U.S. patent application number 15/000198 was filed with the patent office on 2016-05-19 for scrap container for scrap waste, in particular for scrap mandrels from blind rivets, and movable manipulator with such a scrap container.
The applicant listed for this patent is RIBE ANLAGENTECHNIK GMBH. Invention is credited to ANDREAS SKOLAUDE.
Application Number | 20160136723 15/000198 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51292894 |
Filed Date | 2016-05-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160136723 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SKOLAUDE; ANDREAS |
May 19, 2016 |
SCRAP CONTAINER FOR SCRAP WASTE, IN PARTICULAR FOR SCRAP MANDRELS
FROM BLIND RIVETS, AND MOVABLE MANIPULATOR WITH SUCH A SCRAP
CONTAINER
Abstract
The aim is to allow a disposal of scrap mandrels for a blind
rivet setting tool directly on a robot hand, which is secured to
the blind rivet setting tool. A specially configured mandrel
container is provided which has a housing with a receiving volume
for the scrap mandrels. A filling nozzle reaches into the receiving
volume to a central region of the receiving volume. In this manner,
the scrap mandrel container can be filled in a position-independent
manner without the danger of an outlet opening of the filling
nozzle being closed by scrap mandrels.
Inventors: |
SKOLAUDE; ANDREAS;
(SCHWABACH, DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
RIBE ANLAGENTECHNIK GMBH |
SCHWABACH |
|
DE |
|
|
Family ID: |
51292894 |
Appl. No.: |
15/000198 |
Filed: |
January 19, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
PCT/EP2014/001886 |
Jul 9, 2014 |
|
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15000198 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
29/243.53 ;
206/525 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B21J 15/326 20130101;
B65D 85/70 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B21J 15/32 20060101
B21J015/32; B65D 85/00 20060101 B65D085/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 19, 2013 |
DE |
102013012075.6 |
Claims
1. A scrap container for a unit waste produced during a machining
operation of a moved machine hand, the scrap container comprising:
a closed housing having a receiving volume for the unit waste, said
receiving volume having a central region; and a filling nozzle
extending into said receiving volume, said filling nozzle having an
outlet opening terminating in said central region of said receiving
volume.
2. The scrap container according to claim 1, wherein said outlet
opening is positioned within the receiving volume in such a manner
that, irrespective of an orientation of the scrap container, an at
least substantially equal filling volume is available which is
defined by said closed housing up to a respective horizontal plane
depending on a current orientation, the horizontal plane receives
said outlet opening.
3. The scrap container according to claim 1, wherein said filling
nozzle is beveled at said outlet opening.
4. The scrap container according to claim 1, wherein said closed
housing is roughly box-shaped.
5. The scrap container according to claim 1, further comprising a
locking unit; and wherein said closed housing has an emptying lid
lockable by said locking unit.
6. The scrap container according to claim 5, wherein said emptying
lid is disposed in a pivoting-movable manner.
7. The scrap container according to claim 5, wherein said locking
unit has a locking lever which locks said emptying lid.
8. The scrap container according to claim 7, wherein said locking
lever is part of a toggle lever mechanism.
9. The scrap container according to claim 7, wherein said emptying
lid is loosely mounted and said locking lever presses said emptying
lid into a locking position.
10. The scrap container according to claim 5, further comprising a
drive fitted for an automatic opening and/or unlocking of said
emptying lid.
11. The scrap container according to claim 1, wherein said closed
housing has an emptying region with at least one oblique wall.
12. The scrap container according to claim 1, further comprising a
counting unit fitted for counting the unit waste fed in, said
counting unit emitting an emptying signal when a predefined number
of waste units is reached.
13. The scrap container according to claim 1, wherein the unit
waste is scrap mandrels from blind rivets.
14. A movable robot hand, comprising: a scrap container according
to claim 1.
15. The movable robot hand according to claim 14, further
comprising a blind rivet setting tool for securing a connecting
element to a component, and secured alongside said scrap container.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This is a continuation application, under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.120, of copending international application No.
