Door opening/closing robot and door opening/closing system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12564853-B2
Application number	US-202318112749-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 22, 2023
Priority date	Feb 28, 2022
Publication date	Mar 3, 2026
Grant date	Mar 3, 2026

Abstract

A door opening/closing robot includes: a base provided at a position different from a conveyance line on which a vehicle body is conveyed; a first arm attached to the base to rotate around a first axis and extending away from the first axis; a second arm attached to the first arm to rotate around a second axis and extending away from the second axis; a third arm attached to the second arm to rotate around a third axis and extending away from the third axis; and a fourth arm attached to the third arm to extend vertically and configured to vertically move a tool for holding a door of the vehicle body. At least a portion of a connection area including a distal end of the second arm and a proximal end of the third arm is positioned at a same height as at least a portion of the base.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A door opening/closing robot comprising:
a base provided at a position different from a conveyance line on which a vehicle body is conveyed; a first arm attached to the base to rotate around a first axis extending along a vertical direction, and extending away from the first axis; a second arm attached to the first arm to rotate around a second axis parallel to the first axis, and extending away from the second axis; a third arm attached to the second arm to rotate around a third axis parallel to the first axis, and extending in a direction intersecting the third axis and away from the third axis; and a fourth arm attached to the third arm to extend along the vertical direction at a distal end of the third arm, and configured to move a tool capable of holding a door attached to the vehicle body along the vertical direction and rotate around a fourth axis parallel to the first axis, wherein in the vertical direction, at least a portion of a connection area including a distal end of the second arm and a proximal end of the third arm is positioned at a same height as at least a portion of the base.

2 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein the second arm and the third arm are provided to operate below the door held by the tool.

3 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein in the vertical direction, an uppermost position of a portion of the second arm other than the distal end and an uppermost position of a portion of the third arm other than the proximal end are lower than an uppermost position of the connection area.

4 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein in the vertical direction, a connected portion between the first arm and the second arm is positioned at a same height as at least a portion of the connection area.

5 . A door opening/closing robot comprising:
a base provided at a position different from a conveyance line on which a vehicle body is conveyed; a first arm attached to the base to rotate around a first axis extending along a vertical direction, and extending away from the first axis; a second arm attached to the first arm to rotate around a second axis parallel to the first axis, and extending away from the second axis; a third arm attached to the second arm to rotate around a third axis parallel to the first axis, and extending in a direction intersecting the third axis and away from the third axis; and a fourth arm attached to the third arm to extend along the vertical direction at a distal end of the third arm, and configured to move a tool capable of holding a door attached to the vehicle body along the vertical direction and rotate around a fourth axis parallel to the first axis, wherein the fourth arm holds the tool to be movable up and down such that the tool passes through a window frame of the door, in the vertical direction, a connected portion between the third arm and the fourth arm is lower than an uppermost position of the second arm and the third arm, the second arm and the third arm are provided to operate below the door of the vehicle body that is being conveyed along the conveyance line, and in the vertical direction, at least a portion of the distal end of the third arm and at least a portion of the second arm are positioned at a same height.

6 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 5 , wherein in the vertical direction, a connected portion between the first arm and the second arm is positioned at a same height as at least a portion of a connection area including a distal end of the second arm and a proximal end of the third arm.

7 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein the second arm and the third arm are provided to operate below the vehicle body that is being conveyed along the conveyance line.

8 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein the second arm is attached to a lower surface of a distal end of the first arm, and the third arm is attached to an upper surface of the distal end of the second arm.

9 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 8 , wherein in the vertical direction, the distal end of the third arm is lower than the proximal end of the third arm.

10 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 8 , wherein in the vertical direction, an uppermost position of the second arm is lower than an uppermost position of a lower surface of the first arm between a proximal end and the distal end of the first arm.

11 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein the second arm is attached to a lower surface of a distal end of the first arm, and the third arm is attached to a lower surface of the distal end of the second arm.

12 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 11 , wherein in the vertical direction, the distal end of the second arm is higher than a proximal end of the second arm.

13 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein the second arm is attached to an upper surface of a distal end of the first arm, and the third arm is attached to a lower surface of the distal end of the second arm.

14 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 13 , wherein in the vertical direction, the distal end of the first arm is lower than a proximal end of the first arm.

15 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein the first arm is attached to an upper surface of the base.

16 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein in the vertical direction, at least a portion of the second arm and at least a portion of the base are positioned at a same height.

17 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein in the vertical direction, an uppermost position of a distal end of the first arm is lower than a lowermost position of the door of the vehicle body that is being conveyed along the conveyance line.

18 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein in the vertical direction, an uppermost position of the second arm and an uppermost position of the third arm are lower than a lowermost position of the door of the vehicle body that is being conveyed along the conveyance line,
in the vertical direction, a lowermost position of the second arm and a lowermost position of the third arm are higher than a booth bottom wall on which a conveying apparatus is provided to convey the vehicle body along the conveyance line, and in the vertical direction, at least a portion of a proximal end of the first arm is positioned at a same height as the lowermost position of the door of the vehicle body that is being conveyed along the conveyance line.

19 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein in the vertical direction, an uppermost position of the second arm and an uppermost position of the third arm are lower than an uppermost position of the first arm.

20 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein in the vertical direction, a lowermost position of the second arm and a lowermost position of the third arm substantially coincide with each other.

21 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , wherein when viewed in the vertical direction, the base is provided in such a way that a side surface thereof having a shortest distance from the first axis faces the conveyance line.

22 . The door opening/closing robot according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first motor configure

Assignees

• Yaskawa Electric Corp

Inventors

• Ishimaru Yuji
• Miyazono Yoshiaki
• Ito Tsuyoshi
• Yoshino Katsuhiko
• Ohtsubo Naoyuki

Classifications

• B05B13/0431

  with spray heads moved by robots or articulated arms, e.g. for applying liquid or other fluent material to three-dimensional [3D] surfaces · CPC title

• B05B13/0452

  the objects being vehicle components, e.g. vehicle bodies · CPC title

• B25J9/042

  comprising an articulated arm · CPC title

• B25J11/0075

  Manipulators for painting or coating · CPC title

• B05B13/025

  the objects or work being present in bulk · CPC title