Industrial Robot Wire Routing Guide Groove

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Solution Overview

Problem

In industrial robots where a wire body is inserted through the inside of an arm portion with a wrist portion, the wire body experiences tensile or pressing forces due to the swing motion of the wrist, leading to potential motion deficiencies or damage from repeated stress, as conventional methods to absorb displacement through external expansion are not applicable.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of an industrial robot design where the wire bodies are inserted through a hollow part of the arm portion and covered by a tubular member, with an energizing unit, such as a plate spring or helical spring, that applies a constant pulling force to prevent wire body displacement and ensure smooth forward and rearward movement during wrist portion swings, avoiding edge catch and damage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Volume of moving object

If the wire body is inserted through the inside of the arm portion, then the robot structure is more compact and整洁, but the wire body experiences tensile or pressing forces during wrist portion swing motion causing potential damage

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverobot structure compactnessVSAvoidwire body durability
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of moving objectVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

A guide groove is introduced as an intermediary structure between the wire body and the arm portion interior. The guide groove guides the wire body along a predetermined path, preventing direct contact between the wire body and the arm portion wall, thereby eliminating tensile/pressing forces while maintaining the compact internal routing structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If the wire body is pulled out externally to absorb displacement, then the wire body can accommodate wrist portion swing motion, but the robot structure becomes complex and the wire body is exposed to damage

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewire body flexibilityVSAvoidrobot structure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The wire body is nested within the arm portion structure by routing it through a guide groove formed inside the arm portion. This allows the wire body to accommodate wrist portion swing motion through the internal guide path without requiring external expansion or additional protective structures, maintaining both simplicity and flexibility.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

3Ease of manufacture

If the wire body is inserted through the arm portion without guidance, then the installation is simple, but the wire body may be caught by the insertion hole edge causing motion deficiency

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinstallation simplicityVSAvoidwrist portion motion smoothness
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The guide groove is pre-formed in the arm portion structure before wire body installation. This preliminary action creates a predetermined guidance path that automatically guides the wire body during installation and operation, preventing edge catching at the insertion hole while maintaining simple installation procedures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This solution eliminates the deficiency in wrist portion motion and prevents wire body damage by ensuring smooth displacement and preventing catching at insertion holes, enhancing the robot's operational reliability.

Implementation Method 1

an energizing unit (a plate spring or the like) which energizes the wire body in a separate direction away from the wrist portion

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectElastic force: Elasticity

Data Source

PatentEP3248739B1Industrial robot
Publication Date: 2024.05.08 KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KK
  • EP3248739B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3248739B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP3248739B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

This industrial robot is provided with: an arm portion (4) having a longitudinal axis (J4); a wrist portion (5) provided to a distal end of the arm portion (4) and swingable about a swing axis (J5) orthogonal to the longitudinal axis (J4); a wire body (9) inserted- through the inside of the arm portion (4) and connected to an end effector (7) mounted to the wrist portion(5); and an energizing unit (17) for energizing the wire -body (9) in a separate direction away from the wrist portion (5) along the longitudinal axis (J4) of the arm portion (4). Thus, in an industrial robot in which a wire body is inserted through the inside of an arm portion, a conventional deficiency generated corresponding to a swing motion of a wrist portion can be eliminated.