JPH07104879A - Operating lever device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability by inclining a rod for connecting an operation part in any arbitrary direction. CONSTITUTION:A grip 14 of an operation part 12 can be moved in the axial direction of a guide handle 16. A rotary stand is fitted to both the edges of the guide handle 16 so as to be rotatable axially to rod parts 78 and 80 of joy sticks 70 and 72 which are connected through relay members 94 and 96 so as to be benable. On the other hand, the rod parts 78 and 80 are composed of oscillation rods 82 and 84 and stretch detectors 86 and 88, and slide rods 90 and 92 of the stretch detectors 86 and 88 can be stretched.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation lever device suitable for an input operation and a remote control operation of a computer aided design device (CAD) or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a playback robot such as an industrial robot, a teaching box is used to store a predetermined motion, and by reproducing the motion, a desired motion is performed. That is, in the robot, the coordinates of the point where the moving object such as the arm should pass from the initial position to the target position are stored in the teaching box, and the controller continuously positions so as to pass the stored coordinate point. By doing so, the operation stored in the teaching box is reproduced. The operation of the teaching box is memorized because the operator operates the buttons for each degree of freedom at the point where the operator should pass, and the teaching operation is not efficient, and the operation feeling that the operator imagines. In contrast, the intuition is very poor. For this reason, a joystick is adopted as part of the teaching box to improve the efficiency of teaching work.

A teaching box using this joystick is provided with a plurality of joysticks having two to three degrees of freedom, and the joystick is switched by a switch or the like according to each of the degrees of freedom so that six degrees of freedom can be input. Therefore, it is called a multi-axis control control device.

[0004]

However, since the conventional multi-axis control operation device is a combination of a plurality of joysticks having two to three degrees of freedom, not only the structure becomes complicated but also the displacement and the angle are increased. The detection accuracy is low, the operator cannot obtain a sufficient operation feeling corresponding to the actual movement of the controlled object, and the operation is difficult. Further, in recent years, an operation lever that allows operation with 6 degrees of freedom has been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-278614).
It is conceivable to use the 6-DOF operation lever to simplify the structure of the teaching box.

However, the six-degree-of-freedom operation lever disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-278614 has a plurality of expansion / contraction displacement detectors between the operation platform to which the lever is attached and the floor below the operation platform. With the structure in which the lever is arranged, the range in which the lever can be moved (operation range) is narrow, and it is difficult to accurately grasp the actual operation amount (swing position) of the lever in the three-dimensional space. Further, there is a drawback that the internal structure of the converter for obtaining the output signal for each of the six degrees of freedom is complicated. Further, the separation of signals corresponding to each degree of freedom is not sufficient, and it is difficult to improve control accuracy.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide an operating lever device having excellent operability. The present invention also provides 6
The purpose is to make it possible to easily obtain a component corresponding to one degree of freedom.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the operating lever device according to the present invention is connected to each of the fixed parts so as to be tiltable in any direction, and the tip parts are opposed to each other. A pair of arranged rods, an operating portion that has a grip that is movable in the axial direction, is connected to the distal end portion of each rod in a bendable manner, and an expandable portion provided on each rod. I am trying. The operating portion may have a structure rotatable with respect to each rod.

[0008]

In the operation lever device of the present invention constructed as described above, when the position of the grip of the operation portion flexibly connected between the pair of rods is the origin, the grip is movable in the axial direction, and the operation portion is also movable. Since the rod connected to can be tilted in any direction, it is possible to perform operations as the operator imagines, such as so-called positive side operation and negative side operation, improving operability. .
Also, by connecting the operating part to a pair of rods, the range of movement of the grip and operating part can be made larger than that of conventional joysticks, making it possible to perform delicate operations easily, and to operate the teaching box input device or remote When used in a control device or the like, it is possible to improve operability and control accuracy.

Further, if the operating portion is configured to be rotatable with respect to the rod, the operating portion is tilted in an arbitrary direction to rotate the operating portion, and this rotation is detected to rotate about three orthogonal axes. By decomposing into, it is possible to easily obtain the components corresponding to the six degrees of freedom.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of an operating lever device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of an operating lever device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded view thereof.

