JP5237001B2 - Robot, robot hand and attachment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot, a robot hand, and an attachment. More specifically, for example, in a cell culture apparatus used for regenerative medicine, research applications, etc., a robot hand used for transporting and handling various containers and the like, a robot equipped with this robot hand, and the robot The present invention relates to an attachment used for holding an object by a hand.

  In recent years, regenerative medicine has been developed in which cells, tissues, etc. of human skin, cartilage, blood vessels, organs, etc. are taken out and cultured outside the body, and then used for the treatment of the same person or others. Yes.

  In cell culture in such regenerative medicine, first, a liquid medium containing nutrients was formed in a culture vessel (also called a dish or petri dish), and cells were seeded thereon to set the predetermined culture conditions. It is performed by storing in an incubator. At that time, it is necessary to perform a subculture operation by periodically performing a medium exchange operation such as discharging a spent medium and supplying a new medium. Such work requires a lot of time and labor according to the manual work of the worker, and also requires a lot of cost for measures to prevent contamination (contamination) due to the operator's intervention. Therefore, an apparatus using a robot has been developed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  This robot has a two-finger hand that can be opened and closed to hold an object. Various operations are performed by holding various objects with this hand. For example, the dish is taken out from a multistage incubator, transported to a predetermined position, placed, and then the dish lid is removed by the robot. Further, the main body of the dish is transported to a predetermined position, and the medium in the dish is discharged and supplied (see, for example, Patent Document 2). In addition, this robot also carries the medicine between the bottles, or carries the medicine between the centrifuge tubes that contain the liquid and are attached to the centrifuge. In addition, this hand also carries the paper while sandwiching the end of a thin container such as a tray.

  However, there are various objects to be gripped by the hand, and the shapes are also various. Therefore, it is desirable that the shape of the hand can grasp an object of any shape in a reliable and stable state, but it is not easy.

  Furthermore, the material of the gripping object is also various. For example, a container made of synthetic resin, which is a consumable item, has a certain degree of flexibility because it is manufactured at a light weight and at a low cost. Therefore, if it grips strongly, it will deform | transform and it will become difficult to attach a cover. On the contrary, if the container is weakly gripped, the container may slide down. Further, since the humidifying bat containing water is relatively heavy, it is necessary to grip it strongly. As described above, it is necessary to satisfy various conditions for the hand from a small gripping force (grip force) to a large gripping force, and it is necessary to accurately adjust the hand gripping force.

On the other hand, in order to deal with containers of various shapes and sizes, the robot hand needs many positioning controls in addition to the adjustment of the grip force. In particular, in the case of a shallow container such as a dish (a container having a very low height), it is not easy to grip the main body from the side due to the covered lid, and precise positioning control is required.
JP 2006-115798 A JP 2006-149268 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a robot hand that does not require a fine grip force adjustment for gripping an object by the robot hand and that has reduced positioning accuracy when gripping the object, and the robot It is an object of the present invention to provide a robot having a hand and an attachment used for holding an object in a stable state by the robot hand.

The robot hand of the present invention is
It has a pair of gripping fingers that open and close by approaching and separating each other,
Either one of a plurality of engaging portions projecting oppositely and a plurality of engaged portions recessed facing each other is formed on each of the opposing surfaces of the pair of gripping fingers. Has been
The locked portion has a shape complementary to at least a part of the locking portion;
It is comprised so that the attachment which is the holding object in which the other of the said latching | locking part and the to-be-latched part is formed can be gripped.

  According to this configuration, when the pair of gripping fingers close and grip the attachment that is the gripping target, the locking portion is locked to the corresponding locked portion of the counterpart. Therefore, it is possible to grip the holding object with the attachment interposed without bending it. In addition, since a plurality of the locking portions and the locked portions are locked with each other, it is possible to sufficiently withstand the moment due to the weight of the object to be held. Further, since the gripping fingers can grip the attachment regardless of the shapes, sizes, and weights of various objects to be held, high-precision positioning and delicate grip force adjustment are not necessary.

  Here, the “complementary shape” means that at least a part corresponding to the inside and the outside substantially matches each other as in the relationship between the outer shape of the molded product and the inner shape of the cavity of the molding die. It means that it is shaped.

