JPH1170488A - Flexible, bendable drive module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flexible, bendable drive module made of flexible members for its flexure. SOLUTION: A bendable elastic body 10 comprises a first bendable elastic member 15 of a predetermined length arranged in the center, a wire 18 offset from the first member 15 outside it and fixedly stretched in substantially parallel with the center axis of the first member 15, and a second bendable elastic member 16 arranged roughly coaxially with the first member 15 so as to encircle the wire 18 and the first member 15 and to hold the wire 18 in a preset moving range from the center of the first member 15. The adjustment of the length of the wire 18 accordingly bends the elastic body 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a flexible bending drive module. More specifically, the present invention relates to a field of a toy having a movable part having multiple degrees of freedom and an entertainment robot such as a theme park, and to a drive system of the movable part.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a drive system of a toy, a robot or the like having a movable part, a rigid mechanism combining gears, links and the like made of a rigid material has been used. Also, toys,
Mechanisms that allow flexible movement of movable parts of industrial or medical endoscopes other than robots have been proposed (for example, JP-A-56-3193, JP-A-56-18).
835, JP-A-59-11826, JP-A-63-252128, JP-A-63-281618
JP-A-4-75892, JP-A-6-34
No. 3596, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-67377, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-11120, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-22750, etc.).

[0003]

In a drive system using the above-mentioned conventional rigid mechanism, it is difficult to extend the degree of freedom of movement by a rigid mechanism restricted to a predetermined degree of freedom of movement, or when a failure occurs. There is a problem that it is difficult to replace parts.
In addition, if the stuffed animal has a degree of freedom of movement, there is a problem that the soft touch of the stuffed animal is impaired by the mechanism made of the rigid material. In addition, in entertainment robots such as theme parks, soft movements are realized by pneumatic actuators, etc.However, a large compressor that generates compressed air that is the driving energy and a power supply source for the compressor must be installed inside the robot. Is difficult. In addition, a device using a flexible mechanism such as an endoscope has a problem that it requires extremely precise movement, is extremely rigid, is expensive, and requires a large force to drive it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a flexible bending drive module which is made of a flexible member and can perform a flexible movement with a small driving force at a low cost.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a first elastic body having a predetermined length and having a spring property and being bendable is disposed at a center, and the first elastic body is arranged from a central axis of the first elastic body. A wire is fixed to one end of the first elastic body which is offset outward, and the wire is drawn out so as to be oriented substantially in parallel with the center axis of the first elastic body. A second elastic body that can be bent substantially concentrically with the first elastic body is disposed so as to surround the wire and the first elastic body so as to be constrained by the first elastic body. The bending elastic body is bent by adjusting the length. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the flexible bending drive module according to the first aspect, the free end of the wire is inserted into a tube capable of bending only, pulled out from the end of the tube, and the wire is pulled. Is characterized in that the curved elastic body at the distal end of the tube is curved. By employing this configuration, when the wire disposed between the first elastic body and the second elastic body is pulled, the first elastic body cannot be contracted, so that the wire tension is applied to the first elastic body as a bending moment. The first elastic body bends at a curvature such that the wire side is inwardly acting.