JPH05122960A - Shifter and ultrasonic motor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a shifter capable of shifting an object in optional direction by the driving force being converted from unidirectional oscillation, by equipping it with a driving force converter which converts the oscillation that it has received from the oscillation giving face into the driving force in a different direction. CONSTITUTION:In case of a linear shifter, the topside 1a of the base body 1 is an oscillation giving face, and a mover 2, which has a plurality of plates 3, 3,... as driving force converting means at the bottom, is placed on the topside 1a. Moreover, each plate 3 is fixed being inclined by an angle theta to the normal direction of the topside 1a. And, in case of shifting the mover 2, if one oscillates the topside 1a of the base body 1 with an oscillation mechanism, each plate 3 of the mover 2 which has received the oscillation converts the external force into the driving force F for shifting itself in horizontal direction, so the mover 2 is shifted in the direction of an arrow. What is more, the moving speed of the mover 2 is adjusted by varying the amplitude of the vertical oscillation of the topside 1a or varying the tilt angle theta of the plate 3 with the mover 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a moving device and an ultrasonic motor using its operating principle, and more particularly to moving or rotating a moving body and a rotor by using vibrations of a base body and a stator as driving sources. The present invention relates to a device and an ultrasonic motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in various industrial fields, various works are carried out by moving or transporting various objects in predetermined directions.

As a means for transferring such an object, an object is placed on an endless belt conveyor to be transferred, or an object is placed on a movable carriage that can move by itself and transferred. For example, when a factory automation system is used to produce a product using a machine tool, the material to be processed, the intermediate product, and the finished product are combined with a belt conveyor or a self-propelled transfer robot along a predetermined route. I was carrying it.

Further, conventionally, an ultrasonic motor has been used for rotationally driving a small object.

[0005]

Among the above-mentioned conventional transfer means, the transfer means such as a belt conveyor has a structure in which the transfer means itself moves an object by linearly moving, so that the transfer path is bent. Alternatively, in order to bend it, a plurality of belt conveyors are required, the configuration is very complicated, and it may be difficult to transfer an object between the belt conveyors. Therefore, for example, like a belt conveyor provided at a baggage receiving area of an airport, the belt portion is divided into a plurality of portions in the movement direction and the movement direction ends are slightly overlapped, so that the belt portion can be curvedly moved in a horizontal plane. Some of them are formed as described above, but the structure is extremely complicated and the cost is high.

A self-propelled transfer robot or the like can freely transfer an object in a desired direction, but its structure is extremely complicated and extremely expensive.

Further, both the belt conveyor and the transfer robot must be provided with a plurality of belt conveyors and transfer robots equipped with a drive source in order to transfer an object from one location to a plurality of locations, which complicates the construction. As a result, the entire system becomes expensive.

[0008] On the other hand, it has been desired that an ultrasonic motor having a simple structure and a rotor that is extremely small in size be introduced.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and a vibration in one direction is used as a sole drive source, and an object can be moved in any direction by a driving force converted from the vibration. It is an object of the present invention to provide a moving device that is simple and inexpensive, and an ultrasonic motor that can rotate and drive an extremely small rotor, has a simple configuration, and is inexpensive.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a moving device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a moving device, wherein a vibration-imparting surface is freely vibrated in a normal direction of the surface, and the vibration-imparting surface. It is characterized in that it is formed with a moving body provided with a driving force converting means for converting a further received vibration into a driving force directed in a direction different from the vibration direction.

An ultrasonic motor according to a second aspect of the present invention is a stator in which a vibration applying surface can freely vibrate in a direction normal to the surface.
A rotor that abuts against the vibration applying surface via a driving force converting means, wherein the driving force converting means converts a vibration received from the vibration applying surface into a driving force for rotating the rotor. It is characterized by being formed.

[0012]

According to the moving device of the first aspect, when the base body vibrates, the vibration received by the driving force converting means of the moving body from the vibration applying surface of the base body is different from the vibration direction, for example, the vibration direction. It is converted into a driving force directed in the tangential direction of the vibration applying surface, and the moving body moves in the driving force direction.

According to the ultrasonic motor of the second aspect,
When the stator vibrates, a conversion element serving as a driving force converting unit converts the vibration received from the vibration applying surface of the stator into a driving force for rotating the rotor, and the rotor rotates.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 and 2 show one embodiment of the moving device of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a linear type moving device that moves linearly is used.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a base body, an upper surface 1a of which is a vibration imparting surface, and the upper surface 1a is formed so as to vibrate vertically by a vibrating mechanism (not shown). The vibrating mechanism may be of any structure. When a large moving device is used, a vibrating body capable of high output is used. It is recommended to use a sound wave for vibration.

On the upper surface 1a of the base body 1, a moving body 2 is mounted with a plurality of blades 3, 3 ... As driving force converting means provided on the lower surface.

In this embodiment, the moving body 2 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape. Each blade 3 is fixed to the lower surface of the moving body 2 by an angle θ with respect to the vertical direction, that is, the normal direction of the upper surface 1a of the base body 1,
An external force received from the vertical vibration of the upper surface 1a is divided into components, and a component force component F directed in the tangential direction of the upper surface 1a is extracted,
The moving body 2 is converted into a driving force for moving in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When the moving body 2 is moved, the upper surface 1a of the base body 1 is vertically vibrated by the vibrating mechanism. Each blade 3 of the moving body 2 that has received the vertical vibration of the upper surface 1a converts the external force received from the vibration into a driving force F that moves the moving body 2 in the horizontal direction. Can be moved in the direction of the arrow.

The moving speed of the moving body 2 may be adjusted by changing the amplitude of vertical vibration of the upper surface 1a of the base body 1 or by changing the inclination angle θ of the blade 3 with the moving body 2. When stopping the moving body 2, the base body 1
It is preferable to stop the vibration of the upper surface 1a.

On the other hand, as in the other embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a vibration absorbing member 4 is provided on the lower surface of the moving body 2 so as to be able to project downward longer than the lower end of each blade 3, and the moving body 2 When stopping, the vibration absorbing member 4 may be made to protrude downward longer than the lower end of the blade 3 so that the vibration absorbing member 4 absorbs the vibration of the upper surface 1a and stops the moving body 2. The vibration absorbing member 4 may be an elastic member that absorbs vibration, or may be a leg protruding from the lower surface of the moving body 2 in the vertical direction that is not inclined at all with respect to the normal direction of the upper surface 1a.

Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 1 in which each blade 3 is fixed to the moving body 2, since the blade 3 moves along a straight line,
The moving direction of the moving body 2 may be selected by matching the direction of the driving force F obtained by the blade 3 with the traveling direction of the moving body 2 when the moving body 2 is placed on the upper surface 1a of the base body 1.

Further, as in a further embodiment shown in FIG. 4, each blade 3 is rotatably attached to the movable body 2 via the rotation support member 5, so that the movable body 2 is fixed. The direction of movement can be changed during movement. For example, when the rotation drive mechanism 6 is driven by remote control to rotate the rotation support member 5, the moving direction of each moving body 2 can be wirelessly controlled. In addition, the moving body 2 is formed into a size that a person can ride,
If the rotation support member 5 is formed so as to be rotated by a steering mechanism (not shown), an occupant can drive and operate the moving direction of the moving body 2.

As shown in each of the above embodiments, according to the present invention, the moving body 2 can be freely moved in any direction only by vibrating the base body 1, and as a moving device in various industrial fields. Can be used. For example, by providing the base body 1 along a transportation path (including a curved path) of an object (including a person) and placing the object on the moving body 2, the object can be freely transferred. it can.
In this case, when there is a curved path, the direction of each blade 3 of the moving body 2 can be changed. Further, if the base body 1 having a large and wide upper surface 1a is provided so that the plurality of moving bodies 2 can move freely on the upper surface 1a, the object can be simultaneously transported from one place to a plurality of places. be able to.

5 and 6 show the movable body 2 formed so as to rotate.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The moving body 2 is formed in a disk or column shape, and a plurality of blades 3, 3, ... Are provided on the lower surface of the moving body 2 from the center of the moving body 2 to the position of the concentric circle O, and the driving force is directed in the same tangential direction of the concentric circle O. It is fixed in this way.

According to this embodiment, the upper surface 1a of the base body 1 is
When the blade is vibrated in the vertical direction, a driving force directed in the same tangential direction of the concentric circle O is obtained by the blades 3 that have received the vibration, and the moving body 2 is rotated by these driving forces.

According to the present embodiment, the object placed on the moving body 2 can be moved along the circumference centered on the center of the moving body 2.

7 and 8 show an ultrasonic motor to which the principle of the rotary type moving body shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is applied.

The ultrasonic motor of this embodiment has a stator 11
Is formed into a cylindrical shape, and a piezoelectric element 12 that vibrates the stator 11 in the axial direction by ultrasonic waves is provided midway in the axial direction. Therefore, the upper surface 11a of the stator 11
Is the vibration applying surface. The rotor 13 mounted on the upper surface 11a of the stator 11 is formed in substantially the same manner as the moving body 2 shown in FIGS. That is, the rotor 13
The lower surface of the plurality of blades 1 serves as a conversion element of the driving force converting means for converting the vibration of the upper surface 11a into the driving force in the rotational direction.
Are arranged on a concentric circle centered on the center of the rotor 13. Further, in this embodiment, the rotor 1
A central shaft 15 is provided so as to project from the upper surface 11a at the center of the stator 11 so that the rotor 3 can rotate coaxially with the stator 11, and the rotor 13 is loosely fitted to the central shaft 15.

According to the ultrasonic motor of this embodiment, when the piezoelectric element 12 is excited to ultrasonically vibrate the upper surface 11a of the stator 11, each blade 1 fixed to the lower surface of the rotor 13
The ultrasonic vibration 4 is taken out as a driving force directed in the tangential direction of the upper surface 11a and in the same tangential direction of the concentric circle O1 of the rotor 13, and these driving forces cause the rotor 13 to rotate.
Rotates coaxially with the stator 11 about the central axis 15.

The ultrasonic motor of this embodiment has a stator 11
The rotor 13 can be rotated only by ultrasonically vibrating the piezoelectric element 12, and the configuration is simple and the overall configuration can be made small. Therefore, it can be used in various industrial fields in which the appearance of a small motor is desired. For example, it can be provided at the tip of a fiberscope, which is a type of medical equipment, and used as a drive source for various small medical scalpels such as a laser scalpel. Further, since the structure is simple, there are few failures, and the cost can be reduced.

In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, the base body 1 and the stator 11 which serve as the upward vibration imparting surface.
On the upper surfaces 1a and 11a of the moving body 2 and the rotor 13
Although they are placed under their own weight so that they are always in contact with each other, a constant contact force may be applied to the moving body 2 and the rotor 13 by using an appropriate spring or the like in addition to the own weight. .. Alternatively, the moving body 2 and the rotor 13 may be brought into contact with the base body 1 and the stator 11 by magnetic force. In this case, the vibration applying surface is not limited to the horizontal surface, and even if the surface is a vertical surface or a downward surface, the moving body 2 and the rotor 13 can be brought into contact with the vibration applying surface to be movable. In particular, this case is extremely suitable for driving the moving body 2 and the like in a weightless field such as outer space.

Although the blades 3 and 14 are used as the driving force converting means in each of the above-described embodiments, the blades are not limited to the blades, and may have any structure as long as they can convert vibration into driving force. It may be one.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be modified as necessary.

[0038]

As described above, since the moving device and the ultrasonic motor of the present invention are constructed and operate, the vibration in one direction is used as the sole driving source, and the driving force converted from the vibration causes one of them to move. The moving device can move an object in any direction, the structure is simple and the cost is low, and the ultrasonic motor, on the other hand, can rotate and drive a very small rotor, and the structure is simple. In addition, the cost is low, and the applications that can be used by both are extremely wide, and the industrial utility value is excellent.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a moving device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the moving body of the embodiment of FIG. 1 viewed from below.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing another embodiment of the moving device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing still another embodiment of the moving device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a rotary type embodiment of the moving device of the present invention.

6 is a perspective view of the moving body of the embodiment of FIG. 5 viewed from below.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing an embodiment of the ultrasonic motor of the present invention.

8 is a bottom view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base body 1a Upper surface 2 Moving body 3 Blade 4 Vibration absorption member 5 Rotation support member 6 Rotation drive mechanism 11 Stator 11a Upper surface 12 Piezoelectric element 13 Rotor 14 Blade 15 Central axis

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A base body having a vibration-imparting surface vibrated in a direction normal to the surface, and a driving force converting means for converting the vibration received from the vibration-imparting surface into a driving force directed in a direction different from the vibration direction. And a moving body having the moving body. 2. A vibration-imparting surface is provided with a stator that can vibrate in a direction normal to the surface, and a rotor that comes into contact with the vibration-imparting surface via a drive-force converting means. An ultrasonic motor comprising: a conversion element that converts the vibration received from the vibration applying surface into a driving force for rotating the rotor.