  When forming the locking part on the gripping finger, it is composed of a pin having a tapered portion with a sharp tip, and on the other hand, when forming the locked part, It can be comprised from the recessed part which has a part which exhibited the shape complementary to this taper-shaped part. With this configuration, when the gripping fingers grip the attachment, high accuracy is not required for alignment between the tapered pin and the tapered recess. Further, once locked, stable gripping is realized by their complementary shapes.

  The inclination angle of the tapered portion of the locking portion and the inclination angle of the corresponding tapered portion of the locked portion can be the same angle. If comprised in this way, when a latching part latches to a to-be-latched part, both contact by a latching part and a to-be-latched part will be a line contact, Preferably it becomes a surface contact, both This is preferable because the locking is stable.

  An arc-shaped engaging recess that can be engaged with a cylindrical holding object is formed on each of the opposing surfaces of the pair of gripping fingers, and this engaging recess is the center in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the gripping fingers. A small-diameter cylindrical surface portion sharing a shaft and a large-diameter cylindrical surface portion can be used. With this configuration, a cylindrical object with a lid can be effectively gripped.

  The pair of gripping fingers includes a sensor that detects a gripped object, and the sensor includes a transmitter that transmits a detection beam provided on one of the pair of gripping fingers, and the detection beam provided on the other. It can comprise from the receiving part which detects. If comprised in this way, it can confirm that the thing hold | gripped between the both holding fingers has grasped the thing by interrupting | blocking a detection beam.

A support member that supports the pair of gripping fingers so as to be separated from each other and an opening degree detecting device that detects an opening degree of the pair of gripping fingers;
The opening degree detection device includes one detected part and a plurality of detecting parts for detecting the detected part.
The plurality of detection units can be disposed on one of the support member and the gripping finger along the movement direction of the gripping finger, and the one detected portion can be disposed on the other.

The robot of the present invention
A robot hand is disposed at the tip of the operation arm, and this robot hand is composed of any one of the robot hands described above.

The attachment of the present invention is
An attachment attached to a holding object of a robot hand,
Either one of a plurality of locking portions protruding and a plurality of locking portions recessed is formed on each of the left and right outer surfaces,
The other of the locking part and the locked part is configured to be gripped by a pair of gripping fingers that are opened and closed by a robot hand formed.

  One of the locking portion and the locked portion formed on the left and right outer surfaces is the other of the locking portion and the locked portion formed on each of the opposing surfaces of the pair of gripping fingers. And has a complementary shape to the other.

  The locking portion is composed of a pin having a tapered portion with a sharp tip, and the locked portion is composed of a recess having a portion complementary to the tapered portion of the locking portion. Can do.

  In the case where at least three of the locking portions project along the longitudinal direction of each gripping finger, two of the at least three locking portions are respectively provided on the left and right outer surfaces of the attachment. Locked portions can be formed at two locations corresponding to the individual pieces. In this way, since two locking members having different separation distances can be selected according to the size of the object to be held, stable gripping is possible by locking with the corresponding locked portion. It becomes.

  The holding tool for holding the container can be the holding object to which the attachment is attached. Here, holding the container is not necessarily limited to clamping, and includes placing, housing, and fitting the container. Moreover, as a container, a culture container (dish), a pipette tip, etc. correspond.

  According to the present invention, since the pair of gripping fingers can be closed and the attachment of the object to be held can be firmly held, the object to be held can be gripped without being bent. Therefore, fine grip force adjustment and high positioning accuracy for gripping an object by the robot hand are eased.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a robot according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a robot hand of the robot of FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2, and is a substantial side view of the robot hand. 4 is a view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2, and is a front view of the robot hand. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an articulated robot 1 (hereinafter also simply referred to as a robot) includes a fixed portion 2, a base portion 3 that can be swung in a horizontal plane around an axis a at the top of the fixed portion 2, A first arm part 4 that can tilt in a vertical plane around the axis b at the top of the base part 3 and a second arm part 5 that can tilt in a vertical plane around the axis c at the tip of the first arm part 4. And a tip portion 5a (a U-shaped tip portion shown in the figure) that can be rotated around the axis d at the tip of the second arm portion 5, and can be tilted in a vertical plane around the axis e at the tip of the tip portion 5a. A hand part 6 is provided. The hand portion 6 is configured to be rotatable around an axis f. A pair of opposing gripping fingers 7 that can approach and separate from each other (open and close) are disposed on the distal end side of the hand portion 6.

  When this robot 1 is used, as shown by arrows A to F and arrows G corresponding to the respective axes in FIG. 1, the base portion 3 is turned (arrow A) and the first arm portion 4 is tilted (arrow B). The tilt of the second arm 5 (arrow C), the rotation of the tip 5a (arrow D), the tilt (arrow E) and rotation of the hand 6 (arrow F), and the adjustment of the opening / closing width of the gripping finger 7 ( Various operations can be performed by one unit with “7 degrees of freedom” consisting of arrows G) (6 degrees of freedom for positioning). As the robot 1, other configurations may be adopted as long as the robot 1 has a degree of freedom as illustrated.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the hand portion 6 is supported by a support member 8 fixed to the base shaft 6 a, a linear guide 9 provided at the front portion of the support member 8, and slides along the linear guide 9. And a pair of slide members 10. The gripping finger 7 is fixed to each slide member 10. As a result, the support member 8 can be rotated by the rotation of the base shaft 6 a of the hand portion 6. Further, the pair of slide members 10 each having the gripping fingers 7 slide toward and away from each other along the linear guide 9 (indicated by an arrow G in FIG. 2).

  The gripping finger 7 has a rectangular portion 11 having a rectangular cross section and a predetermined length at its tip. A base portion 13 having a predetermined cross-sectional area and a predetermined length is formed through a tapered portion 12 whose cross-sectional area gradually increases from the rectangular portion 11. The base 13 is fixed to the slide member 10 in a direction orthogonal to the slide direction. In addition, it is not necessary to limit the cross section of this gripping finger 7 to a rectangle. For example, it may be semicircular.

  On the inner surface of each gripping finger 7, that is, on the surface where the gripping fingers 7 are opposed to each other (opposing surface 7 a), three locking members 14 project from the longitudinal direction. The locking member 14 includes a columnar base portion 14b and a tapered portion 14a that is pointed conically on the tip side. The locking members 14 of the gripping fingers 7 are opposed to each other, and when the gripping fingers 7 are closed by the sliding of the slide member 10, the sharp tips coincide with each other. This locking member 14 is for easily and reliably gripping the object to be held by the gripping fingers 7 in cooperation with attachments 41 to 45 described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, a part of the facing surface 7 a of the gripping finger 7 is cut into an arc shape. The arc-shaped notch is formed as an arc-shaped engaging recess 15 for holding a cylindrical object such as a centrifuge tube S (see FIG. 12) described later. The engaging recesses 15 of both gripping fingers 7 are formed at positions facing each other. The engaging recess 15 has a small-diameter cylindrical surface portion 15 a and a large-diameter cylindrical surface portion 15 b that share a central axis in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the gripping finger 7. The small-diameter cylindrical surface portion 15a is, for example, a portion that holds the main body Sa (see FIG. 12) of the centrifuge tube S and has an inner diameter that is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the main body Sa. The large-diameter cylindrical surface portion 15b is a portion for escaping so as not to grip the lid portion Sb of the centrifuge tube S, and has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the lid portion Sb.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, a photoelectric sensor 16 is installed on the lower surface of the gripping finger 7. One gripping finger 7 is provided with a light emitter 16a that emits detection light, and the other gripping finger 7 is provided with a light receiver 16b that receives the detection light. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality (two in this embodiment) of photoelectric sensors 16 are installed along the longitudinal direction of the gripping fingers 7. Any object gripped by any part of the gripping finger 7 is detected by blocking the detection light. Thereby, it is confirmed whether or not the object is gripped as intended. The detection mechanism is not particularly limited to a photoelectric sensor.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the support member 8 is provided with a plurality of proximity switches 17 along the sliding direction of one slide member 10. Further, the one slide member 10 is provided with a detected member 18 to which the plurality of proximity switches 17 sequentially respond. With this configuration, the opening degree of the gripping finger 7 is detected in stages, and the soundness of the function of the gripping finger 7 can be confirmed. Since the distance between the proximity switches 17 cannot be smaller than a certain distance, the proximity switch 17 and the detected member 18 may be provided using the other slide member 10 when a finer position detection is required.

