JP2005271145A - Deformation unit, coil spring regulating member, structure and clamper - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a deformation unit, which is a unit having a simple structure using coiled elastic body, a coil spring regulating member, a structure and a clamper. <P>SOLUTION: This deformation unit includes: a coiled spring; a pair of connecting part disposed at both ends of the coiled spring; one or more wires, each one end of which is fitted to the end of one connecting part; and one or more motors fitted to the other connecting part, to which the other ends of one or more wires are fitted to be taken up. According to the rotation of one or more motors, the relative position of the end of one connecting part to the other connecting part is varied. One or more motors are provided with a coil spring regulating member fitted to one connecting part to regulate the operation of the coiled spring, and one or more wires are pulled to apply tensile force to the other connecting part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention provides a coil spring that provides various deformable or movable structures by controlling the deformation of the coiled elastic body with respect to external force by controlling the operation of the coiled elastic body to control the shape of the deformation unit. The present invention relates to a regulating member, a deformation unit, a structure, and a sandwiching body.

  In recent robot development, many attempts have been made to imitate and reproduce the movements of human beings, living creatures, etc. existing in the natural world as well as simple vertical movement, horizontal movement, and rotational movement. In general, the constituent members of the robot have a unique shape according to the mounting position, and in order to move these constituent members in accordance with a desired motion, a motor that is a drive unit is moved according to each motion. It is necessary to arrange it at an appropriate position and rotate it in an appropriate direction.

  For example, when it is highly necessary to reproduce a smooth movement like a human like a humanoid (humanoid type) robot, it is necessary to provide a large number of movable nodes. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an appropriate motion control motor for each movable node and control the motion according to the desired motion.

  In addition, in order to imitate the movement of organisms that move, move, etc. while changing the outer shape, such as green caterpillars, snakes, etc., it is necessary to provide more movable nodes, corresponding to the number of movable nodes It has been necessary to control the operation of many operation control motors according to a desired motion.

  However, when the number of motors for operation control becomes very large, the rotation direction, the number of rotations, etc. are different for each provided motor, so the design of the control system for controlling the operation becomes complicated. At the same time, the mechanism itself becomes complicated, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases.

  Further, in order to perform a smooth motion, it is necessary to reduce the operation delay due to inertia, and it is necessary to reduce the weight of the constituent members. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for a robot component having a simple mechanism and simple operation control.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is a unit having a simple structure using a coil-shaped elastic body, and further, a deformation unit, a coil spring regulating member, and a structure that can easily control deformation And it aims at providing a clamping body.

  In order to achieve the above object, a deformation unit according to a first invention comprises a coil spring, a pair of connecting portions disposed at both ends of the coil spring, and one end thereof attached to one end of the connecting portion. One or a plurality of wires, and one or a plurality of motors that are disposed on another connecting portion, to which the other ends of the one or a plurality of wires are attached, and that can be wound, Alternatively, the relative position of the end of the one connecting portion with respect to the other connecting portion may be changed according to the rotation of a plurality of motors.

  The deformation unit according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a coil spring restricting member for restricting expansion and contraction of the coil spring according to the first aspect of the invention, and the coil spring restricting member has a relative position between the end portions of the pair of connecting portions. It is characterized by regulating changes.

  The coil spring restricting member according to the third aspect of the present invention includes an elastic body that imparts a reaction force against the compression force to the outside. The elastic body has a comb-shaped cross section in the compression direction. It is characterized by changing the tooth spacing.

  The coil spring restricting member according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the coil spring regulating member according to the third aspect, wherein one side portion slides on an L-shaped cylindrical part having the comb teeth, and the other side portion mutually slides in the compression direction of the elastic body. A plurality of other side portions are connected from the one side side so as to be movable.

  A structure according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is a movable structure in which a plurality of square-shaped deformation units are connected in series, and the deformation unit has one connection portion provided at one end in the connection direction. A tensile force for pulling to the other connecting portion provided at the end or a tensile force for pulling the end portion of the one connecting portion to the end portion of the other connecting portion should be applied to the one connecting portion. Features.

