DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING A HANDLING DEVICE

Abstract

A device for controlling a handling device comprising a carrier housing which can be arranged on the handling device with a tactile sensor body arranged on the outside of the carrier housing and a tool carrier movably mounted on the carrier housing, wherein the sensor body can be actuated by the tool carrier when load is acting on the tool carrier, wherein the sensor body is formed by a gas-filled chamber which is surrounded by a flexible shell, which can be deformed by collision with an obstacle, and further comprises a pressure sensor for measuring the gas pressure prevailing inside the chamber.

Claims

1. A device for controlling a handling device comprising a carrier housing which is configured to be arranged on the handling device with a tactile sensor body arranged on the outside of the carrier housing and a tool carrier movably mounted on the carrier housing, wherein the sensor body is configured to be actuated by the tool carrier when load is acting on the tool carrier, wherein the sensor body is formed by a gas-filled chamber which is surrounded by a flexible shell, which is configured to be deformed by collision with an obstacle, and further comprises a pressure sensor configured for measuring a gas pressure prevailing inside the chamber.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor body is arranged at least partially in a gap formed between the carrier housing and the tool carrier.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the sensor body encloses the carrier housing with a first area and with a second area engages the gap formed between the carrier housing and the tool carrier.

4. The device according to claim 2, wherein the tool carrier has a mounting plate for a tool, which together with the carrier housing forms the gap.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the carrier housing comprises a mounting element that matches the mounting plate for a tool.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the tool carrier protrudes to the outside from an interior of the carrier housing through an opening in a wall of the carrier housing and is resiliently pressed against an inside face of the wall of the carrier housing.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the tool carrier comprises an outwardly tapering shaft on an area protruding outward through a wall of the carrier housing.

8. A handling device with the device according to claim 1.

9. The handling device according to claim 8, wherein the handling device carries a sensor body in areas different from the device for controlling the handling device.

10. The handling device according to claim 9, wherein the sensor body is formed by a gas-filled chamber which is surrounded by a flexible shell configured to be deformable by collision with an obstacle and furthermore comprises a pressure sensor configured for measuring a gas pressure prevailing inside the chamber.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0014] The invention is explained in more detail below with the aid of an exemplary embodiment shown schematically in the drawing. In the drawing:

[0015] FIG. 1 shows a schematic exploded view of the device according to the invention,

[0016] FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the device according to the invention and the

[0017] FIGS. 3 and 4 show sectional views of the device according to the invention in different loading situations.

[0018] FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of the device after movement of the tool carrier.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] In FIG. 1, the device according to the invention is generally designated by the reference number 1. It essentially consists of a carrier housing 2, a tool carrier 3 and a sensor body 4 which essentially completely encloses the carrier housing with a first area 5. The sensor body 4 furthermore has a second region 6 which engages in the gap 7 formed between the carrier housing 2 and the tool carrier 3. The sensor body 4 is of the type mentioned in WO 2016/000005 A1 and is formed by a gas-filled chamber which is surrounded by a flexible shell that can be deformed by collision with an obstacle and also includes a pressure sensor for measuring the gas pressure inside the chamber, the pressure sensor and evaluation electronics not being shown in FIG. 1. A spring is denoted by reference numeral 18.

[0020] In FIG. 2 it can be seen more clearly how the sensor body 4 engages with its second area 6 in the gap 7 formed between the carrier housing 2 and the tool carrier 3, wherein the tool carrier 3 in the examples shown in the figures comprises a mounting plate 8 for tools that forms the gap 7 together with the carrier housing 2. The carrier housing 2 also has a mounting element 9, which is not shown in detail in the drawing and which fits a mounting plate 8 for a tool, in the region of its bottom. With 11 an unspecified attachment of a handling device is referred to. In FIG. 2 it can also be seen that the tool holder 3 protrudes from the interior 13 of the support housing 2 through an opening 14 in the wall 15 of the carrier housing 2 and is resiliently pressed against the inside 16 of the wall 15 of the carrier housing 2, wherein the tool carrier 3 is secured in the opening 14 of the tool carrier 2 by a seam that is offset in comparison to a shaft 17. The shaft 17 of the tool carrier 3 tapers from the inside outwards in order to ensure that the shaft 17 is sufficiently exposed in the opening 14 of the carrier housing 2 so that the tool carrier 3 can tilt. The tool carrier 3 is preloaded by a spring (not shown) in such a way that it remains rigidly in the rest position without the action of external forces. If the acting forces exceed a limit value that can be set by the stiffness of the spring, the tool carrier tilts or shifts.

[0021] In FIG. 3 it can be seen that with a radial load on the tool carrier 3 in the direction of the arrow 10, the same is deflected from the resiliently mounted basic position according to FIG. 2, which results in that the sensor body 4 is clamped in the region of the gap 7, which leads to a detectable pressure change in the sensor body 4. The corresponding signal can be used in a known manner to stop the robot or the handling device. The same applies to the axial load situation in FIG. 4 according to the arrow 12, in which the sensor body 4 is clamped all around in the gap 7. For the sake of clarity, no tool is shown mounted on the tool carrier 3 or on its mounting plate 8, but it is obvious that loads due to collisions in the sense of arrow 10 or 12 are transmitted via the tool to the tool carrier 3 and cause a corresponding deflection of the tool carrier, whereby the sensor body 4 is actuated by the tool carrier 3.

[0022] FIG. 5 shows that even a slight movement of the tool carrier 3, during which the sensor body 4 is only touched slightly, already leads to a detectable signal and is thus sufficient to detect a collision.

[0023] The device according to the invention thus provides a safety flange that is mounted between the robot and the tool. If the tool collides with an obstacle, a force or moment acts on the safety flange. If force or torque exceed preset limit values, the safety flange gives way and at the same time triggers an emergency stop of the robot.

[0024] Furthermore, a direct collision of an obstacle with the shell-like sensor body itself leads to a deformation, which is also detected and in turn leads to a stop of the robot. The safety flange thus detects a collision of the tool as well as of the flange itself via the shell designed as a tactile safety sensor.