JPH06143163A - Micro-displacement mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform complicated movement by using a small part and the less number of parts by providing at least a plurality of displacement elements along the longitudinal direction of a flexible core. CONSTITUTION:First and third bimorph elements 3, 4, and 5 in the shape of a band plate are laminated to the first-third sides 2a-2c, crossing each other at an angle of 60 deg., of a core 2 formed of a flexible material, such as rubber, throughout the overall length in a longitudinal direction of the core 2. The first-third bimorph elements 3-5 are strained by a given amount in the directions of two surfaces according to an applied voltage. Thus, by applying a given voltage on the second bimorph element 4, a tip part is displaced in a direction shown by an arrow mark (a). Further, by applying a voltage on the first and second bimorph elements 3 and 4, it is displaced in a direction shown by an arrow mark (b).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a minute displacement mechanism using a displacement element such as a bimorph element, for example, a manipulator, a clamp device, and a micromachine (measurement mechanism).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A bimorph element (b
The imorph element) has been widely used in the field of precision mechanical engineering for a long time in the field of precision mechanical engineering, and two piezoelectric elements polarized in opposite directions are stuck together with a metal sandwiched between them. The element is used as a terminal by connecting an electrode attached to the outer surface of the piezoelectric element to the other terminal. The bimorph element has the property of bending in a predetermined direction when a voltage is applied to the terminal.

Mechanisms to which this bimorph element is applied include relays, fans, CCD swing image pickup mechanisms, and oars.
Although it has a to-focus mechanism, its application to actuators and manipulators is small at present.

Although the mechanism using the bimorph element can take a large amount of displacement as compared with the mechanism using the laminated displacement element, it is usually several hundred μm to several mm.
This is because it is not sufficient as a driving element for a computer and a manipulator.

[0005]

However, in the field of so-called micromachines, which have been actively researched in recent years, the parts themselves to be handled are small and lightweight, and
The characteristics of the bimorph element are well suited, such as the moving speed and the moving amount are not so large, and in the future, research on minute displacement mechanisms such as actuators and manipulators using bimorph elements will progress in this field. It seems to be.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a minute displacement mechanism to which a plate-shaped displacement element such as a bimorph element is applied.

[0007]

The first means of the present invention is to provide a flexible core member and at least three plate-like members provided on the core member along the longitudinal direction of the core member. And a displacement element.

The second means is a rod-shaped arm and this arm.
A plate-shaped part that is fixedly wound around the outer surface of the front end of the arm, opens outward in the radial direction of the arm by applying a voltage, and clamps the part externally inserted in the arm. And a displacement element of the above.

A third means is provided with a piezoelectric element at a midway portion in the longitudinal direction, and is provided with a shaft portion which is capable of expanding and contracting in the axial direction, and a part of which is secured to both axial ends of the shaft portion and wound. Then, when a voltage is applied, the shaft portion opens outward in the radial direction of the shaft portion.
And a second plate-shaped displacement element.

[0010]

According to the first means, the core member can be deformed in an arbitrary direction by operating a predetermined plate-shaped displacement element. According to the second configuration, the extrapolated component can be clamped by operating the plate-shaped displacement element.

According to the third structure, by actuating the first and second plate-shaped displacement elements and the piezoelectric element in a predetermined order, it is possible to perform a worm insect action and to travel in the pipe. .

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, first to third embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the manipulator 1 which is the minute displacement mechanism of the first embodiment is shown in FIGS.
Will be described with reference to.

Reference numeral 2 in FIG. 1 (a) indicates this manipulator 1.
It is the core material. The core material 2 has, for example, a width of about 1 to 2 mm,
It has a triangular prism shape with a length of about 5 to 10 mm, and is formed of flexible material such as rubber.

The first to the first of the core material 2 forming an angle of 60 ° with each other
Band-shaped first to third bimorph elements 3, 4, and 5 are attached to the third side surfaces 2a to 2c, respectively, over the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the core material. These first to third bimorph elements 3 to 5 are designed to be distorted by a predetermined amount in both surface directions according to the applied voltage.

Therefore, for example, by applying a predetermined voltage to the second bimorph element 4, the tip portion is displaced in the direction of arrow (a) as shown in FIG. 1 (b). Further, when a voltage is applied to the first and second bimorph elements 3 and 4, the bimorph elements are displaced in the direction indicated by the arrow (B).