  The structure according to a sixth aspect is characterized in that the deformation unit is the deformation unit according to the first or second aspect.

  Further, a sandwiching body according to a seventh aspect of the present invention includes a pair of sandwiching members configured by connecting a plurality of deformation units of the first or second invention in series at a predetermined interval. By changing the relative position of the end portions, the distance between the pair of holding members is changed to hold the object.

  According to the first invention, when a tensile force pulling to one connecting portion acts on the other connecting portion of the deformation unit, a plurality of one ends of the wire are attached to the one connecting portion, and the mounting position thereof is the connecting portion. When the position is symmetric with respect to the center point, the one connecting portion is pulled as it is to the other connecting portion, and is deformed so that the length of the deformation unit is reduced. When the attachment position of one end of the wire is asymmetric with respect to the center point of the connecting portion, the end of one connecting portion is pulled toward the other connecting portion, so that the length of a part of the deformation unit is reduced. Deform. Therefore, the deformation unit can be deformed in a desired direction without having a complicated control mechanism and with a simple structure.

  According to the second invention, when the coil spring restricting member restricts expansion and contraction of the coil spring and the tensile force pulling to one connecting portion acts on the other connecting portion of the deformation unit, the coil spring restricting member is provided with the coil spring. Expansion and contraction of the coil spring is restricted on the side where it is inserted, and only the side where it is not inserted is deformed so that the other connecting part approaches one connecting part. Therefore, the deformation unit can be deformed in a desired direction without having a complicated control mechanism and with a simple structure.

  Further, when the expansion and contraction of the coil spring is not restricted by the coil spring restriction member, the compression force acts on the coil spring restriction member in accordance with the external force applied to the connecting portions at both ends of the coil spring, and the length of the coil spring restriction member Shrinks. Therefore, the deformation unit is simply reduced, that is, the other connecting portion is moved to be pulled as it is toward the one connecting portion, and the deformation unit is deformed to reduce the length.

  According to the third invention, by inserting and inserting the coil spring between the comb teeth, the expansion and contraction operation of the coil spring that deforms the deformation unit can be partially restricted, and the deformation of the deformation unit can be controlled. It becomes possible.

  According to the 4th invention, the comb tooth which inserts a coil spring can be easily embodied, and the expansion-contraction operation | movement of the coil spring which deform | transforms a deformation | transformation unit by inserting and inserting a coil spring between comb teeth. It can be partially restricted, and the deformation of the deformation unit can be controlled.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, only the end portion to which the deformation of the entire unit is reduced and / or the tensile force by the wire acts is reduced, and the whole unit is connected to the end portion to which the tensile force acts. For example, it is possible to form a structure imitating movements of green caterpillars, snakes, and the like.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to deform the deformation unit in a desired direction with a simple structure without having a complicated control mechanism.

  According to the seventh invention, the deformation unit can be deformed in a desired direction without having a complicated control mechanism and with a simple structure. For example, a mechanism such as a magic hand is realized by a combination of deformation units. It becomes possible.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings showing embodiments thereof.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an example of a deformation unit 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1A, a motor 14 for winding the wire 11 is provided on the second connecting portion 13 side different from the first connecting portion 12 to which the wire 11 is attached. The motor 14 is provided inside the spring 15, and a guide hole through which the wire 11 is inserted is provided in the second connecting portion 13. A power source (not shown) for driving the motor 14 is provided outside, and a connection cable (not shown) is wired so as to pass inside the spring 15.

  FIG. 1B is a side sectional view showing an example of the deformation unit 1 in a state where the wire 11 is wound by the motor 14. As shown in FIG. 1B, the spring 15 is compressed by the tensile force of the wire 11 on the side to which the wire 11 is attached (upper side in FIG. 1). However, the side opposite to the side to which the wire 11 is attached (the lower side in FIG. 1) is not compressed. Therefore, the deformation | transformation unit 1 deform | transforms toward the side (upper side of FIG. 1) to which the wire 11 is attached.

  FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an example in which two motors 14 of the deformation unit 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention are provided. In the example of FIG. 2A, two motors 14 and wires 11 are provided at positions symmetrical to each other. In FIG. 2A, two wires 11, 11 are attached to the first connecting portion 12, two motors 14, 14 for winding the wires 11, 11, and the second connecting portion 13. In preparation. The motors 14 and 14 are provided inside the spring 15, and a guide hole through which the wires 11 and 11 are inserted is provided in the second connecting portion 13. A power source (not shown) for driving the motors 14, 14 is provided outside, and a connection cable (not shown) is wired so as to pass inside the spring 15.

  FIG. 2B is a side cross-sectional view showing an example of the deformation unit 1 in a state where the wires 11 and 11 are wound up by the motors 14 and 14. As shown in FIG. 2B, the spring 15 is compressed by the tensile force of the wire 11 on the side (the upper side and the lower side in FIG. 1) to which the wires 11 and 11 are attached. Therefore, the spring 15 is compressed evenly in the vertical direction, and the deformation unit 1 is deformed so that the vertical length is substantially evenly reduced.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, by using a plurality of motors, the deformation unit can be subjected to a simple length expansion / contraction deformation or bending deformation in one direction. The deformation unit can be deformed in a desired direction without having a mechanism and with a simple structure. The number of motors is not limited to two, and any number of motors may be provided as long as a plurality of motors are provided according to the direction of deformation.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an example of the deformation unit 1 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the coil spring regulating member 2 that regulates the operation of the spring 15 is used. Hereinafter, the second embodiment will be described in detail.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the coil spring regulating member 2 used in the deformation unit 1 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of the L-shaped portion 3 constituting the coil spring restricting member 2, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing a state of the coil spring restricting member 2 when compressed.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the L-shaped portion 3 includes a comb portion 31 for inserting a coil spring and a sliding portion 32. The sliding portion 32 is inserted into each other as shown in FIG. 4 (b), and includes an internal spring 33 that gives a reaction force against the compressive force inside, and is compressed from both ends as shown in FIG. 4 (c). When a load is applied, the internal springs 33 are compressed by sliding the L-shaped parts 3, 3,..., And the interval between the comb parts 31, 31,. When the compressive load is removed, the state returns to the state shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 3, the deformation unit 1 has one end of a coiled spring 15 attached to the first connecting portion 12 and the other end attached to the second connecting portion 13. By attaching the wire 11 to the second connecting portion 13 and pulling the wire 11 from the first connecting portion 12 side, the wire 11 attaching side (upper part of FIG. 3) of the spring 15 is compressed, and the second connecting portion 13 On the other hand, the wire attachment portion of the first connecting portion 12 approaches. On the other hand, the comb portion of the coil spring regulating member 2 is inserted into the spring 15. Thereby, the compression operation of the spring 15 opposite to the wire attachment side (lower part in FIG. 3) is restricted by the coil spring restricting member 2 and is compressed even when the wire 11 is pulled toward the first connecting portion 12 side. Not. Accordingly, the deformation unit 1 is deformed into a shape in which the upper portion of the first connecting portion 12 approaches the upper portion of the second connecting portion 13, that is, a shape having a substantially trapezoidal shape with a cross-sectional shape having an upper bottom on the upper portion.

  FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an example of the deformation unit 1 when the expansion / contraction operation of the spring 15 is not restricted by the coil spring restriction member 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the coil spring regulating member 2 has an internal spring 33 provided therein, and is reduced according to the load applied to both ends. Therefore, when the comb portion of the coil spring regulating member 2 is not inserted into the spring 15, the lower portion of the spring 15 is compressed in the same manner as the upper portion of the spring 15 by pulling the wire 11 toward the first connecting portion 12. Accordingly, the coil spring restricting member 2 is also compressed. Therefore, when the second connecting portion 13 approaches the first connecting portion 12 substantially equally, the deformation unit 1 is deformed so that the length thereof is reduced.

  FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating the mounting state of the deformation unit 1 when the coil spring restricting member 2 is used. As shown in FIG. 6A, the motor 14 for winding the wire 11 is provided in the first connecting portion 12. The motor 14 is provided inside the spring 15, and a guide hole through which the wire 11 is inserted is provided in the first connecting portion 12. A power source (not shown) for driving the motor 14 is provided outside, and a plurality of deformation units 1, 1,... Are connected by connecting a connection cable (not shown) so as to pass through the inside of the spring 15. It is connected to the motor 14 via

  The wire 11 is routed from the guide hole of the first connecting part 12 through which the wire 11 is inserted to the second connecting part 13 and is passed through the insertion hole provided in the second connecting part 13. The wire 11 is attached to the first plate 32 through an eyelet 61 provided in the coil spring regulating member 2 from an insertion hole provided in the second connecting portion 13. In addition, what is necessary is just to provide the eyelet 61 in the one or some comb part 31, 31, ...... of the coil spring control member 2. As shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6B is a side sectional view of the deformation unit 1 showing a state in which the wire 11 is wound up by the motor 14. As shown in FIG. 6B, the side of the spring 15 to which the tensile force by the wire 11 is applied, that is, the side to which the motor 14 is attached (upper part of FIG. 6) is compressed by the tensile force of the wire 11. On the other hand, the coil spring restricting member 2 is biased toward the spring 15 by the eyelet 61 on the opposite side (lower side in FIG. 6) of the spring 15 to which the tensile force of the wire 11 is applied. Are inserted into the spring 15. Therefore, the compression of the spring 15 is restricted, and the deformation unit 1 is deformed upward.

  FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a case where the deformation unit 1 is compressed substantially in parallel. As shown in FIG. 7A, the motor 14 for winding the wire 11 is provided in the first connecting portion 12. The motor 14 is provided inside the spring 15, and a guide hole through which the wire 11 is inserted is provided in the first connecting portion 12. A power source (not shown) for driving the motor 14 is provided outside, and a connection cable (not shown) is wired so as to pass inside the spring 15.

  The wire 11 is routed from the guide hole of the first connecting part 12 through which the wire 11 is inserted to the second connecting part 13 and is passed through the insertion hole provided in the second connecting part 13. The wire 11 is attached to the first plate 32 through an eyelet 61 provided in the coil spring regulating member 2 from an insertion hole provided in the second connecting portion 13. In addition, what is necessary is just to provide the eyelet 61 in the one or some comb part 31, 31, ...... of the coil spring control member 2. As shown in FIG. The first connecting portion 12 and the second connecting portion 13 are provided with restricting blocks 71 and 71 for restricting the coil spring restricting member 2 from moving to the spring 15 side.

  FIG. 7B is a side sectional view of the deformation unit 1 showing a state in which the wire 11 is wound up by the motor 14. As shown in FIG. 7B, the coil spring restricting member 2 moves toward the spring 15 due to the tensile force of the spring 15 by the wire 11. However, since the restriction block 71 is provided, the coil spring restriction member 2 cannot move to the spring 15, and the comb portions 31, 31,. Therefore, the spring 15 is compressed uniformly, and the coil spring restricting member 2 is compressed accordingly, and the deformation unit 1 is deformed so as to reduce the length substantially evenly.

