JP3317799B2 - Manipulator gripping device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manipulator gripping device used for constructing various structures in space, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of recent space exploration, there is a concept of constructing a space vehicle in which humans can reside in outer space, a so-called space station. In such a space station construction concept, it is said that a manipulator system using a manipulator that carries out transportation and material exchange of construction materials for humans is effective. A manipulator used in such a manipulator system is provided with a gripping device for holding an object to be gripped as an end factor. As this gripping device, a plurality of, for example, two or three
The fingers are arranged on the manipulator base via a link mechanism, and a ball screw mechanism is connected to the link mechanism. Then, the torque of the rotary drive motor is transmitted to the ball screw mechanism, and the torque from the rotary drive motor is converted into linear motion and transmitted to the link mechanism. The link mechanism is operated in conjunction with the drive of the ball screw mechanism,
The opening / closing drive of the finger is performed to grip and release the gripped object.

However, in the manipulator gripping device described above, when the extreme environment of the space environment is assumed as the environment in which the manipulator is used, only the finger gripping / gripping release operation is performed, and the function is satisfactory. It was not a thing.

More specifically, a highly accurate and reliable gripping / releasing operation of a finger for gripping an object to be gripped is realized, and an object to be gripped by a finger is attached to and detached from a mounting base. Or a function to operate the object to be grasped is required.

[0005]

As described above, the conventional manipulator gripping device is functionally capable of performing only a single operation of gripping and gripping release operations, thereby simplifying the handling operation. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to realize the structure.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and realizes a highly accurate, reliable and reliable gripping / releasing operation, and also enables a rotating operation to be performed, and a handling operation is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a manipulator gripping device that can simplify the above.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there are provided a plurality of fingers which are disposed at predetermined intervals on a manipulator base and one end of which is rotatably supported, and which are provided on an object to be grasped. A grip having a gripping portion gripped by the plurality of fingers, a fitted portion located around the gripping portion, and a rotated operation portion disposed in the fitted portion; and a periphery of the plurality of fingers. And a cylindrical body having a fitting portion fitted to the fitted portion of the handle supported linearly movable on the manipulator base and one end of the plurality of fingers. And a link mechanism having the other end linked to the tubular body, and the tubular body being linearly driven with respect to the manipulator base to rotate the plurality of fingers via the link mechanism. , While holding or releasing the grip of the grip, Capture driving means for fitting or releasing the fitting portion of the cylindrical body to or from the fitted portion of the handle, and disposed substantially at the center of the plurality of fingers, and the fingers grip the grip portion of the handle. Then, the fitting portion of the cylinder is fitted to the rotated operation portion of the handle in a state of being fitted to the fitted portion of the handle,
A rotating operation unit that is separated from the rotated operation unit in a state where the plurality of fingers release the grip of the grip unit of the handle and the fitting state of the cylindrical body is detached from the fitted unit of the handle; When,
The rotating operation unit, in the fitted state in the rotation operating part of the handle, the grip of the manipulator are driven selectively rotating a rotary drive means you rotate the driven rotating operation of the handle This is a device configuration.

[0008]

According to the above construction, in a state where the finger grips the grip portion provided on the object to be gripped, the tip of the cylindrical body whose movement is controlled in conjunction with the turning operation of the finger is moved to the handle. In the gripping state, the rotating operation part disposed substantially at the center of the finger is fitted to the rotating operation part of the handle so as to be able to transmit rotational force, and the rotated operation part is It is driven to rotate. Thus, the fingers and the cylinder cooperate to realize a reliable grip of the gripped object, and in the gripped state, the rotational force is transmitted to the rotated operation portion, and the rotational force is used by the rotational operation portion. The attachment and detachment of the grasped object to the mounting base and the rotation work can be performed at the same time, and the operation of the manipulator can be diversified.
The handling operation can be simplified.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a gripping device for a manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention. A manipulator base 10 is provided with a rotation drive mechanism 11 having a gripping drive motor. A ball screw 12 is connected to the rotation drive mechanism 11 via a clutch mechanism 13 so as to transmit a rotational force. A ball nut 14 is screwed to the ball screw 12 so as to be movable in the directions of arrows A and B. You.
A cylindrical body 15 is provided around the ball nut 14. The base of the cylinder 15 is supported by the ball nut 14 via a plurality of attachment members 16.

A finger mounting member 17 is mounted on the distal end of the ball screw 12 via a bearing 18. The finger mounting member 17 has a base supported by the manipulator base 10 and a plurality of guide holes 17a formed in a side surface thereof. The mounting member 16 is movably inserted in the guide holes 17a in the directions of arrows A and B. As a result, when the ball screw 12 is driven to rotate, the finger mounting member 17 of the cylindrical body 15 is guided in the guide hole 17a and guided in the axial direction, and is engaged with the manipulator base 10 at an initial position (described later). From the gripping position (finger 1)
9 is moved to a position where it fits inside the cylindrical body 15).