  6 to 12 show a gripping mechanism that allows the above-described hand unit 6 to grip various holding objects easily and reliably. This gripping mechanism includes attachments 41 to 45 for gripping by the gripping fingers 7 together with the pair of gripping fingers 7 described above. The attachments 41 to 45 are directly or indirectly attached to various holding objects.

  FIG. 6 illustrates a dish tray 22 for mounting the dish V thereon, and an attachment 41 attached to the dish tray 22. FIG. 6A is a plan view showing a state in which the gripping finger 7 is about to grip the attachment 41, and FIG. 6B is a side view thereof. In the side view (FIG. 6B), the gripping finger 7 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in order to clearly show the attachment 41. The dish tray 22 has a shallow circular dish shape, and is formed with a circular recess 22a into which the bottom of the dish V is loosely fitted. The bottom surface of the recess 22a is planar, and the bottom is opened in a circular shape. This circular opening 22c is for performing various operations on the dish V from its bottom in the automatic culture apparatus. A plurality of (two in this embodiment) positioning guide pins 23 and one attachment 41 are provided upright on the flange portion 22b formed around the recess 22a.

  The attachment 41 is formed in a flat plate shape extending in the radial direction along a plane perpendicular to the planar bottom surface of the recess 22a. A plurality (two in this embodiment) of locked portions 41a are formed on the left and right planes of the attachment 41 so that the locking members 14 of the gripping fingers 7 are inserted and engaged with each other. . The locked portion 41a is formed as a conical recess. The inclination angle of the conical surface with respect to the central axis is the same as the inclination angle of the tapered portion 14a of the locking member 14 with respect to the central axis. That is, the shape of the locked portion 41a is complementary to the tapered portion 14a of the locking member 14 that is pointed in a conical shape. Further, the position where the locked portion 41a is formed is matched with the arrangement of the locking member 14 on the gripping finger 7. However, although three holding members 14 are formed on the gripping finger 7, the attachment 41 has two locked portions 41a corresponding to the two locking members 14 near the tip of the attachment 41. Only formed. That's enough. One locking member 14 on the base side of the gripping finger 7 is detached from the attachment 41 and does not interfere. On the other hand, the positions of the locked portions 41a on the left and right sides of the attachment 41 correspond to each other. In the present embodiment, the imaginary straight line connecting the two locked portions 41a of the attachment 41 is parallel to the bottom surface of the recess 22a.

  According to the attachment 41 having such a configuration, the gripping by the gripping fingers 7 is easy and reliable. This is because high accuracy is not required for alignment when the conical locking member 14 is caused to enter the mortar-shaped locked portion 41a. Also, once locked, surface contact is obtained by the complementary shape of both. And since it is engagement with a cone shape and a mortar shape, engagement advances in the direction of stable holding | grip by the grip force of a holding finger. Further, even if the hand portion 6 of the robot 1 is rotated and tilted, the gripping stability is not impaired. In addition, the number of the locked portions 41a is two on each of the left and right sides of the attachment 41. Since the locking members 14 of the gripping fingers 7 are locked to all the locked portions 41a, it depends on the weight of the object to be held. Can withstand moments well.

  The attachment 41 and the plurality of positioning guide pins 23 cooperate to position the dish V in the recess 22a and guide it so as not to jump out. An engagement groove 41b is formed at the upper end of the attachment 41 along its upper side, and a knife edge 41c is formed at the lower end in parallel with the engagement groove 41b. An engaging pin 24 protruding downward is provided at the lower end of each positioning guide pin 23, and a fitting hole 23a of a size that allows the engaging pin 24 to be fitted is formed at the upper end.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when a plurality of dish trays 22 having such shapes are stacked without placing the dish V, the engagement pins 24 of the upper dish tray 22 are fitted into the fitting holes of the lower dish tray 22. The knife edge 41c of the upper dish tray 22 is engaged with the engaging groove 41b of the lower dish tray 22, respectively. Thus, a plurality of dish trays 22 can be stacked in a stable state. In the figure, a two-dot chain line indicates a plate 25 on which the dish tray 22 is placed.

  FIG. 8 illustrates a bottle holder 26 for fitting the medicine bottle M therein, and an attachment 42 attached to the bottle holder 26. FIG. 8A is a plan view showing a state where the gripping finger 7 is gripping the attachment 42, and FIG. 8B is a side view thereof. In the side view (FIG. 8B), the gripping finger 7 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in order to clearly show the attachment 42. The bottle holder 26 has an annular shape, and its inner peripheral shape is complementary to the outer peripheral shape of the medicine bottle M. For example, in this embodiment, since the upper part of the medicine bottle M has a cylindrical shape and the lower part has a conical shape, the inner periphery of the bottle holder 26 has the outer diameter of the medicine bottle M. And a lower part of the cylindrical surface 26a has a conical surface 26b having substantially the same inclination angle as the conical portion of the medicine bottle M. And the opening part 26c is formed in the center part in order to project the conical bottom part of the medicine bottle M. Since it has such a shape, the medicine bottle M is stably fitted to the bottle holder 26.

  In the present embodiment, the medicine bin M having a cylindrical portion and a conical portion is taken as an example, but the holding target is not limited to the bin M having such a shape. In short, a holder having an inner peripheral shape complementary to the outer shape of the object to be held may be used.

  An attachment 42 extending in the radial direction of the bottle holder 26 is fixed to the outer periphery of the bottle holder 26. The attachment 42 has a flat plate shape along a plane including the central axis of the bottle holder 26. Further, on both the left and right planes of the attachment 42, as in the case of the attachment 41 (FIG. 6) described above, there are a plurality of locked portions 42a (two in this embodiment) for the locking member 14 to be fitted and engaged. ) Is formed. An imaginary straight line connecting the two locked portions 42 a is parallel to the upper surface of the bottle holder 26. About the shape and arrangement | positioning of the to-be-latched part 42a, since it is the same as the to-be-latched part 41a of the attachment 41 of FIG. 6 mentioned above, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 9 illustrates a tip stand 27 that can accommodate a plurality of pipette tips (not shown) therein, and an attachment 43 attached to the tip stand 27. FIG. 9A is a plan view showing a state in which the gripping finger 7 grips the attachment 43, and FIG. 9B is a side view thereof. In the side view (FIG. 9B), the gripping finger 7 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in order to clearly show the attachment 43. A pipette tip (not shown) is a thin pipe having a conical tip and is open at both ends. The chip stand 27 has a rectangular box shape and can stand by itself. A plurality of holes 27a for inserting pipette tips from above are formed on the upper end surface.

  The attachment 43 is fixed to the side surface of the chip stand 27 and has a flat plate shape along the vertical plane. In addition, on both the left and right planes of the attachment 43, a plurality of locked portions 43a for engaging and engaging with the locking members 14 (as in the above-described attachments 41 (FIG. 6) and 42 (FIG. 8)) ( Two in this embodiment) are formed. An imaginary straight line connecting the two locked portions 43 a is parallel to the upper surface and the bottom surface of the chip stand 27. Since the shape and arrangement of the locked portion 43a are the same as the locked portions 41a and 42a of the attachments 41 and 42 shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 10 illustrates a dish table 28 on which a plurality of the dishes V can be placed, and an attachment 44 attached to the dish table 28. Specifically, a plurality of the aforementioned dish trays 22 on which the dishes V are placed are placed. FIG. 10A is a plan view showing a state in which the gripping finger 7 grips the attachment 44, FIG. 10B is a side view thereof, and FIG. 10C is a view of FIG. It is XX sectional drawing. In the side view (FIG. 10B), the gripping finger 7 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in order to clearly show the attachment 44. The dish table 28 has a disk shape. And as shown in FIG.10 (c), the annular recess 29 for mounting the dish tray 22 in each is formed in the several places (this embodiment five places) in the dish table 28. As shown in FIG. A circular opening 30 is formed at the center of each annular recess 29 in order to perform various operations from the bottom of the dish V described later. At the center of the dish table 28 is provided an engaging portion 31 that engages with a rotating shaft of a turntable described later. In the vicinity of the outer periphery of each annular recess 29, a plurality of fitting holes 32 into which the above-described positioning guide pins 23 (FIG. 6) of the dish tray 22 can be fitted are formed. The dish tray 22 placed in the annular recess 29 is positioned by fitting the positioning guide pin 23 into the fitting hole 32.

