DE29914967U1 - Flaring device with a multi-axis manipulator - Google Patents

Description

Applicant:

KUKA Welding Systems GmbH Blücherstrasse 144 8 6165 Augsburg

Representative:

Patent attorneys

Dipl.-Ing. H.-D. Ernicke Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Ernicke Schwibbogenplatz 2b 8 6153 Augsburg / DE

Date:

File:

25.08.1999
772-914 he/she

OJ DE-G-299 14 967.6

DESCRIPTION

Flanging device with a multi-axis manipulator

The invention relates to a flanging device with a multi-axis manipulator, in particular an industrial robot, with the features in the preamble of the main claim.

Such a flanging device is known from DE-U-299 10. The robot-guided flanging tool has a flanging roller with which the flanging flange on the workpiece is folded over and pressed down. The pre-flanging and final flanging can take place in two or more work steps if necessary: With the robot-guided flanging roller, largely straight or relatively slightly curved flanging flanges can be processed without any problems. Strong curves and especially corners in the flanging flange contour are very difficult to fold with a flanging roller. The problem in the corner areas has been addressed on the one hand by simply leaving out the flanging flanges at the corners. Flanging at the corners is then dispensed with without replacement.

On the other hand, flaring devices are known from JP-A-2 006 022 and JP-A-2 070 325, in which a flaring robot flaring the straight workpiece edges, with special stationary corner flaring units being arranged in the corner areas. The corner flaring units are arranged and driven separately from the flaring robot and work independently. On the one hand, this leads to increased construction and control costs" and on the other hand has the disadvantage that the relatively large-volume corner flaring units make it difficult to place the flaring roller on the adjacent flaring flange areas. The

19 08; 00

Corner flanging units are in the way and disruptive.

The subsequently published EP-A-O 978 334 shows a conventional flanging machine with external and internal flanging units as well as additional corner flanging devices. These are primarily responsible for pre-flanging in the corner area. A flanging robot is not present here. A similar conventional flanging machine without a robot is also known from JP-61-180621A.

US-A-4,136,627 deals with a crimping machine with which a lid is to be placed tightly and secured on a container. Additional corner bending devices are also arranged here. A flanging robot is also not present here.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a flanging device which is better with regard to corner flanging.

The invention solves this problem with the features in the main claim.

In the flanging device according to the invention, the flanging of the corner areas is either carried out by the manipulator or robot itself or at least triggered by it. Special corner flanging units with their own drive and separate control are unnecessary.

The corner areas on the workpiece can be flanged reliably, quickly, with little effort and cost-effectively.

In addition, collision and space problems are avoided.

Compared to corner flanging with the flanging roller, a better process and component quality as well as a

reduced optimization effort achieved. 35

The flanging device according to the invention can be designed in different ways. In the simplest version, a corner slider for flanging the corner areas is arranged on the robot-guided flanging tool.

This is operated by the robot. With a simple tool movement, in particular a rotation, the combination tool equipped with a flanging roller and the corner slider can be brought to the respective working position.

There are several design options for this embodiment. In one variant, the robot carries out the flanging movement and applies the flanging forces. This is the simplest and most cost-effective form.

In this case, relatively stationary guides can relieve the load on the robot. In the second variant, the corner slider can have at least one additional axis with its own drive, which may be derived from the robot. The robot can then center itself and support itself on the tool plate or frame. The reaction forces are absorbed by the centering. The robot's brakes can also be activated. The load on the robot is relieved.

In an alternative embodiment, one or more stationary corner flanging mechanisms can be arranged in the corner areas of the workpiece, which are activated by the robot via a trigger and thus come into operation. These corner flanging mechanisms can be arranged rigidly or movably. The movable design has the advantage that the corner flanging mechanism is moved away from the workpiece in the rest position and thus does not affect the working space of the flanging roller and is only moved into the working position by the robot specifically for corner flanging.

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The corner slider has a flank shape adapted to the flange geometry in the corner area. It can be easily replaced when changing workpieces. For optimal folding technology in the corner area, it is also advantageous if the corner slider has different flank areas with which the desired flange shape can be taken into account. It is particularly advantageous if the middle flank area comes into contact with the flange corner first. This allows the flange material to be curved outwards and better distributed in the corner area.

With the flanging device according to the invention, it is also possible to first flang the corners and other more curved areas on the workpiece and then fold the straight or less curved flange areas with the flanging roller. By flanging the corners in advance, the workpiece parts to be connected can be fixed to one another, which simplifies the clamping technology during the subsequent folding with the flanging roller and speeds up the entire flanging process. It is particularly advantageous if the corner slider is arranged on the robot-guided flanging tool and can be quickly brought into position.

Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

The invention is illustrated by way of example and schematically in the drawings. In detail:

Figure 1: in a schematic side view a

Flanging device with a workpiece, a multi-axis robot and a robot-guided flanging tool with flanging roller and corner slider,

Figure 2: an enlarged side view of the

Flaring tool of Figure 1 and

Figure 3: a top view of the corner slider.

Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a flanging device (1) which consists of one or more multi-axis manipulators (2), each with at least one flanging tool (5) which is moved by the manipulator (2) relative to a workpiece (10) which is preferably arranged and clamped in a stationary manner on a frame (14). The workpiece (10) has one or more flanging flanges (11) which have corner regions (12) at one or more points. Corner regions (12) are understood to mean all those flanging flange regions which have a greater curvature and which can only be folded to a limited extent with a flanging roller.

The manipulator (2) is preferably designed as a multi-axis industrial robot, which in the embodiment shown has six rotary axes. The number of axes can also be smaller or larger. The robot (2) has a robot control (13) via which its movements and, if necessary, the flanging process sequence are controlled. In the robot control (13) a

The movement sequence of the robot (2) and the flanging tool (5) is programmed and saved.

The robot (2) has a swing arm and a boom (3), at the front end of which a robot hand (4) with one or more axes of movement is arranged. On the output side, the robot hand (4) has a hand flange to which a flanging tool (5) is attached.

The flanging tool (5) has one or more flanging rollers (6) or another suitable pressing instrument for flanging straight or slightly curved areas of the flanging flange (11). The flanging roller (6) is freely rotatable and can be arranged so that it can deflect in the pressing direction if necessary.

The flanging device (1) has at least one corner slider (7) that can be actuated by the manipulator (2) for the targeted flanging of the corner areas (12). Two different embodiments are shown in Figure 1.

In one embodiment, a corner slider (7) is arranged on the flanging tool (5) and is moved by the robot (2) over the corner areas (12) for flanging. Figures 2 and 3 show further embodiments of this.

In the second embodiment, stationary corner flanging mechanisms (8) can be arranged at one or more corner areas (12), each of which has a corner slider (7). The corner flanging mechanisms (8) have a trigger (9), e.g. a foot pedal, which can be operated by the robot (2) with the flanging roller (6) or in another way. The corner slider (7) is moved forward via this trigger (9) and the flanging process is carried out in the corner area (12). The corner flanging mechanism (8) has a corresponding linkage gear or another transmission unit that transmits the force and movement of the

robot (2) into a flanging movement of the corner slider (7).

The corner flanging mechanism (8) can be arranged rigidly and e.g.

be attached to the frame (14). The corner flanging mechanism (8) can alternatively be movable as a whole or partially in itself, whereby the corner slider (7) can be moved back and forth between a pivoted back or retracted rest position, which is shown in small dashed lines in Figure 1, and a working position on the flanging flange (11). This movement is also generated via the trigger (9). In the retracted rest position, the corner slider (7) releases the corner area (12) so that the robot (2) can place the flanging roller (6) on the flanging flange (11) undisturbed and close to the corner area (12).

In the preferred embodiment, the corner slider

(7) is designed in one piece. Alternatively, it can also consist of several parts. In the embodiments shown, the corner slider (7) is also rigidly connected to the flanging tool (5) or to the corner flanging mechanism

(8). To relieve the load on the robot (2) when moving the corner slider (7), relatively stationary lateral guides (19) for the flanging tool (5) or the corner slider (7) can be provided, which are shown in broken lines and schematically in the figure. These absorb any lateral forces that may occur during flanging, so that the robot (2) is only subjected to forces acting in the direction of movement. To absorb these forces, the robot and axis kinematics can be optimized accordingly for the flanging movement.

In a modification not shown, the corner slider (7) can have its own additional axis with its own drive, which may be derived from the robot (2). In this case, the robot (2) can be located on the

Center and support the tool plate or the frame (14) in a suitable manner. The reaction forces are absorbed by the centering. In addition, the brakes of the robot can be activated. The load on the robot is relieved.

The corner slider (7) arranged on the flanging tool (5) is preferably attached to the underside or rear side of the flanging tool (5). It is preferably located on the side opposite the flanging roller (6).

&iacgr;&ogr; page. Figure 2 shows this arrangement. By rotating the hand flange, either the flanging roller (6) or the corner slider (7) can be brought into the working position. When flanging corners, the flanging tool (5) is preferably aligned with its longitudinal axis essentially perpendicular to the flanging flange (11) and, with the usual flange geometries, therefore has an essentially vertical alignment. This is beneficial for the elasticity and power transmission of the robot axes. In the normal or vertical direction, the robot (2) is not very elastic and can apply optimal pressure forces from above to the flanging flange (11). In the feed movement along the flanging flange (11), there is a higher elasticity, but this can then be compensated for by a tracking movement of the robot (2).

