Method for electrical cabling with a cable sequence of electronic components in switchgear construction and a corresponding robot arrangement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11276992-B2
Application number	US-201816767158-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 8, 2018
Priority date	Nov 29, 2017
Publication date	Mar 15, 2022
Grant date	Mar 15, 2022

Abstract

A method for electrical wiring of electronic components in switchgear construction, the method comprising the steps:a. providing a plurality of electronic components which are mounted on a shared workpiece, in particular on a mounting plate;b. wiring the electronic components according to a predetermined circuit diagram and in a predetermined order by at least one robot, wherein a cable sequence of pre-assembled cables is fed to the at least one robot and the cables are arranged in the predetermined order in the cable sequence;wherein the wiring comprises gripping a free cable end of the cable sequence by a multifunctional end effector of the robot, feeding the free cable end to an electrical connection of one of the electronic components by the multifunctional end effector, and detaching the cable from the cable sequence by a separation unit of the multifunctional end effector.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for electrical wiring of electronic components in switchgear construction, the method comprising the steps:
a. providing a plurality of electronic components which are mounted on a shared workpiece, in particular on a mounting plate;
b. wiring the electronic components according to a predetermined circuit diagram and in a predetermined order by at least one robot, wherein a cable sequence of pre-assembled cables is fed to the at least one robot and the cables are arranged in the predetermined order in the cable sequence;
wherein the wiring comprises gripping a cable end of the cable sequence by a multifunctional end effector of the at least one robot, feeding the cable end to an electrical connection of one of the electronic components by the multifunctional end effector, and detaching the cable from the cable sequence by s drpsaration unit of the multifunctional end effector
wherein the at least one robot is a bent-arm robot, wherein the at least one robot comprises a transport system via which a cable sequence of several interconnected cables is fed to the multifunctional end effector, wherein the multifunctional end effector has a gripper for gripping a cable end of the cable sequence; and
wherein said at least one robot includes first and a second robots each with a multifunctional end effector, wherein the multifunctional end effectors of the two robots have different or the same functionalities, wherein the first robot is configured to feed a first of the two cable ends of a cable from the cable sequence to an electrical connection of a first of the electronic components, and wherein the second robot is configured to feed a second of the two cable ends of the cable to an electrical connection of a second of the electronic components.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1 , which further comprises a workpiece carrier which is configured to hold a workpiece, in particular a mounting plate, to feed the workpiece to at least one processing station, in particular the at least one robot, and to orient it with respect to the processing station.

3. The arrangement according to claim 1 , in which the multifunctional end effector comprises a sensor which is configured to detect a position of an electrical component to be wired on the workpiece or a position and/or orientation of a terminal of the electrical component.

4. The arrangement according to claim 3 , which has a data processing system in which a circuit diagram of an electrical switchgear to be produced on the workpiece is stored, the data processing system being configured to supplement wiring information stored in the circuit diagram of the components arranged on the workpiece with position information or orientation information detected by the sensor, or, when the circuit diagram already comprises initial information of position or orientation, to update this initial information according to the detected position information or orientation information.

5. The arrangement according to claim 3 , in which for the control of the at least one bent-arm robot, ECAD data is used as a first input, which contain a plan of the switchgear to be produced with the arrangement, wherein for the control of the at least one bent-arm robot, the position information or orientation information detected by the sensor is used as a second input, and wherein a data processing system of the arrangement is configured to generate the control of the at least one bent-arm robot from the first and the second input.

6. A method for electrical wiring of electronic components in switchgear construction, the method comprising the steps:
a. providing a plurality of electronic components which are mounted on a shared workpiece, in particular on a mounting plate;
b. wiring the electronic components according to a predetermined circuit diagram and in a predetermined order by at least one robot, wherein a cable sequence of pre-assembled cables is fed to the at least one robot and the cables are arranged in the predetermined order in the cable sequence;
wherein the wiring comprises gripping a cable end of the cable sequence by a multifunctional end effector of the at least one robot, feeding the cable end to an electrical connection of one of the electronic components by the multifunctional end effector, and detaching the cable from the cable sequence by a separation unit of the multifunctional end effector
wherein the at least one robot is a vent-arm robot, with a multifunctional end effector, wherein the at least one robot comprises a transport system via which a cable sequence of several interconnected cables is fed to the multifunctional end effector, wherein the multifunctional end effector has a gripper for gripping a cable end of the cable sequence; and
wherein said at least one robot includes a first and a second robot each with a multifunctional end effector, a first of the robots holding a first end of a flexible cable and a second of the robots holding a second end of the flexible cable, and the robots being configured to maintain the flexible cable at a mechanical tension such that the cable is substantially straight between the ends.

7. The arrangement according to claim 6 , which further comprises a workpiece carrier which is configured to hold a workpiece, in particular a mounting plate, to feed the workpiece to at least one processing station, in particular the at least one robot, and to orient it with respect to the processing station.

8. The arrangement according to claim 6 , in which the multifunctional end effector comprises a sensor which is configured to detect a position of an electrical component to be wired on the workpiece or a position or orientation of a terminal of the electrical component.

9. The arrangement according to claim 8 , which has a data processing system in which a circuit diagram of an electrical switchgear to be produced on the workpiece is stored, the data processing system being configured to supplement wiring information stored in the circuit diagram of the components arranged on the workpiece with position information or orientation information detected by the sensor, or, when the circuit diagram already comprises initial information of position or orientation, to update this initial information according to the detected position information or orientation information.

10. The arrangement according to claim 9 , in which for the control of the at least one bent-arm robot, ECAD data is used as a first input, which contain a plan of the switchgear to be produced with the arrangement, wherein for the control of the at least one bent-arm robot, the position information or orientation information detected by the sensor is used as a second input, and wherein a data processing system of the arrangement is configured to generate the control of the at least one bent-arm robot from the first and the second input.

Assignees

• Rittal Gmbh & Co Kg

Inventors

• Bächler Andreas Michael

Classifications

• G05B2219/45097

  Cable harnessing robot · CPC title

• Y10T29/49162

  by using wire as conductive path · CPC title

• H02B3/00

  Apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture, assembly, or maintenance of boards or switchgear · CPC title

• H02G1/1248 Primary

  Machines · CPC title

• H01R43/28

  for wire processing before connecting to contact members, not provided for in groups H01R43/02 - H01R43/26 · CPC title