  The dish table 28 is used to perform various operations on each of a plurality of dishes at an operation station in an automatic cell culture apparatus (not shown). The dish table 28 is rotated by the turntable of the operation station, and each dish is moved to a predetermined stage. At each stage, the lid is opened and closed, the contents are sucked out by a pipette, the culture solution is supplied, and the tapping is performed on the dish.

  The attachment 44 is fixed to the lower surface of the dish table 28 along the radial direction. The attachment 44 has a flat plate shape longer than the attachments 41 to 43 described above, and is fixed in a state along a surface perpendicular to the surface of the dish table 28. On both the left and right planes of the attachment 44, a plurality (two in the present embodiment) of locked portions 44a for the locking members 14 of the gripping fingers 7 to be fitted and engaged are formed. Since the shape of the locked portion 44a is the same as that of the locked portion 41a of the attachment 41 of FIG. 6 described above, the description thereof is omitted.

  The interval between the two locked portions 44a is larger than that of the attachment 41 shown in FIG. This is because the attachment 44 includes only the locked portions 44 a corresponding to the one locking member 14 at the distal end and the one at the proximal end among the three locking members 14 formed on the gripping finger 7. It is because is formed. And the to-be-latched part corresponding to the latching member 14 of the intermediate part is not formed. Further, in order to avoid interference with the intermediate locking member 14, a through-hole 33 larger than the cross-sectional shape of the locking member 14 is formed at a position corresponding to the attachment 44. The reason why the distance between the locked portions 44a is increased in this way is that the table 28 is large, and it is desired to increase the distance between the support points for the purpose of stably holding the table 28. Further, in the case where the locked portions are formed at three positions so as to be locked to the three locking members 14, the positioning accuracy and processing tolerances need to be tightened, so that this can be avoided. .

  As described above, depending on the size of the object to be held and the like, the desired two locking members having different separation distances are appropriately selected from the three locking members 14 of the gripping finger 7, and the corresponding engaged members are selected. By forming the stop portion, a stable grip is realized by the locking.

  FIG. 11 illustrates a humidifying bat 34 and an attachment 45 attached to the humidifying bat 34. FIG. 11A is a plan view showing a state where the gripping finger 7 is gripping the attachment 45, and FIG. 11B is a side view thereof. In the side view (FIG. 11B), the gripping finger 7 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in order to clearly show the attachment 45. The humidifying bat 34 is used to prevent drying in the incubator by placing water in the humidifying bat 34 and installing it in the incubator. The humidifying bat 34 is a shallow container having a rectangular shape (may be circular or the like) in plan view and having an upper surface opened. At the center of the upper end of the bat main body 34a, a handle 34b is spanned in parallel with the side of the bat main body 34a. The upper surface of the handle 34b is parallel to the bottom surface of the bat body 34a. An attachment 45 is fixed on the upper surface of the handle 34b along the center line CL of the bat main body 34a.

  The attachment 45 is a long flat plate like the above-described dish table attachment 44 (FIG. 10), and is fixed in a state along a plane perpendicular to the bottom surface of the bat main body 34a. On both the left and right planes of the attachment 45, a plurality of locked portions 45a (two in this embodiment) for the locking members 14 of the gripping fingers 7 to be fitted and engaged are formed. Since the shape of the locked portion 45a is the same as that of the locked portion 41a of the attachment 41 of FIG. 6 described above, the description thereof is omitted.

  The arrangement of the two locked portions 45a corresponds to one of the distal ends and one of the proximal ends of the three locking portions 14 of the gripping finger 7, similar to the attachment 44 of FIG. Only two locked portions 45a are formed. And the to-be-latched part corresponding to the latching member 14 of the intermediate part is not formed. In order to avoid interference with the intermediate locking member 14, a through hole 35 larger than the cross-sectional shape of the locking member 14 is formed at a corresponding position in the attachment 45. The reason for this configuration is the same as the dish table attachment 44 (FIG. 10). That is, the humidifying bat 34 is large, and further, the weight increases when water is added, so that the interval between the support points is increased for the purpose of stably grasping the humidifying bat 34. Moreover, when forming the to-be-latched part in three places, it is necessary to tighten the positioning accuracy and processing tolerance, and this is to avoid this.

