JPH0457695A - Holding housing for robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain sensing facility having no or a little dead zone by providing a hard internal coating which is adhered onto a tactile sensor to cover the tactile sensor arranged on a base, and a soft external coating which is directly adhered to the outside of the internal coating and has the high coefficient of friction. CONSTITUTION:A hard internal coating 6 is adhesively provided on a tactile sensor 2 to cover the tactile sensor 2 arranged on a base l. A soft external coating 3 having the high coefficient of friction is directly adhesively formed on the outside of the coating 6. Force acting onto the coating 3 is therefore effectively transmitted to the tactile sensor 2 being in contact with the coating 6 to maintain performance serving as the tactile sensor 2. Since the hard internal coating 6 can be optionally formed wide to minimize an area formed of only the soft coating 3, a dead zone can be minimized.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to gripping parts of robots such as manipulators,
Relating to gripping jackets.

<Prior art> In recent years, gripping parts such as manipulators are equipped with an outer sheath on the body of the hand or fingers, and this outer sheath allows for highly accurate pressure detection, and depending on the application, it is radiation-resistant. In addition to requiring heat resistance and heat resistance, advanced functions such as obtaining a force distribution close to that of humans and obtaining a sense of touch are also required.

For this purpose, the gripping portion of the manipulator is equipped with a tactile sensor together with the outer cover.

FIG. 4 shows an envelope containing a conventional tactile sensor.
A tactile sensor 2 is fixed on a base 1, and a skin 3 made of a soft material having a high coefficient of friction is attached to the tactile sensor 2 in order to improve the compatibility with an object 5 on the tactile sensor 2.

However, with the structure shown in FIG. 4, the force is dispersed by the soft skin 3, resulting in a decrease in sensitivity. The point is that the force transmitted to the tactile sensor 2 changes greatly depending on the case where it is applied to a point, and furthermore, the force transmitted to the tactile sensor 2 changes greatly when applied to a crab outside the detection range of the tactile sensor 2.
There is a problem in that it is difficult for the force to be transmitted to the area, resulting in a dead zone.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5, a small hard plate 4 made of, for example, a metal plate is attached to the contact area between the tactile sensor 2 and the skin 3, and the force applied to the tactile sensor 2 is concentrated over as wide an area as possible to increase the sensitivity. by increasing the detection range to the area of the small plate 4, so that if the point where the force is applied is within this range, the force will be transmitted to the same extent as when the same force is applied to the center of the tactile sensor 2,
Furthermore, the dead zone is made narrower by the increase in area of the small plate 4.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the gripping jacket shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 has the following problems.

That is, the skin 3 often has a curved surface, and the force applied to the curved surface where the small plate 4 cannot be pasted without any gaps cannot be detected, leaving a dead zone.

Depending on the material of the skin 3, it may be difficult to attach the small plate 4, and even if it is attached, there will still be problems with the durability of the adhesive.

In order to obtain a constant tactile sensor sensitivity distribution, it is necessary to precisely position the platelet 4 in the center of the tactile sensor 2, which is actually a very difficult task, especially in order to improve the tactile ability of the manipulator. 2, which is impossible when increasing the packaging density.

Accurate positioning of the platelet 4 is also required when replacing the skin 3, but this replacement always involves errors, and therefore reproducibility of the tactile sensor output cannot be expected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a gripping jacket for a robot that reduces or eliminates dead zones, durability problems, or difficulties in positioning accuracy due to the arrangement of platelets.

Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention, which achieves the above-mentioned objects, includes a hard internal skin that is tightly attached to the tactile sensor so as to cover the tactile sensor disposed on the base, and a hard internal skin that is placed on the outside of the internal skin to cover the tactile sensor disposed on the base. It is characterized by having an external skin that is in direct contact with the skin and is soft and has a high coefficient of friction.

Function: The force applied to the external skin can be transmitted with high efficiency to the tactile sensor in contact with the internal skin, which not only maintains its performance as a tactile sensor, but also allows the internal skin, which is a hard layer, to expand arbitrarily. Soft external skin that comes off! Since the area of injury can be minimized, the dead zone can be minimized, and the hard internal skin can be minimized, improving durability, maintainability, and reliability.At the same time, the load is distributed and transmitted, so the tactile sensor This eliminates the need for positioning work and eliminates the need to consider accuracy and errors as problems.

Embodiment Examples FIGS. 1 to 3 and 6 show examples of gripping jackets applied to fingertips.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of tactile sensors 2 are arranged on a base 1. As shown in FIG. An internal skin 6 made of a hard material such as silicone is disposed to cover the tactile sensor 2. Furthermore, this internal skin 6
A soft polymeric material with a high coefficient of friction (such as Norsolex (trade name)) is placed in close contact with the outside of the holder.

Among these, the material of the external skin 3 is carefully selected to maintain compatibility with the object 5, and the material of the internal skin 6 is selected so that a force proportional to the force applied to the external skin 3 can be applied to the tactile sensor 2 with high efficiency. I use a hardness that conveys the feeling. In order to fully demonstrate the functions of these external and internal skins, the total thickness of both is set to about 1 m, for example.

FIG. 2 shows an example of application to the fingertip 7 of a manipulator. As shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), seven tactile sensors 2 (see FIG. 3) are arranged on the base 1, which is machined into the shape of a fingertip 7.

A hard internal skin 6 is attached in close contact with the tactile sensor 2, and an external skin 3 is placed on the outside of the internal skin 6 in direct contact with the tactile sensor 2.

In this case, the inside of the internal skin 6 and the link of the base 1 are processed to have similar shapes so that the tactile sensor 2 and the inside of the internal skin 6 are in close contact with each other.

Note that FIG. 3 shows the state in which the tactile sensor 2 is arranged on the base 1 when the base 1 is unfolded.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the hard inner skin 6 is slightly wider than the contact pressure sensing area of the tactile sensor 2, and a protrusion 8 is interposed between the inner skin 6 and the tactile sensor 2. I'm trying to widen the pressure range.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the present invention, in order to provide an external skin that conforms to the object and an internal skin that transmits force with high efficiency, a sensor with no or only a small dead zone is created. It is possible to obtain more functions, reduce labor during manufacturing without the need for positioning work as in the past, achieve high durability and high reliability, and reduce maintenance costs. In addition, it is easy to increase the packaging density, and there is no need to pay attention to positioning, and the tactile ability can be improved. Furthermore, there is no need for adjustment after the shape has been determined, and the outer cover can be easily replaced. In this way, a high-performance gripping jacket is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain, which in turn leads to a reduction in the overall cost of the manipulator.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram, FIG. 2 (al is a configuration diagram of the fingertip 7, and FIG. 2 (b)
1 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2(a), FIG. 3 is a developed view of the base, FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional configuration diagrams of two conventional examples, and FIG.
The figure is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is the base, 2 is the tactile sensor, 3 is the external skin, and 6 is the internal skin.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A hard inner skin that is in close contact with the tactile sensor so as to cover the tactile sensor disposed on the base, and a soft outer skin that is in close contact with the outside of this inner skin and has a high coefficient of friction. , a gripping envelope for a robot having: