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KR-102960962-B1 - End effector unit

KR102960962B1KR 102960962 B1KR102960962 B1KR 102960962B1KR-102960962-B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an end effector unit mounted on an automated conveying means to grasp an object for conveying purposes, and may include a first plate formed in the shape of a flat plate; a second plate formed in the shape of a flat plate and formed in a stacked form with respect to the first plate, and installed to be capable of sliding forward and backward in a direction approaching the first plate or moving away from the first plate; a gripping part formed in the shape of a dome overall to form a gripping space capable of grasping an object inside, comprising a plurality of wires, one end of which is connected to the first plate and the other end of which is connected to the second plate, and formed such that the middle of the length is bent into an arc shape to form an arch shape; and a driving part for sliding forward and backward of the second plate.

Inventors

  • 최현석
  • 양기훈
  • 전혜림

Assignees

  • 한국생산기술연구원

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20231124

Claims (18)

  1. A first plate formed in the shape of a flat plate; A second plate formed in the shape of a flat plate and formed in a stacked form vertically with respect to the first plate, and installed to be capable of sliding forward and backward in a direction approaching the first plate or in a direction moving away from the first plate; A gripping portion formed in an overall dome shape to form a gripping space capable of gripping an object inside, comprising a plurality of wires, each having one end connected to the first plate and the other end connected to the second plate, with the middle of the length formed to be bent into an arc shape to form an arch shape; and A driving unit for sliding the second plate back and forth; is included, The above driving unit is, In a holding state, the second plate is driven backward so that the length of the plurality of wires exposed on the first plate can gradually become shorter, and in a release state, the second plate is driven forward so that the length of the plurality of wires exposed on the first plate can gradually become longer. A push plate formed in the shape of a flat plate and formed on the upper surface of the first plate, with at least a portion formed to penetrate the first plate and protrude from the lower surface of the first plate, and which, in the release state, rises to a predetermined height from the upper surface of the first plate through contact with the second plate driven forward by the driving unit, thereby pushing the object between the plurality of wires; An end effector unit that further includes
  2. In Article 1, The above-mentioned gripping part is, An end effector unit that inserts an object into a gripping space between a plurality of wires formed of a flexible material, the plurality of wires which spread apart from each other due to pressure caused by contact with the object when gripping the object.
  3. In Article 1, The above-mentioned gripping part is, An end effector unit formed in such a way that a plurality of wires formed of a flexible material are arranged in a circular manner with respect to the central axis of the first plate and the second plate, and each wire is arranged to be staggered with respect to at least one other wire, thereby forming a dome shape having a net structure.
  4. In Paragraph 3, The above-mentioned gripping part is, An end effector unit formed such that, in a plan view in which the upper surface of the first plate is a plane, each wire member, having one end connected to the first plate and the other end connected to the second plate, is generally formed in a straight line or an arc shape so as not to twist, so that the object can enter the gripping space or be discharged from the gripping space through the mesh structure of the gripping part formed of a flexible material.
  5. In Article 1, The first plate above is, A plurality of guide shafts are formed along the outer surface, and The second plate above is, An end effector unit installed to be capable of sliding forward and backward along a plurality of guide shafts formed to extend vertically, in a direction closer to the first plate or away from the first plate.
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  7. In Article 1, The above-mentioned gripping part is, An end effector unit in which, during the gripping state, as the lengths of the plurality of wires gradually shorten, the volume of the gripping space inside the dome shape gradually decreases, and the object is fixed inside the gripping space by the pressure received from the plurality of wires.
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  9. In Article 1, The first plate above is, It is formed in the shape of a circular plate having a diameter larger than that of the push plate, and a concave receiving groove is formed on the upper surface in a shape corresponding to the shape of the push plate so as to receive the push plate. The above push plate is, An end effector unit having a push shaft formed to protrude in a column shape from the lower surface so as to penetrate the first plate in a direction toward the lower surface of the first plate in the receiving groove portion.
  10. In Article 1, A sensor unit installed on the first plate or the second plate to measure the gripping force generated by the pressure received by the object from the plurality of wires during the gripping state; An end effector unit that further includes
  11. In Article 10, The sensor unit above is, A reaction force sensor installed on the first plate or the second plate so as to be connected to the end of at least one of the plurality of wires, and measuring the reaction force caused by the tension applied to the plurality of wires when in the gripping state; An end effector unit including
  12. In Article 10, The sensor unit above is, A pressure sensor installed in the receiving groove of the first plate that accommodates the push plate, which measures the pressure applied to the push plate when the gripping state is reached; An end effector unit including
  13. In Article 10, The sensor unit above is, A current sensor electrically connected to the driving unit that slides the second plate back and forth, and measures the driving current applied to the driving unit when in the gripping state; An end effector unit including
  14. In Article 10, The sensor unit above is, A tension sensor installed on a wire connecting the first plate and the second plate, which measures the tensile force applied to the wire during the gripping state; An end effector unit including
  15. In Article 1, The above driving unit is, A fixed plate fixedly installed on a plurality of guide shafts formed along the outer surface of the first plate so as to be positioned at the rear of the second plate based on the forward and backward sliding movement direction of the second plate; and A driving cylinder installed on the fixed plate and applying a linear driving force to the second plate so as to drive the second plate back and forth along the plurality of guide shafts; An end effector unit including
  16. In Article 1, The above driving unit is, A fixed plate fixedly installed on a plurality of guide shafts formed along the outer surface of the first plate so as to be positioned at the rear of the second plate based on the forward and backward sliding movement direction of the second plate; A ball screw formed to extend long in a rod shape between the first plate and the fixed plate; A rotary motor installed on the fixed plate to drive the ball screw rotation; and A ball nut installed on the second plate so as to be screw-coupled with the ball screw, which penetrates the second plate and has screw threads formed on its outer diameter surface, and which moves linearly along the ball screw together with the second plate according to the rotational drive of the ball screw; An end effector unit including
  17. In Article 1, The above driving unit is, A fixed plate fixedly installed on a plurality of guide shafts formed along the outer surface of the first plate so as to be positioned at the rear of the second plate based on the forward and backward sliding movement direction of the second plate; A tension spring installed between the first plate and the second plate, which elastically applies a tensile force so that the second plate can move forward in a direction closer to the first plate; A rotary motor installed on the above fixed plate and rotating; and A pulley installed on the rotary drive shaft of the rotary motor so that a wire connected to the second plate can be wound, and which moves the second plate forward or backward according to the unwinding or winding of the wire by the rotational drive of the rotary motor; An end effector unit including
  18. In Article 1, The above driving unit is, A fixed plate fixedly installed on a plurality of guide shafts formed along the outer surface of the first plate so as to be positioned at the rear of the second plate based on the forward and backward sliding movement direction of the second plate; A rack gear formed to extend long in a rod shape between the first plate and the fixed plate; and A rotary motor installed on the second plate to drive rotation, with a pinion gear installed on the rotation drive shaft that meshes with the rack gear, and which moves linearly along the rack gear together with the second plate according to the rotation drive; An end effector unit including

Description

End effector unit The present invention relates to an end effector unit, and more specifically, to an end effector unit mounted on an automated transfer means to grip and transfer an object. To move the position of an object to be transported, an end effector unit that grasps the object and a transport means, such as an automated robot or mobility device, capable of transporting the grasped object from the current position to the destination are required. An end effector unit mounted on a conveying means to grasp an object is a type of gripper that generally uses a rigid mechanical part to apply pressure to the side of the object to be grasped. When the object is moved by the conveying means, such an end effector unit must generate a force applied to the side of the object (hereinafter referred to as "grip force") that is greater than the load of the object so that the object does not slip off the end effector. However, these conventional end effector units apply pressure to the sides of an object using rigid mechanical parts, and there was a problem in that when the object to be grasped was made of soft material such as fruit or vegetables, the object was easily damaged during the grasping process due to the gripping force of the end effector unit. In addition, depending on the weight or shape of the object to be grasped, an appropriate end effector unit must be mounted on the conveying means. However, in the case of crops such as the aforementioned fruits or vegetables, the shape of each individual is irregular and the weight also varies, so there was a problem in that it was difficult to select an appropriate end effector unit and replace it on the conveying means every time. Furthermore, conventional end effector units are composed solely of rigid mechanical parts, which poses a problem in that they can easily cause damage to an object by colliding with adjacent objects or break or malfunction of the rigid mechanical parts when approaching the object during the gripping process. For example, in the case of crops such as the aforementioned fruits or vegetables, they grow in clusters; therefore, when harvesting crops using a conventional end effector unit, there is a problem in that the value of the crop can be reduced by causing damage to the crop through collision with adjacent crops while approaching the crop to be gripped. FIGS. 1 and FIGS. 2 are a front view and a plan view schematically showing the release state of an end effector unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 3 and FIGS. 4 are a front view and a plan view schematically showing the holding state of the end effector unit of FIG. 1 holding an object. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the process in which the push plate rises to discharge the gripped object when the end effector unit of FIG. 1 operates from a gripping state to a release state. FIGS. 6 to 8 are front views showing various embodiments of the driving unit included in the end effector unit of FIG. 1, respectively. FIGS. 9 to 12 are front views showing various embodiments of the sensor unit included in the end effector unit of FIG. 1. Fig. 13 is an image showing the actual process of the end effector unit of Fig. 1 gripping an object. Hereinafter, several preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. The embodiments of the present invention are provided to more fully explain the invention to those skilled in the art, and the following embodiments may be modified in various different forms, and the scope of the invention is not limited to the following embodiments. Rather, these embodiments are provided to make the disclosure more faithful and complete and to fully convey the spirit of the invention to those skilled in the art. In addition, the thickness or size of each layer in the drawings is exaggerated for convenience and clarity of explanation. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to drawings that schematically illustrate ideal embodiments of the present invention. In the drawings, variations of the illustrated shapes may be expected, for example, depending on manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances. Accordingly, embodiments of the inventive concept should not be interpreted as being limited to specific shapes of the areas illustrated herein, but should include, for example, variations in shape resulting from manufacturing. FIGS. 1 and FIGS. 2 are a front view and a plan view schematically showing the release state of an end effector unit (1000) according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 3 and FIGS. 4 are a front view and a plan view schematically showing the holding state of the end effector unit (1000) of FIG. 1 holding an object (1), FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the process in which the push plate (600) rises to discharge the held object (1) when the end effector unit (1000) of FIG. 1 operates from the