GRIPPING DEVICE, SEPARATING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR GRIPPING BODIES, AND USE OF A GRIPPING DEVICE

Abstract

For handling blanks, semi-finished products or finished products in an automated production processes, a gripping device (3) is provided that has a gripper (4) that is assigned a stripper (5), with the stripper having at least one stripping element (6). The stripping element (6) can be moved as required past the gripper (4) in a stripping movement between a starting position and an end position in order to remove bodies (2) possibly interfering with the gripping process from a gripping region of the gripper (4). This occurs in particular when the gripper (4) has already gripped a body (2) to be gripped.

Claims

1. A gripping device (3) comprising: at least one gripper (4) for gripping provided bodies (2); at least one stripper (5) assigned to the gripper (4), the at least one stripper including at least one stripping element (6); the stripping element (6) is movable past the gripper (4) in a stripping movement between a starting position and an end position in order to remove bodies (2) that are at least one of bearing against the gripped body (2), lying on the gripped body (2), or colliding therewith from at least one of the gripper (4) or the gripped body (2).

2. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, further comprising a stripper drive (5a) for driving the at least one stripping element (6), or the at least one stripping element (6) being pivotably mounted with a pivot axis of the stripping element (6) being oriented in or parallel to a closing direction of the gripper (4).

3. The gripping device (3), according to claim 1, wherein the at least one gripper (4) for gripping provided bodies is arranged on a gripper holder (7) of the gripping device (3) and is mounted resiliently.

4. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, further comprising at least one positioning stop (8) which is configured to define on the gripper (4) a desired position of a body (2) to be gripped.

5. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, wherein the gripper (4) includes gripping jaws (9), at least one of the gripper jaws (9) having at least one centring device (10) formed as at least one cut-out (10), and the centring device (10) configured to define a position of one of the bodies (2) relative to the gripper jaws (9).

6. The gripping device (3) according to claim 5, wherein the gripper jaws (9) of the gripper (4) are 3D-printed.

7. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one gripper (4) is a suction gripper.

8. The gripping device (3) according to claim 3, further comprising at least one guide element (11) and at least one restoring element (12) which are arranged between the gripper (4) and the gripper holder (7) for resilient mounting of the at least one gripper (4).

9. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of a monitoring sensor (31) or software for monitoring at least one of an approach movement of the at least one gripper (4) into a gripping position or a driving force of a drive of the at least one gripper (4).

10. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of a body illumination unit (13), a gripping point determination unit (14), a controller (15), or a sensor (17) for checking a presence of a gripped one of the bodies (2).

11. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, wherein the stripper (5) has at least two of the stripping elements (6) which are arranged on different sides of the gripper (4), the stripping elements (6) cross one another in a starting position, or the stripper (5) comprises two pairs of spaced-apart, movably mounted ones of the stripping elements (6), and a distance between the stripping elements (6) of a first one of the pairs is greater than a dimension of the gripper (4) measured in a distance direction.

12. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, wherein in at least one of the starting position or the end position, the at least one stripping element (6) is arranged between a cross-sectional plane of the gripper (4), which extends through a free end, and a gripper holder (7), and with the stripping element (6) situated in an intermediate position, a distal end of the at least one stripping element (6) is arranged beyond the cross-sectional plane, starting from the free end of the gripper (4).

13. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, further comprising a positioning stop (8) arranged or formed on or between gripper jaws (9) of the gripper (4).

14. The gripping device (3) according to claim 1, further comprising at least one robot arm (18) on which the gripper (4) is arranged.

15. A separating device (1) comprising a gripping device (3) according to claim 1.

16. The separating device (1) according to claim 15, further comprising at least one of a body-feeding device (19), at least one depositing surface (22) for bodies (2) to be at least one of separated or to be gripped, or a vibrating device (24) for separating bodies (2) to be gripped.

17. The separating device (1) according to claim 16, further comprising at least one of a body illumination unit (13) arranged below the depositing surface (22), or a body illumination unit (13) arranged above the depositing surface (22).

18. The separating device (1) according to claim 15, further comprising a depositing station (27) downstream of the gripping device (3) with defined body depositing places (28), a handling unit (30) assigned to the depositing station (27) for further transporting the separated bodies (2).