Further, the manipulator 1 of the present invention uses, as one unit, the one composed of the core material 2 and the first to third bimorph elements 3 to 5. For example,
As a method of using the one-unit manipulator 1, FIG.
The following is possible.

That is, the core material 2 of this manipulator 1
The hand part 7 using the fourth bimorph element 6 at one end of the
To provide. Then, the other end of the core material 2 is fixed to the substrate 8, and the terminals 9 ... Extending from the first to fourth bimorph elements 3 to 6 are formed on the substrate 8. This board 8
Each of the terminals 9 ... Next, the operation of this mechanism will be described.

For example, when a voltage is applied to the second bimorph element 4 but no voltage is applied to the first and third bimorph elements 3 and 5, the tip portion is in the direction indicated by the arrow (a) in the figure. Is displaced to. At this time, if the fourth bimorph element 6 is operated and the component 10 is gripped, the component 10 can be carried.

Further, the first and second bimorph elements 3, 4
When a voltage is applied to the third bimorph element 5 and no voltage is applied to the third bimorph element 5, the element is displaced in the direction indicated by the arrow (b) in the figure. In this way, by controlling the first to third bimorph elements 3 to 5, movement with 7 degrees of freedom including expansion and contraction movement in the longitudinal direction becomes possible.

In addition, in this embodiment, the first of the core material 2 is
~ The first to third bimorph elements 3, 4, 5 are attached to the third side faces 2a to 2c, respectively, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, one side face is divided into two in the width direction. You may make it adhere | attach the two bimorph elements mentioned above.

That is, as indicated by reference numeral 1'in FIG. 3, a total of six first to sixth bimorph elements 12 to 2 are provided on each of the first to third side surfaces 2a to 2c of the core member 2. 17
It is also possible to provide.

As shown in FIG. 3, such a manipulator 1'is provided with a hand portion 7'consisting of a seventh bimorph element 18 at its tip, and the other end is fixed to a substrate 8. Then, the leads derived from the first to seventh bimorph elements 11 to 18 are provided on the substrate 8 and terminals 19 are provided at the ends of the leads.

According to such a mechanism, in addition to the same movement as the mechanism shown in FIG. 2, for example, the first, third, and fifth bimorph elements 12, 14, 16 are actuated so that arrows ( It is also possible to make a twisting motion as shown in (c), and it is possible to perform an operation of rotating the component 10 which cannot be performed by the mechanism shown in FIG.

Further, by changing the balance of the voltages applied to the first, third and fifth bimorph elements 12, 14, 16, it is possible to perform a motion such as bending and twisting. Therefore, according to such a manipulator 1 ', it is possible to perform a movement of 21 degrees of freedom including a stretching movement and a twisting movement in the longitudinal direction.

In this embodiment, a mechanism using only one unit of the above-mentioned manipulators 1 and 1'is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, but the manipulators 1 and 1 '(1 unit) are shown.
It is also possible to connect a plurality of units in the longitudinal direction to perform a more complicated motion. Also, a mechanism using the manipulator 1 as an indirect part can be constructed.

With such a structure, it is possible to perform a complicated motion with a small number of parts and a small number of parts, and since it is not necessary to use a sliding part such as a bearing in the bent portion, the size of the machine can be reduced. There is an effect that problems such as friction and molding of parts due to the aging are eliminated. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to obtain a minute displacement device adaptable to the field of micromachines.

In the first embodiment, the core material 2 has a triangular shape, but it may have a cylindrical shape. Alternatively, a bimorph element may be attached to each surface by using a core material having a polygonal cross section of a triangle or more.

Although rubber is used as the material of the core material 2, the material is not limited to this, and any other material may be used as long as it is a flexible material. Further, reinforcing fibers may be embedded in the core material so that the elastic modulus has anisotropy. By doing so, the elastic modulus in the direction in which the reinforcing fibers are provided is high and the elastic modulus in the other directions is low. Therefore, by utilizing the characteristics of this main body, the manipulator 1 as shown in FIG. Even if there is, it becomes possible to make a twisting motion.

In the first embodiment, the bimorph elements 3 to 5 are attached to the outer surface of the core material 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the bimorph elements 3 to 5 are used.
The core 5 may not be exposed on the surface of the core 2 and may be embedded in the core 2.

