case (50) that are combined with each other to define an interior accommodating space (31); an electronic component (25a) that is disposed in the accommodating space (31) and generates heat; a pair of metal sheets (43), (53) which are affixed to a region of an inner surface (42) of the first case (40) and a region of an inner surface (52) of the second case (50), respectively, said regions corresponding to the position of the electronic component (25a), with each metal sheet being connected to a specific potential; and heat-absorbing layers (44), (54) respectively provided on the surfaces of the metal sheets (43), (53) on the electronic component (25a) side of each. The metal sheets (43), (53) have higher thermal conductivity than the first case (40) and the second case (50) in order to diffuse transferred heat, and the heat-absorbing layers (44), (54) have higher emissivity than the metal sheets (43), (53).

Description

Operating device

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an operating device.

[0002] There is known a housing that houses an electronic substrate and has an electromagnetic shielding function of protecting the internal electronic substrate from external electromagnetic waves by covering the entire inner surface of the housing with aluminum foil (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-096687

[0004] Generally, metals such as aluminum foil have a low emissivity and the property of reflecting most of the heat radiated from the surroundings. Therefore, when a component such as a CPU that becomes relatively hot is mounted on an electronic substrate shielded by electromagnetic waves as described above, the heat generated by the component is reflected by the surrounding aluminum foil and trapped inside the housing, causing the temperature inside the housing to rise. Therefore, it is desired to effectively release the heat generated by the electronic components to the outside while protecting the electronic components housed inside the housing from external electromagnetic waves.

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure is an operating device for an industrial machine, including a housing having an accommodation space inside, a heat-generating electronic component disposed in the accommodation space, a metal sheet attached to a region corresponding to the position of the electronic component on the inner surface of the housing and connected to a specific potential, and a heat absorption layer provided on the surface of the metal sheet on the side of the electronic component, wherein the metal sheet has a higher thermal conductivity than the housing and the heat absorption layer has a higher emissivity than the metal sheet.

[0006] It is a perspective view showing the configuration of a teaching operation panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It is a partial cross-sectional view of the teaching operation panel shown in FIG. 1. It is a schematic view showing a part of the inner peripheral surface of the front case of the teaching operation panel shown in FIG. 1. It is a schematic view showing a part of the inner peripheral surface of the back case of the teaching operation panel shown in FIG. 1. It is a partial cross-sectional view showing a metal sheet and a resin sheet attached to the inner peripheral surface of the front case of the teaching operation panel shown in FIG. 1.

[0007] A teaching control panel (operating device) 10 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The teaching control panel 10 is a device used, for example, when creating teaching data to cause an industrial machine (not shown), such as a robot, to perform a predetermined task. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the teaching control panel 10 comprises a control board 20, a housing 30 that houses the control board 20, a monitor device 60 attached to the housing 30, and a key sheet 70.

[0008] The control board 20 is a printed circuit board that forms a control circuit for executing various processes according to the teaching content input by an operator operating the teaching control panel 10. In this case, the control board 20 comprises a base material 21 formed in the shape of a roughly rectangular flat plate, mounting surfaces 22 and 23 provided on both sides of the base material 21 in the thickness direction, and a plurality of electronic components 25 mounted on the mounting surfaces 22 and 23. In other words, the control board 20 is a so-called double-sided mounting board.

[0009] The electronic components 25 are, for example, resistors, inductors, capacitors, IC chips, CPUs, etc., and are electrically connected by printed wiring formed on the corresponding mounting surfaces 22 and 23. In the example shown in Figure 2, a CPU (electronic component) 25a, which performs various calculation processes based on teaching commands input by the operator, is mounted as one of the electronic components 25. A heat sink fin 25b is attached to the top surface of the CPU 25a. The heat sink fin 25b is a component that cools the CPU 25a by releasing the heat it generates when it performs high-load calculation processes.

[0010] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the housing 30 is composed of a front case (first case) 40 and a back case (second case) 50 that are assembled in a way that allows them to be disassembled in the thickness direction. Both the front case 40 and the back case 50 are parts formed by injection molding of resin material, and as shown in Figure 2, they are formed in a tray shape having one opening surface 41, 51 each. In other words, the storage space 31 is defined by bringing the opening surfaces 41, 51 of the front case 40 and the back case 50 together.

[0011] A monitor device 60 is attached to one end of the front case 40 in the longitudinal direction, that is, the portion located on the upper end side of the teaching operation panel 10, and a key sheet 70 is attached to the other end, that is, the portion located on the lower end side of the teaching operation panel 10. On the other hand, a plurality of mounting parts 50s for fixing the control board 20 are provided on the inner circumferential surface (inner surface) of the lower end side of the back case 50. The mounting parts 50s are, for example, four columnar parts that protrude from the inner circumferential surface of the back case 50 toward the opening surface 51, and each is arranged with spacing corresponding to the four corners of the control board 20. As a result, the control board 20 attached to the tip of each mounting part 50s is positioned at an intermediate position in the thickness direction of the lower end region of the housing space 31.

[0012] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, multiple pilot holes 40h for screw holes are provided on the periphery of the opening surface 41 of the front case 40. Also, as shown in Figure 4, multiple through holes 50h are provided on the periphery of the opening surface 51 of the back case 50, positioned to correspond to the pilot holes 40h provided in the front case 40. That is, by butting the opening surfaces 41 and 51 together and tightening screws (not shown) passed through each through hole 50h from the outside into the corresponding pilot holes 40h, a housing 30 having an internal storage space 31 is formed.

[0013] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 2, a metal sheet 43 is attached with adhesive to a portion of the inner circumferential surface (inner surface) 42 of the front case 40, for example, the portion located on the back side of the key sheet 70. In this case, the metal sheet 43 is, for example, an aluminum sheet with a thickness of about 0.2 mm and is formed in a shape that has a larger area than the mounting surface 22 of the control board 20. That is, the mounting surface 22 side of the control board 20 in the housing space 31 is surrounded by an aluminum metal sheet 43, which has a higher thermal conductivity than the resin front case 40.

[0014] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 2 and 5, a resin sheet (heat-absorbing layer) 44 is attached to the entire surface of the metal sheet 43 on the mounting surface 22 side. The resin sheet 44 is, for example, a black resin sheet with a thickness of about 0.1 mm, cut to the same shape as the metal sheet 43, and attached to the surface of the metal sheet 43 in close contact with an adhesive. In this case, the resin constituting the resin sheet 44 is, for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin.

[0015] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, a roughly rectangular through-hole 44c is provided in a part of the resin sheet 44, penetrating in the thickness direction, and a part of the metal sheet 43 that is in close contact with it is exposed. As shown in Figure 2, one end of a conductive gasket 26 is attached to the surface of the metal sheet 43 exposed through this through-hole 44c. The other end of the conductive gasket 26 is then brought into contact with the grounding terminal (GND electrode) of the printed circuit on the mounting surface 22 of the control board 20, thereby grounding the metal sheet 43.

[0016] Furthermore, a metal sheet 53 made of aluminum, approximately 0.2 mm thick, is attached to a portion of the inner circumferential surface 52 of the back case 50 using adhesive, similar to the front case 40. In this case, as shown in Figure 4, the metal sheet 53 is tightly attached to the area located on the lower end side of the inner circumferential surface 52, excluding the four mounting portions 50s. In other words, the mounting surface 23 side of the control board 20 within the housing space 31 is surrounded by an aluminum metal sheet 53, which has a higher thermal conductivity than the resin back case 50.

[0017] As shown in Figure 4, the metal sheet 53 is provided with through holes 53c that penetrate in the thickness direction. When the metal sheet 53 is attached to the inner circumferential surface 52, these through holes 53c expose pilot holes 50h' into which M3 screws are tightened for attaching the grounding wire terminal fittings (not shown), which will be described later, provided on the inner circumferential surface 52.

