JPH0511995Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] A. Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to a grasping hand device used as an end effector in a manipulator, a robot, etc.

B. Summary of the invention The present invention is a grasping hand device used as an end effector in a control type manipulator, robot, etc., in which a driven external gear and an articulated drive gear, which are mounted on a frame and rotate integrally, are fixed. Connected to the worm output shaft inserted into the frame via the torque transmission mechanism means,
A pinch finger link mechanism is interlocked with the worm output shaft to form a unit unit of the pinch finger unit, and one or more pairs of pinch finger units with a left-right symmetrical structure are combined, and a driven external gear or integral At least one or more gears configured to connect a driven external gear and an articulated drive gear that rotate to a worm output shaft via a constant torque transmission mechanism means, and to drive a grip finger link mechanism in conjunction with the worm output shaft. The grasping finger units are assembled with each pinching finger unit and each grasping finger unit stacked on top of each other with their positions shifted in the direction in which the fingers protrude. By meshing the gears so that rotational force can be transmitted and constructing an integral structure, the overall structure of the hand device is simplified, and
The handle of the hammer is gripped diagonally to expand the working range and make effective use of the hammer.

C. Conventional technology In general, hands with multi-jointed fingers like the human hand can be equipped with diverse and advanced functions, so they are essential for prosthetic hands and intelligent robots. It is becoming.

Conventionally, some hand devices having multi-joint fingers have a complicated structure in which drive motors are installed for each degree of freedom of movement for each joint, and the structure for controlling the motors is complicated.

In addition, Figures 8 and 9, which simplify the structure, are also available.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1983-1989 related to the applicant's application shown in the figure
The one described in Publication No. 28191 (Japanese Patent Application No. 168338/1983) is known.

As shown in the figure, a drive gear 3 is formed at the free end of the drive shaft 2 mounted on the casing of the hand device main body 1. Furthermore, a driven external gear 4 mounted on a case is meshed with this driving gear 3, and a ball clutch mechanism 5 is installed as a constant torque transmission mechanism means inside this driven external gear 4, and the driving force is transmitted through this. A worm output shaft 6 having a worm tooth profile drilled therein is attached.

As shown in FIG. 8, the free ends of the first finger link 7 and the auxiliary link 8 are pivotally connected to the second finger link 9 to form a finger link mechanism, and the first finger link The root ends of the finger link 7 and the auxiliary link 8 are pivotally connected to fixed shafts 10 and 11 installed in the case of the hand device main body 1, and a worm gear is attached to the outer periphery of the root end of the first finger link 7. 12 is bored and meshed with the worm output shaft 6 so that the driving force of the drive shaft 2 is transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 9, five sets of such finger link mechanisms are arranged at predetermined positions on the casing around the drive shaft 2 formed in the hand device main body 1 in advance, thereby creating a five-finger hand device. Configure.

When grasping an object with this hand device, the drive shaft 2 is rotationally driven, and all five finger link mechanisms are driven in the closing direction. Then, the free end of each second finger link 9 comes into contact with the outer surface of various objects. In this state, while applying a constant pressure contact force, the constant torque transmission mechanism rotates idly. Therefore, even if the distances between each second finger link 9 and the surface of the object that it should come into contact with are different, all five second finger links 9 will be connected after the required time has elapsed.
However, it is configured such that it presses against the outer surface of an object with a constant contact pressure and grips the periphery of the object.

D Problems to be solved by the invention Conventional hand devices with multi-jointed fingers as described above are capable of handling objects of various shapes, such as pinching and
Although it is possible to carry out grasping operations, a large number of drive motors, control devices, etc. must be provided, making the structure complex and large-scale, making it unsuitable for practical use.

In addition, in a hand device in which a plurality of finger link mechanisms are driven by one drive shaft 2 via a constant torque transmission mechanism means, as in the conventional example shown in FIGS. Although it is convenient for holding irregularly shaped objects with a similar shape and a certain size, it has the problem that it is difficult to hold thin sticks or to pinch small objects with the fingertips.

In view of the above-mentioned points, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new hand device such as a manipulator that has a simple overall configuration and can hold thin rods and pinch small objects well.

