JPH0446787A - Finger manipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stably hold an article, even if it has a complex shape, by connecting at least three finger mechanisms located in parallel with each other to a root structure with a palm joint in parallel with bending joints so that an angle of three finger mechanisms with the other finger mechanism can be changed, and providing a swing joints transverse to the bending joints and side-oscillating joints in the root structure. CONSTITUTION:At least three finger mechanisms among finger mechanisms 1 - 4 are bended toward the inside for grip to hold an article, even if it has a complex shape, stably. Furthermore, an article is held by four finger mechanisms 1 - 4, and thereafter, one finger mechanism among them is separated to be moved. These described movement of the finger mechanisms are repeated to perform a continuous operation including change grip. An article can be held easily in response to largeness and shape of an article to be held by bending three finger mechanisms 1 - 3 in parallel with each other to the same direction at the same time with a palm joint 9 to adjust an angle of three finger mechanisms with the other finger mechanism.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a finger manipulator for grasping and manipulating objects, and is provided at the hand of a robot or the like.

<Conventional technology> A conventional finger manipulator is shown in FIGS. 11 to 13.

What is shown in FIG. 11 is what is called a gripper having two finger mechanisms 01.02. Finger mechanisms 01.02 are arranged opposite to each other and do not have bending joints, so finger mechanisms 0
The only function is to simply move the 1.02 parallel to each other and sandwich objects.

Figures 12 and 13 show three finger mechanisms 03.84°05
It is a finger manipulator consisting of: The finger mechanisms 03.04 are arranged in parallel, and the finger mechanism 05 is arranged in parallel with the finger mechanism 03.0.
It is placed opposite to 4. Each finger mechanism 03, 04.0
5 has three bending joints and one lateral swinging joint, and has the same degree of freedom as a human finger. For this reason, the finger mechanism 0
By bending 3.04.05 and swinging it sideways, it is possible not only to grip an object, but also to rotate the gripped object.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> The finger manipulator shown in FIG. 11 has finger mechanisms 01 and 02.
Since there is only one degree of freedom, control is very simple, but conversely, the only degree of freedom is to pinch objects. For this reason,
-In order to twist, rotate, tilt, etc. the object that has been pinched, it is necessary to rotate the pedestal itself when attaching the finger manipulator, which not only requires a large-scale mechanism but also requires delicate movements. Have difficulty. Further, since the finger mechanisms 01 and 02 shown in FIG. 11 only have the function of moving in parallel to grip, there is a problem that depending on the object to be gripped, it may not be possible to grip the object stably.

The finger manipulator shown in Figs. 12 and 13 has three finger mechanisms, so it can hold even complex objects more stably in three directions, and can also twist and rotate the gripped object. It is possible to perform manipulation operations such as tilting and tilting.

However, since each finger mechanism 03.04.05 has a total of 4 degrees of freedom, 3 degrees of freedom in bending and 1 degree of freedom in lateral movement,
When positioning the finger tip, l degrees of freedom are redundant. For this reason, control must be performed taking into consideration not only the position of the fingertip but also the posture, which makes the control extremely complicated.

In addition, three finger mechanisms are necessary to hold an object stably, but if you want to perform continuous motion on the held object, three finger mechanisms alone are not sufficient. . For example, when a nut is held by a finger mechanism and fastened to a bolt, the nut must be rotated one or more times around the fine center of the bolt while constantly maintaining the nut in a fixed position pressed against the bolt.

However, with the finger manipulator shown in Figs. 12 and 13, after the nut is held by the three finger mechanisms, the nut can only be rotated within the movable range of the finger mechanisms; She was unable to move, that is, change her grip while grasping something.