  In the embodiment described above, the shape of the locking member 14 is a combination of the tapered portion 14a and the columnar portion 14b, but is not limited to this configuration. For example, a suitable shape such as a combination of a prismatic shape and a pyramid shape can be selected. Further, the number of the locking members 14 is not limited to three, and may be two or four or more. The arrangement of the three or more locking members 14 on the opposing surface 7a of the gripping finger 7 does not need to be limited to a straight line, and does not need to be along the longitudinal direction of the straight gripping finger 7.

  FIG. 12 shows a state in which the centrifuge tube S is gripped by the arcuate engaging recess 15 of the gripping finger 7. FIG. 12A is a plan view, and FIG. 12B is a side view. In the side view (FIG. 12B), the gripping finger 7 is indicated by a two-dot chain line. The centrifuge tube S accommodates a target liquid to be separated by centrifugation, and two are attached to a centrifuge (not shown) so as to face each other. The contents are centrifuged by rotating the two centrifuge tubes S in this state. Since an object attached to an object that moves (such as a centrifuge) such as the centrifuge tube S may lose its balance when its weight or the position of the center of gravity changes, the attachment is not attached. As shown in the drawing, a concave portion having a complementary shape corresponding to the outer shape of the object to be grasped may be formed inside the grasping finger 7. Then, the object can be gripped in a stable state.

  As described above with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, the engagement recess 15 has a large-diameter cylindrical surface portion that avoids interference between the small-diameter cylindrical surface portion 15 a that grips the body Sa of the centrifuge tube S and the lid portion Sb. 15b is coaxial. By forming the large-diameter cylindrical surface portion 15b, the centrifuge tube S to which the lid Sb is attached can be gripped as much as possible. The reason is that when the centrifuge tube S is gripped by the gripping fingers 7 and inserted into the hole-shaped holding part of the centrifuge, at least the thickness (height) of the gripping fingers 7 is not inserted. This is because the uninserted portion is reduced by a necessary size.

  The three locking members 14 described above are formed along the longitudinal direction of the gripping fingers 7, but are not limited to this configuration. For example, the gripping fingers 7 may be formed in an L shape, a T shape, or the like, and the locking members 14 may be formed on both outer surfaces thereof. In that case, the attachment and its locked member also have a corresponding shape and arrangement.

  In the embodiment described above, the locking member 14 is formed on the gripping finger 7, and the locked portions 41 a to 45 a are formed on the attachments 41 to 45. However, it is not limited to such a configuration. The locking member may be formed on the attachment, and the locked portion may be formed at a position corresponding to the gripping finger. In that case, a locking member is formed in place of the through holes 33 and 35 on the attachments 44 and 45 in FIGS. 10 and 11, but instead of the locking member at the intermediate position in the gripping finger 7, the locking member is formed. What is necessary is just to form the through-hole or recess which fits without interfering.

  In addition, it is possible to combine each structure in the said embodiment arbitrarily, and you may combine suitably according to use conditions etc.

  The above-described embodiment shows an example, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

  According to the robot hand and the attachment according to the present invention, it is not necessary to adjust the gripping force of the robot hand for gripping the object, and the positioning accuracy is eased when gripping the object. It is suitable in the field of an apparatus that frequently handles objects, for example, an automatic cell culture apparatus that cultures a large amount of cells.