E Means for Solving the Problems The hand device such as the manipulator of the present invention connects the driven external gear and the articulated drive gear, which are pivotally mounted on the frame and rotate integrally, through a constant torque transmission mechanism means. ,
It is connected to a worm output shaft inserted into the frame body, and a pinch finger link mechanism is linked to the worm output shaft to form a unit unit of the pinch finger unit, and a pair or more pinch finger units with a symmetrical structure are combined. At the same time, for the pinch finger unit,
A driven external gear or a driven external gear and an articulated drive gear that rotate integrally are connected to a worm output shaft via a constant torque transmission mechanism means, and the grip finger link mechanism is driven in conjunction with the worm output shaft. At least one or more grasping finger units configured are assembled with each pinching finger unit and each grasping finger unit stacked on top of each other with their positions shifted in the direction in which the fingers protrude, and the positions are shifted between all the units. It is characterized by an integral structure in which the articulated drive gear and the driven external gear are meshed together so that rotational force can be transmitted.

F Effect By configuring as described above, the driven external gear or the articulated drive gear in the required finger unit,
The drive gears of the drive shaft are engaged and all the finger units constituting the hand device are interlocked to perform gripping or release operations of the object to be gripped, and the hand device is made to grip the handle of the hammer or the like diagonally. It has the effect of obtaining.

G. Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of a hand device such as a manipulator of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.
Note that in FIGS. 1 to 7, parts corresponding to those in FIGS. 8 and 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the hand device of this embodiment, in which 30 is a gripping finger unit that operates to grip a rod-shaped object, etc., and 31 is a pinching finger unit for pinching a small object between a pair of fingers that operate in parallel.

This grasp finger unit 30 and pinch finger unit 3
A required number of units with 1 are combined to form an integrated hand device main body 1, and this hand device main body 1 is used by being attached to the tip of an arm of a manipulator (not shown). As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the hand device main body 1 of this example has a pair of pinch finger units 31, 31 on the left and right portions sandwiching a drive shaft 2 that is rotatably driven by a drive means such as a motor of an arm (not shown). are arranged facing each other, and grip finger units 30a and 30b are arranged parallel to both plane sides of one of the grip finger units 31 and stacked diagonally as shown in FIG. It is configured by integrally combining these.

That is, the hand device of this example is composed of a pair of gripping finger units 31, 31 and two gripping finger units 30, 30 installed on the upper and lower sides of the gripping finger unit 31 on one side. If the structure is provided with two pinching finger units 31, 31 and one grasping finger unit 30,
Although it is possible to perform pinching and grasping operations, these units can be freely combined to form a useful single hand device depending on the shape of the object to be grasped.

Next, the internal mechanism of one grasping finger unit 30a in this hand device will be explained. this is,
It is constructed as shown in the partial sectional views of FIGS. 1 and 5, in which 26 is a frame forming a case, 32 is a gear shaft, and 33 is a worm output shaft.

This gear shaft portion 32 has an intermediate round shaft portion 22a.
is rotatably attached to the lid side portion 26a forming a part of the frame body 26 by means of a bearing 34. An articulated drive gear 35 is installed at the end of the gear shaft 32 protruding from the lid side 26a, and a cylindrical portion 36 with a driven external gear is integrally formed at the other end.

The cylindrical portion 36 with a driven external gear has a cylindrical shape as shown in the figure, and the driven external gear 4 is formed on its outer circumference. Further, the cylindrical portion 40 on the free end side
A plurality of small-diameter engagement holes 21 are bored at predetermined positions on the circumference of the tube, and a predetermined small-diameter support hole 37 is bored near the inner bottom of the cylindrical portion 40 .

Further, the worm output shaft section 33 has one shaft end supported by the above-mentioned support hole 37 via a bearing 38, and the other end shaft end supported by the frame body 2.
It is supported in the support hole 39 in 6 via a bearing 41 and is rotatably mounted. At the same time, a cylindrical portion 23 having a through hole 22 passing through the worm output shaft portion 33 in the diametrical direction is installed at a portion of the worm output shaft portion 33 that corresponds to the engagement hole 21 of the cylindrical portion 36 with a driven external gear.

The above-mentioned engagement hole 21 is provided in this cylindrical portion 23.
A pair of hard balls 24, 24 with a larger diameter are movably inserted, and a compression coil spring 25 is inserted between the pair of hard balls 24, 24, so that the pair of hard balls 2
4 and 24 respectively have a part thereof inserted into each engagement hole 21,
21 and biased so as to be engaged.

In this way, when the rigid ball 24 is engaged with the engagement hole 21, the gear shaft portion 32 and the worm output shaft portion 33
The compression coil spring 2 rotates as one, but when the torque acting between them exceeds a certain value, the compression coil spring 2
5, each hard ball 24 separates from each engagement hole 21 and rolls on the inner surface of the driven external geared cylindrical portion 36, which causes the ball clutch to function as a constant torque transmission mechanism. This constitutes the mechanism 5. It goes without saying that this constant torque transmission mechanism may have other configurations.

