JPH0314593B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a joint device used in a robot manipulator, etc., and in particular a joint having three degrees of freedom that can be operated in east-west, north-south, and rotational directions using a telescopic actuator. It is related to the device.

Prior Art The conventional art of the above-mentioned joint device is as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10. Fig. 8 shows its basic structure, in which the first arm b and the second arm c are connected by a spherical joint a, and two arms intersect each other.
The books are connected by expansion/contraction actuators d ₁ , d ₂ , . . . d ₈ .

In the joint device having the above configuration, one of the pair of intersecting telescopic actuators tilted in the same direction is extended and the other is shortened, so that the first arm b is moved as shown in FIG. The second arm c is rotated, and the second arm c
Among the telescopic actuators connected to the east-west or north-south positions, one of the two actuators is extended and the other two are shortened, thereby bending the actuator in the east-west and north-south directions.

In the above-mentioned conventional example, when Matsukin-Ben muscles (rubber artificial muscles) are used as the telescopic actuator, the result is as shown in Fig. 10, where the Matsukin-Ben muscles (e) come into contact with each other at the intersection of the Matsukin-Ben muscles (e). The muscle e is bent and deformed. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the Matsukiben muscle e attached to the side opposite to the side to be bent during bending comes into contact with the joint formed by the spherical joint a, and is bent and deformed along this joint.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above-mentioned conventional joint device, the telescopic actuators come into contact with each other and the telescopic actuators come into contact with the joint portion during bending and rotational movements, so friction occurs at this contact portion. Control becomes difficult, and the telescopic actuator must be bent and deformed, so it is limited to flexible actuators. Furthermore, the rotation angle during rotation was as small as ±90°.

Means and Effects for Solving the Problems The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to eliminate contact between the telescopic actuators and eliminate friction between the telescopic actuators during bending and rotation operations, thereby improving controllability. Furthermore, the telescopic actuator is not limited to a flexible one, and the rotation angle can be further increased.Furthermore, the number of telescopic actuators can be reduced to 8, which is the same as before, and the telescopic actuator is not limited to a flexible one. The purpose is to provide a joint device that can achieve the above effects without increasing the number of actuators.
The configuration is such that the first arm and the second arm are connected via a spherical joint provided on an intermediate member, and a connecting point A is located on the south side of two connecting points A and B on the north and south sides of the axis of the first arm. The southwest connection point E and the southeast connection point F with respect to the axis of the intermediate member are connected by a telescopic actuator, and the north connection point B, the northeast connection point G and the northwest connection point with respect to the axis of the intermediate member are connected. H are connected by a telescopic actuator, and two connection points C and D on the east and west with respect to the axis of the second arm, connection point C on the east side of D, and connection point F on the southeast side of the intermediate member.
and the northeast connection point G are connected by a telescopic actuator, and the west connection point D is connected to the above-mentioned southwest connection point E and northwest connection point H of the intermediate member by a telescopic actuator. By telescoping each telescopic actuator that connects the above-mentioned connection points, the second arm moves east and west with respect to the first arm.
It is bent north-south and rotated left and right.

1 to 4 show the basic configuration and operation of the joint device according to the present invention, and 1 in the figure shows the first
Arm, 2 is the second arm, 3 is both arms 1,
The first arm 1 and the second arm 2 are connected via a spherical joint 4 provided on the intermediate member 3 so as to be bendable and rotatable.

North-south connecting points A and B are provided on both sides in the north-south direction with respect to the axis of the first arm 1, and east-west connecting points C and D are provided on both sides in the east-west direction with respect to the axis of the second arm 2, Furthermore, connection points E, F, G, and H are provided at southwest, southeast, northeast, and northwest positions, respectively, with respect to the axis of the intermediate member 3, and the connection point A on the south side of the first arm and the southwest of the intermediate member 3 are provided. , the southeast connection points E and F are connected by the first and second telescopic actuators 5a and 5b, and the north connection point B
and connection points G and H on the northeast and northwest of the intermediate member are connected by third and fourth telescopic actuators 5c and 5d, and connection point C on the east side of the second arm 2 and connection points G and H on the southeast and north of the intermediate member 3 are connected by third and fourth telescopic actuators 5c and 5d. The connection points F and G on the east side are connected by the fifth and sixth telescopic actuators 5e and 5f, and the connection point D on the west side and the connection points E and H on the southwest and northwest sides of the intermediate member are connected by the seventh and sixth expansion actuators 5e and 5f. They are connected by eighth telescopic actuators 5g and 5h.

In the telescopic actuators 5a to 5h,
In the basic posture shown in FIG. 1, all the telescopic actuators have the same length. Further, among the telescopic actuators 5a, - 5h, the first and seventh telescopic actuators 5a and 5g, the second and fifth telescopic actuators 5b and 5e, and the third and sixth telescopic actuators 5c and 5f are , the fourth and eighth telescopic actuators 5d and 5h are paired, and their lengths are always the same.

Basic operations are shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.

(1) Bending in the north-south direction (pitch) (i) In the case of bending in the south direction, as shown in FIG. 5e is shortened by the same amount, and the third, sixth, fourth, and eighth telescopic actuators 5c5f, 5d, and 5h are extended by the same amount.

(ii) When bending to the north, each of the above expansion and contraction actuators operates in the opposite direction.