PCT/EP2014/001886, filed Jul. 9, 2014, which designated the United
States; this application also claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.119, of German patent application No. DE 10 2013 012 075.6,
filed Jul. 19, 2013; the prior applications are herewith
incorporated by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a scrap container for unit waste,
in particular for scrap mandrels from blind rivets, and also a
movable manipulator having a scrap container of this kind.
[0003] In the case of a blind rivet setting operation, a blind
rivet to be set is introduced into a component hole with the help
of a blind rivet setting tool and usually comes to rest against a
hole edge with a setting head. A drawing mandrel of the blind rivet
is then drawn with the help of a drawing head of the setting tool,
so that a closing head is formed on the component surface opposite
the setting head and the blind rivet is reliably set. When a
defined setting force is reached, the drawing mandrel breaks off at
a predetermined breaking point. This produces a scrap mandrel that
must be disposed of.
[0004] Suction equipment for this purpose is known in the art, in
which the scrap mandrels are sucked away via a hose and fed to a
collecting container.
[0005] In a few applications, for example with riveting processes
on a motor vehicle body, the setting tool is secured to a movable
manipulator, in particular to a robot hand of a robot. The robots
in this case are usually multiaxial industrial robots which are
moved in a highly dynamic fashion at high acceleration values
during operation. A fundamental problem associated with this highly
dynamic method of operation comes in the shape of any supply lines
in this case, which are highly tensioned. Accordingly, a hose for
any scrap mandrels produced is also associated with an installation
cost and is subject to high stresses. In addition, the hose may
also be problematic when it has to be fed over a certain distance
to a scrap mandrel container.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Based on this, the problem addressed by the invention,
particularly with highly dynamic applications of this kind, is that
of facilitating improved scrap mandrel disposal.
[0007] The problem is solved according to the invention by a scrap
container for unit waste, particularly for scrap mandrels from
blind rivets, wherein this unit waste is generally produced during
a machining operation on a moved machine hand. In particular, this
scrap container is used to receive scrap mandrels which are
produced during the setting of blind rivets which are produced with
the help of a blind rivet setting tool secured to a robot hand of
an industrial robot. The scrap container in this case is
particularly configured for direct attachment to the robot hand and
is also secured accordingly during operation directly to the robot
hand. It is therefore also moved in a highly dynamic fashion during
operation, just as the setting tool is.
[0008] The problem with robot movements of this kind is that the
container does not adopt a defined position in relation to a
horizontal ground plane. This makes it difficult to feed in scrap
mandrels, as there is a risk that the scrap mandrels already in the
scrap container will block a filling opening when there is a change
in position, meaning that there is a risk of obstruction when the
scrap mandrels are removed.
[0009] To prevent this, a filling nozzle is fitted which extends
into a central region of the receiving volume defined by the scrap
container and terminates there in the central region at an outlet
opening. The filling nozzle is connected via a hose to the setting
tool, for example, for removal of the scrap mandrels.
[0010] The central region in this case is understood to mean a
middle region within the receiving volume which is spaced apart
from walls of the housing on all sides. The housing is therefore
completely closed, so that none of the scrap pieces already in the
housing can fall out during movements of the robot hand. The
crucial advantage here should be regarded as the fact that
irrespective of the position of the scrap container in the space, a
partial region of the receiving volume lies beneath the outlet
opening in each case. The scrap mandrels therefore accumulate in
all cases for all positions which the scrap container along with
the robot hand adopts in the space beneath the outlet opening, at
least until a certain filling level is reached. Safe scrap mandrel
disposal is thereby guaranteed overall, even with applications
involving highly dynamic movements.
[0011] It is appropriate in this case for the outlet opening to be
positioned within the receiving volume, such that depending on the
orientation of the scrap container in the space, there is an at
least approximately identical filling volume in each case. The
filling volume in this case is defined by a partial region of the
receiving volume which is limited by the housing up to a current
horizontal plane in each case, which receives the outlet opening.
