JPH0825276A - Touch sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To maintain the circular arc state of contact members via their tension and prevent erroneous contact due to the deflection caused by the impact or vibration of a device because of little mass by forming a pair of contact members into a circular arc shape, arranging them face to face at a small void, applying rigidity to one contact, and applying flexibility to the other contact. CONSTITUTION:A contact wire 21 constituting one contact is fixed and arranged on the surface of a circular arc-shaped contact holding member 24 in the circular arc state, a flexible printed wiring board 20 constituting the other contact is bent by nearly 180 deg. into a U-shape, and both ends are fixed to a cover 19 to maintain the circular arc state. The flexible printed wiring board 20 should not be deflected by the contact other than the contact with a work 11 to be operated to maintain the circular arc state. Both ends of the printed wiring board 20 are fixed to the cover 19, a void is set between the printed wiring board 20 and the contact wire 21 serving as one contact, and it has been confirmed that there is no fear of contact due to the useless deflection during the normal handling such as the operation or movement of a robot hand device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a touch sensor for detecting contact with a work such as a robot hand for gripping the work.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional robot hand is shown in FIGS. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the hand 1 as seen from above, and FIG. 7 is a side sectional view thereof. The configuration of the hand 1 includes a cam 10 fixed to the output shaft 18-1 of the motor 18.
A pin 9 is provided in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the motor, and the pin 9 is fitted into a long groove 4-1 formed at one end of the link 4,
The rotational movement of 8 is converted into the linear movement of the link 4.

The link 4 is held by a link guide 6 serving as a guide for linear movement, and a pair of fingers 2 rotatably supported by a support shaft 5 are connected to the other end by a movable pin 3. The pair of fingers 2 move the movable pin 3 by the linear movement of the link 4 accompanying the rotation of the motor 18.
It opens and closes around the support shaft 5 via. Further, the periphery of the long groove 4-1 at one end of the link 4 is formed with a cam portion 4-2 of the link having switch operating surfaces A4-21 and B4-22 at both ends thereof. The limit movements of the fingers 2 are limited by operating the limit switches 7 arranged opposite to the two switch operating surfaces A and B by the linear movement.

A touch sensor is provided at the tip of the hand 1 to detect the contact with the work 11, and the touch sensor comprises a dog 12, a dog guide 14, a spring 13 and a switch 15, as shown in FIG. When 12 abuts on the work 11, the dog guide 14 linearly operates and pushes the switch 15 to detect contact with the work and operate as a touch sensor. The operation of gripping the work 11 of the hand 1 is performed by the switch 15 of the touch sensor described above.
The motor 18 is rotated by the above operation and the linear movement of the link 4 causes the finger 2 provided at the tip thereof to be closed.

The touch sensor for accurately grasping the work 11 by the pair of fingers 2 uses the switch 15 for operating the contact point with the built-in spring as described above and the intervening spring 13. There was a limit to the reduction.

[0006]

The touch sensor having the conventional structure as described above is a lightweight work 11 that is movably hung on a rod-shaped arm, such as a capture game machine for gripping and acquiring prizes. When trying to detect, the problem is that the force pushing the dog 12 is weak and cannot be detected, and a malfunction of gripping cannot be avoided. Attempts were also made to weaken the internal spring pressure of the switch 15 and the spring 13 in order to improve gripping accuracy, but shock and vibration at the time of starting and stopping the device, inertia of the dog 12 and contact between the dog 12 and the dog guide 14. Malfunctions due to the influence of friction were generated.

[0007]

A touch sensor according to the present invention includes a holding member made of an insulating material and having an arcuate contact bearing surface, and an arcuate shape along the contact bearing surface and forming one contact. The conductive linear members arranged side by side, arc-shaped so as to face the one contact with a small gap, and a zigzag conductor pattern is printed on the surface facing the one contact, and the printed pattern Has a flexible printed wiring board that forms the other contact, and is provided at the tip of the hand cover.

[0008]

[Operation] In the above-mentioned configuration, the flexible printed wiring board comes into contact with the work, and the flexible printed wiring board is deformed to come into contact with the arc-shaped conductive linear member which is one contact. Since the contact circuit is closed and the contact with the work is detected, the detection pressure is determined by the elasticity of the flexible printed wiring board 20. It can be detected even with pressure. In the non-detection state in which the printed wiring board 20 is separated from the work 11, the printed wiring board 20
Since both ends are held by the housing and bent in an arc shape, they are kept in an arc shape by their own tension, and their mass is small, so that they are not bent by the impact or vibration of the device. It has been confirmed that there is no danger of accidental contact.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3 are schematic diagrams of the configuration of the touch sensor according to the present invention mounted on the configuration of the robot hand 1 according to the above-described conventional technique shown in FIG. It is an A'sectional view.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the contacts forming the touch sensor are attached to the contact bearing surface 24-1 of the arc-shaped contact holding member 24 fixed to the upper portion of the cover 19 and both ends thereof are attached. Is composed of two contact wires 21 held by the electrode plate 22 and a printed pattern 23 of the flexible printed wiring board 20 facing the outside of the contact wires 21 with a small gap.