In these figures, the operating lever device 10 is shown.
Is a grip 14 having a cylindrical operation portion 12 and a grip 14
And a guide rod 16 penetrating therethrough. The guide rod 16 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and two guide grooves 18, 18 along the axis are provided in parallel. The grip 14 has screw holes 20 and 20 formed at positions corresponding to the guide grooves 18 and 18 of the guide rod, and the screw 22 serving as a guide pin can be inserted into these screw holes 20. I can do it. Therefore, the screw 14 is guided in the guide groove 18 of the guide rod 16 so that the grip 14 can move in the axial direction along the guide rod 16 as indicated by an arrow 24 in FIG. The movement amount of the grip 14 is detected by the displacement detector 26 arranged inside the guide rod 16.

The displacement detector 26 is composed of a detecting section 30 having a resistance element 28 and an output section 34 having a terminal section 32 that slides on the resistance element 28. Fixed to the grip 14 via the grip 14
Along with this, the inside of the guide rod 16 is moved in the axial direction. On the other hand, the output section 34 is fixed to the guide rod 16 by screws 36. The lead wire 3 for the output signal of the displacement detector 26
3 is drawn out from the lead hole formed in the guide rod 16. At both ends of the guide rod 16, the turntable 3
8, 40 are attached.

The turntables 38, 40 include stoppers 42, 44,
The disk portion 4 that rotates relative to the stoppers 42 and 44.
It is composed of 6, 48. The small diameter portions of the plugs 42 and 44 are inserted into the guide rod 16 and are fixed to the guide rod 16 by a plurality of screws 46. That is, the screw 46 is inserted into the screw holes provided in the rings 49 and 50 fitted to both ends of the guide rod 16, penetrates the guide rod 16 and presses the plug bodies 42 and 44, and It is fixed to the guide rod 16. The coil springs 52 and 54 are arranged between the detection unit 30 of the displacement detector 26 and the one plug body 42, and between the detection unit 30 and the output unit 34, and move together with the grip 14. The detector 30 can be returned to a predetermined position. Further, a potentiometer 56, which is a rotation angle detector, is provided on the other turntable 40 so that the rotation amount of the operation unit 12 about the axis can be detected.
Further, cylindrical bodies 58 and 60 are fixed to the respective disk portions 46 and 48, and connection pins 62 and 64 are attached to these cylindrical bodies 58 and 60.
The lids 66 and 68 provided with are fixed. The connection pins 62 and 64 are connected to the two-dimensional joysticks 70 and 72 arranged facing each other.

Each joystick 70, 72 has a mounting base 74, 76, and the mounting base 74, 76 is provided with rod portions 78, 80 which can be tilted in any direction. These rod parts 78 and 80 are attached to the mount 7.
It is composed of rocking rods 82, 84 attached to Nos. 4, 76 and expansion / contraction detectors 86, 88 serving as expansion / contraction parts, and slide rods 90, 92 of the expansion / contraction detectors 86, 88 have joint members 94, 96 interposed therebetween. Are connected to the connection pins 62 and 64. The joint members 94 and 96 can be bent in arbitrary directions between the rod portions 78 and 80 and the operating portion 12.

In the operation lever device 10 according to the embodiment configured as described above, the operation portion 12 is generally set upright,
The mounts 74 and 76 of the joysticks 70 and 72 are fixed to the fixing portion at a predetermined interval. At this time, grip 1
4, that is, the position of the detection unit 30 of the displacement detector 26 is the origin O, and the X axis is set in the horizontal direction in FIG. 1, the Y axis is set in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface, and the Z axis is set in the vertical direction (see FIG. 3). .

When the operator grips the grip 14 of the operating portion 12 and translates the operating portion 12 in an arbitrary direction orthogonal to the axis as indicated by arrows 100 and 102 in FIG. 3, the swing rods 82 and 84 are inclined. With the expansion / contraction detector 86,
88 slide rods 90, 92 extend. And
The joysticks 70 and 72 output signals corresponding to the inclination directions and inclination angles of the swing rods 82 and 84, and the expansion / contraction detectors 86 and 88 output signals corresponding to the extension amounts of the slide rods 90 and 92. Therefore, the position (X coordinate, Y coordinate) of the operation unit 12 in the XY plane can be obtained from these signals. Further, the grip 14 is attached to the arrow 104 of FIG.
When it is rotated around the axis like the above, the guide rod 16 rotates integrally with the grip 14, and the rotation amount is detected by the potentiometer 56 provided on the rotating table 40, and is output as the rotation amount around the Z axis of the operation unit 12. To be done.

