Umbilical member managing system for industrial robot

摘要

An umbilical member managing system for an industrial robot. The system is provided with a manipulator (12) including a forearm (28) having a first longitudinal axis (28a), the forearm including a base (30), a first wrist member (32) joined to the base rotatably about the first axis (28a) and a second wrist member (34) joined to the first wrist member rotatably about a second axis (34a) generally perpendicular to the first axis; a working tool (14) mounted to the second wrist member of the forearm of the manipulator; an umbilical member (24) laid outside the forearm between the base and the second wrist member and connected to the working tool; an umbilical member guiding section (38) provided in the forearm and including a guide passage (36) extending generally parallel to the first axis to accommodate the umbilical member in a guidable manner; and an umbilical member retaining section (40) provided in the second wrist member for retaining the umbilical member at a proper position relative to the working tool. The umbilical member guiding section (38) is configured to follow a rotating motion of the first wrist member (32) about the first axis (28a) and to shift about the first axis. The umbilical member retaining section (40) is configured to follow a rotating motion of the second wrist member (34) about the second axis (34a) and to bend the umbilical member (24) in a radius not less than an allowable bend radius between the umbilical member guiding section (38) and the second wrist member (34).