US 5,212,433 AGranted

Robot emergency stop circuit

AssigneeFanuc Corporation

InventorShimoda Yasuyuki

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Abstract

A robot emergency stop circuit for bringing the robot to an emergency stop through a deadman switch installed on a teaching control device while the robot is being taught behavior patterns through the teaching control device. The deadman switch (DM1) causes the robot to operate according to commands received from the teaching control device as long as a pressure applied by a finger remains within a specified range. When the finger pressure becomes lower or higher than the specified range, a magnet switch in a servo amplifier (2) is turned OFF, bringing the robot to an emergency stop. Accordingly, if the robot should unexpectedly move, causing an operator to take an unintended action such as flinging the teaching control device away or holding it tightly, and thus apply an abnormal pressure to the deadman switch (DM1), then the contact point of the deadman switch (DM1) is shifted from the middle point of three contact points, thus turning the switch OFF. Accordingly, the robot can be stopped even if the operator takes an unintended action when a hazardous situation occurs.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A robot emergency stop circuit for bringing a robot being supplied power to an emergency stop while said robot is being taught behavior patterns using a teaching control device issuing instructions, said robot emergency stop circuit comprising:

a deadman switch connected to the teaching control device, said deadman switch including:
a 3-position contact switch having first, second and third contact positions;
and
a conductive element contractual with said first, second and third contact positions responsive to pressure applied to said deadman switch,
said deadman switch supplying said robot with the power in response to the pressure applied by a user enabling the robot to receive the instructions and operate in accordance with the instructions issued by said teaching control device when the pressure applied by the user remains within a specified range connecting said conductive element to said second contact position and connecting the power supply to the robot, and
said deadman switch stopping the supplying of the power to said robot when the pressure applied by the user becomes one of lower than said specified range connecting said conductive element to said first contact position and higher than said specified range connecting said conductive element to said third contact position, disconnecting the power supply from the robot.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.