Europisches Patentamt

(19) European Patent Office *EP001187704B1*

Office europen des brevets (11) EP 1 187 704 B1
(12) EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION

(45) Date of publication and mention (51) Int Cl.7: B25J 9/10
of the grant of the patent:
08.10.2003 Bulletin 2003/41 (86) International application number:
PCT/SE00/01303
(21) Application number: 00946609.5
(87) International publication number:
(22) Date of filing: 20.06.2000 WO 01/000369 (04.01.2001 Gazette 2001/01)

(54) INDUSTRIAL ROBOT DEVICE

INDUSTRIEROBOTER
ROBOT INDUSTRIEL

(84) Designated Contracting States: NISSFOLK, Rafael

AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LI LU S-722 40 Vster s (SE)
MC NL PT SE
(74) Representative: Dahlstrand, Bjrn
(30) Priority: 24.06.1999 SE 9902408 ABB Group Services Center AB,
Legal & Compliance/IP
(43) Date of publication of application: 721 78 Vsteras (SE)
20.03.2002 Bulletin 2002/12
(56) References cited:
(73) Proprietor: ABB AB EP-A1- 0 322 670 EP-A1- 0 338 673
721 83 Vsteras (SE) US-A- 4 020 715 US-A- 4 586 868

(72) Inventors:
LUNDSTRM, Christer
S-745 71 Enkping (SE)
EP 1 187 704 B1

Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give
notice to the European Patent Ofce of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be led in
a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been led until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art.
99(1) European Patent Convention).

Printed by Jouve, 75001 PARIS (FR)