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the flexible bending drive module according to the first aspect, the first elastic body is a tightly wound coil spring, and the tightly wound coil spring does not deviate from a predetermined range at the center. And a fixing wire fixed to the fixing member is provided. With this configuration, the coil spring of the first elastic body can be bent by pulling the wire as in the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the flexible bending drive module according to the first or second aspect, the two wires are arranged in parallel, and the two wires are twisted by using the rotational torque of the motor. In addition, the bending elastic body is bent by shortening the length of the wire. By adopting this configuration, the two wires are twisted by the motor so that the apparent length is shortened, and the first elastic body can be curved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the flexible bending drive module according to the fourth aspect, a photointerrupter having a non-transmissive light object fixed in the middle of the wire and fixed at a predetermined position, and the photointerrupter. The contracted state of the wire can be detected at the light blocking position. The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that a magnet is fixed in the middle of the wire, and the contracted state of the wire can be detected by detecting the magnet with a reed switch arranged at a predetermined position. By employing this configuration, it is possible to detect the twist limit of the wire and prevent excessive twisting of the wire.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the flexible bending drive module according to the fourth aspect, an object having non-transmitting light is fixed at predetermined intervals in the middle of the wire, and the object is used for driving the wire. In response, the light of the photo-interrupter fixed at a predetermined position is cut off, and the output pulse of the photo-interrupter is counted by a counter so that the amount of contraction of the wire can be detected. By employing this configuration, it is possible to detect a contracted state accompanying the progress of the torsion of the wire.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the flexible bending drive module according to the first aspect, wherein the two wires are arranged in parallel, and the other end of each wire is provided at the tip of the output shaft of one motor. It is characterized in that the wires are connected to the plate at positions apart from each other, and the wires are curved in accordance with the fixed position of each wire in the rotation direction and position of the motor output shaft. By adopting this configuration, it is possible to bend in the direction corresponding to the fixed position of each wire in the rotation direction and position of the motor output shaft.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the flexible bending driving module according to the second aspect, a driving unit for generating a wire driving force of the motor is mounted on a driving object such as a stuffed animal. It is characterized in that a bending elastic body is fixed to a portion to be bent, and expandability of the number of bending driving is facilitated. By adopting this configuration, the wire drive section is concentrated and mounted inside the drive target such as a stuffed animal, so that the number of bending drives can be easily expanded.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the flexible bending driving module according to the second aspect, a portion to be driven by mounting a driving portion for generating a wire driving force of the motor outside a driving object such as a stuffed animal. The bending elastic body is fixed to the, and the expandability of the number of bending drives is facilitated. By adopting this configuration, the expandability of the number of bending drives is facilitated, and the invention can be applied to a small driving object.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the flexible bending drive module according to the ninth or tenth aspect, a snap ring for connection is attached to a tip of the first elastic body,
The snap ring is connected to a snap provided at a desired driving position of the driving object, so that the bending elastic body can be easily fixed. By employing this configuration, the connection between the bending elastic body and the driven object becomes extremely easy.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, a bendable coil spring, a wire fixed to one end of the coil spring so as to be offset outward from the center of the coil spring, and a wire fixed to the other end of the coil spring And a hollow tube through which the wire is inserted. With this configuration, a flexible bending drive module capable of bending a bendable coil spring by pulling a wire is obtained.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a bending elastic body 10 serving as a movable section, a driving section 11 for driving the bending elastic body, and a connecting tube 1 connecting the bending elastic body 10 and the driving section 11 are provided.
It consists of two. The curved elastic body 10 has an upper spring receiving portion 13 at an upper portion and a lower spring receiving portion 14 at a lower portion, and a tightly wound coil spring (the first spring receiving portion) is provided between the upper spring receiving portion 13 and the lower spring receiving portion 14. An elastic body 15 and a loosely wound coil spring (second elastic body) 16 disposed outside the elastic body 15 are provided.

A fixed wire 17 having one end 17a fixed to the upper spring receiving portion 13 is inserted into the curved elastic body 10 along a central axis of the tightly wound coil spring 15 and formed in the lower spring receiving portion 14. An active wire 18 having one end 18 a fixed to the upper spring receiving portion 13 passes between the outside of the tightly wound coil spring 15 and the inside of the loosely wound coil spring 16, and is further cut into the lower spring receiving portion 14. It is provided through the provided hole. The fixed wire 17 and the active wire 18 are inserted through the connecting tube 12 having one end connected to the lower spring receiving portion 14. Note that, for the fixing wire 17 and the active wire 18, tex, resin fiber, or metal wire having high tensile strength and flexibility is used.

The drive section 11 is provided with a fixed base 20. The fixed base 20 includes a motor 22 having a rotating plate 21 fixed to an output shaft, and a tube fixing section 23 having the other end of the connecting tube 12 fixed. Are arranged. The other end 17b of the fixed wire 17 into which the connecting tube 12 is inserted is fixed to the tube fixing portion 23 so that the wire 17 has no slack.
The other end 18b of the active wire 18 through which is inserted is fixed. The connecting tube 12 is flexible and does not change its length. The fixing wire 17
May be fixed to the lower spring receiving portion 14.

The operation of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. When the rotating plate 21 is rotated by the motor 22 in the driving unit 11, the active wire 18 is pulled in the direction of arrow A, and the upper spring receiving unit 13 is pulled through the holes provided in the connecting tube 12 and the lower spring receiving unit 14. In this case, since the tightly wound coil spring 15 cannot be contracted, the tension of the active wire 18 acts on the tightly wound coil spring 15 as a bending moment, and the tightly wound coil spring 15 has a curvature such that the active wire 18 is on the inside. It curves as shown in FIG. When the active wire 18 is loosened, the original state is restored by the restoring force of the loosely wound coil spring 16.

At this time, the loosely wound coil spring 16 serves to guide the active wire 18, and can control the curvature of the tightly wound coil spring 15 according to the rotation angle of the rotating plate 21. Since the inner diameter of the connecting tube 12 is small, the internal wire length hardly changes depending on the bent state. Therefore, the movement or the state of the connecting tube 12 hardly affects the movement of the bending elastic body 10. There is no.

FIGS. 3 to 6 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a curved elastic body 10 serving as a movable section, a driving section 11 for driving the curved elastic body, the curved elastic body 10 and the driving section 11
The structure of the connecting tube 12 for connecting the elastic member 10 and the connecting tube 12 is the same as that of the previous embodiment. The difference from the previous embodiment is that the configuration of the drive unit 11 is different.

The driving section 11 in the present embodiment is similar to the driving section shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), two wires 30 and 31 of a predetermined length are attached to the output shaft 22a of the motor 22 at an interval, and the wires 30 and 31 are parallel to the center line of the output shaft. The leading end is fixed to a movable body 32 attached to the active wire 18. This movable body 32
Is provided with a guide portion 34 guided by a guide rod 33 so as to be movable without rotating. Motor 22
Is provided with an encoder 35 for detecting the rotation of the output shaft. The same material as the fixed wire 17 or the active wire 18 is used for the two wires 30 and 31.

The operation of the driving unit 11 thus configured will be described with reference to FIGS. First, when the motor 22 is rotated as shown in FIG. 4A, the two wires 30 and 31 are overlapped and twisted as shown in FIG. 4B, and the length L is reduced to L '. This allows the wires 30, 31
Active wire 18 via movable body 32 fixed to
, And the bending elastic body 10 can be bent. If the relationship between the number of rotations of the output shaft 22a of the motor and the amount of contraction is determined in advance, the amount of contraction of the wires 30, 31 can be determined from the number of rotations of the output shaft 22a of the motor detected by the encoder 35. Comes out.

According to the present embodiment, the ratio of shortening of the two wires 30 and 31 to the amount of rotation of the motor 22 is very small, which is equivalent to a high reduction ratio and a small torque. Even with a small motor that can generate only a small motor, the bending elastic body can be driven to bend without the need for a speed reducer, and a drive unit that has a simple structure and can be configured at low cost can be obtained.

The two wires 3 of the driving unit 11
In the method of twisting 0 and 31, if the wires 30 and 31 are excessively twisted, the wires may be broken, so a sensor for detecting an appropriate twist limit is required. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the example. FIG. 5A shows a non-illustrated photointerrupter in which a non-transmissive member 36 is provided between the wires 30 and 31 and the active wire 18 and is disposed at a predetermined position (a position where the twisting limit of the wire is known). In this output state, the torsion limit of the wire can be known.
Although not shown, the member 3 having the non-transmitted light property is used.
A reed switch operated by the magnet may be used instead of the photointerrupter instead of the photointerrupter.

FIG. 5B shows that not only the twist limit of the wire but also the shrinkage of the wire can be detected. A member 38 having non-transmitting light having a slit 37 is provided, and a photo-interrupter 39 is disposed at a predetermined position (a position at which the twist limit of the wire is known). The present apparatus configured as described above can count the output pulse 40 of the photointerrupter 39 by the counter circuit 41 and detect the amount of contraction of the wire with a resolution corresponding to the pulse. The non-transmitting light member 3 shown in FIGS.
6, 38 can also serve as a wire rotation stopper.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the third embodiment is the same as the previous embodiment in including a curved elastic body 10, a driving unit 11, and a connection tube 12, but the connection tube 12 and the drive The configuration of the unit 11 is different. In the third embodiment, the wires 30 and 31 of the previous embodiment are inserted into the connection tube 12 to lengthen the twistable wires 30 and 31, and the lower spring receiving portion 14 of the bending portion 11 is provided. A wire twist limit detection unit is provided.

FIG. 6 shows a twist limit detecting unit for this wire.
As shown in (b), the interior of the lower spring receiving portion 14 is hollow, and a photo interrupter 39 is provided below the hollow. The active wire 18 passing through the hollow is impervious to the photo interrupter 39 at the twist limit of the wire. An optical member 42 is provided. In the present embodiment configured as described above, the torsible wires 30 and 31 can be lengthened, so that the variable length range of the wires can be increased.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a main part of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the fourth embodiment, the bending elastic body is controlled by two active wires in two directions, whereas the bending elastic body is controlled by one active wire in the first embodiment. It was made possible. That is, FIG. 7A shows one active wire 18 ′ and the other active wire 1 on the upper spring receiving portion 13 of the bending elastic body 10.
Fix each end of the 8 "at 180 ° apart,
The other end is fixed at a position 180 ° away from the center of the rotating plate 21.

FIG. 7 (b) shows one end of each of the active wire 18 'and the other active wire 18 "fixed to the upper spring receiving portion 13 of the curved elastic body 10 at a position separated by 90.degree. The end is fixed at a position 180 ° away from the center of the rotating plate 21 having a rotating axis orthogonal to the direction in which the active wire is pulled.

In this embodiment having the above-described structure, when the rotary plate 21 is rotated in the direction of arrow A by the motor 22 in the case of FIG.
The other active wire 18 ″ is pulled to bend the bending elastic body 10 in the direction of arrow B. Conversely,
When the rotating plate 21 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow A, the active wire 18 ″ is loosened, and the active wire 18 ′ is pulled to bend the bending elastic body 10 in the arrow C direction.
In this way, it is possible to control the bending elastic body 10 to bend left and right or back and forth.

In the case of FIG. 7B, when the rotating plate 21 is rotated in the direction of arrow A by the motor 22, one of the active wires 18 'is loosened and the other active wire 1' is loosened.
8 "is pulled to bend the curved elastic body 10 in the direction of arrow B. Conversely, when the rotating plate 21 is rotated in the direction opposite to arrow A, the active wire 18" is loosened and the active wire 18 'is pulled. The bending elastic body 10 is bent upward with respect to the paper surface. Thus, the curved elastic body 10
Can be controlled to be bent in a direction shifted by 90 °.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an application example of the flexible bending drive module of the present invention. In this example, the drive unit 12 is concentratedly mounted inside a drive target 50 (the figure is a stuffed toy), and the curved elastic body 10 is placed on a part (hand, foot, or the like) to be driven.
Is fixed. In this application example configured as described above, the bending elastic body 10 can be freely driven by the driving unit 12, and the bending elastic body 10 and the driving unit 12 can be easily added, and the number of bending drives can be increased. . In the case of the stuffed toy as shown in the figure, the movement of the limbs is flexible, and the movement can be close to the real thing. Efficient arrangement is possible by mounting a receiving unit that receives a control signal transmitted from a control device such as a personal computer on a driving unit that is centrally mounted in this way.

FIG. 9 is a view showing another application example of the flexible bending drive module of the present invention. In this example, a curved elastic body 10 is fixed to a portion (a hand, a foot, or the like) of a driving object 50 (a figure is a stuffed toy) to be driven, and a driving unit 2 is provided.
0 is provided outside the drive target. In this application example configured in this manner, the number of bending drives can be increased as in the previous application example. Further, by providing the driving unit 20 outside the driving object 50, the driving object can be reduced in size. Are suitable.

FIG. 10 shows the driving object 50 in FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method of connecting a portion to be driven with the bending elastic body 10 of the flexible bending driving module of the present invention. In this case, an annular snap ring 51 shown in FIG. 2B is attached to the inside of the outer skin of a portion of the object 50 to be driven such as a stuffed animal, and the tip of the bending elastic body 10 of the flexible bending drive module is shown in FIG. Attach the hook-shaped snap 52 shown in
The snap 52 is engaged with the nap ring 51 to connect the two. With this configuration, the curved elastic body 1
Even if there is a gap between the target object 50 and the driven object 50, the tip of the curved elastic body 10 is coupled to the part of the driven object 50 that is desired to be driven, so that the driven part of the driven object 50 can be reliably moved. Can be. In addition, it is possible to easily connect or detach a portion of the driving object 50 to be driven with the bending elastic body 10 of the flexible bending driving module. In addition,
The structure is not limited to the structure in which the distal end of the bending elastic body 10 of the flexible bending driving module is fixed, and the side of the flexible bending driving module where the tube of the bending elastic body is fixed may be fixed to the driving target.