Further, as shown by an arrow 106 in FIG. 4A, when the grip 14 is moved along the guide rod 16 and the operation portion 12 is tilted, the joysticks 70, 72 and the expansion / contraction detector 86, 88 and the displacement detector 26 output signals, and these output signals
The three-dimensional position of the detection unit 30 can be obtained as follows.

The state of FIG. 4A is schematically shown in a diagram, as shown in FIG. 4B. Here, the rod part 8
The swing fulcrum of 0 is O, the tip of the slide rod 92 is A,
The swing fulcrum of the rod portion 78 is C, the tip of the slide rod 90 is B, and the position of the detection portion 30 is P. Further, the inclination angle of the line segment OA is α, and the inclination angle of the line segment BC is β. In this case, the joysticks 70 and 72 can obtain the inclination angles α and β of the line segment OA and the line segment BC and the inclination directions thereof, as described above. Further, the lengths of the line segment OA and the line segment BC are obtained from the output signals of the expansion / contraction detectors 86 and 88. Therefore, the three-dimensional positions of A and B can be obtained from these, and the angle γ formed by the line segment OA and the line segment AB can be calculated. Further, the length between the APs is obtained by the output signal of the displacement detector 26. Therefore, the method of obtaining the coordinates of the point P will be described below with reference to FIG. 5 generally shown.

From the above, the length a of OA and the length b of AP in FIG. 5A, the angle θ 1 formed by the line segment OA and the Z axis, and the angle formed by the line segment OA and the line segment AP. .theta.2, and the angle .theta.4 formed by the line segment OP 'projected on the XY plane of the line segment OP in FIG. First, when the length r of the line segment OP is calculated,

[Equation 1] r2 = a2 + b2 -2abcos θ2

## EQU2 ## r = (a2 + b2 -2abcos .theta.2) 1/2.

On the other hand, the angle θ3 formed by the line segment OP and the line segment OA
Is

[Formula 3] (r / sin θ2) = (b / sin θ3)

## EQU00004 ## sin.theta.3 = (bsin.theta.2) / r

## EQU00005 ## .theta.3 = sin-1 {(bsin .theta.2) / r}.

Therefore, the coordinates (xP, yP, zP) of the point P are

[Equation 6] xP = OP'sin θ4 = rsin (θ1 + θ3) · sin θ4

[Equation 7] yP = rsin (θ1 + θ3) ・ cos θ4

## EQU8 ## It can be obtained as zP = rcos (.theta.1 + .theta.3). If the grip 14 is rotated around the axis in the state shown in FIG. 4 (A), the guide rod 1
6 rotates with the grip 14, and the potentiometer 5
From the output signal of 6, the rotation amount can be decomposed into rotation amounts around the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis. As a result, by taking in the output signals of the joysticks 70, 72, the expansion / contraction detectors 86, 88, the potentiometer 56, and the displacement detector 26, the six degrees of freedom components of the operating unit 12 can be obtained at the same time, and the teaching box It is possible to easily and easily perform teaching work in the above.

In the embodiment, since the tilt of the operating portion 12 is detected by the joysticks 70 and 72 and the rotation of the operating portion 12 is detected by the potentiometer 56, the separability of components corresponding to each degree of freedom is detected. Is improved and accurate control can be realized.
Moreover, the operation unit 12 is connected to the pair of joysticks 70, 7
By arranging between the two, it is possible to increase the range in which the operation unit 12 can be actually moved (the operation amount), and to actually move the grip 14 in the vertical direction with the position of the grip 14 as the origin. Since it can be rotated around the axis, it is possible to give the operator a realistic operation feeling, the operability of the operation lever device 10 can be improved, and the operator's confusion can be reduced, and the efficiency of input operation can be improved. It is possible to increase the control accuracy, and it is possible to perform delicate operations and improve control accuracy. Also, in the embodiment,
Since six degrees of freedom can be obtained at the same time, a changeover switch or the like can be omitted, and a simple structure can be obtained.

6 and 7 are a front view and an exploded view of a second embodiment of the operating lever device. In these figures, the operating portion 12 is composed of a grip 14 and a guide rod 16 penetrating the grip 14, and the guide rod 16 is provided with a guide groove 110 parallel to the axis. Then, the displacement detector 26 is inserted into the guide rod 16, and by the screw 114 inserted from the screw hole 112 provided in the grip 14,
The detection unit 30 of the displacement detector 26 is fixed to the grip 14, and the detection unit 30 can be moved integrally with the grip 14 in the axial direction of the guide rod 16 as indicated by an arrow 115.