 1 EP 1 187 704 B1
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a gearbox
configuration of an industrial robot.
PRIOR ART
[0002] In i. e. industrial robots with six axes, which
have a vertically articulated arm mounted on a stand (fig.
2), the driving means of the arm are placed near the cen-
tre of rotation of the arm. The remaining three driving
means are arranged closer to the working tool of the ro-
bot. The aim is inter alia to give the industrial robot a
compact construction and to contribute to keeping the
weight of the arm low. Accordingly, the three driving
means are arranged in the lower part of the robot to-
wards the stand and generally comprise electrical mo-
tors. Each motor drives one shaft each for driving of the
different degrees of freedom of the robot through gear
and transmission. The gear generally comprises a
toothed transmission gear enclosed in a gear housing
filled with cooling and lubricant medium, which usually
consist of oil.
[0003] The patent document US 4 671 732 discloses
an industrial robot with six axes having three driving
means 21, 22 and 23 arranged in the lower part of the
robot near the stand. The three driving means are iden-
tical, which simplifies the design and possible repair of
the robot. The three driving units are completely sepa-
rated from each other regarding accommodation for lu-
bricant. The robot is designed to tolerate high require-
ments for accuracy despite wear of the parts included.
[0004] In operation the industrial robot is generally
part of a production line, which can include e. g. a press.
The robot supplies the press with moulding blanks that
come to the robot over some type of conveyor.
[0005] The technical development aims at faster
presses and also faster conveyors. This has entailed
that the speed of the robot has had to increase concur-
rently with the development. The speed of driving and
translation has increased approximately fivefold in the
last fifteen years. This has led to that the enclosed
toothed transmission gears under high bearing pressure
must be driven with ever higher velocity, which requires
increasing effect supply and gives increasing genera-
tion of heat in the gears, which increases the friction heat
on the teeth.
[0006] For the purpose of absorbing and disposing
heat from the teeth a cooling and lubricant medium en-
closes the gear. Problems arise when the driving and
translation speed of the robot and the heat generation
are so high that the cooling medium cannot cool the
gear. Then, the flanks of the gear run the risk of being
damaged from the high temperature. Thus, too high
temperatures drastically decrease the lifetime of the
gear. The risk of frequent shut downs and expensive re-
2
pairs of the robot increases.
[0007] The three lower driving units in the robot are
not driven equally and the corresponding gears are
heated unequally. This results in an uneven distribution
5 of the generated heat, which leads to different local ther-
mal expansions in the material / metal of the robot, which
in turn leads to deformities in the construction of the ro-
bot. The accuracy of the robot is decreased and the ro-
bot cannot fulfil the requirements called for by the user
10 of the robot.
[0008] Another problem that arises at high tempera-
tures is that the accuracy of the work of the robot is in-
creased. In a robot with six axes the driving unit, which
drives the rotational movement of the robot around the
15 vertical axis A (fig. 2) and its gear, is charged the most
and must be driven at very high speed. There, the tem-
perature becomes very high and causes temperature
differences to occur in different parts of the cooling and
lubricant medium in the gearbox of the motor. This en-
20 tails in turn means that the turn plate around which the
robot is constructed and which secures the rotation
around axis A is heated unevenly, which has a negative
influence on the accuracy.
[0009] Traditionally the above problems are solved
25 through arranging cooling flanges on the outside of the
gearboxes. Even an external cooler e. g. a cooling fan
can help to decrease the temperature. All such solutions
are bulky and insufficient and they are not suitable for
an industrial robot, which is part of a production line.
30 [0010] Another problem is that three completely sep-
arated gearboxes require filling and discharge of cooling
and lubricant medium and also aeration in three different
places. This takes time, is dirty to handle and leads to
unwanted or unnecessarily long shutdowns.
35 [0011] In production of industrial robots the need aris-
es for a robot which can make fast speed with main-
tained accuracy. Furthermore, it should be easy to give
the robot the necessary operation service.
[0012] The robot in the cited American patent docu-
40 ment cannot fulfil this need.
[0013] Further industrial robots, having a common
gear housing, are known from EP 0 322 670 A and US
4 586 868 A.
45 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] In producing industrial robots a manipulator is
equipped with i.e. control system and also motor driven
gears and optional appurtenant transmissions. The de-
50 velopment of robots has the aim of creating a faster ro-
bot, which corresponds to the possibilities of the sur-
rounding equipment and the requirements of the cus-
tomer. The aim is also to simplify and shorten the time
for operative service of the robot.
55 [0015] Accordingly, the object of the present invention
is to achieve an industrial robot including at least two
motor driven gears, where the gears are arranged so
that the requirement of sufficient cooling is fulfilled at the
2
 3 EP 1 187 704 B1
same time as the robot reaches provided requirements
of accuracy and the time for service decreases.
[0016] This object is solved by the features of claims
1(apparatus) and 4 (method).
[0017] A gear box requires an opening for filling and
a separate opening for discharging cooling and lubricant
medium and also magnetic stoppers to keep the medi-
um, e. g. the oil, free from wear particles. During oper-
ation an overpressure occurs in the gear unit e. g. be-
cause of heat expansion of the cooling and lubricant me-
dium and therefore the gearbox often is provided with a
type of breathing stopper.
[0018] It is also included in the scope of invention to
design the gear housing with only one opening for com-
mon filling of lubricant oil and moreover only one dis-
charge place for the oil. Aeration also can occur jointly
through one or several aerating openings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0019] The invention will be explained in greater detail
by describing an example of an embodiment with refer-
ence to the enclosed drawing, where:
Fig. 1 shows a gearbox configuration arranged in
an industrial robot in accordance with the present
invention,
Fig. 2 shows an industrial robot with six axes ar-
ranged with three driving units in the lower part of
the robot.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0020] In an industrial robot comprising a manipulator
with a control system (fig. 2) electrically driven gears are
arranged in the lower part of the robot at the stand to
give the movements of the robot arm. Each electrical
motor transmits rotational movements to a toothed
transmission gear, which usually drives a transmission
that transmits movements to the robot arm. In fig. 2, a
six axes industrial robot 1 with a stand 2 is shown, and
also the thereon rotationally mounted robot foot 3. A first
driving unit 4 (fig. 1) is arranged to rotate the robot
around the vertical axis A through a first toothed trans-
mission gear 5. A second driving unit 6 is arranged to
rotate the robot arm around a horizontal axis B through
a second toothed gear transmission 7. A third driving
unit 8 is arranged to rotate the robot arm around the hor-
izontal axis C through a third toothed transmission gear
9. The first 5, second 7 and third gear 9 are arranged in
a common gear housing 10. The gear housing 10 is cast
in one piece, and because of technical reasons of de-
sign and strength the housing is subdivided into several
inner compartments 10a, 10b and 10c, which are con-
nected with passage channels. The gear housing 10 is
filled with cooling and lubricant medium 12, which sur-
rounds the gears 5, 7 and 9.
4
[0021] During operation of the robot the first, second
and third motor and their gears are working in different
degrees to make the robot perform the desired move-
ments.
5 [0022] Through driving of the different gears, the sur-
rounding cooling and lubricant medium 12 is caused to
circulate. The cooling and lubricant medium absorbs
heat from the teeth and through the circulation in the
common gear housing and any temperature differences
10 in the medium 12 are levelled out, and a uniform tem-
perature is obtained in the whole housing.
ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS
15 [0023] To facilitate / speed up the circulation of the
agent 12, an external device 13 can be connected to the
gear housing viz. a pump (not shown).
20 Claims
1. Industrial robot (1) including a manipulator with con-
trol system, where the movements of the manipu-
lator are driven by at least two motor driven gears
25 wherein the gears are arranged in a common gear
housing (10) characterised in that said gear hous-
ing contains an in the gear housing circulating com-
mon cooling and lubricant medium (12).
30 2. Industrial robot according to claim 1, characterised
in that an external device (13) facilitates / speeds
up the circulation of the cooling and lubricant medi-
um (12).
35 3. Industrial robot according to claim 2, characterised
in that the external device (13) is a pump.
4. Method for cooling and lubricating an industrial ro-
bot (1) including a manipulator provided with control
40 system and at least two motor driven gears, wherein
the gears are arranged in a common gear housing
(10) characterised in that said gears are cooled
and lubricated by the circulation of a common cool-
ing and lubricant medium (12) in the for the gears
45 common gear housing (10).
5. Method according to claim 4 characterised in that
the circulation of the cooling and lubricant medium
(12) is caused to circulate by means of a pump.
50
Patentansprche
1. Industrieroboter (1), der einen Manipulator mit ei-
55 nem Steuersystem umfasst, wobei die Bewegun-
gen des Manipulators von wenigstens zwei motor-
betriebenen Getrieben angetrieben werden, wobei
die Getriebe in einem gemeinsamen Getriebege-
3
 5 EP 1 187 704 B1 6

