Robot, mastering fixture, mastering system, and mastering method

{
  "publication_number": "US12090655B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Robot, mastering fixture, mastering system, and mastering method",
  "abstract": "A robot in which two members constituting a joint shaft and supported in a relatively movable manner are each provided with a V-shaped groove having two sloped inner surfaces intersecting each other at a linear groove bottom extending orthogonally to a movement direction, or a V-shaped protrusion having two sloped outer surfaces intersecting each other at a linear ridge extending orthogonally to the movement direction. When the two members of the joint shaft are disposed in a predetermined operational position, the groove bottoms, the ridges, or the groove bottom and the ridge are disposed in alignment with each other.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A mastering fixture for mastering a joint shaft of a robot comprising two members constituting a joint shaft and supported in a relatively movable manner, wherein the two members are each provided with a V-shaped groove having two sloped inner surfaces intersecting each other at a linear groove bottom extending orthogonally to a movement direction or a V-shaped protrusion having two sloped outer surfaces intersecting each other at a linear ridge extending orthogonally to the movement direction, and wherein when the two members of the joint shaft are disposed in a predetermined operational position, the groove bottoms, the ridges, or the groove bottom and the ridge, are disposed in alignment with each other, the mastering fixture comprising: a first fixture including a protrusion having a shape configured to come into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped inner surfaces of the V-shaped groove in one of the members of the robot, or a recess having a shape capable of coming into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped outer surfaces of the V-shaped protrusion in the one of the members, the first fixture positioned in the movement direction relative to the one of the members in a state where the protrusion is in abutment with the V-shaped groove or the recess is in abutment with the V-shaped protrusion; and a second fixture including a protrusion having a shape configured to come into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped inner surfaces of the V-shaped groove in the other one of the members of the robot, or a recess having a shape capable of coming into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped outer surfaces of the V-shaped protrusion in the other one of the members, the second fixture being positioned in the movement direction relative to the other one of the members in a state where the protrusion is in abutment with the V-shaped groove or the recess is in abutment with the V-shaped protrusion, wherein one of the first fixture and the second fixture is provided with a reference surface extending orthogonally to the movement direction in a state where the one is positioned relative to the corresponding member, and wherein the other one of the first fixture and the second fixture is provided with a measurement device capable of measuring a distance to the reference surface in the movement direction in a state where the other one is positioned relative to the corresponding member.",
    "2. A mastering system, comprising: a robot comprising: two members constituting a joint shaft and supported in a relatively movable manner, wherein the two members are each provided with a V-shaped groove having two sloped inner surfaces intersecting each other at a linear groove bottom extending orthogonally to a movement direction or a V-shaped protrusion having two sloped outer surfaces intersecting each other at a linear ridge extending orthogonally to the movement direction, and wherein when the two members of the joint shaft are disposed in a predetermined operational position, the groove bottoms, the ridges, or the groove bottom and the ridge, are disposed in alignment with each other; and a mastering fixture comprising a first fixture including a protrusion having a shape configured to come into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped inner surfaces of the V-shaped groove in one of the members of the robot, or a recess having a shape capable of coming into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped outer surfaces of the V-shaped protrusion in the one of the members, the first fixture positioned in the movement direction relative to the one of the members in a state where the protrusion is in abutment with the V-shaped groove or the recess is in abutment with the V-shaped protrusion; and a second fixture including a protrusion having a shape configured to come into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped inner surfaces of the V-shaped groove in the other one of the members of the robot, or a recess having a shape capable of coming into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped outer surfaces of the V-shaped protrusion in the other one of the members, the second fixture being positioned in the movement direction relative to the other one of the members in a state where the protrusion is in abutment with the V-shaped groove or the recess is in abutment with the V-shaped protrusion, wherein one of the first fixture and the second fixture is provided with a reference surface extending orthogonally to the movement direction in a state where the one is positioned relative to the corresponding member, and wherein the other one of the first fixture and the second fixture is provided with a measurement device capable of measuring a distance to the reference surface in the movement direction in a state where the other one is positioned relative to the corresponding member.",