Further, the worm output shaft portion 33 is provided with worm teeth 6c, and the worm gear 12 in the grip finger link mechanism is meshed with the worm teeth 6c. As shown in FIG. 5, this gripping finger link mechanism is composed of a first finger link 7, an auxiliary link 8, and a second finger link 9.

The root end 7a of the first finger link 7 is pivotally attached to the frame 26 by a fixed shaft 10, and in this state, a predetermined portion of the root end 7a is formed as a semicircular worm gear 12. And as mentioned above,
This is made to mesh with the worm teeth 6c.

Further, the root end portion of the auxiliary link 8 is pivotally attached to a predetermined position of the frame body 26 by a fixed shaft 11.

Then, the auxiliary link 8 is brought into a state where it intersects with the first finger link 7, and its free end is pivoted to the root end of the second finger link 9, and the free end of the first finger link 7 is is pivoted to a predetermined position in the middle of the second finger link 9 to constitute a gripping finger link mechanism.

Next, the pinch finger unit 31 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4.

This pinch finger unit 31 has an internal mechanism similar to that of the above-mentioned one grasp finger unit 30a, and has a pinch finger link mechanism installed therein in place of the grasp finger link mechanism. Therefore, the explanation of the internal mechanism will be omitted, and the configuration of the pinch finger link mechanism will be explained.

This pinch finger link mechanism is a four-bar rotation chain mechanism, and the four sections 42, 43, 44, and 45 form a parallelogram.

With this configuration, if the two opposing nodes 43 and 44 of the same length are rotated with respect to the fixed node 45, which is the frame body 26, the movable node 42 always moves parallel to the fixed node 45. will be done.

The movable joint 42 forms a claw portion 42a extending from one shaft attachment portion.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, this pinch finger link mechanism is used as a pair of left and right symmetrical structures, and each claw part 42a, 42a is used as a pair.
The opposite side surfaces 42b, 42b of the two are formed in parallel.

Next, the configuration of the other gripping finger unit 30b installed at the bottom of FIG. 6 is mounted via a ball clutch mechanism 5 which is a constant torque transmission mechanism means.

That is, the worm output shaft 6 has both ends 6a and 6b connected to the bearings 1 inside the frame 26, respectively.
8 and 19 so that it can rotate freely. An annular driven external gear 4 is rotatably installed on the worm output shaft 6 via a bearing 20 inserted into a portion thereof. At the same time, a small-diameter engagement hole 21 is bored in a predetermined part of the cylindrical protruding cylindrical part 40 of the driven external gear 4, and correspondingly, a small-diameter engagement hole 21 is drilled in a predetermined part of the worm output shaft 6 in a diametrical direction. A cylindrical portion 23 having a through hole 22 is installed.
A pair of hard balls 24, 24 having a larger diameter than the above-mentioned engagement hole 21 is movably inserted into this cylindrical portion 23, and a compression coil spring 25 is inserted between the pair of hard balls 24, 24. hard ball 2
4 and 24 respectively have a part thereof inserted into each engagement hole 21,
21 and biased so as to be engaged. In this manner, when the rigid balls 24, 24 are engaged with the engagement hole 21, the driven external gear 4 and the worm output shaft 6 rotate as one, but the torque acting between them exceeds a certain value. , each rigid ball 24 resists the biasing force of the compression coil spring 25 and moves into each engagement hole 21.
Since it separates from the cylindrical portion 40 and rolls on the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 40, this acts as a constant torque transmission mechanism means. It goes without saying that this constant torque transmission mechanism means may have other configurations.

Further, the worm output shaft 6 is provided with worm teeth 6c, and a worm gear in the grip finger link mechanism is engaged with the worm teeth 6c. As shown in FIG. 2, this gripping finger link mechanism has the same structure as the gripping finger link mechanism of the one gripping finger unit 30a described above, so a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, a description will be given of the assembly structure of the hand device of this example, which is formed by integrally combining the pinching finger unit 31, the grasping finger unit 30a, and the grasping finger unit 30b configured as described above.

In this example device, a pair of pinch finger units 31, 31 are arranged on the left and right portions of the drive shaft 2, as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the driven external gear 4 of each pinch finger unit 31 is meshed with the drive gear 3 of the drive shaft 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pair of pinch finger units 31 arranged in this manner include a grip finger unit 30a in the upper part of the grip finger unit 31 in FIG. 2
The finger link 9 is arranged so that it can move inward to grip an object, and as shown in FIG. Install. Then, the driven external gear 4 protruding from the opening of the frame 26 of one grip finger unit 31 is meshed with the articulated drive gear 35 of the grip finger unit 30a, so that the rotational driving force of the drive shaft 2 is transmitted. Make it.

