JPH01150042A - Manipulator joint mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the action of yaw and pitch in two degrees of freedom to be performed further attaining the smallness of size and the lightness of weight by meshing the third bevel gear with the first and second bevel gears and providing a driving part which rotates the first and second rotary cylinders respectively and separately. CONSTITUTION:The first rotary cylinder 17 equipped with the first bevel gear 15 and the second rotary cylinder 21 equipped with the second bevel gear 19 are rotatably supported to the first rotary shaft 9. The third bevel gear 39 is meshed with the first and second bevel gears 15, 19. Driving parts 43, 45, rotating the first and second rotary cylinders 17 and 21 respectively and separately, are provided. When the first and second rotary cylinders 17, 21 are relatively rotated, the second bracket 41 is driven rotating with the second rotary shaft 31 serving as the center. When the first and second rotary cylinders 17, 21 are integrally rotated, the second bracket 41 is driven rotating with the first rotary shaft 9 serving as the center. In this way, the action of yaw and pitch in two degrees of freedom can be performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention 1 (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a joint mechanism of a manipulator that realizes a bending motion with respect to two mutually orthogonal axes.

(Prior art) In devices such as master-slave type manipulators and industrial robots that move objects spatially or advance each step of the operation according to a set order, conditions, and position/orientation, The robot is equipped with a structure that allows each joint to move into any desired posture to perform the desired task. Conventionally, the operating means of this joint mechanism are yaw and pitch.

A combination of degrees of freedom such as roll is used.

When operating a master-slave type manipulator employing such means, the degree of freedom of the wrist joint of the operator who operates the master arm is yaw and pitch, and the roll of the hand is performed by the elbow. Therefore, it is desirable for the degree of freedom of the wrist joint of the manipulator to be close to this for better operability. For this reason, the wrist joint mechanism of conventional manipulators has adopted an offset structure as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 to approximately realize yaw and pitch movements.

That is, in this structure, the first bracket 107 rotates around the first rotating shaft 109 as indicated by the arrow 100 in FIG.
The hand 111 rotates in the A direction and performs a pitching motion. Also, by driving the second drive shaft 113, the bevel gear 1
The intermediate shaft 121 rotates through 15,117°179,
The second bracket 127 rotates around the second rotating shaft 129 via the rough bevel gears 123 and 125 as shown by the arrow 100B in FIG.
The hand 111 performs a yawing motion by rotating in the direction shown in FIG.

On the other hand, it is preferable that the manipulator be easily suspended in the air and have a wide range of motion.

However, widening the operating range of a manipulator equipped with a conventional offset-structured joint mechanism generally increases the offset force, leading to an enlargement of the joint mechanism.

For this reason, the weight of the joint mechanism increases, and the manipulator also increases in size accordingly, resulting in a problem that workability in a narrow space decreases.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the case of conventional joint mechanisms with an offset structure that approximately realizes yaw and pitch, there is a problem in that attempting to expand the range of motion leads to expansion of the joint mechanism. .

Therefore, the present invention provides yaw and
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a small and lightweight manipulator joint mechanism that realizes two degrees of freedom in terms of pitch and secures a wide range of motion.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In the present invention, the first rotary cylinder provided with the first bevel gear and the second rotary cylinder provided with the second bevel gear are connected to both arms of the first bracket. A third rotating shaft is rotatably supported on a first rotating shaft supported between the two, a second rotating shaft orthogonal to the axial center of the first rotating shaft is rotatably supported, and a third rotating shaft is rotatably supported on the second rotating shaft. A drive unit that supports a second bracket provided with a bevel gear, meshes the third bevel gear with the first and second bevel gears, and rotates the first rotating barrel and the second rotating barrel independently. The configuration includes the following.

(effect) According to the above configuration, the driving means drives the first motor.

When the second rotating cylinder is relatively rotated, the second bracket can be driven to rotate about the second rotating shaft. By rotating the first and second rotating cylinders together, the second bracket can be driven to rotate about the first rotating shaft. Therefore, movement with two degrees of freedom, yaw and pitch, can be achieved without using an offset structure.

(Example) Hereinafter, one embodiment shown in the drawings will be described in detail.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a manipulator joint mechanism 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view thereof, and Fig. 3 shows a cross-section taken along the line A-A in Fig. 2. It is something.

In this manipulator joint mechanism 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a first rotating shaft 9 is rotatably supported by bearings 11 and 13 between both arms 5 and 7 of a first bracket 3 having a U-shaped cross section. ing. Further, at both ends of this first rotation shaft 9, a first rotation f517 equipped with a first bevel gear 15 and a second rotation cylinder 21 equipped with a second bevel gear 19 are mounted on bearings 23.2.
5 and bearings 27 and 29, respectively.

On the other hand, a casing 37 is integrally formed approximately at the center of the first rotating shaft 9 in the axial direction, and a second rotating shaft 31 perpendicular to the first rotating shaft 9 supports bearings 33 and 35 as shown in FIG. It is rotatably supported by the casing 37 via the casing 37. A second bracket 41 integrally provided with a third gear 39 is supported on the second rotating shaft 31 . The second bracket 41 and the third bevel gear 39 are fixed to the second rotating shaft 31 by a fixing means such as a key (not shown). In this way, the second rotating shaft 31 and the second bracket 4
The first bevel gear 39 fixed to the first bevel gear 1 is meshed with the first bevel gear 15 and the second bevel gear 19.

