Robot Clamp Mechanism With Guide Wall For Flexible Wire Group Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial robots face challenges in accurately gripping the terminal unit of a wire group, such as a harness, due to its flexibility, which results in varying initial positions across different workpieces.
Innovation Solution
A robot apparatus equipped with a clamp mechanism featuring first and second fingers, a transport mechanism, and a control unit that adjusts grip force and movement direction, utilizing a guide wall to align and slide the wire group into a housing portion for precise gripping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a robot attempts to grip the terminal unit of a flexible wire group, then the wire group's flexibility causes the initial position to differ for each workpiece, making high-accuracy gripping difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The guide wall is provided in advance in the housing portion to pre-align the wire group before gripping. This preliminary alignment action ensures that regardless of the initial position variation caused by flexibility, the wire group is guided to a consistent position where the terminal unit can be accurately gripped by the robot
Solution Approach 2:
The guide wall acts as an intermediary element between the variable initial position and the fixed gripping position. It mediates the position variation by guiding and constraining the wire group movement, transforming the uncontrolled flexible positioning into a controlled alignment process that enables accurate gripping
2Reliability
If the clamp mechanism applies strong grip force to secure the wire group, then gripping reliability improves, but excessive load may be applied to the flexible wire group
Solution Approach 1:
The wire group is preliminarily aligned and guided by the guide wall before the gripping action. This preliminary alignment ensures that the wire group is properly positioned and supported, allowing the clamp mechanism to apply grip force at the correct location without creating excessive concentrated loads that could damage the flexible wire group
Solution Approach 2:
The guide wall serves as a mediator that distributes and guides the forces acting on the wire group. By providing a guided path and support surface, it prevents the clamp mechanism from applying excessive localized load while maintaining reliable gripping, thus protecting the flexible wire group from damage
Data Source
AI summary
A robot apparatus includes a clamp mechanism; a transport mechanism; and a control unit. The clamp mechanism includes a first finger that has a first support surface and a housing portion and a second finger. The first support surface supports an aligned wire group that includes a plurality of wires, the housing portion includes a guide wall that is connected to the first support surface and regulates an amount of movement of the band member in a width direction. The second finger has a second support surface facing the first support surface and a facing portion being connected to the second support surface and facing the housing portion. The transport mechanism is capable of moving the clamp mechanism. The control unit controls a grip force of the clamp mechanism and a direction of movement of the clamp mechanism by the transport mechanism.