19. A method for gripping provided bodies (2) using a gripping device (3), the method comprising: identifying a gripping point of a body (2) that is accessible for a gripper (4) of the gripping device (3), gripping the body by the gripper (4) at the identified gripping point; moving at least one stripping element (6) of a stripper (5) assigned to the gripper (4) past the gripper (4) in a stripping movement between a starting position and an end position thereby removing the bodies (2) that are at least one of bearing against the gripped body (2), lying on the gripped body (2), or colliding therewith from at least one of the gripper (4) or the gripped body (2).

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein at least one of: the bodies (2) to be gripped are elongate bodies (2), or the bodies (2) to be gripped are provided as loose material.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein at least one of: the gripping point is identified optically, or the bodies (2) to be gripped are pre-separated using a vibrating device (24).

22. The method according to claim 19, further comprising checking whether one of the bodies (2) has been gripped by at least one of using a sensor (17) or determining a length of a closing movement of the gripper (4).

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the elongate bodies (2) that are gripped are at least one of brush bodies or toothbrush bodies (2).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] The invention will now be described in more detail on the basis of an exemplary embodiment, but is not limited to this exemplary embodiment. Further exemplary embodiments will emerge through a combination of the features of individual or multiple claims with one another and/or from a combination of individual or multiple features of the exemplary embodiment. In the drawings illustrated in part in a highly schematic manner:

[0057] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a separating device for toothbrush bodies that comprises a gripping device with a gripper,

[0058] FIG. 2 shows a detail view of the gripper of the gripping device shown in FIG. 1, wherein it can be seen that the gripper holds a toothbrush body gripped between its gripper jaws,

[0059] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the separating device shown in FIG. 1, where here stripping elements of a stripper, which is assigned to the gripper of the gripping device, are arranged out of their starting position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 into an intermediate position which they intermittently reach when carrying out their stripping movement on the way into the end position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,

[0060] FIG. 4 shows the gripper shown in FIG. 3 in an enlarged illustration,

[0061] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the separating device shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, where here the stripping elements of the stripper have attained their end position,

[0062] FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the gripper shown in FIG. 5,

[0063] FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a further embodiment of a separating device with a gripping device which has a suction gripper as gripper, and

[0064] FIG. 8 shows an enlarged view of the gripper shown in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0065] In the following description of different embodiments of the invention, elements which correspond in their function are given corresponding reference numbers even if they differ in terms of design or configuration.

[0066] FIGS. 1, 3, 5 and 7 show different embodiments of in each case a separating device designated overall by 1. Without concrete reference to a specific embodiment, the following description can be read on all the embodiments shown in the figures.

[0067] FIGS. 1, 3 and 5 show a separating device 1 in different states. The separating device 1 serves to separate bodies 2, here toothbrush bodies 2, fed to the separating device 1 in an unordered manner. For this purpose, the separating device 1 has, inter alia, a gripping device 3. The gripping device 3 allows the toothbrush bodies 2 still situated in an unordered manner to be grasped individually and thus finally be deposited in a separate manner.

[0068] The gripping device 3 has a gripper 4. This serves to grip the provided toothbrush bodies 2.

[0069] The gripping device 3 comprises a stripper 5 assigned to the gripper 4. The stripper 5 has a total of four stripping elements 6 which, according to the figures, have a finger-shaped design. The stripping elements 6 are moved past the gripper 4 in a stripping movement between a starting position (cf. FIGS. 1 and 2) and an end position (cf. FIGS. 5 and 6). The stripping movement, which is particularly clear from a comparison of FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, allows brush bodies 2 which are situated adjacent to a brush body 2 gripped by the gripper 4 to be removed from the gripped brush body 2 and out of a gripping region of the gripper 4. To drive the stripping element 6, the gripping device 3 has a stripper drive 5a.

[0070] FIGS. 2, 4 and 6 further show that the gripper 4 is arranged on a gripper holder 7 of the gripping device 3 resiliently against a feed direction of the gripper 4 in which it is moved in the direction of a depositing surface 22 on which the bodies 2 to be gripped are arranged. The resilient mounting of the gripper 4 on the gripper holder 7 makes it possible to avoid not only damage to the bodies 2 provided for gripping but also damage to the gripper 4. In the event of a collision, the resiliently mounted gripper 4 can retreat against the feed direction of the gripper 4, which ultimately promotes gentle gripping of provided bodies 2, in particular toothbrush bodies 2.

