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US 5,664,322 AGranted
Apparatus for processing palletized small parts utilizing a robot and a vertical pallet magazine
OwnerNorman D. Bestinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for processing and assembling a plurality of small parts weighing under five pounds using a robot employing a rotatable pallet for holding an array of small parts. Said rotatable pallet being held in place on the robot wrist head, which moves the pallet through a plurality of stationary work-stations located within the operating envelope of the robot, and rotates the pallet at each work-station to index the pallet and to present it to the work-station for an operation on a specific part or parts. Said robot participates in the work-station tasks by moving the rotatable pallet in the X, Y, and Z directions as needed. Movable data pins are used to indicate conditions of individual parts in nests, and of the pallet taken as a whole.
Claims8
An apparatus comprising:
- a. a robot with a head movable in the X, Y and Z directions, and having an end effector gripper for gripping a rotatable pallet and holding the pallet above the robot head;
- b. a vertical magazine for retaining a stack of rotatable pallets, said vertical magazine elevated on a support bracket so that said robot head can be moved under said magazine;
- c. said magazine further comprising an open-ended cylindrical body, said stack of rotatable pallets being disposed within the cylindrical body, and a plurality of movable pins circumferentially disposed around an open end of the cylindrical body adjacent to a bottom opening of said cylindrical body and projecting inwardly to prevent a bottom pallet in said stack of rotatable pallets from passing down through the open end of said cylindrical body;
- d. said magazine further comprising a plurality of vertical guide blocks disposed along the interior of said cylindrical body for maintaining each of said pallets in a vertically aligned orientation in said magazine,
- e. a vertical space between two adjacent ones of said guide blocks for guiding a horizontal feature protruding from a vertical edge of each of said rotatable pallets for rotational alignment of said rotatable pallets in said vertical magazine:
- and
- f. said magazine located within an operating envelope of said robot head.
4 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a. a robot with a head movable in the X, Y and Z directions, and having an end effector gripper for gripping a rotatable pallet and holding the pallet above the robot head;
- b. a vertical magazine for retaining a stack of rotatable pallets, said vertical magazine elevated on a support bracket so that said robot head can be moved under said magazine;
- c. said magazine further comprising an open-ended body, said stack of rotatable pallets being disposed within the open-ended body, and a plurality of pins circumferentially disposed around an open end of the body adjacent to a bottom opening of the body and projecting inwardly to prevent a bottom rotatable pallet in said stack of rotatable pallets from passing down through the open end of the body;
- d. said magazine further comprising a plurality of vertical guide blocks disposed along the interior of said body for maintaining each of said rotatable pallets in a vertically aligned orientation in said magazine;
- e. a portion of at least one of said guide blocks protruding into a horizontal recess in a vertical edge of each of said rotatable pallets for rotational alignment of said rotatable pallets in said vertical magazine;
- and
- f said magazine located within an operating envelope of said robot head.
4 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a. a robot with a head movable in the X, Y and Z directions, and having an end effector gripper for gripping a rotatable pallet and holding the pallet above the robot head;
- b. a vertical magazine for retaining at least one rotatable pallet, said vertical magazine elevated on a support bracket so that said robot head can be moved under said magazine;
- c. said magazine further comprising an open-ended body, said at least one rotatable pallet being disposed within the open-ended body, and a plurality of pins circumferentially disposed around an open end of the body adjacent to a bottom opening of the body and projecting inwardly to prevent said at least one rotatable pallet from passing down through the open end of the body;
- d. said magazine further comprising a plurality of vertical guide blocks disposed along the interior of said body for maintaining said at least one rotatable pallet in a vertically aligned orientation in said magazine;
- and
- e. said magazine located within an operating envelope of said robot head.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.