The filling volume is therefore defined by the volume within the
housing beneath this horizontal plane. "Beneath" in this case
should be understood to mean in the direction of gravity in each
case. This ultimately means that a center point of the outlet
opening is at least arranged roughly in the center of the space
volume defined by the receiving volume, such that a plane through
this center point divides the receiving volume into at least two
equally sized partial volumes in each case.
[0012] "At least equally sized" in this case should be taken to
mean a deviation of maximum 20%, preferably of maximum 10%. A
maximum filling volume can therefore easily be specified by this
embodiment, which therefore corresponds to roughly half the
receiving volume. The scrap container can be filled in a
process-safe manner up to this filling volume, possibly following
the deduction of a safety region, without there being any risk of
the outlet opening being obstructed by scrap mandrels.
[0013] In addition, in an advantageous development the outlet
opening of the filling nozzle is beveled. This prevents scrap
mandrels from being left in an unfavorable position on the edge of
the filling nozzle and therefore blocking the outlet opening.
[0014] The housing has a roughly box-shaped configuration overall
and has at least one box-shaped central or base space. A flat
design is advantageously provided in this case, in order to
restrict the overall installation height. A box-shaped
configuration of this kind is often favorable for positioning on a
robot hand.
[0015] The housing can be advantageously sealed by an emptying lid
lockable by means of a locking unit. In general, the housing is
completely closed during operation, which means that scrap mandrels
are in principle prevented from falling out. So that accidental
opening of the emptying opening or emptying lid at high
acceleration values is reliably prevented, said lid is reliably
locked during operation via the locking unit.
[0016] The emptying lid itself is advantageously arranged in a
pivoting-movable manner in this case, so that it can easily be
opened in the unlocked state.
[0017] During normal operation, the emptying lid is preferably
locked by a locking lever of the locking unit. The locking lever in
this case is, in particular, part of a preferably self-locking
toggle lever mechanism which usually contains two toggle or
articulated levers connected to one another in an articulated
fashion. The toggle lever mechanism, also referred to as a toggle
clamp, has the particular advantage that due to the self-locking
property, only a comparatively small holding force is required
during operation, in order to reliably hold the locking lever in
the closed position.
[0018] The locking lever simultaneously presses the emptying lid
preferably into a closed position. No additional active movement of
the emptying lid for opening and closing is therefore provided for.
Actuation of the emptying lid simply involves actuating the locking
lever.
[0019] In order to unlock and open the emptying lid, the locking
lever in this case is actuated in an advantageous embodiment by
means of a drive.
[0020] For simple, process-safe emptying, the housing has an
emptying region with at least one oblique wall. In particular, the
housing is roughly wedge-shaped when viewed in cross section,
wherein the emptying lid is arranged at the tapered tip, in other
words, with a corresponding positioning of the housing, at the
lowest point. Said emptying lid therefore covers a pouring opening
to this extent.
[0021] This embodiment has, in particular, the advantage that a
fully automated emptying of the scrap container is made possible
and also provided for. When the scrap mandrel container is full,
the robot hand advantageously moves to an emptying position where
there is a collecting container, for example, and brings the scrap
container into a defined emptying position, so that the pouring
opening closed by the emptying lid points downwards. By activating
the drive, the locking lever is actuated, so that the emptying lid
opens and the container is emptied.
[0022] Particularly with regard to a fully automated operation of
this kind, the scrap container preferably furthermore has a
counting unit for counting the unit waste fed in. When a predefined
number of units is reached, an emptying signal is emitted
particularly to a control unit. Due to the high dynamics, the
individual counting of the individual scrap mandrels via the
counting unit is a process-safe solution. As an alternative to
individual counting, a filling level sensor is installed which
measures the filling level or else the filling quantity within the
collection volume. The sensor is also configured as a weight
sensor, for example.
[0023] Upon receipt of the emptying signal, the control unit
activates an emptying mode, so that fully automatic emptying is
triggered.
[0024] The control system in this case is advantageously set up so
that emptying only takes place when a component being machined, for
example a car body, is complete, in other words a defined working
cycle has come to an end. Emptying then preferably takes place
during a component changeover. The overall filling volume of the
container in this case is advantageously adjusted to a working
cycle of this kind, in other words, for example, to the quantity of
scrap mandrels produced per component, so that emptying can always
take place during a component changeover, for example after one,
two, three, etc. components, in other words between two working
cycles.