Also, the first pinch finger unit 31 on one side
In the lower part of the figure, a gripping finger unit 30b is arranged so that its second finger link 9 can move inward to grip an object, and is placed at a position a predetermined distance back from the gripping finger unit 31. do.

The articulated drive gear 35 of one of the grip finger units 31 is configured to mesh with the driven external gear 4 facing from the opening of the frame 26 of the grip finger unit 30b, so that the rotational driving force of the drive shaft 2 is transmitted. It is something to do.

In addition, in this example device, each pinch finger unit 31
The width dimension of the frame body 26 of each grip finger unit 30 is formed to be approximately the pitch diameter of the driven external gear 4, and the tooth tip of the driven external gear 4 extends from the opening in the side of the frame body 26. It protrudes appropriately, and when other knobs or grip finger units 30, 31 are installed adjacent to this, the articulated drive gear 35 meshes properly, facilitating assembly. Further, a relief recess 46 for the protruding driven external gear 4 is bored in a predetermined portion of the frame 26.

In addition, in this example, a pair of pinch finger units 3
1 and 31, the driven external gear 4 and the driving gear 3 directly mesh with each other and are rotated in a predetermined direction.
However, it meshes with the drive gear 3 via the articulated drive gear 35 that is integrated with the driven external gear attached cylinder part 36.
The rotationally driven direction will be reversed. However, in the pinch finger unit 31 and the grip finger unit 30, the inclination directions of the worm teeth 6c and the teeth of the worm gear 12 are reversed, respectively, so that the rotation directions are aligned.

Next, the operation of this example device configured as described above will be explained. First, when grasping an object with this hand device, the motor of the manipulator arm (not shown) is driven to rotate the drive shaft 2, and the worm output shaft portions of the adjacent knobs and grip finger units 30, 31 are rotated. By rotating, the link mechanisms of each of these fingers are moved in the direction of arrow A from the open state position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 to the grip state position.

That is, a pair of pinch finger units 31, 31
In this case, an object to be grasped, such as a hammer handle, is pinched between the side parts 42b, 42b of the pair of claw parts 42a, 42a, and each pinch finger unit 3
When each of the side portions 42b, 42b of 1 and 31 is pressed against an object with a certain force, the torque resistance applied to the worm output shaft portion 33 that drives the pinch finger unit 31 exceeds a certain value,
The constant torque transmission mechanism section becomes idle and maintains the pinched position.

At the same time, in one grip finger unit 30a located at the upper part in FIG.
is connected to the drive gear 3 and driven to rotate,
By rotating the worm output shaft portion 33 via the constant torque transmission mechanism means, the gripping finger link mechanism is moved in the direction of arrow A so as to be bent so as to wrap around the handle of the hammer or the like.

When the finger link of this gripping finger link mechanism wraps around an object to be gripped, such as a hammer handle, and presses against this object with a certain force, the constant torque transmission mechanism section becomes idling. ,
Hold the grip position.

At the same time, in the other grip finger unit 30b located at the lower part in FIG. By rotating the worm output shaft portion 33 via the constant torque transmission mechanism means,
The gripping finger link mechanism is moved in the direction of arrow A so as to be bent so as to wrap around the handle of the hammer, etc.

When the finger link of this gripping finger link mechanism wraps around an object to be gripped, such as a hammer handle, and presses against this object with a certain force, the constant torque transmission mechanism section becomes idling. ,
Hold the grip position.

As described above, all the pinch finger units 31 and grip finger units 30 in this hand device are
When the finger link mechanism holds the object to be grasped and its operation stops and the constant torque transmission mechanism means is spinning idly, the motor is cut off and the driving force of the drive shaft 2 is cut off. Since the resistance between the worm gear 12 and the worm tooth 6c of the link in each finger unit is large, each grip and grasp finger link mechanism may open due to the weight of the object being grasped, causing the object to drop. There isn't. In this state, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the hand device of this example grips the handle of the hammer obliquely as shown.

Therefore, as illustrated in Fig. 6, by rotating the wrist joint of the arm to which the hand device is attached, it is possible to swing the section indicated by arrows B and C, and hit the head of a nail, etc., horizontally with a hammer. can. On the other hand, in a structure in which the handle of the hammer cannot be gripped diagonally with the hand device as shown in Fig. 7, but must be gripped vertically, the hammer can be swung within a range by rotating the wrist joint of the arm. However, it ends up in the diagonally upward section shown by arrows D and E, so you can't hit the nail head horizontally,
This makes it difficult to use tools properly, such as bending them. Therefore, by making it possible to grip the handle of the hammer diagonally as in this example, the hand device of this example can expand the range of applications in which the tool can be used and make effective use of it.

Next, when releasing the gripped object and returning to the open state shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the drive shaft 2 is rotated in the opposite direction, and the finger link mechanisms of the respective knobs and grip finger units 31 and 30 are moved.

At this time, even if the finger links are at different movement positions in the grasping direction, the finger link that returns to the open position sooner will hit a stopper (not shown) and be stopped, and its constant torque transmission mechanism means will cause the finger link to idle. Since the system waits until the last finger link returns to the open position, all the knobs and the finger link mechanisms of the grip finger units 31, 30 can be returned to the positions shown by solid lines in FIG. In this state, the drive shaft 2 is stopped and the operation is completed.

H. Effects of the invention As detailed above, according to the hand device such as a manipulator of the present invention, the hand device main body is composed of a plurality of finger units, and each finger unit is integrally mounted on the frame of each unit. The driven external gear and the articulated drive gear, which rotate in a constant manner, are connected to a worm output shaft inserted into the frame via a constant torque transmission mechanism means, and a pinch finger link mechanism is interlocked with the worm output shaft to generate a pinch finger. The unit of the unit is composed of one or more pairs of pinch finger units with a symmetrical structure, and the driven external gear or the driven external gear and the articulated drive gear that rotate integrally are applied to the pinch finger unit with a constant torque. At least one gripping finger unit connected to the worm output shaft via a transmission mechanism means and configured to drive the gripping finger link mechanism in conjunction with the worm output shaft, each of which is stacked on top of the other, The hand device is assembled by assembling the finger unit and each grip finger unit with their positions shifted in the direction in which the fingers protrude, and between the units as a whole, their articulated drive gears and driven external gears are meshed to transmit rotational force. Since it has an integral structure, the number of grip finger units or pinch finger units can be increased or decreased, the number of fingers of the hand device can be freely changed, and the function of the pinching or gripping operation of the hand device can be freely changed and set. This has the effect that the hand device can be used effectively. Furthermore, repair of damage to a part of each finger unit can be easily carried out by simply converting the corresponding finger unit. Further, since the pinch finger unit and the grip finger unit have many common parts, it is convenient to manufacture each finger, and the configuration of the entire hand device can be simplified.

Furthermore, since this hand device is equipped with at least a pair of pinch finger units and a grip finger unit that are stacked diagonally, it is possible to grip the handle of a hammer diagonally, making it easier to perform work operations using the arm device. be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic plan view thereof, Fig. 3 is a schematic front configuration diagram thereof, and Fig. 4 is a schematic plan view of a pair of pinch finger unit portions thereof. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing one of the grasping finger units, FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing an example of a state in which the handle of the hammer is gripped diagonally by the hand device, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional manipulator hand, and FIG. 9 is a front sectional view. 1...Hand device main body, 3...Drive gear, 4...
...Driven external gear, 6... Worm output shaft, 26...
Frame body, 30...grip finger unit, 31... pinch finger unit, 35... articulated drive gear.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] The driven external gear 4 and the articulated drive gear 35, which are pivotally mounted on the frame body 26 and rotate integrally, are shaft-inserted into the frame body 26 via a constant torque transmission mechanism means. The pinch finger unit 3 is connected to the worm output shaft 6, and the pinch finger link mechanism is linked to the worm output shaft 6.
1 unit, combining one or more pairs of the pinch finger units 31, 31 with a left-right symmetrical structure,
For the pinch finger unit 31, the driven external gear 4 or the driven external gear 4 and the articulated drive gear 35 that rotate integrally are connected to the worm output shaft 6 via the constant torque transmission mechanism means, At least one gripping finger unit 30 configured to drive the gripping finger link mechanism in conjunction with the worm output shaft 6 is connected to each of the gripping finger units 31 and each gripping finger unit stacked on top of each other. 3
0, the units are assembled with their positions shifted in the direction in which the fingers protrude, and the articulated drive gear 35 and the driven external gear 4 are meshed with each other so that rotational force can be transmitted between the entire unit, resulting in an integral structure. 1. A hand device such as a manipulator, characterized in that: