Industrial robot with portable emergency stop unit
AssigneeABB AB
InventorsSvein Johannessen, Jan Endresen, Erik Carlson, Ralph Sjöberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An industrial robot including a manipulator, a control unit for controlling the manipulator, a portable operating unit for teaching and manually operating the robot, which operating unit is adapted for wireless communication with the control unit, and an emergency stop unit. The emergency stop unit is arranged movable and the portable operating unit includes a first receiving member for receiving the emergency stop unit.
Claims16
An industrial robot, comprising:
- a manipulator;
- a movable emergency stop unit comprising an emergency stop button configured when enabled to trigger an emergency stop of the manipulator upon activation;
- a control unit for controlling the manipulator, the control unit comprising a first receiving member configured to receive the emergency stop unit, the control unit further comprising a sensor configured to detect the presence of the emergency stop button in the first receiving member and a processor configured to enable the emergency stop button upon detecting the presence of the emergency stop unit in the first receiving member;
- and
- a portable operating unit for teaching and manually operating the robot, the portable operating unit comprising a second receiving member configured to receive the emergency stop unit removed from the control unit, the portable operating unit further comprising a sensor configured to detect the presence of the emergency stop button in the second receiving member and a processor configured to enable the emergency stop button and establish wireless communication with the control unit upon detecting the presence of the emergency stop unit in the second receiving member,
- wherein the emergency stop unit is movable back and forth between the first receiving member of the control unit and the second receiving member of the portable operating unit.
A method for ensuring the functioning of a movable emergency stop unit for an industrial robot comprising a manipulator, a movable emergency stop unit comprising an emergency stop button configured when enabled to trigger an emergency stop of the manipulator upon activation, a control unit for controlling the manipulator, the control unit comprising a first receiving member configured to receive the emergency stop unit, the control unit further comprising a sensor configured to detect the presence of the emergency stop button in the first receiving member and a processor configured to enable the emergency stop button upon detecting the presence of the emergency stop unit in the first receiving member, a portable operating unit for teaching and manually operating the robot, the portable operating unit comprising a second receiving member configured to receive the emergency stop unit removed from the control unit, the portable operating unit further comprising a sensor configured to detect the presence of the emergency stop button in the second receiving member and a processor configured to enable the emergency stop button and establish wireless communication with the control unit upon detecting the presence of the emergency stop unit in the second receiving member, the method comprising:
- moving the emergency stop unit from the second receiving member of the control unit to the first receiving member of the portable operating unit;
- detecting the presence of the emergency stop unit in the first receiving member of the portable operating unit;
- establishing wireless communication between the portable operating unit and the control unit;
- enabling the emergency stop unit in the first receiving member of the portable operating unit;
- and
- actuating the emergency stop unit to stop movement of the manipulator.
An industrial robot system, comprising:
- a plurality of industrial robots, each robot comprising
- a manipulator;
- a movable emergency stop unit comprising an emergency stop button configured when enabled to trigger an emergency stop of the manipulator upon activation, the emergency stop unit also configured to store information about an identity of the robot to which the emergency stop unit belongs;
- and
- a control unit for controlling the manipulator, the control unit comprising a first receiving member configured to receive the emergency stop unit, the control unit further comprising a sensor configured to detect the presence of the emergency stop button in the first receiving member and a processor configured to enable the emergency stop button upon detecting the presence of the emergency stop unit in the first receiving member;
- a portable operating unit for teaching and manually operating the robots, the portable operating unit comprising a second receiving member configured to receive the emergency stop unit removed from one of the control units, the portable operating unit further comprising a sensor configured to detect the presence of the emergency stop button in the second receiving member and a processor configured to read the identity of the robot to which the emergency stop unit belong and to enable the emergency stop button and establish wireless communication with the control unit of the robot to which the emergency stop button belongs upon detecting the presence of the emergency stop unit in the second receiving member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.