[0025] The problem according to the invention is further solved by
a movable manipulator, in particular a robot hand.
[0026] Other features which are considered as characteristic for
the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
[0027] Although the invention is illustrated and described herein
as embodied in a scrap container for scrap waste, in particular for
scrap mandrels from blind rivets, and a movable manipulator with
such a scrap container, it is nevertheless not intended to be
limited to the details shown, since various modifications and
structural changes may be made therein without departing from the
spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of
equivalents of the claims.
[0028] The construction and method of operation of the invention,
however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof
will be best understood from the following description of specific
embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[0029] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of an industrial
robot with a scrap container secured to a robot hand according to
the invention;
[0030] FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the scrap container according
to FIG. 1;
[0031] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the scrap container; and
[0032] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the scrap container within a
sectional plane leading through a filling nozzle.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0033] Parts with the same action are labeled using the same
reference numbers in the figures.
[0034] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and
first, particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a machining
tool, namely a blind rivet setting tool 6, and also a scrap
container 8 configured as a scrap mandrel container are secured to
a multiaxial industrial robot 2, namely to a robot hand 4 thereof.
FIG. 1 in this case only shows an exemplary installation without
the complete connections. The scrap container 8 has a hose
connection 10 for connecting a scrap mandrel hose not depicted in
greater detail here, via which scrap mandrels which are produced as
waste products during a blind rivet setting operation are fed from
the setting tool 6 to the scrap container 8. The feed for this
purpose particularly takes place by a pneumatic device. The scrap
mandrels are therefore pushed into the scrap container 8 via the
scrap mandrel hose.
[0035] With the help of an industrial robot 2 of this kind with a
setting tool 6 secured thereto, a fully automated connection of
components, for example of two sheet metals, using blind rivets is
particularly made possible.
[0036] The industrial robot 2 is suitable and configured for
carrying out complex movement sequences. Particularly when
machining car bodies, the robot hand 4 moves in a highly dynamic
fashion into a wide variety of working positions. This means that
the elements secured to the robot hand 4, particularly the setting
tool 6 and also the scrap container 8, adopt any positions in the
space. They must be configured for these highly dynamic movement
sequences.
[0037] In order to allow safe, reliable scrap mandrel disposal, the
scrap container 8 exhibits the design described below in relation
to FIGS. 2 to 4.
[0038] The scrap container 8 contains a housing 12 which exhibits a
box-shaped base body 14 and an emptying region 16 connected
thereto. Starting from a transverse edge of the base body 14, the
emptying region 16 has an oblique wall 20A extending from a lower
side 18A to an upper side 18B, so that viewed in section (FIG. 2)
the emptying region is roughly wedge-shaped in design. As can also
be seen, particularly from FIG. 4, the side walls also run between
the upper side 18B and the lower side 18A as an oblique wall 20B,
so that the emptying region 16 defines a roughly trapezoidal area
as a continuation of the upper side 18B. At this upper side 18B,
the emptying region 16 is closed by an emptying lid 22 which is
connected thereto in a pivoting-moving manner at the edge of the
base body 14.
[0039] A locking unit 24 contains a toggle lever mechanism 26 with
a locking lever 28 is furthermore arranged on the upper side 18B.
In order to actuate the toggle lever mechanism 26, the locking unit
24 furthermore contains a pneumatic drive 30, for example. By means
of this, the locking lever 28 can be activated via the toggle lever
mechanism 26, so that the emptying lid is opened or locked. The
locking lever 28 in this case is connected to the emptying lid 22.
When the toggle lever mechanism 24 is actuated, the locking lever
28 pivots away upwards and thereby opens the emptying lid 22.
[0040] A feed unit 34 is secured to a rear side 32 of the housing
12 lying opposite the emptying region 16, which feed unit contains
the hose connection 10 which is continued by a filling nozzle 36.
