Functional Assembly For An Industrial Machine, In Particular For A Robot, Including An Operative Unit Equipped With A Safety Cover

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018370047-A1
Application number	US-201816007166-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 13, 2018
Priority date	Jun 23, 2017
Publication date	Dec 27, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A functional assembly for an industrial robot includes a safety cover which selectively covers an operative unit or robot end effector. The cover includes a fixed portion and a movable portion which selectively moves relative to the fixed portion. The movable portion selectively moves to cover or uncover a portion of the operative unit for the operative unit to function for its intended purpose. The operative unit can move in two directions orthogonal to the movement of the cover movable portion allowing the operative unit to travel or reach to the full footprint of the cover. The safety cover may include sensors to detect objects in close proximity to the safety cover to slow or stop the robot or functional assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A functional assembly for an industrial machine, in particular for a robot, said functional assembly comprising:
a support frame, provided with a flange for attaching to a robot wrist or other element of an industrial machine; an operative unit, for example, a gripping tool or an operative tool, supported by said support frame; a safety cover for said operative unit, which defines a containment volume; wherein said functional assembly can assume a first operative configuration, wherein said safety cover surrounds and covers said operative unit and a second operative configuration, wherein said operative unit is at least partially outside the containment volume of said safety cover; wherein said safety cover has a fixed portion and a portion movable along a main direction with respect to the fixed portion, said movable portion of the safety cover being movable between a lowered position, wherein it surrounds and completely covers said operative unit, and a raised position, wherein said operative unit is uncovered; and wherein: the fixed portion of the safety cover is rigidly connected to said support frame which supports the operative unit; the movable portion of the safety cover is arranged outside the fixed portion and is movably mounted on said support frame; both the fixed portion and the movable portion of said safety cover are provided with a collaborative outer structure, equipped with at least one of proximity sensorsor contact sensors, such as to enable the functional assembly to be used in cooperation and in close proximity with one or more human operators.

2 . The functional assembly according to claim 1 , wherein said operative unit is movable with respect to said support frame at least in one transverse direction with respect to said main direction, in such a way that when said movable portion of the safety cover is in the raised position, said operative unit is movable in a position outside a footprint of the containment volume defined by said movable portion of the safety cover.

3 . The functional assembly according to claim 2 , wherein said operative unit is movable in two auxiliary directions relative to said support frame, said two auxiliary directions being orthogonal to each other and being orthogonal to said main direction.

4 . The functional assembly according to claim 1 , wherein it comprises a first plate slidably guided along a first auxiliary direction on said support frame, and a second plate carrying one or more operative tools, and guided on said first plate in a second auxiliary direction orthogonal to the first auxiliary direction and the main direction.

5 . The functional assembly according to claim 4 , further comprising:
an actuator device for moving the movable portion of the safety cover; an actuator device for moving said first plate; an actuator device for moving said second plate; and a plurality of shutter devices for respectively precisely setting into position and locking said lower portion of the safety cover, said first plate and said second plate.

6 . A functional assembly according to claim 5 , wherein on said support frame, at least one control unit is mounted for controlling said actuator devices and said shutter devices.

7 . The functional assembly according to claim 4 , wherein said operative unit is supported in such a way to also be rotatable, at least about one axis with respect to the support frame.

8 . The functional assembly according to claim 1 , wherein in the safety cover raised position, the movable portion of the safety cover extends above said flange.

9 . The functional assembly according to claim 1 , wherein said operative unit comprises a gripping tool operable to grip pieces in a container, characterized in that a dimension of the movable portion, and the vertical stroke of the movable portion, of the safety cover are predetermined according to a size of the pieces to be gripped, so that once the piece is picked up, the movable portion of the safety cover can be lowered into a position wherein the picked-up piece is contained within the safety cover.

10 . The functional assembly according to claim 1 , wherein said robot comprises a controller, wherein said controller is configured to receive signals from said at least one of proximity sensors or contact sensors of the safety cover to automatically decrease the speed of movement of said robot or to automatically stop said robot or industrial machine whenever excessive closeness or contact with a foreign body, such as a human operator, is detected.

11 . A functional assembly for use with an industrial machine including a programmable robot having an attachment flange, the functional assembly comprising:
a support frame connected to the robot attachment flange; an operative unit connected to the support frame; and a safety cover connected to the support frame operable to selectively circumferentially cover the operative unit, the safety cover further comprising:
a fixed portion having a wall fixedly connected to the support frame; and
a movable portion movable relative to the fixed portion along a main direction, the movable portion including a wall positioned radially outside of the fixed portion and having a lowered position thereby radially covering the end operative unit and a raised position radially exposing the operative unit, the movable portion wall defining a containment volume and a footprint, wherein operative unit is operative to selectively move in a first auxiliary direction and a second auxiliary direction, the first and the second auxiliary directions are orthogonal to the other auxiliary direction and each are orthogonal to the main direction, the two auxiliary directions operable for the operative unit to travel to the movable portion wall footprint when the movable portion is in the raised position.

12 . The functional assembly of claim 11 wherein the safety cover fixed portion wall and the movable portion wall further comprising a collaborative outer structure further comprising at least one of proximity sensors or contact sensors operable to detect the presence of an object adjacent the collaborative outer structure.

13 . The functional assembly of claim 11 further comprising:
a first plate selectively movable relative to the support frame along the first auxiliary direction; and
a second plate movably connected to the first plate, the second plate selectively movable relative to the first plate along the second auxiliary direction, wherein the operative unit is connected to the second plate.

14 . The functional assembly of claim 11 further comprising:
a first actuator connected to the support frame;
an intermediate plate connected to the first actuator and the safety cover movable portion wall;
a pair of guides connected to the support frame and oriented along the main direction;
a pair of side plates movably engaged with a respective one of the pair of guides, each side plate connected to the movable portion wall, wherein the actuator is operable to selectively move the movable portion along the main direction.

15 . The functional assembly of claim 11 wherein the operative unit is a robot end effector comprising one of a gripping tool, a welding head, a staple head or an opto-electronic vision device.

Assignees

• Comau Spa

Inventors

• Becciani Giorgio
• Di Stefano Giovanni
• Arduino Stefano

Classifications

• B25J19/0075 Primary

  Means for protecting the manipulator from its environment or vice versa · CPC title

• B25J19/06 Primary

  Safety devices · CPC title

• B25J13/084

  Tactile sensors (in general G01L5/16, G01L5/22) · CPC title

• B25J13/086

  Proximity sensors · CPC title

• B25J15/00 Primary

  Gripping heads {and other end effectors (grippers used in machine tools B23Q7/04; gripping members fitted on cranes B66C1/42, B66C1/44; gripping means used for mounting electrical components H05K13/04; gripping means used in the manufacture of semiconductors H10P72/7602)} · CPC title