  As described above, in the deformation unit according to the second embodiment, a single motor is used for the same deformation as in the case of deformation using a plurality of motors without increasing the number of motors that are drive sources. It is possible to perform an effective deformation while reducing power consumption with a simple structure, and an excellent effect that it can be easily applied to a robot, a manipulator or the like can be obtained.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 8 is an illustration of deformation of the basic shape of the deformation unit according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The deformation unit according to Embodiment 3 is a square block. As shown in FIG. 8A, the deformation unit according to the third embodiment is deformed into a reduced shape S by reducing the cross-sectional shape from the basic shape B in the longitudinal direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, the cross-sectional shape is deformed from the basic shape B to trapezoids U1 and U2 whose upper and lower sides are shortened. By combining the deformation units that perform such two deformations, it is possible to construct a mobile robot such as a caterpillar.

  FIG. 9 is a side view showing a movement example of a structure in which six deformation units according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention are connected in series. For convenience of explanation, in FIG. 9, it is assumed that the vehicle proceeds in the left direction, and the first unit, the second unit,. Further, a deformation unit that is not deformed is referred to as a basic unit, a deformation unit that is uniformly compressed is referred to as a compression unit, a deformation unit that is compressed only in the upper part is referred to as an upper compression unit, and a deformation unit that is compressed only in the lower part is referred to as a lower compression unit. .

  In FIG. 9A, only the first unit is deformed into the upper compression unit, and the other deformation units remain the basic units. In order to advance leftward, in FIG. 9B, the third to fifth units are transformed into compression units. And as shown in FIG.9 (c), when the 3rd thru | or 5th unit returns to a basic unit, it progresses to the left as the whole structure.

  In general, an obstacle sensor such as a camera is often provided in the first unit that is the foremost part. Therefore, when the structure has advanced to the state as shown in FIG. 9C, it can be detected that there is an obstacle ahead.

  Therefore, after FIG. 9D, the deformation of the deformation unit is controlled so as to avoid the obstacle. That is, in FIG. 9D, the first unit is transformed into the lower compression unit, and the second unit is transformed into the upper compression unit. Thereby, the highest reaching point of the first unit becomes higher than that in the case of FIG.

  Next, in order to proceed leftward as it is, the fourth and fifth units are transformed into compression units in FIG. 9 (e), and in order to move leftward in FIG. While returning 5 units to the basic unit, in order to avoid obstacles, the first unit is returned to the basic unit, the second unit is changed to the lower compression unit, and the third unit is changed to the upper compression unit.

  As described above, by effectively deforming the deformation unit into four shapes, it is possible to reproduce the movement like a green caterpillar with a robot.

  Further, more structures can be realized by changing the size of the deformation unit. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a magic hand configured using the above-described deformation unit. In FIG. 10, a large deformation unit is disposed on the backbone 101 of the magic hand, and a small deformation unit is disposed on the pair of clamping members 102 and 102.

  For convenience of explanation, as in FIG. 9, the core 101 is a first unit, a second unit, a third unit, and a fourth unit in order from the top, and the sandwiching members 102 and 102 are arranged on the left side. The 5L unit, the 6th L unit, the 7th L unit, and the right side are the 5R unit, the 6th R unit, and the 7th R unit. An undeformed deformation unit is referred to as a basic unit, an evenly compressed deformation unit is referred to as a compression unit, a left side compression unit is a left compression unit, and a right side compression unit is a right compression unit. .

  In FIG. 10A, the second and third units are transformed into compression units so that the trunk 101 can be extended to grip an object. Further, normally, the seventh L unit and the seventh R unit are provided with sensors for detecting the presence of an object to be sandwiched. When the presence of the object 103 is not detected, the gripper 102 has deformed the fifth L unit and the sixth R unit into a right compression unit, and has deformed the fifth R unit and the sixth L unit into a left compression unit.

  When the sensor detects the presence of the object 103, as shown in FIG. 10B, the fifth L unit and the sixth R unit are transformed into the left compression unit, and the fifth R unit and the sixth L unit are transformed into the right compression unit. As a result, the holding members 102 and 102 are unfolded according to the object 103.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), the second and third units of the backbone 101 are transformed into basic units, and the arms are extended to a position where the object 103 can be clamped, and the fifth L unit, the fifth R unit, The object 103 is sandwiched by transforming the sixth L unit and the sixth R unit into basic units.

  As described above, a magic hand can be realized with a simple structure without having a complicated control mechanism by appropriately combining deformation units having different sizes.

  Moreover, it is also possible to embody a structure such as a snake by combining a large number of deformation units. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a snake robot configured using the above-described deformation unit.

  In FIG. 11, deformation units of various sizes are connected in series, and the deformation unit located at the front is provided with a camera 111 for taking a picture or video and an antenna 112 for receiving a signal for remote control. ing.

  The snake-like robot as shown in FIG. 11 advances while it is repeatedly deformed, as in the method shown in FIG. Therefore, even if there are obstacles around you, you can proceed while avoiding them, for example, maintenance of narrow tubes that humans can not enter, rescue activities in urban disasters such as earthquake disaster, investigation activities etc. Is possible.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, various moving structures can be formed with a simple structure without having a complicated control mechanism by appropriately combining deformation units having different sizes. It becomes.

  Needless to say, the deformation unit according to Embodiment 1 or 2 may be used as the deformation unit according to Embodiment 3.

It is a sectional side view which shows the example of the deformation | transformation unit which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sectional side view which shows the example at the time of providing the two motors of the deformation | transformation unit which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sectional side view which shows the example of the deformation | transformation unit which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the coil spring control member used for the deformation | transformation unit which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a sectional side view which shows the example of a deformation | transformation unit in case the expansion / contraction operation | movement of a spring is not controlled by a coil spring control member. It is a sectional side view which illustrates the mounting state of a deformation | transformation unit in the case of using a coil spring control member. It is a sectional side view which illustrates the case where a deformation | transformation unit is compressed substantially parallel. It is an illustration figure of a deformation | transformation of the basic shape of the deformation | transformation unit which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a side view which shows the example of a movement of the structure which connected six deformation units which concern on Embodiment 3 of this invention in series. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a magic hand. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a snake-shaped robot.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Deformation unit 2 Coil spring control member 3 L-shaped part 11 Wire 12 1st connection part 13 2nd connection part 14 Motor 15 Spring 31 Comb part 32 Sliding part 33 Internal spring 61 Eyelet 71 Restriction block 102 Holding member

Claims (7)

  A coil spring, a pair of connecting parts disposed at both ends of the coil spring, one or more wires having one end attached to the end of one connecting part, and another connecting part. The other end of the one or a plurality of wires, and one or a plurality of motors that can be wound up, and according to the rotation of the one or a plurality of motors, A deformation unit characterized in that the relative position of the end of one connecting portion is changed.   The deformation unit according to claim 1, further comprising a coil spring restricting member that restricts expansion and contraction of the coil spring, wherein the coil spring restricting member restricts a change in a relative position between the ends of the pair of connecting portions. .   An elastic body for applying a reaction force against the compression force to the outside is provided inside, the cross section in the compression direction of the elastic body is comb-shaped, and the interval between the comb teeth is changed according to the compression force. Coil spring regulating member.   A plurality of other side parts are connected from the one side part side so that the other side parts can slide with each other in the compression direction of the elastic body. The coil spring restricting member according to claim 3, wherein the coil spring restricting member is provided.   A movable structure in which a plurality of square-shaped deformation units are connected in series, wherein the deformation unit pulls one connecting portion provided at one end in the connecting direction to another connecting portion provided at the other end. A structure in which a force or a tensile force for pulling an end portion of the one connecting portion to an end portion of the other connecting portion is applied to the one connecting portion.   The said deformation | transformation unit is a deformation | transformation unit of Claim 1 or 2, The structure characterized by the above-mentioned. A pair of sandwiching members configured by connecting a plurality of deformation units according to claim 1 or 2 in series are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval, and the relative position of the end of the connection portion of the deformation unit is changed. A sandwiching body characterized in that the object is sandwiched by changing an interval between the pair of sandwiching members.

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