Fanuc Corporation

Yasuo Sasaki

Akihiro Terada

Ryo Nihei

Nobutoshi Torii

Susumu Ito

Takahiro Hase

Hiroshi Takamatsu

A weld-position detector, attached to an automatic welding machine such as a welding robot, having three independently produced indispensable units, i.e., a laser-beam projecting unit for projecting a detection laser-beam, a scanning unit for directing the detection laser-beam towards weld portions of a workpiece and scanning the detection laser-beam across the welded portions, and a light-receiving unit for detecting the detection laser-beam reflected by the workpiece to thereby detect the position of the weld portions. The weld-position detector further having a fixture provided with reference faces on which the three independent units are accurately mounted. The scanning means having a movable reflecting mirror is provided with an optical axis adjusting unit for adjusting the position and the posture of the scanning unit so as to adjust the optical axis of the detection laser-beam until the optical axis of the detection laser-beam, after being reflected from the workpiece, arrives at the light-receiving unit.

Weld-position detector provided with an optical axis adjustment means

Small-locus machining apparatus

Height-sensing device for a laser robot

Laser robot with approach time from origin to a starting position

A cooling and cleaning unit incorporated in a welding position detector having a gas introducing conduit for introducing a single flow of a cooling gas under pressure into a hermetically sealed chamber of a casing for encasing therein a sensor unit of the welding position detector in the form of a convectional flow of cooling gas circulating around the sensor unit and removing heat from the sensor unit, a check valve unit having a gas inlet and a gas outlet and permitting the cooling gas under pressure to be discharged from the hermetically sealed chamber toward an outer face of a protective window of the welding position detector in the form of cleaning gas under pressure to thereby clean the outer face of the protective window while forming a gas curtain extending over the outer face of the protective window so as to prevent welding fumes and sputter from attaching to and depositing onto the outer face of the protective window of the welding position detector.

Growing community of inventors

Yamanashi, Japan

Yasuo Sasaki