JP2001307824A - Remote control plug - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote control plug equipped with a mobile equipment having a flexibility, besides having a front part to be connected to a socket and a rear part to be connected to a wire. SOLUTION: The remote control plug (1) is provided which is characterized by that it has two arms composed of the first arm (8) inserted into the socket (40) and the second arm (9) connected to a wire (7), and which is equipped with a position compensating means that can flexibly position the plug for the socket (8). The position compensating means is equipped with a rear part (19) which a robot device can handle and a connecting device which absorbs errors of rotating direction and errors of vertical as well as horizontal direction of the robot device, and which can accurately position the first arm for the socket (20).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plug for remote control. In particular, the present invention can be suitably applied to a plug for use by a robot in a closed space or the like where humans cannot directly access. In particular, human activities are restricted in an area that receives radiation, and an area such as a waste disposal facility that handles radioactive materials requires something like the plug according to the present invention. A plug for remote control is used with a corresponding socket. The socket is provided on a wall surface such as a partition for separating a radiation area and a non-radiation area, for example. The plug is such that it is used by an autopilot or robot-driven device to couple to and remove from the socket.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a plug having means for absorbing, as needed, the force exerted by a device, such as a robot, holding the plug when the plug is connected to a socket.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Robotic devices that are used to couple sockets and plugs in places where humans cannot directly access operate to move the gripper of the robotic device from one position to another. For example, the gripper is an operation of gripping and moving the plug to a position facing the socket. The gripper then inserts the plug into the socket to complete the connection.

A problem with this type of device is that it properly connects the plug and socket without excessive force on the plug, especially when the plug is not fully aligned with the socket. . The robot used to insert the socket into the socket does not have any means to detect if excessive resistance is applied while the device is performing the commanded connection operation. The robot will therefore attempt to connect the plug to the socket regardless of the state.

The prior art is disclosed in French Patent No. 269.
No. 7,687 discloses a plug which can be remotely controlled and a combination of a plug and a socket including the plug.
According to this disclosure, the plug is preferably handled by an automated device. Furthermore, the plug is composed of a first half for insertion into the socket, and a second half positioned at an angle to the first half. The angled rear half is used to properly align the plug with the socket.

According to this document, a socket is used to perform positioning prior to connection between a plug and a socket.
It has a guide fork. This guide fork firstly supports the front half and secondly positions the rear half relative to the fork. In fact, the angled rear half slides between the two rails of the guide fork, inserting the front half between the two rails. According to this document, the guide fork and the rear half cooperate to facilitate and improve the connection between the plug and the socket.

[0007] When using the plug and socket of French Patent No. 2697687, the connection between the plug and the socket may fail or may be permanently engaged in an inconsistent manner. When this kind of problem occurs, the solution is very difficult because the location is an inaccessible area for humans, and it is also difficult to repair / replace damaged parts.

[0008]

The prior art method has the following problems in addition to the above-mentioned problems. Prior art remotely operable plugs had a guide fork having one purpose of receiving a front half of the plug and an angled rear half. However, in this type of guide fork, the first half of the plug is
It is oriented perpendicular to one rail, so even if the angled rear half is correctly inserted between the two rails, it does not guarantee that the plug is in the correct position with respect to the socket. Absent. This situation is a very serious problem, given that the first half of the plug must be correctly connected to the connector provided in the socket. In the prior art, a slope is formed on the guide rail, and this slope corresponds to the slope of the plug, so that it is intended to align the connection axis of the socket with the connection axis of the first half of the plug. However, this configuration is inadequate in terms of tolerance and accuracy.

When the connection operation is started by a command, the robot performs a series of installation operations, and the installation is performed by this continuous operation. The robot may be slightly tilted, or the accuracy of the setting operation may be insufficient. Therefore,
In some cases, the position of the first half of the plug relative to the socket may be incorrect. Furthermore, the robot has no flexibility with respect to movement and positioning of the gripper of the device. In reality, the connection operation can be performed only when the gripper is positioned in a fixed position and at a certain level without any deviation. This makes the robot very expensive.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control plug having a flexible movable device in addition to a front portion for connecting to a socket and a rear portion connected to a wire. By doing so, the above-mentioned problem is solved. The flexible mobile device is provided externally and is preferably mounted along the front main axis. The device is intended to be gripped by a robot gripper. The mounting operation performed by the flexible mobile device is transmitted to the front of the plug and then to the rear. This continuous mounting operation performed by the robot is applied to the front and rear of the plug, while allowing for certain tolerances, with this flexible mobile.