Furthermore, the fundamental positional relationship between the finger mechanisms 03.04 arranged in parallel and the finger mechanism 05 arranged opposite thereto is fixed. For this reason, when manipulating the bolt, especially when trying to rotate the bolt, the contact surface shifts from the ventral surface of the fingertips to the side, making it impossible to twist strongly and difficult to grip stably. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art,
To provide a finger manipulator which has a finger structure similar to that of a human finger, can stably grip even a complicated object, and is easily controllable and can change the grip of the gripped object.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The configuration of the present invention to achieve the above object is a finger manipulator having a plurality of finger mechanisms, each finger mechanism having two continuous bends from the finger tip side to the finger base side. It is constructed by connecting a joint and a transverse swing joint that is perpendicular to the bending joint and tilts the finger tip side to the side, and at least three of the finger mechanisms are arranged in parallel facing the other one, and At least three of the finger mechanisms arranged in parallel are connected to the base structure at a palmar joint parallel to the bending joint to make the angle between the finger mechanism and the other finger mechanism variable; A swing joint that is orthogonal to the bending joint and the lateral swing joint is provided in the basic structure, and the other finger mechanism is connected to the swing joint via an arm, thereby making the posture of the finger mechanism variable. It is characterized by

<Operation> Since each finger mechanism is multi-jointed, by bending at least three finger mechanisms so as to grip them inward, even objects with complicated shapes can be stably gripped.

Furthermore, if you grasp an object with four finger mechanisms, then if you release one of the finger mechanisms and move it repeatedly, then you can perform continuous manipulation movements including changing the grip. It is possible to do so.

In addition, by simultaneously bending the three parallel finger mechanisms in the same direction using the palm joints and adjusting the angle formed with the other finger mechanisms, it is possible to make it easier to grasp the object depending on the size and shape of the object to be grasped. is possible.

Moreover, since the posture of the finger mechanism can be freely changed around the swing joint, even when manipulating a gripped object, it can be gripped stably with the abdomen of the fingertips.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 show a finger manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in both figures, this embodiment has four finger mechanisms 1, 2, 3.4.
are arranged in parallel, while the finger mechanism 4 is arranged in parallel with these finger mechanisms 1,
It is placed opposite to 2.3.

Here, each finger mechanism 1 to 4 has two consecutive bending joints 5
, 6, and a transverse swing joint 7 that is perpendicular to these bending joints 5, 6 and tilts the finger tip side laterally. bending joint 5
, 6, and the lateral swing joints 7 are sequentially connected by a bone structure 8 from the finger tip side toward the finger base side. Therefore, the transverse joint 7
is located on the finger base side, and the bending joints 5 and 6 are located on the finger tip side.

The bending joints 5.6 are designed to bend in the direction of clasping the fingers, that is to say in the direction of the finger mechanisms moving towards and away from each other. Further, the lateral swing joint 7 is designed so that the opposing finger mechanisms move in parallel, that is, bend in a direction that spreads laterally.

Furthermore, the finger mechanisms 1 to 4 described above are connected to the root structure lO. Here, the finger mechanisms 1, 2, 3 are connected to the base structure 10 via the palmar joints 9, while the finger mechanisms 4 are connected to the base structure 10 via the swing joints. Further, the finger mechanism 4 is located opposite to the three finger mechanisms 1 to 3.

The handcart joint 9 has an axis parallel to the bending joints 5 and 6,
By bending this palm joint 9, the three finger mechanisms 1~
3 can be moved simultaneously in the same direction. In other words, the finger mechanisms 1 to 3 can change their fingertip postures as if they had another joint. Note that the palm joint 9 does not need to be bent unless it is particularly necessary.

The swing joint 11 is a joint provided in the basic structural member IO, and has an axis perpendicular to the bending joints 5 and 6 and the lateral swing joint 7. The finger mechanism 4 is connected to the swing joint 11 by an arm 12 having a certain length.

Therefore, by rotating the arm length around the swing joint 11 as a radius, the posture of the finger mechanism 4 can be changed without changing the direction of the fingertip. Hereinafter, such rotation will be referred to as opposing rotation.

The reason why the swing joint 11 is connected only to the finger mechanism 4 so that it can rotate in the opposite direction is because the finger mechanism 4 corresponds to the thumb in human fingers, and requires complex and delicate movements. This is because that.

A boob is attached to each of the above-mentioned 14 joints 1 to 3, 7, 9° 11, and two wires are wound around each boob in both directions to apply a tensile force to these wires. The finger manipulator with the above configuration, which can operate each joint independently and realize complex fingertip movements, has four finger mechanisms 1.
~4, even complex objects can be held stably by using at least three finger mechanisms, and can be manipulated by adding the remaining finger mechanisms as necessary. operation becomes possible.

