Industrial robot for pressing system, pressing system, and method for bending plate material

A pressing system for plate shaped material, said pressing system comprising:

• a press brake for performing pressing for bending said material;
• and
• an industrial robot for carrying said material in and out of said press brake;
• said industrial robot including:
• arm members operational for carrying said material, said arm members comprising a base arm member positioned at a base side portion of said arm members, a first arm member extending in a horizontal direction from said base arm member, and plural second arm members, interconnected to said first arm member, and having rotatable members being rotatable about a horizontal axis and another of said rotatable members being rotatable about a vertical axis;
• an arm base, interconnected to said base arm member, for moving said base arm member reciprocally between a pressing section of said press brake and a piled portion of said material, said arm base being positioned outside of a region that is opposite a front portion and a side portion of said press brake, material being carried in and out of said pressing section of said press brake at said front portion thereof;
• a holding member, provided at a leading edge portion of said second arm members, for holding said material;
• a releasing means for releasing material held by said holding member during pressing for bending by said press brake;
• and
• a control means for outputting operation commands to said arm members, said arm base, said holding member and said releasing means.

A method for pressing a plate shaped material by using a press brake for pressing said material for bending, and an industrial robot, having arm members with a vertical base arm formed at a base portion thereof and working arms connected to said base arm, for carrying said material in and out of said press brake, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) acquiring material with a holding member;
• (b) transporting held material toward said press brake by moving said base arm along a path that is substantially in a plane defined by a lower portion of said press brake and is outside of a region that is opposite a front portion and a side portion of said press brake;
• (c) carrying held material into said press brake by said base arm and said working arms;
• (d) releasing held material by stopping said holding member from holding said material;
• (e) bending said material with said press brake;
• (f) moving said holding member to the bent portion of said material whereby said holding member follows a bending velocity of said material;
• and
• (g) holding said material bent by said press brake with said holding member and carrying said material out of said press brake.

An industrial robot for carrying plate shaped material in and out of a press brake which presses and bends said material, said robot comprising:

• arm members including:
• a base arm member positioned at a base side portion of said arm members;
• a first arm member extending in a horizontal direction from said base arm member and having a length sufficient to position a leading edge portion thereof opposite a front center portion of said press brake;
• and
• plural second arm members, interconnected to said first arm member, and having rotatable members between said second arm members, at least one of said rotatable members being rotatable about a horizontal axis and another of said rotatable members being rotatable about a vertical axis;
• an arm base, interconnected to said base arm member, for moving said base arm member reciprocally between a pressing section of said press brake and a piled portion of said material, said arm base being substantially in a plane defined by said lower portion of said press brake and being positioned outside of a region opposite a front portion and a side portion of said press brake, plate shaped material being carried in and out of said pressing section of said press brake at said front portion thereof;
• a holding member, provided at a leading edge portion of said second arm members, for holding said material, said holding member including a third arm member and attracting heads provided on said third arm member, said attracting heads attracting said material by contacting said material and discharging air;
• a releasing means for releasing material held by said holding member during pressing for bending by said press brake, said releasing means being a forcible releasing mechanism attached to said attracting heads;
• and
• control means for outputting operation commands to each of said rotatable members to move said holding member to a predetermined position with respect to material that has been bent by said press brake.