[0018] Furthermore, the surface of the metal sheet 53 on the mounting surface 23 side is covered with a black polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin sheet 54, approximately 0.1 mm thick, attached with adhesive, similar to the metal sheet 43. In the example shown in Figure 4, the resin sheet 54 is provided with through holes 54c that penetrate in the thickness direction at positions corresponding to the through holes 53c. The through holes 54c are formed in a circular shape, for example, of about the same size as the terminal fittings described above. As a result, the surface of the metal sheet 53 around the pilot holes 50h' and the pilot holes 50h' formed on the inner circumferential surface 52 of the back case 50 are exposed.

[0019] Then, a terminal fitting for a grounding wire attached to a cable (not shown) for transmitting power and control signals from an external device to the control board 20 is connected to the surface of the metal sheet 53 exposed through the through hole 54c. In other words, the metal sheet 53 is grounded by bringing the round terminal (terminal fitting) attached to the end of the grounding wire into contact with the metal sheet 53 exposed through the through hole 54c, and then tightening a screw through the round terminal into the pilot hole 50h'.

[0020] The monitoring device 60 is a device that displays an input screen when an operator teaches a robot a predetermined action, for example, and the key sheet 70 is a device that receives various commands that the operator inputs when creating teaching data. The monitoring device 60 and the key sheet 70 are connected to a control circuit formed on the control board 20 by cables (not shown).

[0021] The operation of the teaching control panel 10 configured in this embodiment will be described below. As shown in Figure 2, when the control board 20 is housed in the housing space 31, the control board 20 is surrounded by metal sheets 43 and 53 made of aluminum. This shields electromagnetic waves that are incident from the outside into the housing space 31.

[0022] Furthermore, in this embodiment, both metal sheets 43 and 53 are connected to ground potential. Therefore, even if static electricity generated externally is applied to the metal sheets 43 and 53 and charges accumulate on them, the charge can be immediately discharged. This prevents phenomena such as the metal sheets 43 and 53 themselves acting as antennas and generating new electromagnetic waves. Consequently, the control board 20 can be protected from noise caused by external electromagnetic waves or static electricity. In other words, the metal sheets 43 and 53 can function effectively as an electromagnetic shielding layer.

[0023] Furthermore, since the resin sheets 44, 54 covering the surface of the metal sheets 43, 53 in this case are made of black PET resin, they have a higher thermal emissivity than the glossy aluminum metal sheets 43, 53. As a result, the resin sheets 44, 54 can efficiently absorb heat within the containment space 31 and conduct the absorbed heat to the metal sheets 43, 53 with which they are in close contact.

[0024] For example, if the CPU 25a in Figure 2 performs high-load calculation processing and generates heat, the heat generated by the CPU 25a is released into the housing space 31 via the heat dissipation fins 25b. At this time, most of the heat (radiant heat) released from the heat dissipation fins 25b is directed towards the resin sheet 44 which is positioned to cover the heat dissipation fins 25b. In other words, the heat released from the heat dissipation fins 25b can be absorbed efficiently by receiving it with the resin sheet 44, which has a high emissivity, rather than receiving it with the electromagnetic shielding layer made of aluminum as in the conventional method.

[0025] Next, the heat absorbed by the resin sheet 44 is conducted to the metal sheet 43 to which the resin sheet 44 is in close contact, and diffused throughout the metal sheet 43. In this case, since the thermal conductivity of the metal sheet 43 is higher than that of the resin outer case 40, the heat received from the resin sheet 44 can be diffused more effectively.

