JPH05261687A - Gripping device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a gripping device which can grip a large-sized or different shaped article and secure a free degree in designing the device while evading the enlargement of the device and increase in the quantity of fluid by actuating the expansion force of an expansion body effectively. CONSTITUTION:A gripping equipment 2 comprising an expansion body 3, which is expandable when fluid is injected therein, and a mounting member 4, on which this expansion body 3 is mounted and which is provided with a passage for supplying and discharging fluid, is displaceably mounted on a fixing member 1 through a supporting mechanism 6 to displace the mounting member 4 by making the expanded face of the expansion body 3 abut on the fixing member 1 when the expansion body 3 is expanded and to grip an article by making the expanded face of the expanded body 3 abut on the article.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gripping device for softly gripping various articles without damaging them.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a grasping device for grasping an article or the like softly without damaging it, there is known a grasping device disclosed in JP-A-2-232190. In this gripping device, at least two tubular expanders having openings at both ends which can be expanded by injecting a fluid are attached in the axial direction of a hard base (mounting member), and both ends of each expander are hermetically sealed and attached to a hard base. A passage is formed in the base body to supply and discharge the fluid to and from the expander. Then, a fluid is injected between the hard base body and the inflatable body through the passage so that a plant or the like is caught between the two or more inflated inflatable bodies.

[0003]

According to the configuration of the conventional example described above, in order to hold a large article or an irregularly shaped article, the device must be upsized and a large amount of fluid must be injected. In addition, the degree of freedom in designing the device is also restricted.

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to grip a large object to be grasped or an irregularly shaped object to be grasped while avoiding an increase in the size of the apparatus and an increase in the amount of fluid by effectively applying the expansion force of the expander. An object of the present invention is to provide a gripping device that can secure the degree of freedom in designing the device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention comprises an expander which is expandable by injecting a fluid, and an attaching member to which the expander is attached and which has a passage for supplying and discharging fluid. The gripping device consisting of is displaceably attached to the fixing member through the support mechanism, and when the expansion body is inflated, the mounting member is displaced by abutting the expansion surface against the fixing member and the expansion surface of the expansion body is grasped. The object to be grasped is held by being brought into contact with the article.

[0006]

Since the outer peripheral surface of the inflatable body is brought into pressure contact with both the fixing member and the article to be grasped at the time of expansion, the size of the fluid is small and at least the grasping force on the article to be grasped is improved, and the apparatus is smaller than the conventional apparatus. ， The amount of fluid can be saved. Further, it is possible to grip a larger object to be grasped or an irregularly shaped object to be grasped while avoiding an increase in the size of the apparatus and an increase in the amount of fluid, and it is possible to secure a degree of freedom in designing the apparatus.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the gate-shaped fixing member 1 is composed of a base portion 1A and two arm portions 1B extending outward from both ends of the base portion 1A and extending slightly outward. The gripping device 2 is attached near both ends of the portion 1A. The gripping device 2 is composed of an inflatable body 3 which can be inflated by injecting a fluid, and an attachment member 4 to which the inflatable body 3 is attached and which has a passage 5 for supplying and discharging fluid. The attachment member 4 of the gripping device 2 is attached to a support mechanism 6 rotatably attached to the base portion 1A of the fixed member 1. The gripping device 2 attached to the support mechanism 6 is always pulled toward the arm portion 1B by a biasing member 7 such as a tension spring. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a tube 8 is attached to a mounting member 4 of the gripping device 2 so as to communicate with a passage 5 for fluid supply / drainage.
Connected to. Further, reference numeral 10 is an article to be grasped.
The gripped article 10 is, for example, a pulley having a V groove in the illustrated example, and the expander 3 is inserted into the V groove of the gripped article 10.
Inflate and make contact.

FIG. 2 is a simplified sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.
If the gripping device 2 is not displaceable via the support mechanism 6, it must be fixedly provided at the position 2'shown in FIG. 2, but in this case the V-groove must be moved unless the grasped article 10 is moved. Therefore, the gripping device 2'is not located at the predetermined position. As a result, preparatory work for grasping the grasped article 10 is required. On the other hand, since the gripping device 2 in the first embodiment is displaceable via the support mechanism 6, when the inflatable body 3 does not expand, the V of the grasped article 10 is increased.
For example, the whole gripping device may be moved downward from a position apart from the groove, for example, directly above the article 10 to be grasped, and the inflatable body 3 may be moved down to a position facing the V groove in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG.

As shown in the left side of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the gripping device 2 is pulled into contact with the arm portion 1B of the fixed member 1 by the urging member 7 and a fluid flows through the passage 5 into the inflatable body 3. By injecting, the holding member 2 on the right side of FIG. 1 and the mounting member 4 move away from the arm portion 1B against the urging force of the urging member 7 as shown in FIG. It enters the V groove of the article 10 and holds the article 10 to be grasped from both sides. Further, when the fluid is discharged from the inflatable body 2, the grip device 2 is pulled toward the arm portion 1B side by the pulling force of the biasing member 7.

FIG. 4 shows the fixing member 1 used in FIG. 1, in which a groove 1C is formed in the base portion 1A.
The tube 8 is stored in C, and the tube 8 is connected to the fluid supply / discharge device 9 through the hole 1D. Also, the mounting hole 1 is provided in the base portion 1A.
1, 12 are formed. The support mechanism 6 is rotatably attached to these attachment holes 11 and 12.

FIG. 5 shows the support mechanism 6, which has the mounting hole 1 described above.
Mounting bracket 6A for mounting to 1, 12 via screws, etc.
And a tubular portion 6B which is sandwiched between these attachment fittings 6A and which is integrated by a suitable means such as welding. The attachment member 4 of the gripping device 2 is inserted and attached to the tubular portion 6B. The tube 8 attached to the attachment member 4 is attached to the joint member 13,
With this joint member 13, the fluid from the fluid supply / drainage device 9 can be injected and discharged into the respective passages 5 of the two gripping devices 2.

The expansion member 3 is attached to the attachment member 4 by referring to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the expansion body 3 is formed from rubber or a rubber-like tube having openings at both ends, and the ends of the expansion body 3 on the upper and lower sides in the drawing are fixed to the mounting member 4 by the caulking ring 14, and then, The end portion side of the tubular expansion body 3 which is not fixed is folded back and fixed by the caulking ring 15 to the upper part of the mounting member 4 in the drawing. The expander 3 has a folded portion (see FIG. 6).
3A will be formed. A mounting port 16 for the tube 8 is formed at one end of the mounting member 4 so as to communicate with the passage 5. The tube 8 is attached to the mounting port 16. The upper expander 3 in FIG.
The other way around, that is, the folded portion 3A may be attached to the attaching member 4 so as to face upward.

In the first embodiment, since the arm portion 1B has a shape that is opened to the outside, the entire device can be inserted into the grasped article 10 from the vertical and lateral directions. When the expander 3 is expanded, the expander 3 is expanded.
One of the expansion surfaces is in contact with the arm portion 1B of the fixing member 1,
Since the other expansion surface contacts the gripped article 10, conversely, if the arm 1B and the gripped article 10 are in contact with the expandable body 3 at a predetermined pressure, it is necessary to inject more fluid. Without it, the grasped article 10 can be reliably grasped. That is, the amount of fluid can be saved. Further, in order to allow the arm portion 1B to be further expanded to the outside with respect to the base portion 1A, for example, the base portion 1A in the drawing
The arm portion 1B is formed integrally with the arm portion 1B.
By constructing the base 1A so that it can be attached to and detached from the base portion 1A at a desired opening angle, it becomes possible to grasp grasped articles 10 of various sizes.

FIG. 7 is a simplified diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention which is common to the first embodiment and the second embodiment to be described later.
An inflatable body 3 that can be inflated by injecting a fluid, and an attachment member 4 to which the inflatable body 3 is attached and which has a passage 5 for supplying and discharging fluid.
The gripping device 2 composed of and is shown to be displaceable within the range of the angle α with respect to the fulcrum x. When the fluid injected into the expansion body 3 is discharged, the biasing member 7 acts and the mounting member 4 returns to the position 4 '.

In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the fixing member 1 is provided at the center, and three gripping devices 2 are provided around the fixing member 1.
Are attached via a support mechanism 6. In this example,
A passage communicating with the passage 5 may be formed in a part of the support mechanism 6 and the fixing member 1, or a groove or a hole for passing the tube 8 may be formed. A biasing member 7 for pulling the mounting member 4 toward the fixing member 1 is provided between the fixing member 1 and the mounting member 4. The mounting member 4 of the gripping device 2 has a first
The expander 3 is attached as in the embodiment. The grasped article 10 to be grasped by the grasping device configured as described above has a hollow cylindrical shape, and when the inflatable body 3 is inflated by injecting a fluid, the attaching member 4 is covered by the inflatable body 3 as shown in FIG. The inflatable body 3 that has moved to the inner peripheral surface side of the gripped article 10 and expanded has one surface contacting the fixing member 1 and the other surface contacting the inner peripheral surface of the gripped article 10, and in this state, the gripped article 10 is securely held. Grab it.

The fixing member 1 in the second embodiment is shown in FIG.
Alternatively, the expander 17 may be attached as shown in FIG. With such a configuration, it is possible to adjust the displacement amount of the mounting member 4 of the grasping device 2 by adjusting the injection amount of the fluid into the inflatable body 17.

In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the fixing member 1
Are provided so as to face each other, and the distance between these fixing members 1 can be adjusted. The mounting member of the gripping device 2 is supported so as to be displaceable with respect to the fixed member 1 via a support mechanism 6. The support mechanism 6 has a long hole 6C, and the pin 1E provided on the fixing member 1 is inserted into the long hole 6C.
You can't get out of it. Therefore, the support mechanism 6
The plate plate for forming the can be slid by the length of the long hole 6C. The mounting member 4 is always pulled toward the fixed member 1 by the biasing member 7. A supporting member 18 having a bearing built in is attached to both ends of one of the fixing members 1,
An operation shaft 19 is rotatably attached to these support members 18, and a screw 20 is engraved at the tip of the operation shaft 19.
A nut member 21 having an internal thread portion formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof is screwed into the place where the screw 20 is engraved, and these nut members 21 are attached to both ends of the other fixing member 1.
Therefore, when the operation shaft 19 is rotated, the nut member 21 moves along the axial direction of the male screw portion 20.
That is, by rotating the operating shaft 19 in one direction, the right fixing member 1 shown in FIG. 11 approaches the left fixing member 1, and by rotating the operating shaft 19 in the other direction, the right fixing member 1 is moved to the left fixing member 1. Stay away from. Such a rotating operation of the operation shaft 19 is performed by a handle 22 provided for each.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 12 shows an example in which the gripping device 2 is attached to all sides, and the basic structure is the same as that shown in FIG. With such a configuration, it is possible to hold the gripped article 10 such as a polygon or a round article.

A fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 13 shows an example suitable for gripping a gripped article 10 having a ball-like shape, and the fixing member 1 is formed into a shape as shown in FIG.
The gripping device 2 is displaceably supported by the fixing member 1 via a support mechanism 6. In this embodiment, an inflatable body 23 is also provided above the fixing member 1 so that the grasped article 10 can be grasped by the side peripheral surface and the upper surface. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15, two or more inflatable bodies 3 of the grasping device 2 may be provided. When the ball-shaped grasped article 10 is grasped from above by such a grasping device, it is preferable that the inflatable body 3 is in contact with the grasped article 10 below the horizontal diameter line. .. The expandable body 3 is the gripped article 10
When grasping the object, the grasped article 10 is lifted upward, and the inflatable body 23 prevents this, and reliable grasping becomes possible. Although the expansion body 23 is used here, any material having a stopper function such as an elastic body may be used. It is preferable to provide three gripping devices 2 at positions that divide the circumference into three equal parts. As shown in FIG. 15, in the case where the horizontal line of the diameter is grasped by the inflatable body 3 above and below, the inflatable body 23 may not be provided in the upper portion.

A reinforcing member such as a cord may be embedded in the expandable body 3 used. By embedding such a reinforcing member,
Even if the grasped article 10 is heavy, it can be dealt with.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the position of the gripping device when the inflatable body is not expanded and the position of the gripping device when the inflatable body is expanded are varied, and the range of this displacement amount is changed. Various articles can be grasped therein, and in the state where the article is grasped, one surface of the inflated inflatable body abuts the fixing member and the other surface abuts the article, so that the article is reliably grasped. Further, since the grasped article can be reliably grasped in a state where one surface of the inflated inflatable body is in contact with the fixing member and the other surface is in contact with the grasped article, it is possible to reduce the amount of fluid injected into the inflatable body. Furthermore, even a large grasped article or an irregularly shaped grasped article can be grasped because the grasping device can be displaced, and the grasping device itself can be prevented from becoming large. further,
In the state where the inflatable body does not expand, the gap between the gripping devices is wide, so this device can be smoothly inserted into the gripped article from the top, bottom, left and right, and no special preparation for gripping is required, resulting in remarkable work efficiency. improves.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

3 is a simplified cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a fixing member used in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a support mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the grip device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partially sectional front view showing a second embodiment.

9 is a schematic plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG.

10 is a front view showing a modified example of the fixing member of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a third embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a simplified plan view showing a modified example of the third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a fixing member used in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a front partial view showing a modified example of the grasping device used in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fixing member 2 Grasping device 3 Expander 4 Mounting member 5 Passage 6 Support mechanism

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A gripping device, which comprises an inflatable body that can be inflated by injecting a fluid and an attaching member to which the inflatable body is attached and which has a passage for supplying and discharging a fluid, is displaced with respect to a fixing member via a support mechanism. When the expansion body is expanded, the mounting member is displaced by abutting the expansion surface against the fixing member, and the expansion surface of the expansion body is brought into contact with the grasped article to grasp the grasped article. A gripping device characterized by the above.