The plug is thus connected to the socket by means of a connecting force which can be repositioned if necessary and which can be adjusted. In fact, the front and rear of the plug are not rigidly positioned with respect to the socket due to the flexible mobile device. By doing so, the positioning of the socket can be effectively performed in the connection between the plug and the socket. Therefore, accurate connection can be performed easily and more efficiently.

Thus, with the device according to the invention,
Damage to the connection is significantly reduced. Therefore, the cost required for replacing the damaged part can be reduced.
At the same time, the device according to the present invention can reduce various repair operations that are difficult to perform in an area that cannot be accessed by humans.

Second, due to the flexibility of flexible devices, robotized devices do not require complete positioning accuracy in operation. In fact, the first function of the robot is to move the element from one location to another, but it can reduce the requirement for accuracy. Therefore, the manufacturing accuracy requirement of this type of device is relaxed, and the manufacturing cost of such a robot can be reduced. Therefore, the remote control plug according to the present invention can bring down the cost of the entire robot infrastructure in an environment where humans cannot access such as a nuclear environment.

The present invention relates to a remote-controlled plug having two arms, consisting of a first arm of a plug inserted into a socket and a second arm of a plug connected to a wire, comprising a front part, a rear part, And a connecting part for connecting the front part and the rear part, and the front part comprises a position compensating means mounted on an arm of the plug.

The present invention will be better understood with reference to the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. These are only examples of the present invention,
In no way is the description to be limited to these examples of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a plug 1 according to the invention.
The plug 1 can be remotely operated. The plug 1 is, for example,
It has a gripping area for gripping by a robot such as a remote control gripper (not shown). The plug 1 has a main body 2 and a contact 3, and the contact 3 is accommodated in a receiver 4 of the main body 2. The contact 3 is provided in the first opening 5 of the main body 2. Furthermore, the body 2 has a second opening 6 for inserting a cable 7 therethrough into the receiver 4 of the body 2. Further, the cable 7 is connected to the contact 3 inside the receiver 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, the plug 1 has a first arm 8 having a contact 3 and a second arm 8 having a cable.
Arm 9. The first arm 8 has an operating shaft 10 which is the preferred shaft for the contact 3 to be correctly connected to a complementary contact housed in a socket shaped complementary to the plug 2.

The second arm 9 also has a main axis along the axis 11. In the case of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the operating shaft 10 and the shaft 11 are orthogonal to each other. In this example, the first arm 8 and the second arm 9 form an elbow 12. For this purpose, the main body 2 has an angle connecting portion 13 to secure the rigidity of the elbow 12. The angle connection portion 13 can be provided, for example, at an obtuse angle portion of the main body 2.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the cable 7 preferably has, for example, four independent stranded wires 14 connected to each of the contacts 3 of the socket 15.

Further, each of the arms 8 and 9 has a gripping area 16 which is gripped by a gripper which is remotely operated, and the gripping area 16 is flat, that is, a flat surface provided on the outer surface 17 of the main body 2. is there. Furthermore, the body 2 is generally preferably made up of a series of cylinders differing only in diameter but otherwise equal. In one embodiment, a plurality of gripping regions are provided at diagonal positions of the cylindrical portion of the outer surface 17.

The plug 1 further includes a position compensating means 18. The position compensating means has a rear portion 19, a connecting device 20, and a front portion 21. The rear part 19 is connected to the front part 21 via the connection part 20.
Is linked to The front part 21 is mounted on the main body 2. For example, the front part 21 is fixed to the main body 2 by a fixing tool. The fixing tool is, for example, a screw 22 screwed to the main body 2. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the front part 21 is mounted on the surface 23 of the angled connection 13. In the embodiment shown, the front is preferably provided parallel to the plane defined by the first opening 5.

In FIG. 2a, the position compensating means 18 is
1 includes a first pivot ball 24 mounted on a first mounting portion 25 provided on the first portion 1 and a second pivot ball 26 provided on a second mounting portion 27 provided on a rear portion 19. The first pivot ball 24 has a pinion 28 formed in a radial direction. The first mounting part 25 has an opening 29 through which the first pinion 28 can pass through the inner surface 30 of the front part 21.

Similarly, the second pivot ball 26 is provided with a second pinion 31. An opening 32 is provided in the second mounting portion 27 so that the second pinion 31 passes through the inner surface 33 of the rear portion 19. The first pinion 28 and the second pinion 31 are connected via a sleeve 35 to form a single fixed shaft 34.

For example, the sleeve 35 has two opposing thread grooves, which allow the two pinion 2
8 and 31 can be attached respectively.

The connecting device 21 includes pivot balls 24 and 26
Has two rotation centers corresponding to the centers of the two. The rotation range of the pivot balls 24, 26 is limited. According to one preferred embodiment, the pinions 28 and 31 are cylindrical and the openings 29 and 32 are circular. The rotation range is the opening 29,3
2 and the ratio of the diameters of the pinions 28, 31.

Since the front part 21 is mounted on the main body 2,
The operating shaft 10 passes through the center of rotation of the first pivot ball 24. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2a, the working shaft 10 is
4 overlaps. In FIG. 2 b, the fixed shaft 34 of the connecting device 20 intersects the working shaft 10.

For the rear part 19, a mounting axis 36 can be defined.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 b, the mounting shaft 36 overlaps the fixed shaft 34. Therefore, the planes constituted by planes 30 and 33 intersect each other. In this case, the angle between the fixed shaft 34 and the mounting shaft 10 is the first angle.
Is formed only by the rotation angle of the pivot ball 24 around the rotation center.

In another variant, two pivot balls 2
4 and 26 are different. In this case, for example, the surfaces 30 and 33 are parallel, and the fixed shaft 24 is at an angle to the operating shaft 10. In this case, the fixed shaft 34 is also attached to the mounting shaft 3.
6 has an angle.

By gripping the plug 1 at the rear part 19, the position compensating means 18 according to the invention can give a certain tolerance to the first arm 8, in particular, When positioned, it allows the arm 8 to move to some extent relative to the socket. Therefore, the direction of the remote control gripper gripping the rear part 19 (axis 36) is the expected position of the contact (axis 10).
Can be connected correctly even if it is inclined with respect to.

When the rear part 19 is correctly positioned with respect to the mating socket, the position compensating means 18 correctly positions the arm 8 and absorbs the vertical and horizontal tolerances.

The connecting device 20 thus has a very great flexibility. This flexibility is limited only by the relative movement of the pinions 28 and 31 with respect to the corresponding mountings 29 and 32. Furthermore, the connecting device 20 is provided with a spring 37 to provide resistance to this flexibility by the two pivot balls 25, 26 connected by a fixed shaft 34. According to one preferred embodiment, a spring 37 is provided between the face 30 of the front part 21 and the face 33 of the rear part 19. The spring 37 gives the connection device 20 flexibility. Although this is a preferred embodiment, it may be bent along the operating shaft 10 at the position of the position compensating means 18.

According to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the connecting device 20 has one spring 37. In the case of this embodiment, when the spring is not deformed, the spring is located at the center so that the fixed shaft 34 coincides with the spring axis.
The spring 37 is held between the surfaces 30 and 33 or is held in a compressed state.

In the modification shown in FIG. 1, the connecting device 20 has a plurality of springs 37 provided around a fixed shaft 34. In one example, it has three springs, such as spring 37. These three springs are provided at the positions of the vertices of the equilateral triangle, and the position of the center of gravity of the equilateral triangle coincides with the fixed axis 34. The flexibility of the fixed shaft 34 with respect to the working shaft 10 is therefore greatly limited. Similarly, the flexibility of the fixed shaft 34 with respect to the mounting shaft 36 is limited. A spring, such as 37, is held between surfaces 30 and 33. Therefore, if no external force is applied, the differential coaxial 10, the fixed shaft 34 and the mounting shaft 36 become parallel to each other as shown in FIG. 2a due to the sum of the forces applied by the springs. Similar results can be obtained if each spring 37 is compressed between surfaces 30 and 33 and the distance between the two surfaces is maintained via fixed shaft 34.

In one embodiment, the diameter of the first opening 5 is on the order of 6 cm, the length of the first arm 8 is 11 cm,
The length of the second arm 9 is about 15 cm. Under these dimensions, the position compensating means 18 has a tolerance of 15 ° for the directionality at the position of the remote control gripper and allows a displacement of 8 mm in the vertical and horizontal directions. If the error of the operating axis is less than 15 ° and the error in the vertical and / or horizontal direction is less than 8 mm, the position compensating means 18 moves the operating axis 10 of the arm 8 to the ideal position with respect to the target socket of the arm 8. Can be positioned.

The rear part 19 has a predetermined grip so that the robotized grip means can easily grip it. For example, the grip part 38 is a flat part provided at the end of the rear part 19. In the preferred embodiment, the gripping area 38 is two parallel planes provided on opposite sides of the gripper for easy gripping. FIG. 3 shows the plug 1 in which the operating shaft 10 is aligned with the connecting shaft 39 of the mating socket 40. Preferably, the mating socket 40 is provided in the partition 41.

The connecting shaft is fixed in this way. The socket 48 has a contact 42 complementary to the contact 3. In the preferred embodiment, the contacts 2 have projecting pins 43. For example, the contact 2 is located at a predetermined position and has four pins connected to four sockets provided at the predetermined position of the contact 3.

As described above, the plug 1 according to the present invention
Can grip the plug 1 in the grip zone 38 which is within an angle range of 15 ° with respect to the mounting shaft 36 and 8 mm vertically and horizontally with respect to the mounting shaft 36. The socket 40 is a guide fork 44
The guide fork receives the first arm 8 before connecting the contact 3 to the contact 42 on the other side. The remote control gripper located on the back side of the position compensating means 18 is located at an allowable position. Next, the arms 8 and 9 are correctly mounted on the guide forks 44 due to the flexibility and flexibility of the position compensating means 18.
In a preferred embodiment, the guide fork is of the construction described in French Patent No. 2697687.

In still another variant, the position compensating means is housed in a bellows 45. The bellows mainly surrounds the connection device 20. The connecting device 20 having at least one spring, such as 37, is protected from the outside by the bellows.

In another variant, the plug 1 is a harness 46
The harness 46 is composed of, for example, a flexible cable provided between a point 47 on the main body 2 of the plug 1 and a point 48 on the distal end of the rear portion 19.
In this embodiment, the fixed point 47 is preferably above the fixed point 48 so that the harness can support the weight of the position compensating means 18. Cable 46 is preferably supported between points 47 and 48. Position compensation means 18
The weight increase due to is distributed evenly, not only to the elbow 12.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view, partially in section, of a plug according to the invention.

FIG. 2a is a partial longitudinal sectional view along AA of FIG. 1, showing a first position, FIG.
FIG. 2 is a partial longitudinal sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.
Is shown.

FIG. 3 is a side view, partially in section, of a plug and socket set according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a partially sectional side view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Plug 2 ... Main body 3 ... Contact 4 ... Receiver 6 ... Opening 7 ... Cable 8 ... Arm 10 ... Operation shaft 11 ... ··· Shaft 12 ··· Elbow 13 ··· Angle connecting part 18 ··· Position compensation means 25 ··· First mounting part 26 ··· Pivot ball 27 ··· Second mounting part

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Philippe Daubigny, France 91520 Egry, Rue Pierre Corneille 52 (72) Inventor, Alain Bourg France 77170 Servon, Rue de la Porte Rouge 31

Claims (10)

[Claims] A first connector for insertion into a socket (40).
A remote control plug (1) comprising two arms consisting of a second arm (9) connected to an arm (8) and a wire (7), comprising a front part (21) and a rear part (19). And a connecting part (20) connecting the front part and the rear part, wherein the front part comprises a position compensating means mounted on an arm of the plug. 2. The connecting device is flexible and has a first pivot ball (24) mounted on a mounting portion (25) provided on a front portion, and a mounting portion (2) provided on a rear portion.
Remote control plug according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a second pivot ball (26) mounted on 7), the two pivot balls being connected by a fixed shaft (34). 3. The fixed shaft connects a first pinion (28) provided on a first ball, a second pinion (31) provided on a second ball, and the two pinions. 3. The remote control plug according to claim 2, further comprising a sleeve (35) arranged in a line. 4. The first arm of the plug has an operating shaft (1).
The remote control plug according to claim 2, wherein the operating shaft and the fixed shaft of the connection device can cross each other. 5. 5. The connecting device is flexible and comprises a spring (37) with a first end supported at the front and a second end supported at the rear. Claim 1
5. The remote control plug according to any one of items 1 to 4. 6. The remote control plug according to claim 1, wherein the connection device includes three springs held between a front part and a rear part. 7. Remote control plug according to claim 1, wherein the rear part has a plurality of grips (38), at least one of which is flat. 8. The remote control plug according to claim 1, wherein the plug has an external harness (46) for holding a rear portion of the second arm. 9. Remote control plug according to claim 1, wherein the plug is mounted on the partition (41) and has a fixed connection shaft (39). 10. The plug has an elbow (12) between the two arms and the socket has a guide fork (44) for correctly positioning the first and second arms with respect to the socket. The remote control plug according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein: