US 7,577,497 B2
Industrial robot with portable emergency stop unit
Svein Johannessen, Oslo (Norway); Jan Endresen, Asker (Norway); Erik Carlson, Nesoddtangen (Norway); and Ralph Sjöberg, Västerås (Sweden)
Assigned to ABB AB, Västeräs (Sweden)
Appl. No. 10/473,744
PCT Filed Apr. 02, 2002, PCT No. PCT/SE02/00644
§ 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date Mar. 05, 2004,
PCT Pub. No. WO02/078913, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 10, 2002.
Claims priority of application No. 0101199 (SE), filed on Apr. 02, 2001.
Prior Publication US 2004/0260426 A1, Dec. 23, 2004
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06F 19/00 (2006.01); H04Q 5/22 (2006.01); G05B 19/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 700—245  [340/10.1; 340/10.51; 340/10.52; 700/260; 700/250; 700/255; 318/568.11] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. 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.