[0026] As described above, according to this embodiment, the heat generated by the CPU 25a can be efficiently absorbed by the resin sheet 44 and then conducted to the metal sheet 43, which has high thermal conductivity. This allows the heat generated by the CPU 25a to be diffused over a wider area, preventing localized high temperatures within the housing space 31. Furthermore, by diffusing the heat generated by the CPU 25a over a wider area, heat can be dissipated to the outside more effectively. Therefore, while protecting the CPU 25a from external electromagnetic waves or static electricity, it is possible to suppress heat buildup around the CPU 25a and prevent performance degradation or damage to the CPU 25a.

[0027] Furthermore, in this embodiment, since resin sheets 44 and 54 made of PET resin, which has a relatively low specific gravity, are used as the heat-absorbing layer, there is also the advantage that the increase in weight of the teaching control panel 10 can be kept to a minimum.

[0028] In this embodiment, the case where the CPU 25a mounted on the mounting surface 22 of the control board 20 generates heat was described as an example. However, the heat-generating electronic component 25 may be mounted on the mounting surface 23 or on both sides of the mounting surfaces 22 and 23. For example, if the heat-generating electronic component 25 is mounted on the mounting surface 23 of the control board 20, the metal sheet 53 and the resin sheet 54 absorb and dissipate the heat from the electronic component 25 in the same manner as described above. As a result, even if the heat-generating electronic component 25 is mounted on the mounting surface 23, heat can be effectively prevented from accumulating around the electronic component 25, preventing the housing space 31 from becoming locally hot.

[0029] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the metal sheet 43 and the resin sheet 44 were formed to cover the entire control board 20, but the size of the metal sheet 43 and the resin sheet 44 is not limited to this. The metal sheets 43, 53 and the resin sheets 44, 54 do not necessarily have to be large enough to cover the entire control board 20, as long as they have a shape that can effectively dissipate the heat generated by the electronic components 25.

[0030] In this embodiment, the metal sheets 43 and 53 were attached to the inner circumferential surface 42 of the front case 40 and the inner circumferential surface 52 of the back case 50, respectively, with adhesive. Alternatively, for example, claw portions capable of supporting plate-shaped metal sheets 43 and 53 may be provided on the inner circumferential surfaces 42 and 52, respectively, and the metal sheets 43 and 53 may be sandwiched between these claw portions to make them adhere tightly to the inner circumferential surfaces 42 and 52.

[0031] In this case, the process of attaching the metal sheets 43 and 53 to the inner circumferential surfaces 42 of the front case 40 and the back case 50, respectively, during the manufacturing of the teaching control panel 10 can be simplified. This improves the manufacturing efficiency of the teaching control panel 10.

[0032] In this embodiment, the resin sheets 44 and 54 made of black PET resin, which are attached to the surfaces of the metal sheets 43 and 53, are used as a heat-absorbing layer to absorb the heat emitted by the CPU 25a. Alternatively, the surfaces of the metal sheets 43 and 53 may be treated to increase their emissivity, and the treated surfaces may function as a heat-absorbing layer.

[0033] For example, the surface of the metal sheets 43 and 53 may be coated with a paint containing black pigment or carbon black to suppress the gloss of the metal sheets 43 and 53. In this case, the layer of paint applied to the surface of the metal sheets 43 and 53 functions as a heat-absorbing layer, and the same effect as described above can be obtained. Alternatively, the surface of the metal sheets 43 and 53 may be subjected to black anodizing or black plating to increase the emissivity of the surface of the metal sheets 43 and 53. In this case, the coating formed on the surface of the metal sheets 43 and 53 functions as a heat-absorbing layer.

[0034] Furthermore, although the resin sheets 44, 54 and the paint, coating layer, film, and treatment layer exemplified as heat-absorbing layers in the above embodiments were all black, the heat-absorbing layer does not necessarily have to be black. In other words, the function of a heat-absorbing layer can be achieved by placing an insulating layer on the surface of the metal sheets 43, 53.

[0035] Furthermore, although aluminum metal sheets 43 and 53 are used as examples in this embodiment, the material of the metal sheets 43 and 53 is not limited to this. For example, the metal sheets 43 and 53 may be made of any metal with a higher thermal conductivity than the front case 40 and back case 50, such as copper.