It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the robot concerning this invention. It is a top view which shows the robot hand of the robot of FIG. It is the III-III sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the IV-IV line arrow directional view of FIG. It is the VV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. FIG. 6A is a plan view showing an operation state of an embodiment of a gripping mechanism according to the present invention including the robot hand of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6B is a side view thereof. FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state in which a plurality of trays of FIG. 6 are stacked. FIG. 8A is a plan view showing an operation state of another embodiment of the gripping mechanism according to the present invention including the robot hand of FIG. 2, and FIG. 8B is a side view thereof. FIG. 9A is a plan view showing an operation state of still another embodiment of the gripping mechanism according to the present invention including the robot hand of FIG. 2, and FIG. 9B is a side view thereof. FIG. 10A is a plan view showing an operation state of still another embodiment of the gripping mechanism according to the present invention including the robot hand of FIG. 2, and FIG. 10B is a side view thereof. 10 (c) is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 10 (a). FIG. 11A is a plan view showing an operation state of still another embodiment of the gripping mechanism according to the present invention including the robot hand of FIG. 2, and FIG. 11B is a side view thereof. FIG. 12A is a plan view showing an operation state of still another embodiment of the gripping mechanism according to the present invention including the robot hand of FIG. 2, and FIG. 12B is a side view thereof.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... (articulated) robot
2 ... fixed part
3 ... Base part
4 ... 1st arm part
5 ... Second arm
6 ... Hand part
7 ... gripping fingers
8 ... Support member
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Linear guide 10 ... Slide member 11 ... Rectangular part 12 ... Tapered part 13 ... Base part 14 ... Locking member 15 ... Recessed part 16 ... Photoelectric sensor 17 ... Proximity switch 18 ... Detected part 22 ... Dish tray 23 ... Positioning guide pin 24 ... engagement pin 25 ... plate 26 ... bottle holder 27 ... tip stand 28 ... dish table 29 ... annular recess 30 ... circular opening 31 ... engagement part 32 ... mounting hole 33 ... through hole 34 ... humidifying bat 35 ... through hole 41 -45 ... Attachment af ... Axis AG ... Arrow

Claims (11)

A robot hand capable of gripping multiple types of attachments,
Comprising a pair of gripping fingers that open and close by approaching and separating from each other;
Locking portions are formed in at least three locations along the longitudinal direction of the surfaces of the pair of gripping fingers facing each other,
Each attachment has a locked portion formed at a position corresponding to at least two positions where the locking portion is formed, and the interval between the positions where the locked portion is formed is attached to the attachment. A robot hand that differs depending on the shape, size, and weight of the object to be held, and is configured to be able to grip the attachment regardless of the shape, size, and weight of the object to be held.   The locking portion is composed of a pin having a tapered portion with a sharp tip, and the locked portion has a recess having a portion complementary to the tapered portion of the locking portion. The robot hand according to claim 1, comprising:   The robot hand according to claim 2, wherein an inclination angle of the tapered portion of the locking portion is the same as an inclination angle of a corresponding tapered portion of the locked portion. An arcuate engagement recess is formed on each of the opposing surfaces of the pair of gripping fingers so that a cylindrical holding object can be engaged, and the engagement recess is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the gripping finger. It has a small diameter cylindrical surface part and a large diameter cylindrical surface part which share a central axis , an upper part is the large diameter cylindrical surface part, and a lower part is the small diameter cylindrical surface part . The robot hand according to the item. The pair of gripping fingers includes a sensor that detects a gripped object,
The sensor includes a transmitter that transmits a detection beam provided on one of a pair of gripping fingers, and a receiver that detects the detection beam provided on the other. The robot hand according to any one of the above items. A support member that supports the pair of gripping fingers so as to be close to each other, and an opening degree detection device that detects an opening degree of the pair of gripping fingers;
This opening degree detection device has one detected part and a plurality of detecting parts for detecting the detected part,
The plurality of detection units are arranged on one of the support member and the gripping fingers along the movement direction of the gripping fingers, and the one detection target unit is arranged on the other. The robot hand according to any one of 1 to 5. A robot hand is arranged at the tip of the operating arm,
A robot comprising the robot hand according to any one of claims 1 to 6. An attachment that can be gripped by the robot hand according to claim 1,
While the locked portions are formed at positions corresponding to at least two places where the locking portions are formed, the interval between the positions where the locked portions are formed is the shape and size of the object to be attached. And an attachment that corresponds to the weight and is configured to be held regardless of the shape, size, and weight of the object to be held. The attachment according to claim 8, wherein the locking part and the locked part have complementary shapes.   The locking portion is composed of a pin having a tapered portion with a sharp tip, and the locked portion is composed of a recess having a portion complementary to the tapered portion of the locking portion. The attachment according to claim 8 or 9, wherein: The attachment according to any one of claims 8 to 10 , wherein the holding object is a holder for holding a container.

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