That is, after gripping an object with the three finger mechanisms 1, 2.4,
The remaining finger mechanism 3 is added to grip the device with four finger mechanisms.

Thereafter, the finger mechanism l is released from the object, moved to another position, and grasped again with the four finger mechanisms. Finger mechanism 2 performs a similar action.
, 3 are also repeated in sequence. This makes it possible to continuously hold an object stably with the three finger mechanisms while continuously manipulating it, including changing the grip.

In other words, the operations of 4-finger mechanism grip → 3-finger mechanism grip/1-finger movement → 4-finger mechanism grip are repeated in sequence.

Furthermore, since the finger mechanisms 1 to 4 have three degrees of freedom, the position of the finger tip is uniquely determined by the angle of each joint 5, 6, and 7.
Positioning is possible without complicated control. Therefore, the control device, software, etc. are simplified.

Furthermore, since the three finger mechanisms 1 to 3 arranged in parallel can be bent in the same direction at the same time by the handcart joint 9, it is possible to change the posture of the fingertips and to adjust the shape and size of the object to be grasped. It is possible to adjust the angle formed by the three finger mechanisms 1 to 3 and the finger mechanism 4 disposed facing each other to make it easier to grip. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when picking up a small bolt 11, the angle formed by the three finger mechanisms 1 to 3 and the finger mechanism 4 should be made small, and the When gripping a small object 14, the angle is widened, and when gripping a large object 15 as shown in FIG. 6, the angle is made even larger.

Furthermore, since the finger mechanism 4 can be rotated in opposite directions by the swing joint 11 to change its posture, it is possible to manipulate an object while constantly bringing the pad of the thumb, which is the most important part in the manipulation operation, into contact with the object. For example, the work of turning bolts is shown in Figures 8 to 1.
Shown in the θ diagram. If the finger mechanisms 2 and 4 grip the bolt 11 as shown in FIG. 7, and then rotate the finger mechanisms 4 in opposite directions as shown in FIGS. The bolt 11 can be strongly twisted while holding the bolt 11.

As described above, the finger manipulator of this embodiment is capable of stably gripping objects of any shape and continuously manipulating them, and is also easy to control.

In the above-described embodiment, four finger mechanisms 1 to 4 are used, but the present invention is not limited to this, and more advanced manipulation operations can be performed using five or more finger mechanisms. You can do it like this.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above in detail based on the embodiments, the finger manipulator of the present invention can change the shape of an object by simple operation.
Regardless of the size, even objects with complex shapes can be held stably at all times, and furthermore, it is possible to perform continuous manipulation movements.

Furthermore, since opposing rotations are possible using the swing joints, it is possible to adjust the posture of the finger mechanism. Therefore, detailed work that was difficult with conventional technology can be performed without a very complicated control system, and it is possible to perform work in place of humans in adverse environments that are difficult for humans to access. This can greatly reduce the level of danger to humans, which in turn contributes to reducing the overall cost of the work.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a finger manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the finger manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a view taken along arrow A-A in FIG. Figures 4, 5, and 6 are explanatory diagrams of usage modes of the finger manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 7 (a
) <b) to Figures 1O (a) and (b) are explanatory diagrams of usage modes of a finger manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively, and Figures 11 to 13 are explanatory diagrams of a conventional finger manipulator, respectively. be. In the drawings, 1.2.3.4 is a finger mechanism, 5.6 is a bending joint, 7 is a transverse swing joint, 8 is a bone structure, 9 is a palm joint, 10 is a basic structural member, 11 is a swing joint, 12 is a It is an arm.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a finger manipulator having multiple finger mechanisms, each finger mechanism has two continuous bending joints extending from the finger tip side toward the finger base side, and a transverse swing joint that is perpendicular to the bending joint and tilts the finger tip side laterally. at least three of the finger mechanisms are arranged in parallel facing the other one, and the at least three finger mechanisms arranged in parallel are connected to the palmar joint parallel to the bending joint. and connecting to the root structure to make the angle formed by the finger mechanism and the other finger mechanism variable, further providing the root structure with a swing joint perpendicular to the bending joint and the lateral swing joint, A finger manipulator characterized in that the posture of the finger mechanism is made variable by connecting the other one of the finger mechanisms to the swing joint via an arm.