GB963930A - Improvements in mechanical remotely-actuated manipulators - Google Patents

Abstract

963,930. Manipulators. SAINT-GOBAIN NUCLEAIRE. Jan. 10, 1962 [Jan. 10, 1961], No. 999/62. Heading B4Q. A manipulator having a master end including a control gripper PC operating a gripper PP on the slave end is mounted on a block 9 removably mounted by a sliding action in an aperture in the wall 50 of a hot cell. The block makes a seal with the wall by a joint 117 and shafts, e.g. shaft 24, transmitting motion from the master to the slave end through the block are sealed to the block by joints 122, 123, 126, 127. The manipulator permits of three degrees of movement defining the position in space of the gripper PP and four specific movements of the gripper itself including opening and closing the jaws, these seven movements being produced by imparting similar movements to the master end, the transmission mechanism shown on the master side of the wall 50 being substantially duplicated on the slave side. The manipulator comprises a tubular arm 2 mounted on a fixed horizontal axis A provided on a frame 53 secured to the block 9, a part 10 rotatable on bearings 10a, 10b in the arm 2 having a fork 16 providing an axis B on which is pivoted a guide arm 1. A tube 3 rotatable on bearings 3a, 3b in the arm 1 has a fork 60, Fig. 5, pivotally carrying about an axis G a tube 61 in which a tube 62 is rotatable. The tube 62 carries a handgrip 63 and a lever 64 for controlling the gripper jaws (Fig. 6, not shown). An extension 30 of the arm 1 carries a Cardan joint 20 connected to a tie 4, the other end of the tie being connected to a Cardan joint 21 on an arm 5 pivoted on the axis A, the members 2, 10, 30, 4 and 5 forming a parallelogram. This parallelogram is deformable in the vertical plane of Fig. 1 or 2 and may also be twisted so that the extension 30 and tie 4 depart from that plane, the combination of these two kinds of movements permitting the three movements in space of the gripper PP. The rotation of the arm 2 about the axis A in the plane of Fig. 1 is transmitted to a shaft 11 connected by a flange 11a to the arm, this motion being connected through bevel pinions 12a, 12b to a shaft 12 coupled to a shaft 23 extending through the block 9. Rotation of the arm 5 about the axis A in the plane of Fig. 1 is similarly transmitted through a shaft 14, pinions 15a, 15b, shaft 15 to a shaft 25. The rotation of the tube 10 within the arm 2 due to twisting of the parallelogram is imparted to an element 17 rigid with the tube 10 and connected to a shaft 18 through a Cardan joint 19 centred on the axis A, the shaft 18 being coupled to the shaft 24. The four specific movements of the gripper itself are obtained by moving lever 64, rotating handgrip 63 about two axes x-y and G relatively to the tube 3 and rotating tube 3 in the arm 1, these motions being transmitted to three further shafts (Fig. 3, not shown) traversing the block 9 by systems of cables and pulleys (Figs. 7-9, not shown). The manipulator may be removed from the wall by bringing the slave end into alignment with the arm 2 and withdrawing the block 9.