    "3. A mastering method for mastering a joint shaft of a robot comprising two members constituting a joint shaft and supported in a relatively movable manner, wherein the two members are each provided with a V-shaped groove having two sloped inner surfaces intersecting each other at a linear groove bottom extending orthogonally to a movement direction or a V-shaped protrusion having two sloped outer surfaces intersecting each other at a linear ridge extending orthogonally to the movement direction, and wherein when the two members of the joint shaft are disposed in a predetermined operational position, the groove bottoms, the ridges, or the groove bottom and the ridge, are disposed in alignment with each other, the method further performed by using a mastering fixture comprising a first fixture including a protrusion having a shape configured to come into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped inner surfaces of the V-shaped groove in one of the members of the robot, or a recess having a shape capable of coming into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped outer surfaces of the V-shaped protrusion in the one of the members, the first fixture positioned in the movement direction relative to the one of the members in a state where the protrusion is in abutment with the V-shaped groove or the recess is in abutment with the V-shaped protrusion; and a second fixture including a protrusion having a shape configured to come into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped inner surfaces of the V-shaped groove in the other one of the members of the robot, or a recess having a shape capable of coming into close contact simultaneously with the two sloped outer surfaces of the V-shaped protrusion in the other one of the members, the second fixture being positioned in the movement direction relative to the other one of the members in a state where the protrusion is in abutment with the V-shaped groove or the recess is in abutment with the V-shaped protrusion, wherein one of the first fixture and the second fixture is provided with a reference surface extending orthogonally to the movement direction in a state where the one is positioned relative to the corresponding member, and wherein the other one of the first fixture and the second fixture is provided with a measurement device capable of measuring a distance to the reference surface in the movement direction in a state where the other one is positioned relative to the corresponding member, the mastering method comprising: disposing the first fixture in a positioned state on one of the members and disposing the second fixture in a positioned state on the other one of the members relative to the joint shaft in a mastered state, and using the measurement device to measure a first distance when the two members are disposed in a first operational position; storing the measured first distance; disposing the first fixture in a positioned state on the one of the members and disposing the second fixture in a positioned state on the other one of the members relative to the joint shaft in a non-mastered state, and using the measurement device to measure a second distance when the two members are disposed in a second operational position; and moving the joint shaft until a difference between the measured second distance and the first distance becomes smaller than or equal to a predetermined threshold value."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present disclosure relates to robots, mastering fixtures, mastering systems, and mastering methods.\n\nIn a known robot, two members connected in such a manner as to be rotatable relative to each other via a joint shaft are respectively provided with markers like marking-off lines for positioning the two members with respect to each other (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2011-251365). In a state where the joint shaft is mastered, the markers like marking-off lines provided on the two members at the joint shaft are aligned with each other, so that after a motor or a reducer for the joint shaft has been replaced, the joint shaft can be simply restored to its origin position by using the markers. A known mastering method involves attaching a fixture to a base having a reference flat surface and using a measurement device to measure the distance between the reference flat surface and a movable flat surface of a movable section connected rotatably around a rotation shaft (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2014-46399).\n\nAn aspect of the present disclosure provides a robot in which two members constituting a joint shaft and supported in a relatively movable manner are each provided with a V-shaped groove having two sloped inner surfaces intersecting each other at a linear groove bottom extending orthogonally to a movement direction or a V-shaped protrusion having two sloped outer surfaces intersecting each other at a linear ridge extending orthogonally to the movement direction.",
  "cpc": [
    "B25J 9/0009",
    "B25J 9/1005"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B25J 9/00"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "FANUC CORP"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "YAMAGUCHI KOUDAI",
    "INOUE TOSHIHIKO"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2021-07-19",
  "publication_date": "2024-09-17",
  "grant_date": "2024-09-17",
  "priority_date": "2020-07-22",
  "application_number": "US-202118005083-A",
  "family_id": "79728697",
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  ]
}