CN113084789B

CN113084789B - Rigid-flexible coupling pneumatic muscle

Info

Publication number: CN113084789B
Application number: CN202110364848.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王曼溶; 王文彪; 鲍官军
Original assignee: Zhejiang University of Technology ZJUT
Current assignee: Zhejiang University of Technology ZJUT
Priority date: 2021-04-02
Filing date: 2021-04-02
Publication date: 2023-03-14
Anticipated expiration: 2041-04-02
Also published as: CN113084789A

Abstract

The invention discloses a rigid-flexible coupling pneumatic muscle, which comprises a framework and a plurality of air pipes arranged along the circumferential direction of the framework, wherein the framework is formed by movably connecting a plurality of shaft joints end to end; the shaft joint comprises an end shaft joint and an intermediate shaft joint, and the intermediate shaft joint comprises an outer shaft joint and an inner shaft joint which is sleeved in the outer shaft joint and can axially move; the inner shaft joint of the intermediate shaft joint is movably connected with the outer shaft joint of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint, one end shaft joint is movably connected with the outer shaft joint of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint, and the other end shaft joint is movably connected with the inner shaft joint of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint. The invention combines the rigid framework and the flexible air pipe, ensures stable movement and does not damage organisms.

Description

Rigid-flexible coupling pneumatic muscle

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of robots, in particular to a rigid-flexible coupling pneumatic muscle.

Background

With the continuing development of science and technology, mankind has made significant progress in many ways over the past centuries. The robot technology, one of the greatest inventions of the human being, has been advanced greatly for as short as 50 years since the beginning of the 20 th century 60 s. Industrial robots have become essential core equipment in manufacturing after birth, growth and maturity, and not only have become indispensable partners for workers in factories, but also are penetrating at an alarming rate into various fields of human life such as aerospace, military, services, entertainment and the like. The development of rigid robots can be said to be well established. The development of industrial robots in China has been in history for 20 years. Most of the existing industrial robots realize flexible control, and the problems to be solved at present are some defects of rigid robots. For example: in direct contact with living beings, the living beings may be harmed due to the hard outer appearance. Due to the presence of rigid joints, they are not flexible enough and have a weight problem that cannot be ignored.

For example, patent specification CN104029217B discloses a pneumatic muscle bionic joint based on a universal joint type parallel mechanism, and the main components include: the device comprises a support rod, a fixed end platform, a connecting shaft, a deep groove ball bearing, three pneumatic muscles, a first universal coupling, a front arm platform, an elastic retainer ring for a hole, a round nut and six second universal couplings, wherein one end of the support rod is fixedly connected with the center of the fixed end platform through a thread, and the other end of the support rod is connected with the front arm platform through the first universal coupling and the connecting shaft; the connection parts of the three pneumatic muscles, the forearm platform and the fixed end platform are respectively connected by adopting the universal couplings, the connecting shaft, the deep groove ball bearing and the elastic retainer ring, the connecting shaft is a stepped shaft, threads are processed at one end of the connecting shaft, pin holes are processed at the other end of the connecting shaft, three second universal couplings are connected with the fixed end platform through pin hole ends of the connecting shaft, and the other three second universal couplings are connected with the forearm platform through pin hole ends of the connecting shaft; three step holes with 120 degrees are respectively processed on the two platforms; the deep groove ball bearing is arranged in the stepped hole and is fixed by an elastic retainer ring through a connecting shaft, a round nut and the hole.

The soft robot can solve the above problems well. The flexibility of the robot ensures that organisms cannot be injured in the direct contact process, the flexibility of the motion of the robot has aesthetic feeling, and the material density of the soft robot is lower than that of a rigid robot, which means that the soft robot is light.

For example, patent specification No. CN105856219B discloses a pneumatic artificial muscle with self-sensing and driving functions, which is characterized by comprising a fiber yarn, an elastic hose, a yarn collecting clamp, a piezoelectric body, a cylindrical sleeve, a gas pipe joint, a clamp, an electrode, a driving circuit, a sensing circuit and a yarn collecting hole; the fiber yarns are wound on the outer surface of the elastic hose at a fixed weaving angle to form a woven net.

However, the soft robot also has the defect of uncontrollable property, which is the two-sided property of the soft robot. Therefore, the combination of the rigid robot and the soft robot is a trend, so that the advantages and the disadvantages can be improved, and the optimal solution can be achieved.

In conclusion, the appearance and application of various types of robots are a big sign of human progress, and the wide application and development of robots are a necessary trend in future society. It is believed that in the near future, robotics will certainly bring more convenience to humans, making a great contribution to human civilization and development.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a rigid-flexible coupling pneumatic muscle which is combined with a flexible air pipe through a rigid framework, ensures stable movement and does not cause damage to organisms.