[0071] The stripping elements 6 are pivotably mounted on the gripper 4. Here, in each case two of the four stripping elements 6 are arranged on the gripper 4 so as to be mounted pivotably about a common pivot axis. Here, the pivot axes of the stripping elements 6 are arranged at a distance from and parallel to one another and oriented parallel to a closing direction of the gripper 4. The stripping movement which is carried out by the stripping elements 6 is accordingly oriented transversely or at a right angle to the closing direction or closing movement of the gripper 4.

[0072] The gripper 4 of the gripping device 3 that is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 additionally has two positioning stops 8. The positioning stops 8 of the gripper 4 are designed to specify a desired position of a body 2 to be gripped on the gripper 4.

[0073] The gripper 4 comprises a plurality of gripper jaws 9 on which centring means 10 in the form of cut-outs 10 corresponding in pairs are provided. The centring means 10, that is to say the pairs of corresponding cut-outs 10, define a position of a gripped toothbrush body 2 relative to the two gripper jaws 9 of the gripper 4. The gripper jaws 9 of the gripper 4 can be 3D-printed.

[0074] For resilient mounting of the gripper 4, the gripping device 3 has a total of four guide elements 11 with in each case a restoring element 12 which are arranged between the gripper 4 and the gripper holder 7. The restoring elements 12 used are compression springs.

[0075] The gripping device 3 additionally comprises a body illumination unit 13 which is used together with a gripping point determination unit 14 and a controller 15 for gripping point determination or identification of gripping points accessible for the gripper 4. The body illumination unit 13 serves to illuminate a depositing surface 22 on which the toothbrush bodies 2 are deposited with such brightness that identification of accessible gripping points is reliably possible by means of cameras 16 of the gripping point determination unit 14. The gripper 4 is additionally equipped with two sensors 17 which are designed to check the presence of a gripped body 2 between the gripper jaws 9 of the gripper 4.

[0076] The stripping elements 6 of the stripper 5 are arranged on different sides of the gripper 4. In their starting position according to FIG. 2, the stripping elements 6 of the stripper 5 cross one another in pairs. The four stripping elements 6 in total of the gripper 4 shown in the figures are arranged spaced apart from one another in pairs, with the thus formed two pairs of stripping elements 6 being arranged on the gripper holder 7 so as to be movable in pairs about the already aforementioned common pivot axis. The stripping elements 6 of a pair can thus be pivoted jointly about the same pivot axis from their starting position into their end position. Here, the movement occurs from an inward to outward direction. The pivot axes of the stripping elements 6 are, as has already been mentioned above, parallel to and at a distance from one another.

[0077] A distance between the stripping elements 6 of each pair is here greater than a dimension of the gripper 4 that can be measured in the distance direction. It is possible in this way for the stripping elements 6 to pivot past the gripper 4.

[0078] If the stripping elements 6 are situated in their starting position shown in FIG. 2, they are arranged completely between a cross-sectional plane of the gripper 4 extending through a free end and the gripper holder 7. The same applies if the stripping elements 6 have attained their end position shown in FIG. 6. It is thus ensured that the stripping elements 6 are not in the way in the starting position and in the end position and do not hamper pick-up or deposition of the gripped bodies 2.

[0079] In an intermediate position, which is shown for example in FIG. 4, the stripping elements 6 are arranged in such a way that their distal ends project through the aforementioned, imaginary cross-sectional plane. This means in other words that, in this intermediate position, the stripping elements 6 project beyond the free end of the gripper 4.

[0080] The aforementioned positioning stops 8 of the gripper 4 are arranged or formed between the gripper jaws 9 of the gripper 4 and additionally on the gripper 4 itself. The gripping device 3 additionally has a robot arm 18. The gripper 4 is arranged on this robot arm 18.

[0081] The separating device 1 additionally has a body-feeding device 19. The body-feeding device 19 comprises a chute 20 and a distributing belt 21 downstream of the chute 20. On both sides of the distributing belt 21 there are arranged depositing surfaces 22 on which bodies 2, here toothbrush bodies 2, fed via the body-feeding device 19 of the separating device 1 at first come to lie in an unordered manner. The bodies 2 lying thereon in an unordered manner are finally gripped by means of the gripping device 3 described in detail above, separated as a result and transported further. The distributing belt 21 is assigned a body sensor 32 which can be used to determine a number of brush bodies 2 on the distributing belt 21. It is thus possible to stop the feed of brush bodies 2 via the chute 20 if a sufficient number of brush bodies 2 is arranged on the distributing belt 21. The body sensor 32 used in each of the separating devices 1 shown is a weight detector. In principle, it is also possible to optically determine the number of the bodies 2 on the distributing belt 21 by a camera.

[0082] The aforementioned depositing surfaces 22 are formed on troughs 23 of the separating device 1. The separating device 1 further comprises a vibrating device 24. The vibrating device 24 serves to at least coarsely part bodies 2 lying on the depositing surfaces 22 of the troughs 23 in order to allow the identification of accessible gripping points. For this purpose, the vibrating device 24 has two vibrating belts 25 which form part of the depositing surfaces 22 within the troughs 23. The vibrating belts 25 make it possible for the position of the bodies 2 lying on the vibrating belts 25 to be changed by a corresponding movement.

[0083] The vibrating device 24 additionally comprises two vibrating tables 26 on which the aforementioned troughs 23 are arranged. Activating the vibrating tables 26 allows the troughs to be caused to move or vibrate in order to change the position of bodies 2 arranged therein as required. The use of the vibrating tables 26 also ultimately serves to change the position of the bodies 2 in such a way that an accessible gripping point for the gripper 4 of the gripping device 3 can be identified at least in one body 2.

[0084] In the separating device 1 shown in the figures, the aforementioned body illumination unit 13 of the gripping device 3 is, just like the two cameras 16, arranged above the depositing surfaces 22 and the troughs 23 of the separating device 1. The body illumination unit 13 is illustrated only in a highly schematic manner in the figures and can, for example, be integrated into the cameras 16.

[0085] The separating device 1 has a depositing station 27 downstream of the gripping device 3. Defined body depositing places 28 are formed at the depositing station 27. The body depositing places 28 are arranged on a depositing belt 29 of the depositing station 27. It is possible by means of the depositing belt 29 for the body depositing places 28 and separated bodies 2 arranged thereon to be fed to a handling unit 30 of the separating device 1 that is assigned to the depositing station 27. The handling unit 30 makes it possible for the separated bodies 2 to be removed from the body depositing places 28 on the depositing belt 29 of the depositing station 27 and to be fed to further processing stations (not illustrated in more detail in the figures) which, in the application shown, are brush-processing stations.

[0086] The method described below for gripping provided bodies 2 can be carried out by the above-described separating device 1 and the above-described gripping device 3.

[0087] Here, a gripping point of a body 2 that is accessible for the gripper 4 is first identified. The gripper 4 then grips the body 2 at the identified gripping point. The stripper 5 assigned to the gripper 4 is then activated, and the stripping elements 6 are moved past the gripper 4 in the stripping movement between the starting position and the end position. The aim of this is to remove bodies 2 bearing against the gripped body 2 and/or lying on the gripped body 2 and/or colliding therewith from the gripper 4 and thus ultimately also from the gripped body 2.

[0088] As illustrated in the figures, the bodies 2 are here elongate bodies, namely toothbrush bodies 2. The bodies 2 to be gripped are provided in the form of loose material.

[0089] The accessible gripping point is optically identified by means of the aforementioned cameras 16. Particularly when no accessible, that is to say free, gripping point can be identified, the bodies 2 to be gripped are loosened or separated on the depositing surface 22. This occurs by means of the aforementioned vibrating device 24 of the separating device 1.

[0090] It can be checked as required whether a body 2 has been gripped by the gripper 4 of the gripping device 3. For this purpose, the sensors 17 of the gripping device 3 which are provided therefor can be used. If required, it can also be concluded whether a body 2 has actually been gripped or not by determining a length of a closing movement of the gripper 4.