A contact wire 21 constituting the one contact.
Is fixedly arranged on the surface of the contact holding member 24 having an arc shape to ensure the arc state, and the flexible printed wiring board 20 forming the other contact has a U shape bent at about 180 degrees and covers both ends thereof. By being fixed to 19, the arc state is maintained. Maintaining the arc of the flexible printed wiring board 20
It should not bend except for contact with the work to be operated, but by fixing both ends to the cover 19, a gap with the contact wire 21, which is one of the contacts, is set. It has been confirmed that there is no risk of contact due to unnecessary bending when handling or moving the robot hand device.

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken along the line AA 'in FIG. 1, showing two contact wires 21 provided in parallel, which are one contact, and the other contact formed by the flexible wiring board 20 facing the other contact wire 21. FIG. 4 shows a proximity state, and FIG. 4 shows an example of the contact conductor pattern 23 printed on the flexible printed board 20 forming the other contact, and the contact wire 21 forming one contact is in the band direction as described above. Since they are arranged side by side, it is illustrated that it is preferable to print in zigzag in order to ensure contact with them.

In FIG. 5, when the hand 1 moves toward the work 11 and the work 11 enters the inside of the finger 2 (not shown) and the flexible printed wiring board 20 contacts the work 11, the flexible Due to the elasticity of the printed wiring board 20 itself, the contact portion is distorted inward, and the conductor pattern 23 printed on the inner surface of the printed wiring board 20 and the contact wire 21 attached to the surface of the contact holding member 24 come into contact with each other and electrically conduct to each other. The state which operates as a sensor is shown.

The wiring pattern 23 printed on the flexible printed wiring board 20 is desired to have a large conductor area without impairing the flexibility of the board, and a zigzag shape as shown in FIG. 4 is preferable.

[0015]

In the touch sensor according to the present invention, since the detection pressure is determined by the elasticity of the flexible printed wiring board 20,
By selecting the material of the flexible printed wiring board 20, even a small contact pressure can be detected. In a non-detection state in which the printed wiring board 20 is separated from the work 11, both ends of the printed wiring board 20 are held by the housing and bent and mounted in an arc shape. Since it is small, there is no fear of erroneous contact due to bending due to impact or vibration of the device, and there is an effect that a highly reliable robot hand can be realized without selecting a work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a touch sensor of a robot hand according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of part B of the example of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A ′ of the example of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial view showing an example of a conductor pattern printed on a flexible wiring board forming the other contact of the example of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a bending operation of a flexible wiring board, which is the other contact, due to contact of a work.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a robot hand according to a conventional technique.

7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the example of FIG.

8 is an explanatory diagram of a structure of the touch sensor in the example of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hand 2 Finger 3 Movable Pin 4 Link 4-1 Long Groove 4-2 Link Cam Part 4-21 Switch Operating Surface A 4-22 Switch Operating Surface B 5 Spindle 6 Link Guide 7 Limit Switch 8 Mounting Plate 9 Pin 10 Cam 11 Work 12 Dog 13 Spring 14 Dog Guide 15 Switch 16 Cover A 17 Cover B 18 Motor 18-1 Output Shaft 19 Cover C 20 Flexible Printed Wiring Board 21 Contact Wire 22 Electrode Plate 23 Conductor Pattern 24 Contact Holding Member 24-1 Yen Arc contact bearing surface

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In a touch sensor in which contacts are separated and brought into contact with each other by an external force, both contact members forming a pair are arranged so as to face each other with a small gap, and one of the contacts has rigidity, A touch sensor characterized in that the other has flexibility. 2. A holding member made of an insulating material and having an arcuate contact bearing surface, a conductive linear member forming an arc along the contact bearing surface and forming one contact, and the one contact. A flexible printed wiring board which is provided in an arc shape so as to be opposed to each other through a small gap, and a conductor pattern is printed on a surface facing the one contact, and the print pattern forms the other contact. And touch sensor. 3. The touch sensor according to claim 2, wherein the conductive linear member is a plurality of linear members arranged in parallel. 4. The touch sensor according to claim 2, wherein the printed wiring pattern of the flexible printed wiring board is formed in a zigzag pattern.