On the upper surface side of the finger mounting member 17, one end of the finger 19 is rotatably opened and closed via a hinge 20. For example, three fingers 19 are arranged facing the handle 21 at a predetermined interval, and one end of a link member 22 is linked to the other end via a hinge 23. The other end of the link member 22 is linked to the inner wall of the cylindrical body 15 via a hinge 23.

Further, on the upper surface side of the finger mounting member 17, a finger guide portion 24 and a rotation operation portion 25 are provided corresponding to the finger. The rotation operation section 25 is rotatably protruded from a substantially center of the upper surface of the finger mounting member 17 via a bearing 26, and a gear 27 is fitted to a base end thereof. The gear 27 is meshed with the gear 28. The rotating shaft 28a of the gear 28 extends substantially in parallel with the ball screw 12, and a gear 30 is fitted to the tip of the rotating shaft 28a via a clutch mechanism 29. This gear 3
0 is meshed with a gear 11a fitted to the rotation shaft of the rotation drive mechanism 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, the handle 21 is formed with a fitting portion 21a to which the tip of the cylindrical body 15 fits and a grip portion 21b to be gripped by the finger 19.
a and the gripping portion 21b, the rotation operated portion 21c
Is provided. A detachable mechanism (not shown) is connected to the base end of the rotatable operation section 21c, and the detachable mechanism (not shown) is operated in conjunction with the rotation of the rotatable operation section 21c, for example, to attach or detach a grasped object to or from the mounting base. I do.

The clutch mechanisms 13 and 29 are connected to a control section 31 for controlling the operation of the rotation drive mechanism section 11, and are controlled by the control section 31 to selectively transmit a rotational force to a subsequent stage.

In the above configuration, when gripping the handle 19 attached to the object to be gripped (not shown), first, the controller 31 sets the clutch mechanism 13 to the contact state with the fingers facing each other. At the same time, after the clutch mechanism 29 is set to the disengaged state, the drive of the rotation drive mechanism 11 is controlled. Then, the rotation drive mechanism 11 drives the ball screw 12 to rotate, moves the ball nut 14 in the direction of the arrow A or B according to the rotation direction, and moves the mounting member 16 into the guide hole 17a of the finger mounting member 17. In the same direction. Here, the attachment member 16 moves the cylindrical body 15 in the same direction as the movement in the arrow A direction, and rotates and opens / closes the finger 19 with respect to the finger attachment member 17 via the link member 22. At the same time, the grip portion 21b of the handle 21 is
The finger 19 grips the grip of the handle 21 here.

In this gripping state, the tip of the cylindrical body 15 projects from the finger 19 and is fitted to the fitted portion 21a of the handle 21. Here, the load applied to the finger 19 is transmitted to the cylindrical body 15 via the finger attachment member 17 and is prevented from being directly applied to the ball screw 12, so that the effective position regulation of the finger 19 is prevented. As a result, a stable gripping state is ensured.
At the same time, the link member 22 is substantially perpendicular to the inner wall of the cylindrical body 15 and acts to increase the gripping force of the finger 19 by a so-called boosting effect, thereby realizing reliable holding.

At the same time, the rotation operation section 25 of the finger mounting member 17
Is fitted to the rotated operation portion 21c of the handle 21. Here, the control unit 31 sets the clutch mechanism 13 to the disengaged state and switches the clutch mechanism 29 to the connected state.
Then, the rotation operation unit 25 is driven to rotate by transmitting the torque of the rotation drive mechanism unit 11 via the gears 11a, 30, 28, and 27, and the rotation operation unit 21c is driven to rotate, and the rotation is performed. Depending on the direction, for example, the object to be grasped (not shown) is attached to and detached from the mounting base.

When the grip 21 is released from the gripping state, first, the rotation drive mechanism 11 is driven to reverse. Then, the ball screw 12 is inverted, the ball nut 14 is moved in the direction of arrow B, and the cylinder 15 is moved in the same direction along the guide hole 17 a of the finger mounting member 17 via the mounting member 16. Here, the cylinder 15
Turns the link member 22 upside down and pivots the finger 19 to open, separates the handle 21 from the grip portion 21b, and releases the grip. At the same time, the distal end of the tubular body 15 is detached from the fitted portion 21 a of the handle 21, and the base end is returned to the initial position where the tubular body 15 is engaged with the manipulator base 10.