The utility model provides a pneumatic muscle of hard and gentle coupling, includes skeleton and a plurality of tracheas that set up along skeleton circumference, the skeleton comprises a plurality of coupling head and the tail swing joint, and the skeleton seals fixedly through setting up in the apron of both tip with the trachea, is provided with the hole of aerifing that is used for aerifing in to the trachea on one of them apron.

This scheme adopts the mode that rigid skeleton and flexible trachea combined together, and rigid skeleton plays the supporting role, and its motion is nimble, and flexible trachea has avoided causing biological damage when contacting with the living beings, and both advantages of make full use of compensate both not enough, obtain the wide pneumatic muscle of application scope.

Preferably, the shaft coupling comprises an end shaft coupling and an intermediate shaft coupling, and the intermediate shaft coupling comprises an outer shaft coupling and an inner shaft coupling which is sleeved in the outer shaft coupling and can axially move;

the inner shaft joint of the intermediate shaft joint is movably connected with the outer shaft joint of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint, one end shaft joint is movably connected with the outer shaft joint of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint, and the other end shaft joint is movably connected with the inner shaft joint of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint.

The inner shaft joint and the outer shaft joint can move relatively, and the scalability of pneumatic muscles is improved.

Preferably, universal joint forks are arranged at the end parts of the end shaft joint, the outer shaft joint and the inner shaft joint, which are used for being connected with each other, and the mutually matched universal joint forks are movably connected through a spherical connecting piece. Through the ball universal joint connection, improve the flexibility.

Preferably, a plurality of first sliding grooves are formed in the circumferential array of the outer wall of the inner shaft joint, and first sliding blocks matched with the first sliding grooves are arranged on the inner wall of the outer shaft joint.

Preferably, the outer hub tapers inwardly for the port into which the inner hub projects. The tapered port prevents the inner hub from slipping out.

Preferably, a closed section capable of moving axially is sleeved in the end shaft section, and the end part of the closed section is embedded in the cover plate;

the position of the cover plate corresponding to the air pipe is provided with a lock column which extends into the air pipe to fix the air pipe, and the inflation hole penetrates through the lock column on the cover plate.

Preferably, a plurality of second sliding grooves are formed in the circumferential array of the outer wall of the closed joint, and second sliding blocks matched with the second sliding grooves are arranged on the inner wall of the end shaft joint.

Preferably, the air pipe is made of silica gel.

The invention has the beneficial effects that:

(1) The invention adopts a mode of combining the rigid framework and the flexible air pipe, the rigid framework plays a supporting role, the movement is flexible, the flexible air pipe avoids biological injury caused by contact with organisms, the advantages of the rigid framework and the flexible air pipe are fully utilized, the defects of the rigid framework and the flexible air pipe are overcome, and the pneumatic muscle with wide application range is obtained.

(2) The telescopic performance of pneumatic muscles is improved by arranging the inner shaft joint and the outer shaft joint which can move relatively.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the present invention (with one trachea hidden);

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the framework;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of an outer shaft joint (end shaft joint).

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of the inner hub;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the structure of the outer hub engaged with the inner hub;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural view of a closed section;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the cover plate;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the structure of the cover plate with the inflation hole;

fig. 10 is a schematic view of a ball joint.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1-10, a rigid-flexible coupling pneumatic muscle comprises a skeleton 1 and a plurality of air pipes 2 arranged along the circumference of the skeleton 1, wherein the skeleton 1 is composed of a plurality of shaft joints 11 movably connected end to end, the skeleton 1 and the air pipes 2 are sealed and fixed by cover plates 3 arranged at the end parts of the skeleton and the air pipes, and one of the cover plates 3 is provided with an inflation hole 32 for inflating the air pipes 2.

In this embodiment, six air tubes 2 made of silica gel are circumferentially arranged on the framework 1, the framework 1 is formed by movably connecting five sections of shaft joints 11 end to end, each shaft joint 11 includes two end shaft joints 111 located at two ends and three middle shaft joints 112 located in the middle, and each middle shaft joint 112 specifically includes an outer shaft joint 1121 and an inner shaft joint 1122 sleeved in the outer shaft joint 1121. The inner shaft joint 1122 of the intermediate shaft joint 112 is movably connected with the outer shaft joint 1121 of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint 112, one end shaft joint 111 is movably connected with the outer shaft joint 1121 of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint 112, and the other end shaft joint 111 is movably connected with the inner shaft joint 1122 of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint 112. The end shaft joint 111 may be designed in the same manner as the outer shaft joint 1121.

