The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 17, 1987
Filed:
Oct. 17, 1985
James E Frushour, Endwell, NY (US);
Michael L Mahar, Newark Valley, NY (US);
Christopher J Majka, Endicott, NY (US);
John E Swenson, Greene, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A collision avoidance system for a two arm robot is direction sensitive. When the separation between the arms is sensed as equal to or smaller than a predetermined distance, the trailing arm is slowed to avoid a collision. The separation sensor generates a first 'slow' signal when the separation is a first predetermined distance, a second 'slow' signal when the separation is a second predetermined distance, smaller than the first, and a 'stop' signal when the separation is a third predetermined distance, smaller than the second. The polarity of the drive signals for the arms determine their direction, and polarity sensitive comparators determine the direction of each arm. When the first 'slow' signal is present and one arm is moving in the direction of the other arm, a speed reducing resistor is inserted in the circuit for the drive signal for the one arm to reduce its speed. When the second 'slow' signal is also present, a second speed reducing resistor is inserted in the drive signal circuit for the one arm, further reducing the velocity. A 'stop' signal causes a controller to stop both arms.