huse (10) angeordnet sind, dadurch gekenn-
zeichnet, dass das Getriebegehuse ein in dem
Getriebegehuse zirkulierendes gemeinsames
Khl- und Schmiermedium (12) enthlt.
5
2. Industrieroboter gem Anspruch 1, dadurch ge-
kennzeichnet, dass eine externe Vorrichtung (13)
die Zirkulation des Khl- und Schmiermediums (12)
erleichtert/beschleunigt.
10
3. Industrieroboter gem Anspruch 2, dadurch ge-
kennzeichnet, dass die externe Vorrichtung (13)
eine Pumpe ist.
sont refroidis et lubrifis par la circulation d'un agent
(12) de lubrification et de refroidissement commun
dans le botier (10) d'engrenages commun aux en-
grenages.
5. Procd suivant la revendication 4, caractris en
ce que la circulation de l'agent (12) de lubrification
et de refroidissement est amen circuler au
moyen d'une pompe.

4. Verfahren zur Khlung und Schmierung eines Indu- 15

strieroboters (1), der einen Manipulator, der mit ei-
nem Steuersystem bereitgestellt ist, und wenig-
stens zwei motorbetriebene Getriebe umfasst, wo-
bei die Getriebe in einem gemeinsamen Getriebe-
gehuse (10) angeordnet sind, dadurch gekenn- 20
zeichnet, dass die Getriebe durch die Zirkulation
eines gemeinsamen Khlund Schmiermediums
(12) in dem fr die Getriebe gemeinsamen Getrie-
begehuse gekhlt und geschmiert werden.
25
5. Verfahren gem Anspruch 4, dadurch gekenn-
zeichnet, dass die Zirkulation des Khl- und
Schmiermediums (12) zur Zirkulation mittels einer
Pumpe veranlasst wird.
30

Revendications

1. Robot (1) industriel comportant un manipulateur

ayant un systme de commande, les mouvements 35
du manipulateur tant entrans par au moins deux
engrenages entrans par moteur, dans lequel les
engrenages sont agencs dans un botier (10) com-
mun d'engrenages, caractris en ce que le bo-
tier d'engrenages contient un agent (12) de lubrifi- 40
cation et de refroidissement commun circulant dans
le botier d'engrenages.

2. Robot industriel suivant la revendication 1, carac-

tris en ce qu'un dispositif (13) externe facilite/ 45
acclre la circulation de l'agent (12) de lubrification
et de refroidissement.

3. Robot industriel suivant la revendication 2, carac-

tris en ce que le dispositif (13) externe est une 50
pompe.

4. Procd pour refroidir et lubrifier un robot (1) indus-

triel comportant un manipulateur muni d'un systme
de commande et d'au moins deux engrenages en- 55
trans par moteur, dans lequel les engrenages
sont disposs dans un botier (10) commun d'en-
grenages, caractris en ce que les engrenages

4
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