Universal joint swing joint is adopted between the end shaft joint 111 and the intermediate shaft joint 112 as well as between the end shaft joints 112, specifically, a universal joint fork 12 is arranged on the end part of the end shaft joint 111 for connection, a universal joint fork 12 is arranged on the end part of the outer shaft joint 1121 of the intermediate shaft joint 112 for connection, a universal joint fork 12 is arranged on the end part of the inner shaft joint 1122 of the intermediate shaft joint 112 for connection, and the universal joint forks 12 which are mutually matched and connected are movably connected through a spherical connecting piece 121. Other types of universal joints may of course be used for the connection.

The inner shaft joint 1122 can axially move in the outer shaft joint 1121, specifically, a plurality of first sliding grooves 11221 are circumferentially arranged on the outer wall of the inner shaft joint 1122 in an array manner, and first sliding blocks 11211 matched with the first sliding grooves 11221 are arranged on the inner wall of the outer shaft joint 1121; to prevent the inner hub 1122 from sliding out of the outer hub 1121, the outer hub 1121 is tapered inwardly for the port into which the inner hub 1122 extends, and a first slider 11211 is disposed adjacent to the tapered port.

In this embodiment, the coupling 11 further includes a sealing joint 13 sleeved in the end coupling 111, and an end of the sealing joint 13 is embedded in the cover plate 3, so as to facilitate fixing of the frame 1. A lock column 31 extending into the air pipe 2 to fix the air pipe 2 is arranged at the position of the cover plate 3 corresponding to the air pipe 2, wherein an inflation hole 32 penetrates through the lock column 31 on the cover plate 3

The closed joint 13 can move axially in the end shaft joint 111, specifically, a plurality of second sliding grooves 131 are arranged in a circumferential array on the outer wall of the closed joint 13, and a second sliding block 1111 matched with the second sliding grooves 131 is arranged on the inner wall of the end shaft joint 111.

The invention controls the bending movement of the pneumatic muscle to any direction by providing air pressure to different air pipes 2 and changing the air pressure in different air pipes 2.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the embodiments and/or modifications of the invention can be made, and equivalents and modifications of some features of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A rigid-flexible coupled pneumatic muscle, comprising: the air inflation device comprises a framework and a plurality of air pipes arranged along the circumferential direction of the framework, wherein the framework is formed by movably connecting a plurality of shaft joints end to end, the framework and the air pipes are sealed and fixed through cover plates arranged at the end parts of the framework and the air pipes, and one of the cover plates is provided with an air inflation hole for inflating the air pipes;

the shaft coupling comprises an end shaft coupling and an intermediate shaft coupling, and the intermediate shaft coupling comprises an outer shaft coupling and an inner shaft coupling which is sleeved in the outer shaft coupling and can axially move;

the inner shaft joint of the intermediate shaft joint is movably connected with the outer shaft joint of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint, one end shaft joint is movably connected with the outer shaft joint of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint, and the other end shaft joint is movably connected with the inner shaft joint of the adjacent intermediate shaft joint;

the end shaft joint is internally sleeved with a closed joint capable of moving axially, and the end part of the closed joint is embedded in the cover plate;

the position that corresponds with the trachea on the apron is provided with and stretches into the trachea and carries out the lock that fixes to the trachea, aerify the lock that the hole runs through on the apron of place.

2. The rigid-flexible coupled pneumatic muscle of claim 1, wherein: the end shaft joints, the outer shaft joints and the inner shaft joints are all provided with universal joint forks on the end parts for connecting with each other, and the universal joint forks which are matched with each other are movably connected through a spherical connecting piece.

3. Rigid-flexible coupled pneumatic muscle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: the inner shaft joint comprises an inner shaft joint and an outer shaft joint, wherein a plurality of first sliding grooves are formed in the circumferential array of the outer wall of the inner shaft joint, and first sliding blocks matched with the first sliding grooves are arranged on the inner wall of the outer shaft joint.

4. The rigid-flexible coupled pneumatic muscle of claim 3, wherein: the outer hub tapers inwardly for the port into which the inner hub extends.

5. The rigid-flexible coupled pneumatic muscle of claim 1, wherein: and a plurality of second sliding grooves are formed in the circumferential array of the outer wall of the closed joint, and second sliding blocks matched with the second sliding grooves are arranged on the inner wall of the end shaft joint.

6. The rigid-flexible coupled pneumatic muscle of claim 1, wherein: the tracheal material is silica gel.