(2) Bending in the east-west direction (Yaw) (i) When bending in the east direction, as shown in Fig. 3, each of the second, fifth, third, and sixth telescopic actuators 5b, 5e, and 5c, 5f is shortened by the same amount, and each of the first, seventh, fourth and eighth telescopic actuators 5a, 5g and 5d, 5h is extended by the same amount.

(ii) When bending in the west direction, each of the above-mentioned expansion/contraction actuators is operated in the opposite direction.

(3) Roll (i) In the case of clockwise rotation, as shown in Fig. 4, the 2nd, 5th, 4th, and 8th telescopic actuators 5b, 5e and 5d, 5h are shortened by the same amount. Then, the first, seventh, third and sixth telescopic actuators 5a, 5g and 5c, 5f are extended by the same amount.

(ii) In the case of counterclockwise rotation, each of the above-mentioned telescopic actuators is operated in the opposite direction.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 5 to 7.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the Ben's muscle is used as a telescopic actuator, and each Ben's muscle is given the same reference numeral corresponding to the reference numeral given to the telescopic actuator shown in FIG. The pincushion muscle and both arms 1 and 2 are connected by attachment members 6 and 7 fixed to each arm 1 and 2.

The spherical joint 4 provided on the intermediate member 3 is as shown in FIG. 6, and the intermediate member 3 is connected to the second spherical bearing inner ring 8 provided on the first arm 1 side via the second spherical bearing outer ring 9 It is fitted so that it can swing freely, and the second
The arm 2 is fitted into a first spherical bearing outer ring 10 provided on the first arm 1 side via a first spherical bearing inner ring 11 so as to be swingable.

As shown in FIG. 7, the pressure control valves 12a, -12d are controlled by the controller 13 in pairs.
It is connected to a pressure source 15 via. 14a,
14d is a pressure gauge that detects the pressure of each pair of muscle muscles and feeds it back to the controller 13.

The above-mentioned pine needle muscles 5a, to 5d contract when the internal pressure is increased, and expand when the internal pressure is lowered.The action when using the pine needle muscles will be explained below.

Among the Matsukin-ben muscles 5a and 5h, the first and seventh Matsukin-ben muscles 5a and 5g, the second and fifth Matsukin-ben muscles 5b and 5e, the third and sixth Matsukin-ben muscles 5c and 5f, and the fourth Matsukin-ben muscles 5a and 5h.・The 8th Matsukinbensu muscles 5d and 5h are connected as a pair, respectively, to the 2nd ・
The internal pressure of the fifth Matsukin Ben muscles 5b and 5e is P ₁ ,
The internal pressure of the 3rd and 6th Matsukin Benis muscles 5c and 5f
P ₂ , the internal pressure of the first and seventh Matsukin-bens muscles 5a and 5g is P ₃ , the fourth and eighth Matsukin-bens muscles 5d,
When the internal pressure for 5 hours is P ₄ , (1) East-west bending (Yaw) Eastward bending P ₁ , P ₂ > P ₃ , P ₄ Westward bending P ₁ , P ₂ < P ₃ , P ₄ Neutral P ₁ , P ₂ = P ₃ , P ₄ (2) North-south bend (pitch) Southward bend P ₁ , P ₃ ＞P ₃ , P ₄ North bend P ₁ , P ₃ ＜P ₂ , P ₄ neutral P ₁ , P ₃ = P ₂ , P ₄ (3) Roll Right rotation P ₁ , P ₄ ＞P ₂ , P ₃ Counterclockwise rotation P ₁ , P ₄ ＜P ₂ , P ₃ Neutral P ₁ , P ₄ = P ₂ , P ₃ In this specification, the directions with respect to the axis are expressed as east, west, north, south, but this is for convenience and merely indicates the mutual relative directions with respect to the axis. However, the direction is not limited.

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate mutual contact between the telescopic actuators, so that there is no friction between the telescopic actuators during bending and rotation operations, and controllability can be improved, and the telescopic actuators are flexible. The rotation angle can be increased further, and the number of telescopic actuators can be reduced to 8, which is the same as before, and the above effects can be achieved without increasing the number of telescopic actuators. be able to.

Furthermore, each telescopic actuator can be made approximately 1/2 shorter than the conventional one.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 7 show aspects of the present invention; Figure 1 is a basic configuration diagram, Figures 2 to 4 are explanatory diagrams of the action, and Figure 5 is an example of an embodiment using a pine muscle. 6 is a sectional view showing an example of a spherical joint, FIG. 7 is a control circuit diagram, and FIGS. 8 to 10 are explanatory diagrams showing a conventional example. 1 is a first arm, 2 is a second arm, 3 is an intermediate member, 4 is a spherical joint, and 5a and 5h are telescopic actuators.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 The first arm 1 and the second arm 2 are connected to the intermediate member 3
A connecting point A on the south side of two connecting points A and B on the north and south sides with respect to the axis of the first arm 1, and a connecting point E on the southwest side with respect to the axis of the intermediate member 3. and the southeast connection point F are connected by telescopic actuators 5a and 5b, and the north connection point B
, the northeast connection point G and the northwest connection point H with respect to the axis of the intermediate member 3 are connected to the expansion and contraction actuators 5c, 5.
d, and two connection points C on the east and west sides of the axis of the second arm 2, and a connection point C on the east side of D,
The southeast connection point F and the northeast connection point G of the intermediate member 3 are connected by telescopic actuators 5e and 5f,
Further, the joint device is characterized in that the connection point D on the west side, the connection point E on the southwest side, and the connection point H on the northwest side of the intermediate member are connected by telescopic actuators 5g and 5h.