Alternatively, other positions of the flanging tool (5) and the robot arms or axes are also possible. The corner slider (7) is attached to the flanging tool (5) with a correspondingly different orientation.

Figure 3 shows a top view of an exemplary embodiment of a corner slider (7). The corner slider (7) is attached to the flanging tool (5) or the corner flanging mechanism (8) using screws and pins or other suitable mounting options (18). At the front, retracted head area, the corner slider (7) has angled flanging flanks (15) arranged to one another. The angular position corresponds to

essentially the flange geometry in the corner area (12). Instead of the approx. 90° angle position shown, any angle position can also be present. In addition to sharply curved corner areas, less curved or rounded corner areas (12) can also be processed with a correspondingly adapted flank geometry of the corner slider (7). The flanging flanks (15) have a flanging-appropriate inclination in cross-section, which initially allows pre-folding of the usually

&iacgr;&ogr; upright outer flange and subsequent folding and pressing onto the flanged workpiece part. The corner slider (7) is usually moved along the bisector of the corner area (12) or the flank angle (15).

The flank geometry can vary over the length of the flanks (15). It is particularly advantageous if the inner and middle flank area (16) has an advance effect compared to the outer flank areas (17) on both sides. As a result, the flanged flange (11) is initially gripped and deformed centrally at the corner, while the flange areas adjacent to the sides are only deformed later, or to a lesser extent, or not at all.

This allows the excess material present in the corner area on the flange (11) to be evenly distributed outwards.

The corner slide (7) and the flanged flanks (15) can be manufactured in any way. In the preferred embodiment, the flanged flanks (15) are machined and in particular milled in the corner area according to the data set of the workpiece (10) or the flanged flange (11).

Modifications of the embodiment shown are possible in various ways. The previously described embodiments for the corner slider (7) on the

- 10 -

robot-guided flanging tool (5) and the stationary corner flanging mechanism (8) can be used in combination together or individually. It is also possible to arrange several appropriately adapted corner sliders (7) on the flanging tool (5) in different corner areas (12) for different flange geometries. A multi-part corner slider (7) can also be used here if necessary. Furthermore, the arrangement and alignment of the corner slider(s) (7) can be

&iacgr;&ogr; on the flanging tool (5) can be varied, for example by integrating the corner slider(s) (7) there as a single piece. If necessary, separate flanging tools (5) can also be present for a corner slider (7) and for a flanging roller (6), which can be swapped by the robot as required. In a further modification, the corner flanging mechanism (8) can also be designed and arranged in any other suitable way. In this case, several corner flanging mechanisms (8) for different corner areas (12) can be combined with one another and equipped with a common trigger (9). The robot (2) can then actuate several corner sliders (7) simultaneously. The arrangement and design of the flanging flanks (15) on the corner slider (7) is also variable.

- 11 LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

1 Flaring device 2 Manipulator, robot 3 boom 4 Robot hand 5 Flaring tool 6 Flanging roll 7 Corner slider 8th Corner flanging mechanism 9 Trigger, foot lever 10 workpiece 11 Flared flange 12 Corner area 13 steering 14 frame 15 ■ Flanged edge 16 middle flank area 17 outer flank area 18 Fastening 19 . .Leadership

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Claims (10)

1. Flanging device with a multi-axis manipulator, in particular an industrial robot, which carries a flanging tool with a flanging roller on its hand, characterized in that the flanging device ( 1 ) additionally has at least one corner slider ( 7 ) which can be actuated by the manipulator ( 2 ). 2. Flanging device according to claim 1, characterized in that the corner slider ( 7 ) is arranged on the flanging tool ( 5 ). 3. Flanging device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the corner slider ( 7 ) is arranged rigidly or with at least one additional axis movable on the flanging tool ( 5 ). 4. Flanging device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the corner slider ( 7 ) is arranged on the underside or rear side of the flanging tool ( 5 ) facing away from the flanging roller(s) ( 6 ). 5. Flanging device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that relatively stationary guides ( 19 ) are provided for the flanging tool ( 5 ) and/or the corner slider ( 7 ). 6. Flanging device according to claim 1, characterized in that a corner slider ( 7 ) is arranged on at least one stationary corner flanging mechanism ( 8 ) which has a trigger ( 9 ) which can be actuated by the manipulator ( 2 ). 7. Flanging device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the stationary corner flanging mechanism ( 8 ) is arranged rigidly or movably between a retracted rest position and a working position on the workpiece ( 10 ). 8. Flanging device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the corner slider ( 7 ) has inclined flanging flanks ( 15 ) arranged at an angle to one another with different flank areas ( 16 , 17 ). 9. Flanging device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the middle flank region ( 16 ) has a leading effect with respect to the outer flank regions ( 17 ). 10. Flanging device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the flanging flanks ( 15 ) are machined according to the data set of the workpiece ( 10 ).