[0036] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the metal sheets 43 and 53 are both connected to the ground potential, but instead, the metal sheets 43 and 53 may be connected to a specific potential. In this case, the specific potential is, for example, any value that enables the electromagnetic shielding function to be realized, which can be determined by prior experiments.

[0037] Furthermore, although this embodiment describes a teaching control panel 10 for teaching a predetermined operation to an industrial machine as an example, the application of the configuration according to the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the configuration according to the present invention may be applied to a controller for controlling the operation of an industrial machine such as a robot in real time. Alternatively, the configuration according to the present invention may be applied to a cabinet-type control device that houses various control components for causing an industrial machine to perform a predetermined operation.

[0038] Although embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above, this disclosure is not limited to the individual embodiments described above. These embodiments can be added, replaced, modified, partially deleted, etc., in any way that does not depart from the gist of the invention or from the spirit and intent of the invention derived from the claims and their equivalents. For example, the order of operations and processes in the embodiments described above are shown as examples only and are not limited thereto.

[0039] The following additional notes are disclosed with respect to the above embodiments and modifications. (Note 1) An operating device for an industrial machine, comprising: a housing having a housing space inside; a heat-generating electronic component disposed within the housing space; a metal sheet attached to a region of the inner surface of the housing corresponding to the position of the electronic component and connected to a specific potential; and a heat-absorbing layer provided on the surface of the metal sheet on the electronic component side, wherein the metal sheet has a higher thermal conductivity than the housing, and the heat-absorbing layer has a higher emissivity than the metal sheet. (Note 2) The operating device according to Note 1, wherein the housing comprises a first case and a second case that, when combined with each other, define the housing space inside. (Note 3) The operating device according to Note 1 or Note 2, wherein the specific potential to which the metal sheet is connected is the ground potential. (Note 4) The operating device according to any one of Notes 1 to 3, wherein the heat-absorbing layer is made of a resin material. (Note 5) The operating device according to Note 4, wherein the resin material is polyethylene terephthalate resin. (Note 6) The operating device according to Note 1, wherein the metal sheet is made of aluminum and the heat-absorbing layer is a coating formed by anodizing applied to the surface of the metal sheet. (Note 7) The operating device according to any one of Notes 1 to 6, wherein the surface of the heat-absorbing layer is black. (Note 8) The operating device according to any one of Notes 1 to 7, which enables the industrial machine to be taught a predetermined operation.

[0040] 10 Instruction and control panel (operating device) 25a CPU (electronic component) 30 Housing 31 Enclosure space 40 Front case (first case) 42 Inner surface (inner side) 43 Metal sheet 44 Resin sheet (heat absorption layer) 50 Back case (second case) 52 Inner surface (inner side) 53 Metal sheet 54 Resin sheet (heat absorption layer)

Claims

1. An operating device for an industrial machine, comprising: a housing having a containment space inside; a heat-generating electronic component disposed within the containment space; a metal sheet attached to a region of the inner surface of the housing corresponding to the position of the electronic component and connected to a specific potential; and a heat-absorbing layer provided on the surface of the metal sheet on the side facing the electronic component, wherein the metal sheet has a higher thermal conductivity than the housing, and the heat-absorbing layer has a higher emissivity than the metal sheet.

2. The operating device according to claim 1, comprising a first case and a second case that, when combined with each other, define the housing space inside.

3. The operating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the specific potential to which the metal sheet is connected is the ground potential.

4. The operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heat-absorbing layer is made of a resin material.

5. The operating device according to claim 4, wherein the resin material is polyethylene terephthalate resin.

6. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the metal sheet is made of aluminum, and the heat-absorbing layer is a coating formed by an anodizing treatment applied to the surface of the metal sheet.

7. The operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the surface of the heat-absorbing layer is black.

8. An operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which enables the industrial machine to be taught a predetermined operation.

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