Patent Application
20180236658
The present invention relates to an assembly system and, more particularly, to an assembly system adapted to insert a terminal into a housing.
Assembly of a product, as is generally known, is usually completed by a plurality of robots. The robots are capable of accurately and rapidly assembling a plurality of micro-parts to form the product. Two robots, for example, may cooperate to insert a terminal into a housing to form an electrical device such as a connector.
In order for two robots to insert a first member into a second member, a first robot grips the first member, a second robot grips the second member, and the first robot then moves the first member relative to the second robot to insert the first member into the second member. This form of assembly works well when a small insertion force is required to insert the first member into the second member.
Robots, however, have low rigidity and cannot bear a large operation force. If the insertion force required for inserting the first member into the second member is large, the positional accuracy of the robot is difficult to control, which may reduce the precision of the assembly. For example, a large insertion force is required to insert a terminal into a housing in an interference fitting manner. If the large insertion force is directly exerted on end effectors of the two robots, the two robots will not be able to reliably maintain the relative position between the terminal and the housing, reducing the assembly precision of the terminal in the housing.
An assembly system for inserting a terminal into a housing comprises a parallel robot mechanism, a serial robot mechanism, and an insertion mechanism. The parallel robot mechanism has a support platform on which the housing is held and a plurality of joints. The serial robot mechanism has an end effector connected to the support platform and is adapted to drive the parallel robot mechanism to move. The insertion mechanism is configured to insert the terminal into the housing. The parallel robot mechanism is moved by the serial robot mechanism to an insertion position in which an insertion hole of the housing is aligned with the terminal prior to the insertion mechanism inserting the terminal into the housing. At least a portion of the plurality of joints are locked while the insertion mechanism inserts the terminal into the housing to keep the parallel robot mechanism and the support platform stationary.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.
An assembly system according to an embodiment is shown in
The parallel robot mechanism 100 has a support platform 110. The housing 10 is fixed and held on the support platform 110 such that the housing 10 is moved with the support platform 110. In an embodiment, the parallel robot mechanism 100 has multiple degrees of freedom. In the embodiment shown in
The serial robot mechanism 200 has an end effector 210 connected to the support platform 110. The serial robot mechanism 200 is adapted to drive the parallel robot mechanism 100 to move via the end effector 210. In an embodiment, the serial robot mechanism 200 is a multi-axis robot with multiple degrees of freedom. In the embodiment shown in
The insertion mechanism 300 is configured to insert the terminal 20 into an insertion hole of the housing 10 held on the support platform 110. In an embodiment, the insertion mechanism 300 includes a fixture and a moving mechanism. The fixture is adapted to clamp the terminal 20 to be inserted and the moving mechanism is adapted to insert the clamped terminal 20 into the insertion hole of the housing 10. In another embodiment, the insertion mechanism 300 includes an injection mechanism adapted to inject the terminal 20 into the insertion hole of the housing 10. In further embodiments, the insertion mechanism 300 may be any insertion mechanism known to those with ordinary skill in the art and capable of inserting the terminal 20 into the housing 10; for example, the insertion mechanism 300 may alternatively be a multi-axis robot.
The parallel robot mechanism 100 is moved by the serial robot mechanism 200 until the insertion hole in the housing 10 is aligned with the terminal 20 to be inserted in an insertion position. The parallel robot mechanism 100 and the support platform 110 are kept stationary in the insertion position by locking at least a portion of a plurality of joints 101 of the parallel robot mechanism 100. The joints 101 are parts of arms of the parallel robot mechanism 100 which connect the support platform 110 to a stationary surface. The joints 101 are locked prior to and during insertion of the terminal 20 into the housing 10 by the insertion mechanism 300. The locking of the joints 101 increases the rigidity of the parallel robot mechanism 100. An insertion force required for inserting the terminal 20 into the housing 10 is completely exerted on and then borne by the parallel robot mechanism 100 with high rigidity, rather than being exerted on the serial robot mechanism 200 having a low rigidity. The positional accuracy of the housing 10 moved by the serial robot mechanism 200 is thereby ensured, improving the assembly precision of the terminal 20 in the housing 10.
In an embodiment, the assembly system further comprises a transmission mechanism and a cutting mechanism. The transmission mechanism is adapted to transmit a terminal material strip 21 shown in
A process of inserting the terminal 20 into the housing 10 will now be described in greater detail with reference to
First, as shown in
The terminal material strip 21 is then fed to the insertion mechanism 300 by the transmission mechanism.
The terminal 20 is then cut out of the terminal material strip 21 by the cutting mechanism.
The cut terminal 20 is then held to be inserted on the insertion mechanism 300.
The parallel robot mechanism 100 is then driven to move by the serial robot mechanism 200 to an insertion position in which the insertion hole in the housing 10 is aligned with the terminal 20 to be inserted.
At least a portion of the plurality of joints 101 of the parallel robot mechanism 100 are then locked so that the parallel robot mechanism 100 and the support platform 110 are kept stationary.
The terminal 20 is then inserted into the insertion hole of the housing 10 by the insertion mechanism 300.
In an embodiment, a plurality of terminals 20 are each inserted into different insertion holes of the housing 10. In this embodiment, after the first terminal 20 is inserted into the housing 10, the joints 101 are unlocked so that the parallel robot mechanism 100 and the support platform 100 are movable again. The above process is then repeated for each of the different insertion positions until each of the plurality of terminals 20 is inserted into the housing 10.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201510561544.X | Sep 2015 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation of PCT International Application No. PCT/EP2016/071070, filed on Sep. 7, 2016, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Chinese Patent Application No. 201510561544.X, filed on Sep. 7, 2015.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/EP2016/071070 | Sep 2016 | US |
| Child | 15957288 | US |