The filling nozzle 36 in this case extends into the interior of the
housing 12. This interior defines a receiving volume 38 in this
case.
[0041] The filling nozzle 36 terminates at an outlet opening 40
which is positioned in a central region 42 of the receiving volume
38. In order to form the outlet opening 40, the filling nozzle 36
is beveled at the end.
[0042] The positioning of the outlet opening 40 in this case is
selected in such a manner that it is positioned in the free inside
volume of the housing 12, so that the outlet opening 40 is
therefore spaced apart from all wall regions of the housing 12. In
this case, the outlet opening 40 is particularly positioned in such
a manner that any dividing plane through an opening center 44 (see
FIG. 4) divides the receiving volume 38, in particular the
receiving volume 38 defined by the base body 14 (so without the
volume of the emptying region 16), into at least roughly two
filling volumes 46 of equal size. Two dividing or horizontal planes
48 of this kind are drawn by way of example in FIGS. 2 and 4.
[0043] This positioning means that independently of the respective
position of the scrap container 8, an at least substantially equal
filling volume 46 is always available up to the outlet opening
40.
[0044] The scrap mandrels being received are usually elongate,
pin-shaped elements with a diameter in the region of a few
millimeters, for example in the region of 2 to 8 mm. The length of
the scrap mandrels is a multiple thereof. The free internal
diameter of the filling nozzle is adjusted to the diameter of the
scrap mandrels and lies in the region of 10 mm, for example.
[0045] As can be inferred, particularly from the sectional
depiction in FIG. 4, the feed unit 34 exhibits a feed hopper 50
downstream of the hose connection 10, which hopper is part of a
center piece 52. The hose connection 10 is particularly secured to
the center piece 52 via a screw fastening. The feed hopper 50
guarantees a process-safe delivery of the scrap mandrels from the
hose into the center piece. The filling nozzle 36 is further
attached to the center piece 52, which is in turn secured
particularly by a screw fastening to the center piece 52. Here,
too, a feed hopper 50 is configured at the delivery point on the
side of the filling nozzle 36, upstream of which there is a kind of
diffusor of the center piece 52.
[0046] The center piece 52 contains a counting unit 54 which is
connected via a cable connection 56 for transmitting a counting
signal to a control unit not shown in greater detail here. The
counting unit 54 is configured to count the scrap mandrels fed into
the scrap mandrel container 8 individually. The counting unit 54
has a suitable sensor for this purpose.
[0047] With the help of the counting unit 54 and the control unit
connected thereto, a fully automated, monitored and therefore
process-safe operation is made possible, in which an emptying
signal is emitted to the control unit, particularly when a
predefined filling volume is reached in the counting unit 54, and
the control unit then initiates a fully automated emptying of scrap
mandrel container 8.
[0048] For emptying, the scrap mandrel container 8 is guided by the
robot hand 4 via a corresponding emptying position, then the toggle
lever mechanism 26 is actuated via the drive 30, so that the
locking lever 28 opens the emptying lid 22 and the scrap mandrels
fall out of the scrap container 8.
[0049] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and
the corresponding structure used in the above description of the
invention: [0050] 2 Industrial robot [0051] 4 Robot hand [0052] 6
Setting tool [0053] 8 Scrap container [0054] 10 Hose connection
[0055] 12 Housing [0056] 14 Base body [0057] 16 Emptying region
[0058] 18A Lower side [0059] 18B Upper side [0060] 20A, 20B Oblique
wall [0061] 22 Emptying lid [0062] 24 Locking unit [0063] 26 Toggle
lever mechanism [0064] 28 Locking lever [0065] 30 Drive [0066] 32
Rear side [0067] 34 Feed unit [0068] 36 Filling nozzle [0069] 38
Receiving volume [0070] 40 Outlet opening [0071] 42 Central region
[0072] 44 Opening center [0073] 46 Filling volume [0074] 48
Horizontal plane [0075] 50 Feed hopper [0076] 52 Center piece
[0077] 54 Counting unit [0078] 56 Cable connection
* * * * *