Industrial robot governed by a programmable controller

Claim 1

An industrial robot equipped with an articulated manipulator having a main arm rotatable relative to a stationary housing and coupled mechanically to a forearm attached to a gripping component, and controlled by a programmable controller directing and monitoring the robot's operating cycle, the manipulator having a kinematic system comprising: a first means for vertical transfer provided between said gripping component and the free end of said forearm, a swivel link between the main arm and the forearm, comprising a first vertical free-turning, loose spindle onto which said main arm and forearm are mounted by means of ballbearings, a second vertical spindle rotatably supported in the stationary housing and fixedly supporting said main arm and lying parallel to said first loose spindle of said swivel link in such a way that both main and forearms pivot in a fixed horizontal plane to constitute a kinematic system functioning in cylindrical coordinates, a first servo-motor for driving said main arm in rotation around said second spindle, a second servo-motor for driving said forearm in rotation around said first spindle, an auxiliary transmission to transmit the movement of said main arm and forearm, and composed of a pair of first and second gear-wheels fixed permanently at opposite ends of said first loose spindle of said swivel link and co-operating respectively with a pair of first and second endless drive belts lying respectively in the direction of the forearm and the main arm, said first belt being wound between said first gear-wheel and a third gear-wheel fixed to said first means for vertical transfer, said second belt wound between said opposite second gear-wheel on said first spindle and a fourth gear-wheel mounted coaxially on the second supporting spindle and fixed to said housing, and programming means co-operating with said servo-motors for coordinating the two servo-controlled rotating motions of said main arm and forearm so as to drive the gripping component through a linear trajectory at the beginning of the robot's operating cycle.