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Compliant end effector for an industrial robot
| Details |
Inventors: Hoffmann, James A.; St. Onge, Douglas L.;
Assignee: ABB Flexible Automation, Inc. (New Berlin, WI)
Primary Examiner: Howell; Daniel W.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Godfrey & Kahn, S.C.
A compliant end effector particularly suited for use with a robotic arm for accurately cutting and trimming the edges of a hot molded sheet of flexible plastic. The compliant end effector includes a mount secured to the robotic arm, an adjustment assembly pivotally attached to the mount, a guide that engages the plastic sheet near the area to be cut and trimmed, a tool for cutting and trimming the flexible sheet, and a pneumatic cylinder that biases the guide into engagement with the flexible sheet and presses the sheet against a rigid surface. The pneumatic cylinder moves the guide and tool through a range of positions as the robotic arm moves along a single path of travel down the length of the flexible sheet. The guide remains in contact with the flexible sheet despite warping or other imperfections in the stabilizing surface. The tool is fixed a predetermined distance from the guide to ensure that the plastic sheet is cut and trimmed within specific tolerances. By rotating the end effector, tabs and recesses can be formed in the edge of the flexible sheet while the robot moves along its single path of travel. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail, a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspects of the invention to the embodiment illustrated.
The invention relates to a compliant end effector for an industrial robot 1, having a body 4, which may include an articulated arm 5.
The arm 5 is formed by a plurality of segments 2 pivotably connected together in adjacent relationship, and motors or other actuators 3 for pivoting each segment with respect to each adjacent segment.
Although any suitable support may be used, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
1, the robot 1 is suspended from and moves along a beam 6 supported by the ceiling of a room.
The robotic arm 5 has a proximal end 7 equipped with a compliant end effector 100 for working on a part or work piece 10 located below the robotic arm 5.
The end effector 100 is shown constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.
The end effector 100 is particularly suited for machining hot molded sheets of plastic such as the truck bed liner 10 shown in FIG.
2.
The truck bed liner has walls 12 of a given length defined by ends 13, and a given height defined by an upper rim 14.
The rim 14 has upper and lower surfaces 15 and 16, inner and outer portions 18 and 19, and a downwardly extending lip 20.
As discussed in more detail below, the end effector 100 engages a predetermined location 22 on the upper surface 15 of the rim 14 prior to cutting excess material 24 from the lip 20 and forming the desired edge 25 of the liner 10.
As shown in FIG.
3, the liner is placed on a stabilizing fixture 40 having a chassis 42 with wheels 44 and a plurality of upwardly projecting posts 46 that support an upper frame 50.
The components forming the stabilizing fixture are robustly sized to maintain their shape under load
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Generators or Motors 
