Thk Co., Ltd.

Tomofumi Mizuno

Satoshi Hara

Masashi Ishii

Katsuya Fukushima

Shogo Wakuta

Akira Suzuki

Hiroki Niwa

Shigeki Hayashi

Kazuto Oga

Satoru Nagai

Yukihiro Yamada

The present invention more suitably adjusts a pressure at a tip of a shaft in an actuator configured to generate a negative pressure at the tip of the shaft, to pick up a workpiece with the shaft. A negative pressure-generating structure to be applied to the actuator includes an insertion hole into which the shaft is inserted in a state where a space is formed between the shaft and a wall surface of the insertion hole, an inner space formed inside the negative pressure-generating structure, which communicates with a hollow part of the shaft through a communication hole formed in the shaft, and an air passage connected to the inner space, the air passage being a passage of air when air in the inner space is sucked to generate the negative pressure at the tip of the shaft.

Negative pressure-generating structure and actuator

Provided is an actuator including a shaft, a drive part that moves the shaft, a fixing part disposed around the shaft, the shaft being moved relative to the fixing part, a detecting part that detects a force applied to the shaft on a side closer to the drive part than to the fixing part, and a control device that obtains a first force that is detected by the detecting part in a predetermined period of a period during which the shaft is being moved before the shaft applies the force to a workpiece, and after the predetermined period, controls the drive part based on the force detected by the detecting part and the first force.

Actuator

Provided is a sensing device to be applied to an actuator including a shaft that is movable in an axial direction, the shaft including a hollow part formed on at least a tip side of the shaft such that an interior of the shaft is hollow, the actuator being configured to generate a negative pressure in the hollow part to suction a workpiece to a tip of the shaft, thereby picking up the workpiece. The sensing device includes a flow sensor provided in a middle of an air passage to detect a flow rate of air flowing through the air passage, the air passage being a passage through which air sucked out from the hollow part flows when the negative pressure is applied to the hollow part, and a pressure sensor provided in a middle of the air passage, to detect a pressure in the air passage.

Actuator sensing device and actuator control system

The present invention reduces tact time for a pick-and-place operation by an actuator. In a housing of the actuator, an air passage being a passage of air when sucking air from a hollow part of a shaft is provided. Furthermore, a sucking valve that sucks air from the hollow part of the shaft through the air passage and a suction detecting sensor to detect that a workpiece is suctioned onto a tip of the shaft are provided in the air passage. Then, in the housing, the air passage is disposed at a position on a side opposite to a linear motion motor that moves the shaft in an axial direction of the shaft, via the shaft.

An actuator system that picks up workpieces aims to shorten tact time and to reduce damages to workpieces. The actuator system includes an actuator that picks up a workpiece, an external force detection sensor that detects a physical quantity that is correlated with an external force that is applied to the workpiece, a head unit that is connected to the actuator and the external force detection sensor without a communication network, the head unit being configured to control the actuator based on a sensing result from the external force detection sensor when a pickup request signal that is a signal requesting pickup of the workpiece is received, and a control device that is connected to the head unit over the communication network, the control device being configured to transmit the pickup request signal to the head unit.

Actuator system

Provided is an actuator in which a load applied to a shaft and a workpiece is controlled. The actuator includes a support part that rotatably supports the shaft, a linear motion motor that moves the shaft in a direction of a central axis, a connecting member that is at least a part of a member connecting a mover of the linear motion motor and the support part, a strain gauge that detects strain of the connecting member, and a control device that controls the linear motion motor, based on the strain detected by the strain gauge.

In an actuator, an unnecessarily large load is prevented from being applied to a shaft and a workpiece. There are included a force sensor, an output of which is according to a force applied to a connecting member connected to the shaft, an amplifier that amplifies the output of the force sensor, and a low-pass filter, and a load applied to the shaft is detected based on an output from the amplifier until the shaft or a member associated with the shaft comes in contact with another member, and thereafter, the load applied to the shaft is detected based on an output from the low-pass filter.

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Tokyo, Japan

Tomofumi Mizuno