In the first embodiment, as an example,
2 and 3, the manipulators 1, 1 for conveying the component 10 are shown in FIG.
'Is mentioned, but the present invention is not limited thereto. As shown in FIG. 4, the optical fiber 15 may be inserted inside and the tip of the optical fiber 15 may be exposed at the tip surface of the manipulator 1. As a result, there is an effect that a mechanism capable of freely changing the visual field of the optical fiber 15 in a tube or a body cavity can be obtained.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The micro-displacement mechanism of the second embodiment is, for example, a clamp device that is attached to the tip of the manipulator 1 instead of the hand portion 7 of the above-mentioned embodiment and clamps a cylindrical micro-part.

As shown in FIG. 5, this clamping device 20
Has a bar-shaped arm 21. A base end portion (not shown) of the arm 21 is fixed to, for example, the tip end of the manipulator 1 instead of the hand portion 7. A bimorph element 22 is wound around the tip of the arm 21. As shown in FIG. 6 (a), the bimorph element 22 is fixed to the outer surface of the arm 21 only at the portion indicated by A. When a voltage is applied, both ends of the bimorph element 22 are displaced so as to be separated from the arm 21 and open, as shown in FIG. 6 (b).

Therefore, this clamp device 20 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, the bimorph element 22 is displaced by inserting the tip of the arm 21 into the cylindrical component 24 and then displacing the bimorph element 22, as shown in FIG. 6B. Both ends of can be used to clamp the part 24 from the inside.

According to the clamp device 20 as described above, the cylindrical part 24 can be held more easily than the ordinary clamp device, and the axis line of the cylindrical part 24 is the axis line of the arm 21. Since it will be parallel to
Positioning becomes easy. In addition, the bimorph element 2
Since the amount of displacement at both ends of 2 is relatively large, no severe accuracy is required in manufacturing. Further, even if the inner diameter of the clamped cylindrical component 24 is changed, it can be effectively clamped if both ends of the bimorph element 22 can contact.

In this embodiment, the bimorph element 2
The widthwise middle portion A of No. 2 is fixed to the arm 21, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in FIG. 7 (a)
As shown in FIG. 1, one end B of the bimorph element 22 'is fixed to the outer surface of the arm 21 to secure the bimorph element 22'.
May be wrapped around.

In this case, as shown in FIG.
The other end of the bimorph element 22 'is brought into contact with the inner surface of the component 24 so that the component 24 is clamped. Even with such a configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the second embodiment.

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The micro-displacement mechanism of the third embodiment has a structure such that two clamp devices having substantially the same structure as the clamp device of the second embodiment are provided at both ends in the axial direction (20a, 20a).
b), the first and second clamp devices 2 while alternately operating the first and second clamp devices 20a and 20b.
It is a micromachine 27 that can travel in the pipe 26 by expanding and contracting the distance between 0a and 20b.

That is, the micromachine 27 has a shaft portion 28. In the middle part in the length direction of the shaft portion 28,
A piezoelectric element 29 that expands and contracts in the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion 28 when a voltage is applied is provided. Therefore, the shaft portion 28 changes the distance between the both end portions 28a and 28b by applying a predetermined voltage to the piezoelectric element 29.

Further, both end portions 28a, 28 of the shaft portion 28 are
In b, as in the second embodiment, a part of the shaft portion 2
There are provided first and second bimorph elements 30 and 31 fixedly wound around the outer surface of 8. The first and second bimorph elements 30 and 31 and both end portions 28a and 28b of the shaft portion 28 constitute first and second clamp devices 20a and 20b capable of clamping the pipe 26 inserted. There is. Next, the traveling operation of the micromachine 27 will be described.

The micromachine 27 has, for example, an inner diameter of 5
It is inserted in a tube 26 of mm and runs in this tube 26.
First, the second clamp device 20b provided on the rear side in the traveling direction is operated to clamp the pipe 26. Then, the piezoelectric element 29 is extended and the first clamp device 20 a is advanced in the tube 26.

Next, the first clamp device 20a is operated to clamp the pipe 26, and then the second clamp mechanism 20b is released from the clamp, and the piezoelectric element 2 is released.
If 9 is reduced, the second clamp device 20b also advances in the pipe 26.

By repeating such an operation, the micromachine 27 can move in the tube 26 like a worm. Moreover, as an application of this micromachine, it is possible to convey an optical fiber in the tube 26.

According to such a structure, with a simple structure,
It is possible to obtain the micromachine 27 that can advance in the tube 26. In addition, the micromachine 27 includes the first,
Since the displacement amount of the second bimorph elements 30 and 31 is relatively large, the inner diameter of the pipe that can run is not strictly limited, and there is also an effect that the usable range is wide.

In the above embodiment, the bimorph element is used as the plate-shaped piezoelectric element, but the same effect can be obtained by using a monomorph element, a unimorph element or a multimorph element.

[0045]

The first structure of the present invention includes a flexible core member and at least three or more plate-like displacement elements provided on the core member along the longitudinal direction of the core member. It is equipped with.

According to the first configuration, since it is possible to perform a complicated motion with a small number of parts and a small number of parts, and it is not necessary to use a sliding part such as a bearing in the bent portion, the size of the machine can be reduced. There is an effect that problems such as friction and molding of parts due to the aging are eliminated. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to obtain a minute displacement device adaptable to the field of micromachines.

The second structure is a rod-shaped arm and this arm.
A plate-shaped part that is fixedly wound around the outer surface of the front end of the arm, opens outward in the radial direction of the arm by applying a voltage, and clamps the part externally inserted in the arm. And a displacement element of the above.

According to the second structure, there is an effect that the cylindrical minute parts can be easily clamped. Therefore, there is an effect that a minute displacement mechanism that can be effectively applied to the field of micromachines can be obtained.

In the third structure, a piezoelectric element is provided at a middle portion in the longitudinal direction, the shaft portion is provided so as to be capable of expanding and contracting in the axial direction, and a part of the shaft portion is fixed to both axial end portions and wound. Then, when a voltage is applied, the shaft portion opens outward in the radial direction of the shaft portion.
And a second plate-shaped displacement element.

According to the third structure, it is possible to obtain the minute displacement mechanism capable of traveling in the pipe with a simple structure. In addition, since the inner diameter of the pipe that can be traveled is not strictly limited as compared with other micro-displacement mechanisms for traveling in a pipe, there is an effect that the applicable range is wide.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing an operating state.

FIG. 2 is also a perspective view showing a first application example.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a second application example of the same.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6A is a vertical sectional view showing a state before the operation, and FIG. 6B is a vertical sectional view showing a state after the operation.

FIG. 7A is a vertical sectional view before the operation, showing another embodiment, and FIG. 7B is a vertical sectional view after the operation.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Manipulator (micro displacement mechanism), 2 ... Core material, 3 ...
1st bimorph element (plate-shaped displacement element), 4 ... 2nd bimorph element (plate-shaped displacement element), 5 ... 3rd bimorph element (plate-shaped displacement element), 20 ... Clamping device (micro displacement) Mechanism), 21 ... Arm, 22 ... Bimorph element (plate-shaped displacement element), 24 ... Component, 27 ... Micromachine (micro displacement mechanism), 28 ... Shaft section, 29 ... Piezoelectric element, 3
0 ... First bimorph element (plate-shaped displacement element), 31 ...
Second bimorph element (plate-shaped displacement element).

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical display location B25J 19/00 A 8611-3F H01L 41/09 (72) Inventor Hisaka Komatsu Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Shinisogo-cho 33 Incorporated company Toshiba Industrial Technology Research Institute

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A micro displacement comprising a flexible core member and at least three or more plate-shaped displacement elements provided on the core member along the longitudinal direction of the core member. mechanism. 2. A rod-shaped arm and a part of the arm are fixedly wound around the outer surface of the front end of the arm, and when a voltage is applied, the arm is opened radially outward of the arm, A micro-displacement device, comprising: a plate-shaped displacement element for clamping a component externally inserted in the arm. 3. A shaft part, which is provided with a piezoelectric element in the middle part in the longitudinal direction, is provided so as to be capable of expanding and contracting in the axial direction, and a part of the shaft part is fixedly wound around both end parts in the axial direction. A micro-displacement mechanism comprising: first and second plate-shaped displacement elements that open outward in the radial direction of the shaft portion when applied.