In addition, in this manipulator joint mechanism 1, as shown in FIG. are rotatably supported by the first bracket 3 by bearings 47 and 49 and bearings 51 and 53, respectively. The tips of the first and second drive shafts 43.45 are equipped with driving bevel gears 55.57 as shown in FIGS. The motor is configured to move. These bevel gears 55 and 57 are meshed with power transmission bevel gears 59 and 61 that are integrally fixed to the first rotating barrel 17 and the second rotating barrel 21.

In this inter-manipulator mechanism 1, the tips of the arms 5 and 7 of the first bracket 3 are formed by arcs concentric with the first rotating shaft 9, and the diameter P of this arc is 65.67 mm. The spacing is set smaller than the spacing of . Further, the distance S from the base plate 63 supporting the arm 5.7 of the first bracket 3 to the axis of the first rotating shaft 9 is set to be longer than 1/2 of the entire width T of the second bracket 41. The distance U from the axis of the second rotating shaft 31 to the tip 69 of the second bracket 41 is based on the distance from the axis of the second rotating shaft 31 to the tip corner of the arm 7 of the first bracket 3 (Fig. 2). It has been set for a long time.

In the manipulator joint mechanism 1 formed as described above, when the -th drive shaft 43 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow B, the power is transferred to the drive bevel gear 55. Power transmission bevel gear 59
．． First rotating cylinder 17. First bevel gear 15. Third bevel gear 3
9 to the second bracket 41, and the second bracket 41 receives the rotational driving force in the direction of arrow C. When the first drive shaft 43 is rotated in the direction of the arrow E, power is similarly transmitted, and the second bracket 41 receives rotational driving force in the direction of the arrow E.

Further, when the second drive shaft 45 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow F, the power is transferred to the drive bevel gear 57. Power transmission bevel teeth 1161. Second rotating cylinder 21. The force is transmitted to the second bracket 41 via the second bevel gear 19 and the third bevel gear 39, and the second bracket 41 receives rotational driving force in the direction of arrow C. Further, when this second drive shaft 45 is rotated in the direction of arrow G, power is transmitted in the same manner as described above, and the second bracket 4
1 receives a rotational driving force in the direction of arrow E.

The effects of the embodiments of this invention will be explained below.

Assume that the second bracket 41 is now in the state shown in FIG. 1 as its basic posture.

From this state, when the first and second drive shafts 43, 45 are rotated in the B and G directions, that is, the two wheels are rotated at circumferential speeds in opposite directions, a force is applied to the third bevel gear 39 in a direction that cancels out their rotations. acts, and the third bevel gear 39 is urged toward the substrate 63 side of the first bracket 3. Then, the second rotating shaft 3
1 rotates around the first rotating shaft 9, thereby moving the second bracket 41 to the state shown in FIG.

Further, when the first drive shaft 43 is rotated in the D direction and the second drive shaft 45 is rotated in the G direction, that is, the two wheels are rotated in the same direction at a circumferential speed from the state shown in FIG. Drive shaft 4
3 and the second drive shaft 45 are transmitted, the second bracket 41 rotates in the E direction, and the second bracket 41 rotates in the E direction.
Move to the state shown in the figure. At that time, the second bracket 4
Further rotation of the bracket 1 is restricted by one arm coming into contact with one arm of the first bracket 3.

Furthermore, when the second bracket 41 is rotated in the D direction and the second drive shaft 45 in the G direction at the same speed from the basic state shown in FIG.
direction and moves to the state shown in FIG.

Furthermore, when the first drive shaft 43 is rotated in eight directions and the second drive shaft 45 is rotated in the G direction at the same speed from the state shown in FIG. 6, the third bevel gear 39 moves toward the first bracket 3. The second bracket 41 is biased and centered around the first rotating shaft 9.
moves to the state shown in FIG. At this time, one arm 65 of the second bracket 41 comes into contact with one arm 7 of the first bracket 3, so that further rotation of the second bracket 41 is restricted.

In this way, in this manipulator joint mechanism 1, by rotating the first and second drive shafts 43 and 45 in the same direction or in opposite directions, the second bracket 41 is rotated.
A degree of freedom of motion is achieved.

Therefore, by attaching the hand to the tip of the second bracket 41, the yaw of the hand can be adjusted.

Bitge's movements become possible.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the manipulator joint mechanism according to the present invention can realize yaw and pitch movements without employing an offset structure, and also has a wide range of movements by making the shape of the bracket small. The range can be easily obtained, and it can be made small and lightweight.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the basic state of the manipulator joint R structure according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. 2, and Figs. 4 to 7. 8 is a perspective view showing the operating mode of this manipulator joint mechanism, FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view showing the conventional manipulator joint mechanism, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the same. 1... Manipulator 3... First bracket

Claims (1)

[Claims] A first rotating barrel having a first bevel gear and a second rotating barrel having a second bevel gear are rotatably supported on a first rotating shaft supported between both arms of the first bracket. A second rotating shaft is rotatably supported perpendicular to a substantially central portion in the axial direction of the rotating shaft, a second bracket provided with a third bevel gear is supported on the second rotating shaft, and the third bevel gear is supported on the second rotating shaft. A manipulator joint mechanism, comprising: a drive unit that meshes with the first and second bevel gears and rotates the first rotating barrel and the second rotating barrel independently.