JPH05294296A - Actuator for space - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To drastically economize the consumption energy by installing the fifth shaft which has the fifth intermediate gear meshed with the third and fourth small diameter gears and is fixed integrally with a rotary arm. CONSTITUTION:The second shaft 10 which integrally has the second gear 8 meshed with the first gear 5 and is installed in parallel to the first shaft 7 and has the second clutch 9 on the same side to the first clutch 6 is installed. Further, the third shaft 12 which is arranged on the extension of the second shaft 10 and whose one edge is connected with the second clutch 9 and has the third small-diameter gear 11 is installed, and the fourth shaft 14 which is arranged on the extension of the first shaft 7 and whose one edge is connected with the first clutch 16 and has the fourth small-diameter gear 13 is installed. Further, the fifth shaft 16 having the fifth inter-mediate gear 15 meshed with the third and fourth small diameter gears 11 and 13 is installed, and the fifth shaft 16 is fixed integrally with a rotary arm 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a space actuator for driving a manipulator or the like used as a space robot or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to carry out operations such as assembling a large structure in a weightless space, it is necessary to handle materials, and this is done by a manipulator. When driving a manipulator or the like, it is necessary to work with as little energy as possible, especially in outer space, but conventionally, the manipulator is generally driven by an electric motor.

[0003]

However, in the conventional method of driving the manipulator by the electric motor as described above, a large amount of energy is inevitably consumed for driving the movement.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when an electric motor a is used to rotate the arm b so as to move the tip of the arm from a position A to a position B, the arm b rotating shaft c is rotated. Assuming that the friction is sufficiently small, the arm is first accelerated for a certain period of time as shown in FIG. 4, then the motion is maintained, and finally the arm is decelerated. As long as a normal electric motor is used, energy is required for both the acceleration and deceleration operations, and there is a problem that energy consumption is large.
Especially in outer space, there is a high demand for minimizing energy consumption.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an actuator for outer space in which an actuator having an energy regeneration function can significantly reduce energy consumption.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a casing, an energy storage spring connected to a drive shaft of a drive motor fixed to the casing, and a first gear are integrally formed, and one end of the energy storage is provided. Connected to the spring for the first one on the other end
A first shaft having a clutch and a second gear that meshes with the first gear are integrally provided, are provided in parallel with the first shaft, and are provided on the same side as the first clutch. A second shaft having two clutches, a third shaft provided on an extension of the second shaft and having one end connected to the second clutch and having a third small diameter gear, A fourth shaft provided on an extension of the first shaft and having one end connected to the first clutch and having a fourth small diameter gear; and a fifth shaft meshing with both the third and fourth small diameter gears. And a fifth shaft integrally fixed to the rotary arm, and an emitter casing integrally having a cylinder, and an outer end of the cylinder. Side of the piston and the inner end of the cylinder are screwed together through a threaded portion Rotation of the adjusting screw having an adjusting screw integrally having a gear on the side, an expansion spring arranged between the piston and the adjusting screw, and a pinion provided in the emitter casing and meshing with the gear. A drive motor for carrying out the above, a cable whose one end is fixed to the spacecraft and the other end is introduced into the emitter casing through the piston, the expansion spring, and the adjusting screw, and the cable which is provided in the emitter casing is always A winding reel for applying a force in a winding direction to perform winding, a cable stopper capable of restraining the cable in the piston, and a piston stopper capable of restraining the piston in the emitter. The present invention relates to an actuator for space, characterized in that

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the invention, first, the first clutch is left connected and the second clutch is disengaged, and the drive motor is driven to rotate the first gear in the one direction A via the energy storage spring. And the fourth clutch via the first clutch
The small-diameter gear rotates in one direction A, and the rotary arm rotates in the other direction B via the fifth intermediate gear. At this time, the one direction A is the winding direction of the energy storage spring. When the rotation of the rotary arm reaches the required speed, the first and second clutches are disengaged to stop the driving of the drive motor.
Then, the rotating arm continues to rotate in the other direction B due to inertia.

Next, when stopping the rotating arm rotating in the other direction B, only the first clutch is engaged. Then, the first gear is rotated in the direction A, and the energy storage spring is twisted in one direction A, which is the winding direction, the rotating arm is braked by twisting the energy storage spring, and finally the rotation is stopped. Stop.

When the rotation of the rotary arm is stopped, the rotation of the rotary arm is locked by connecting both the first and second clutches.

Next, when one of the first and second clutches is disengaged, the energy storage spring is twisted in one direction A to store energy, so that the first gear is rotationally driven in the other direction B. When only the first clutch is connected, the rotary arm is rotationally driven in one direction A, and when only the second clutch is connected, the rotary arm is rotationally driven in the other direction B. Will be done.

When the rotating arm is rotating in the one direction A when the brake is applied, only the second clutch is connected to support the twist in the one direction A which is the winding direction of the energy storage spring. Energy is stored in the energy storage spring.

Therefore, by repeating the above operation, the rotary arm can be rotated by the energy stored in the energy storage spring without applying a driving force.

When the above operation is repeated, the energy storage amount is gradually reduced by the amount of energy loss due to the friction contact resistance valve,
This reduces the rotation speed of the rotating arm, so
When the speed of the rotary arm decreases to a certain extent, the drive motor is driven to supplement the energy loss.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the emitter casing is separated from the spacecraft, the piston is brought into contact with the spacecraft, the piston is restrained by the piston stopper, and the cable stopper keeps the cable open. By driving the drive motor, the adjusting screw is screwed into the inside of the cylinder through the pinion and the gear, and thereby the expansion spring is compressed and the compression energy is stored in the expansion spring.

When the restraint of the piston stopper is released from this state, the emitter casing is pushed by the repulsive force of the expansion spring and discharged in the direction away from the spacecraft. The emitter casing continues to move due to inertia while unwinding the cable from the take-up reel that is given a force in the take-up direction.

When stopping the movement of the emitter casing,
First, the cable stopper is activated to restrain the cable.
The piston is then fixed to the cable, but the emitter casing still tries to keep moving, so that the expansion spring is stretched, which brakes the movement of the emitter casing. The expansion spring extends, the emitter casing is decelerated, the emitter casing stops, and when the spring reaches the maximum extension state, the piston stopper is operated to restrain the piston. As a result, energy is recovered with the expansion spring extended.

When returning the emitter casing to the spacecraft, if the restraint of the piston stopper is released in a state where the expansion spring is extended, the extension casing moves toward the spacecraft due to the force of the expansion spring returning to the contracted state. Starts moving. That is, since the cable stopper restrains the cable, the radiator casing moves by pulling the cable by the expansion spring. If the restraint of the cable by the cable stopper is released before the tensile force of the expansion spring disappears due to the movement of the radiator casing and the compression shifts, the radiator casing moves toward the spacecraft by inertia and returns. You can

Therefore, at the time of start-up, the expansion motor is only compressed by the drive motor to store energy, and after the emitter casing is separated from the spacecraft, the emitter casing is removed from the spacecraft without requiring any driving force. Can be returned to the aircraft.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention of claim 1, in which a drive motor 2 is fixed to a casing 1 and a drive shaft 3 of the drive motor 2 has a required elastic force to be twisted and deformed. A possible energy storage spring 4 is connected.

Further, there is provided a first shaft 7 integrally having a first gear 5 and having one end connected to the energy storing spring 4 and the other end having a first clutch 6, and the first shaft 7 is provided.
Second gear 8 which is integrally provided with the second gear 8 meshing with the gear 5 and is provided in parallel with the first shaft 7 and has the second clutch 9 on the same side as the first clutch 6. A shaft 10 is provided. Further, it is arranged on the extension of the second shaft 10 and has one end connected to the second clutch 9 and the third small diameter gear 1
A third shaft 12 having a first shaft 7 is provided and is arranged on an extension of the first shaft 7, one end of which is connected to the first clutch 6 and a fourth small gear 13 is provided. Axis 14
To provide. A fifth shaft 1 having a fifth intermediate gear 15 that meshes with both the third and fourth small diameter gears 11 and 13
6 is provided and the fifth shaft 16 is integrally fixed to the rotating arm 17.

Although not shown in detail, the first and second clutches can be freely connected / disconnected according to an electric command.

When the apparatus of FIG. 1 is operated, first, with the first clutch 6 engaged, the second clutch 9 is disengaged and the drive motor 2 is driven to drive the first clutch 6 via the energy storage spring 4. When the gear 5 is rotated in one direction A, the first
The fourth small-diameter gear 13 rotates in one direction A via the clutch 6 and the rotary arm 1 via the fifth intermediate gear 15.
7 rotates in the other direction B. At this time, the one direction A is the winding direction of the energy storage spring 4. When the rotation of the rotary arm 17 reaches the required speed, the first and second clutches 6 and 9 are disengaged to stop the driving of the drive motor 2.
Then, the rotating arm 17 continues to rotate in the other direction B due to inertia.

Next, the rotating arm 1 rotating in the other direction B
When 7 is stopped, only the first clutch 6 is engaged.
Then, the first gear 5 is rotated in the A direction and the energy storage spring 4 is twisted in one direction A which is the winding direction, and the rotating arm 17 is braked by twisting the energy storage spring 4 and finally. Rotation stops.

When the rotation of the rotating arm 17 is stopped, the first
By connecting both and the second clutches 6 and 9, the rotation of the rotating arm 17 is locked.

Next, when one of the first and second clutches 6 and 9 is disengaged, the energy storage spring 4 is twisted in one direction A to store energy, so that the first gear 5 is switched to another. It is driven to rotate in the direction B, and the first clutch 6
When only the second clutch 9 is connected, the rotary arm 17 is rotationally driven in the one direction A, and when only the second clutch 9 is connected, the rotary arm 17 is rotationally driven in the other direction B.

Further, when the brake is applied, the rotary arm 1
When 7 is rotating in the one direction A, only the second clutch 9 is connected to support the twist in the one direction A, which is the winding direction of the energy storage spring 4, and the energy is stored in the energy storage spring 4. Store.

Therefore, by repeating the above operation, the rotary arm 17 can be rotated in the A and B free directions by the energy stored in the energy storage spring 4 without applying a driving force.

When the above operation is repeated, the energy storage amount is gradually reduced by the amount of energy loss due to the friction contact resistance valve.
This causes the rotation speed of the rotating arm 17 to decrease, so if the speed of the rotating arm 17 decreases to a certain degree,
The drive motor 2 is driven to supplement the energy loss.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the invention of claim 2 and is an emitter casing 1 having a cylinder 18 integrally.
9 is provided, and the piston 20 is provided on the outer end side of the cylinder 18.
And the screw part 2 on the inner end side of the cylinder 18.
The adjusting screw 22 is screwed through the connector 1 and the expansion spring 23 is arranged between the piston 20 and the adjusting screw 22.

A gear 24 is formed at the inner end of the adjusting screw 22, and a drive motor 26 having a pinion 25 meshing with the gear 24 is provided in the emitter casing 19.

Further, one end is fixed to the spacecraft 27 and the other end is the piston 20, the expansion spring 23, and the adjusting screw 2.
A cable 28 which is guided into the emitter casing 19 through 2 is provided, and a take-up reel 29 is provided in the emitter casing 19 that winds the cable 28 by applying a force in a winding direction.

Further, a cable stopper 30 capable of restraining the cable 28 is provided inside the piston 20, and a piston stopper 31 capable of restraining the movement of the piston 20 is provided at the emitter casing 19. The cable stopper 30 and the piston stopper 31 restrain the cable 28 and the piston 20 by the electromagnetic piston 32 via the clamp claw 33.

In operating the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, when the emitter casing 19 is separated from the spacecraft 27, the piston 20 is brought into contact with the spacecraft 27, and the piston 20 is restrained by the piston stopper 31 so that the cable stopper is provided. Three
0 is the state that the cable 28 is opened, and the drive motor 2
Driving 6 drives the adjusting screw 22 into the inside of the cylinder 18 via the pinion 25 and the gear 24, thereby compressing the expansion spring 23 and storing compression energy in the expansion spring 23.

When the restraint of the piston stopper 31 is released from this state, the emitter casing 19 is pushed by the repulsive force of the expansion spring 23 and is ejected in the direction away from the spacecraft 27. The emitter casing 19 continues to move by inertia while unwinding the cable 28 from the take-up reel 29 to which a force is applied in the take-up direction.

When stopping the movement of the emitter casing 19, first the cable stopper 30 is operated to activate the cable 28.
Restrain. Then, the piston 20 is fixed to the cable 28, but the emitter casing 19 still tries to keep moving, so that the expansion spring 23 is stretched, whereby the movement of the emitter casing 19 is braked. When the expansion spring 23 extends and the emitter casing 19 is decelerated, the piston stopper 31 is operated to restrain the piston 20. As a result, energy is recovered while the expansion spring 23 is expanded.

When the emitter casing 19 is returned to the spacecraft 27, if the restraint of the piston stopper 31 is released in a state where the expansion spring 23 is expanded, the expansion spring 23 is returned to the contracted state. The emitter casing 19 starts to move toward. That is, since the cable stopper 30 restrains the cable 28, the radiator casing 19 moves by pulling the cable 28 by the expansion spring 23. Before the tensile force of the expansion spring 23 disappears due to the movement of the radiator casing 19 and the compression 2 is started, the cable 2 by the cable stopper 30 is moved.
When the restraint of No. 8 is released, the emitter casing 19 can move toward the spacecraft 27 by inertia and return.

Therefore, at the time of starting, the expansion motor 23 is compressed by the drive motor 26 to store energy.
After separating the emitter casing 19 from the spacecraft 27,
The emitter casing 19 does not require any driving force.
Can be returned to the spacecraft 27.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0040]

According to the invention of claim 1, the rotating arm is rotated by the restoring force of the twisted energy storage spring,
After that, by twisting the energy storage spring, a brake is applied to the rotation of the rotary arm, and the energy due to this twist is collected and held as a driving force for rotating the rotary arm next time. The energy consumed by the drive motor can be remarkably reduced only by supplementing the energy loss.

According to the invention of claim 2, the emitter casing is separated from the spacecraft by the restoring force of the compressed extension spring, and then the extension casing is expanded by the action of the cable stopper and the piston stopper. In addition to applying a brake to the movement of the expansion spring, the energy generated by the expansion of the expansion spring is recovered and used as the driving force for the next return of the emitter casing. It is possible to discharge and return the emitter casing without requiring a particular driving force after that.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the invention of claim 1.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the invention of claim 2;

FIG. 3 is a principle diagram showing an example of a conventional device.

4 is a diagram showing the change in energy for driving the device of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Casing 2 Drive Motor 3 Drive Shaft 4 Energy Storage Spring 5 First Gear 6 First Clutch 7 First Shaft 8 Second Gear 9 Second Clutch 10 Second Shaft 11 Third Small Diameter Gear 12 Third shaft 13 Fourth small diameter gear 14 Fourth shaft 15 Fifth intermediate gear 16 Fifth shaft 17 Rotating arm 18 Cylinder 19 Emitter casing 20 Piston 21 Screw part 22 Adjustment screw 23 Expansion spring 24 Gear 25 Pinion 26 Drive Motor 27 Spacecraft 28 Cable 29 Take-up Reel 30 Cable Stopper 31 Piston Stopper

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Kengo Kobayashi Kengo Kobayashi 3-15-15 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Toji Technical Center (72) Inventor Fumikazu Iwamoto Sanyo Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo No. 1-15 Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Toji Technical Center

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A casing, and an energy storage spring connected to a drive shaft of a drive motor fixed to the casing,
A first shaft integrally having a first gear and having one end connected to the energy storage spring and a first clutch at the other end, and a second gear that meshes with the first gear are integrated. A second shaft provided in parallel with the first shaft and having a second clutch on the same side as the first clutch;
A third shaft having one end connected to the second clutch and having a third small diameter gear, and one end provided on the extension of the first shaft. A fourth shaft connected to the clutch and having a fourth small diameter gear, a fifth intermediate gear meshing with both the third and fourth small diameter gears, and integrally fixed to the rotary arm. An actuator for space, comprising a fifth axis. 2. An emitter casing having a cylinder integrally, and a piston fitted to the outer end side of the cylinder,
An adjusting screw screwed on the inner end side of the cylinder via a threaded portion and integrally having a gear on the inner end side, and an expansion spring arranged between the piston and the adjusting screw,
A drive motor for rotating the adjusting screw having a pinion provided in the emitter casing and meshing with the gear, one end fixed to the spacecraft and the other end passing through the piston, the expansion spring, and the adjusting screw. A cable guided into the emitter casing, a take-up reel that is provided in the emitter casing and applies a force in a direction to always wind the cable to wind the cable, and restrains the cable in preparation for the piston. An actuator for space, comprising a possible cable stopper and a piston stopper capable of restraining the piston in the emitter casing.