In the grip release operation state of the handle 21, the clutch mechanism 13 is set to the contact state via the control unit 31, and the clutch mechanism 29 is set to the disconnected state. As described above, in the gripping device of the manipulator, in the state where the finger 19 grips the grip portion 21b of the grip 21 provided on the gripped object side, the tip of the cylindrical body 15 that is controlled to move in conjunction with the finger 19 is moved. In the gripping state, the rotating operation portion 25 disposed substantially at the center of the finger 19 is fitted to the rotated operation portion 21c of the handle 21 so as to be able to transmit a rotational force. Thus, the rotatable operation portion 21c is configured to be rotationally driven.

According to this, in a state where the grip portion 21b of the handle 21 is gripped by the finger 19, the distal end portion of the cylindrical body 15 is fitted to the fitted portion 21a of the handle 21.
The load applied to the finger 19 is directly applied to the manipulator base 10.
, And a reliable gripping operation of the finger 19 is realized.
In the gripping state of the finger 19, the rotation operation unit 2
5, the rotatably operated portion 21c of the handle 21 can be driven to rotate, so that the object to be gripped (not shown) can be attached to the mounting base by utilizing the rotational force of the rotatably operated portion 21c. Since operations such as attachment / detachment and rotation operations are realized by a series of gripping operations, manipulator operations can be diversified and handling operations thereof can be simplified.

Further, according to this, the driving position of the link member 22 is combined at a position substantially orthogonal to the cylinder so as to complete the gripping operation, so that the vice by the cylinder 15 and the link member 22 is completed. The effect makes it possible to set a large gripping force of the finger without providing a special mechanism, and has an effect that a highly reliable gripping operation is realized.

In the above embodiment, the rotation driving mechanism 1
Although one rotary motion is converted to a linear motion by using a ball screw, various configurations are possible without being limited to this.

In the above embodiment, the finger structure is 3
Although the case where the present invention is applied to the finger 19 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to a configuration of a finger structure having two or four or more fingers.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the object to be gripped is attached to and detached from the mounting base has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The rotation drive unit 21c of the handle 21 may be configured to rotate the rotation drive unit of the tool. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.
It goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0025]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform a rotation operation after realizing a highly accurate and reliable gripping / releasing operation.
A manipulator holding device capable of simplifying a handling operation can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a manipulator holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the handle of FIG. 1 taken out.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Manipulator base. 11 ... Rotation drive mechanism. 12 ... Ball screw. 13, 26 ... clutch mechanism. 14 ... Ball nut. 15 ... cylindrical body. , 16 ... mounting member. 17 ... finger attachment member. 17a: Finger guide hole. 18, 26 ... Bearing. 19 ... finger. 20, 23 ... hinge. 21 ... Handle. 21a: Fitted portion. 21b ... Grip part. 21c: Rotated operated part. 22 ... Link member. 24 ... finger guide. 25 ... Rotation operation unit. 27, 28, 30, 11a ... gears. 28a ... Rotary axis. 31 Control part.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-169121 (JP, A) JP-A-64-67500 (JP, A) JP-A-6-63889 (JP, A) JP-A-5-63889 337870 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B25J 15/08 B25J 15/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of fingers disposed at a predetermined interval on a manipulator base and one end of which is rotatably supported, and provided on an object to be gripped, wherein the plurality of fingers are gripped by the plurality of fingers. A grip having a gripped portion, a gripped portion located around the gripped portion, and a grip having a rotated operation portion disposed in the fitted portion, and a handle arranged around the plurality of fingers, A tubular body having a fitting portion fitted to the fitted portion of the handle supported on the manipulator base so as to be linearly movable; one end linked to the other end of the plurality of fingers; A link mechanism that is link-coupled to the cylindrical body; and a linear drive of the cylindrical body with respect to the manipulator base to rotate the plurality of fingers via the link mechanism, thereby gripping the grip of the grip. Or, while performing the grip release, the fitting portion of the cylindrical body is gripped. Capture driving means for engaging or disengaging the fitted portion of the plurality of fingers, disposed substantially at the center of the plurality of fingers, the fingers grip the grip portion of the handle, and the fitting portion of the cylindrical body is In the state where the handle is fitted to the fitted portion, the handle is fitted to the rotated operation portion, and the plurality of fingers release the grip of the grip portion,
In a state where the fitting state of the cylinder is disengaged from the engagement portion of the handle, said a rotation operating unit which is spaced apart from the rotation operating part, the rotation operation portion, in the rotational operation of the handle in mated condition, selectively driven to rotate the gripping device of the manipulator provided with the rotary drive means you rotate the driven rotating operation of the handle.