At both ends of the guide rod 16, rings 118,
118 and a plurality of screws 120, a cap 122,
122 is attached. These caps 122
It is equipped with connecting pins 124, 124, and this connecting pin 1
24 is a slide pin 128, 1 via a joint member 126.
It is connected to one end of 28. And slide pin 1
The other end side of 28 is inserted into the sheaths 130, 130. The sheath 130 has an oval hole 132 in the axial direction, and one end of the coil spring 134 fitted onto the sheath 130 can be stopped by a screw 133 at the end of the slide pin 128 inserted into the sheath 130. It has become. The other end of the coil spring 134 is fixed to the sheath 130 with a screw 135. Also, the screws 135 are
Swing rods 82, 8 of joysticks 137, 139
4 and the sheath 130 are connected. The joysticks 137 and 139 are three-dimensional joysticks in which the swing rods 82 and 84 are rotatable about their axes and the amount of rotation thereof can be detected.

That is, the joysticks 137, 13
9 has the same structure as a normal three-dimensional joystick, and the joystick 137 is used as an example, as shown in FIG. A ball joint is formed with the receiving portion 152 fixed to 74. In addition, an arrow 1 is attached to the base end portion 150.
The detection pin 15 of the Z-axis potentiometer 156 that detects the amount of rotation of the swing rod 82 that rotates around the axis as in 54.
8 is connected. Furthermore, the Z-axis potentiometer 15
An arcuate arm 160 is attached to the arm 6, and a detection pin 164 of an X-axis potentiometer 162 for detecting the inclination of the swing rod 82 in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface as indicated by an arrow 161 is attached to the tip of the arm 160. It is connected. A Y-axis potentiometer (not shown) is provided in the direction orthogonal to the Z-axis potentiometer 156 and the X-axis potentiometer 162 to detect that the swing rod 82 is tilted as indicated by arrow 166.

Also in this second embodiment, the same operation as in the above embodiment can be performed. That is, FIG. 9 (A)
As shown in FIG. 8, the grip 14 is moved upward as shown by an arrow 140, and a force as shown by an arrow 142 is applied to the operating portion 12 to translate the operating portion 12 in the left direction, or as shown in FIG. ) And (C), the operation unit 12 can be tilted in any direction. The slide amount (extension amount) of the slide pin 128 is detected by a potentiometer, a sleeve sensor, or the like (not shown). As a result, as in the case of the above-described embodiment, it is possible to easily obtain the information of 6 degrees of freedom of the operation unit 12, and the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. Moreover, the three-dimensional joystick 13
By using Nos. 7 and 139, the structure of the operation unit 12 can be simplified.

In the above-described embodiment, the case of using for teaching the industrial robot has been described, but it is used for input of the computer aided design device (CAD) and for power shovels, cranes, robots, etc. which require multi-axis control. It may be used as an operation lever of a remote control device or a game machine.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the grip of the operating portion connected between the pair of rods so as to be bendable is movable in the axial direction, and the rod connecting the operating portion is provided. Since it can be tilted in any direction, it is possible to perform operations as the operator imagines, such as so-called plus-side operation and minus-side operation, thus improving operability.

Further, since the operating portion is configured to be rotatable with respect to the rod, the operating portion is tilted in an arbitrary direction to rotate the operating portion, and this rotation is detected to rotate around the three orthogonal axes. By decomposing into rotations of, the components corresponding to the six degrees of freedom can be easily obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an operating lever device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment and is a diagram showing a state in which the operating portion is operated in a direction orthogonal to the axis.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the operation of the embodiment, and is a view showing a state in which the operation portion is tilted.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of how to obtain a grip position according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a three-dimensional joystick used in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Operation lever device 12 Operation part 14 Grip 16 Guide rod 26 Displacement detector 38, 40 Rotating table 56 Rotation angle detector (potentiometer) 70, 72 Inclination detector (joystick) 78, 80 Rod part 86, 88 Expansion / contraction part (expansion / contraction) Detector) 90,92 Slide rod 94,96,126 Joint member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pair of rods, each of which is connected to a fixed portion so as to be tiltable in an arbitrary direction, and has tip portions opposed to each other, and a grip movable in the axial direction. An operation lever device comprising: an operation portion bendably connected to a tip end portion; and a telescopic portion provided on each rod. 2. The operating lever device according to claim 1, wherein the operating portion is rotatable with respect to the rods about an axis.