[0091] A monitoring sensor 31, which is a force sensor 31 in the exemplary embodiments shown of the gripping device 3, can be used to monitor an approach movement of the gripper 4 into its gripping position. This occurs by monitoring a driving force of a drive of the corresponding gripper 4. If the gripper 4 is lowered into its gripping position and if at the same time an inadmissible increase in force at the drive of the gripper 4 is detected by the force sensor 31, the drive can be deactivated and the gripper 4 halted to avoid damage to the gripper 4 and/or to bodies 2 to be gripped. It is also possible to monitor the gripper movement by software and/or by the controller 15 already mentioned above. Thus, it is possible to monitor for example a power consumption of a drive by which the gripper 4 is moved into its gripping position. If an inadmissible increase in the power consumption is detected, this in turn can be attributed to a collision or an obstacle in the way of the gripper 4. In this case, too, the gripper 4 can be halted for safety reasons.

[0092] FIGS. 7 and 8 show a slightly modified embodiment of the separating device 1 illustrated in the other figures. The gripper 4 of the gripping device 3 of this separating device 1 is designed as a suction gripper. FIG. 8 illustrates that, instead of gripper jaws, the suction gripper 4 has two suckers 9a by which bodies 2, here a toothbrush body 2, can be sucked on by means of negative pressure and thus gripped.

[0093] The separating device shown in FIG. 7 additionally has a buffer device 33. Pockets 34 for bodies 2 are provided in the buffer device 33. The pockets 34 are V-shaped in form. The V-shaped pockets 34 serve for centring and/or properly orienting bodies 2. The pockets 34 of the buffer device 33 can be filled by means of the gripping device 3.

[0094] It is then possible by a transfer device 35 for the bodies 2 properly oriented on the pockets 34 of the buffer device 33 to be deposited onto the body depositing places 28 of the depositing belt 29 of the depositing station 27.

[0095] It is possible by use of the transfer device 35 for bodies 2 situated on the body depositing places 28 of the depositing belt 29 of the depositing station 27 to be fed to the buffer device 33 in order to correct an improper orientation of bodies 2 by means of the V-shaped pockets 34 of the buffer device 33. The bodies 2 can then be fed again to the depositing station 27 by means of the transfer device 35.

[0096] Furthermore, it is possible to fill unoccupied body depositing places 28 of the depositing belt 29 with bodies 2 from the buffer device 33. For this purpose, the bodies 2 can be removed by means of the transfer device 35 from the buffer device 33 and fed to the body depositing places 28.

[0097] As has already been explained above, the gripping devices 3 described in detail can be used in particular for gripping elongate bodies 2, namely for example for gripping toothbrush bodies 2.

[0098] The invention is concerned with improvements in the technical field of handling blanks, semi-finished products or finished products in preferably automated production processes. What is provided for this purpose is, inter alia, the gripping device 3 which has the gripper 4. The gripper 4 is assigned the stripper 5 of the gripping device 3, said stripper having at least one stripping element 6. The stripping element 6 can be moved as required past the gripper 4 in a stripping movement between a starting position and an end position in order to remove bodies 2 possibly interfering with the gripping process from a gripping region of the gripper 4. This occurs in particular when the gripper 4 has already gripped a body 2.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0099] 1 Separating device [0100] 2 Body, toothbrush body [0101] 3 Gripping device [0102] 4 Gripper [0103] 5 Stripper [0104] 5a Stripper drive [0105] 6 Stripping element [0106] 7 Gripper holder [0107] 8 Positioning stop [0108] 9 Gripper jaws [0109] 9a Sucker [0110] 10 Centring means, cut-outs [0111] 11 Guide element [0112] 12 Restoring element [0113] 13 Body illumination unit [0114] 14 Gripping point determination unit [0115] 15 Controller [0116] 16 Camera [0117] 17 Sensor [0118] 18 Robot arm [0119] 19 Body-feeding device [0120] 20 Chute [0121] 21 Distributing belt [0122] 22 Depositing surface [0123] 23 Trough [0124] 24 Vibrating device [0125] 25 Vibrating belt [0126] 26 Vibrating table [0127] 27 Depositing station [0128] 28 Body depositing places [0129] 29 Depositing belt [0130] 30 Handling unit [0131] 31 Monitoring sensor/force sensor [0132] 32 Body sensor/weigher [0133] 33 Buffer device [0134] 34 V-shaped pockets [0135] 35 Transfer device