[0035]

According to the flexible bending drive module of the present invention, it is possible to easily expand the degree of freedom of the movable parts of the robot, the stuffed toy, and the entertainment robot, and to flexibly change the external shape of the driven object. It is possible to correspond to. By not using a rigid mechanism, a moving stuffed animal or the like can be realized while maintaining a soft feel. Also, since the motor is used as the drive actuator, the drive energy can be a battery,
A driving energy source can be easily incorporated in a robot or a stuffed animal. In addition, the structure is simple and it can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a driving unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a means for detecting a wire twist limit in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention, in which (a)
2 is an overall view, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged sectional view of a portion B in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a main part of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an application example of the flexible bending drive module of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view showing another example of an application example of the flexible bending drive module of the present invention.

10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a method of connecting the bending elastic body and the driving target of the flexible bending driving module according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view, and FIGS. It is an enlarged view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Curved elastic body 11 ... Drive part 12 ... Connection tube 13 ... Upper spring receiving part 14 ... Lower spring receiving part 15 ... Closely wound coil spring 16 ... Sparsely wound coil spring 17 ... Fixed wire 18 ... Active wire 20 ... Fixed base 21 ... Rotating plate 22 ... Motor 23 ... Tube fixing part 30, 31 ... Wire 32 ... Movable body 33 ... Guide rod 34 ... Guide part 35 ... Encoder 36,38,42 ... Non-translucent member 37 ... Slit 39 ... Photo interrupter 40 ... Output pulse 41 ... Counter circuit 50 ... Drive object 51 ... Snap ring 52 ... Snap

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A first length of a bendable springy predetermined length.
An elastic body is disposed at the center, and the first
Fix the wire to one end offset to the outside of the elastic body,
The wire is drawn out so as to be substantially parallel to the central axis of the first elastic body, and the wire and the first elastic body are both surrounded so that the wire is constrained within a predetermined range from the center of the first elastic body. Thus, the second elastic member can be bent substantially concentrically with the first elastic member.
A flexible bending drive module, wherein a bending elastic body is formed by disposing an elastic body, and the bending elastic body is bent by adjusting the length of the wire. 2. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 1, wherein the free end of the wire is inserted into a tube capable of bending only, pulled out from the end of the tube, and the wire is pulled to pull the distal end of the tube. A flexible bending drive module, wherein the bending elastic body is bent. 3. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 1, wherein the first elastic body is a tightly wound coil spring, and a fixed wire fixed to the center so that the tightly wound coil spring does not deviate from a predetermined range. A flexible bending drive module, comprising: 4. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 1, wherein the two wires are arranged in parallel, and the two wires are twisted by using a rotating torque of a motor to shorten the length of the wires. A flexible bending drive module, wherein the bending elastic body is bent by performing the bending. 5. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 4, wherein an object having non-transmissive light is fixed in the middle of the wire, and a photointerrupter fixed at a predetermined position and a wire at a light blocking position of the object are provided. A flexible bending drive module characterized in that it is possible to detect the contraction state of the flexible bending drive module. 6. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 4, wherein a magnet is fixed in the middle of the wire, and the contracted state of the wire can be detected by detecting the magnet with a reed switch arranged at a predetermined position. A flexible bending drive module, characterized in that: 7. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 4, wherein an object having non-transmissive light is fixed at a predetermined interval in the middle of the wire, and the object moves to a predetermined position in response to the driving of the wire. A flexible bending drive module characterized in that the light of a photointerrupter fixed to the block is blocked, and the output pulse of the photointerrupter is counted by a counter to detect the amount of contraction of the wire. 8. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 1, wherein the two wires are arranged in parallel, and the other ends of the wires are separated from each other by a rotating plate provided at a tip of an output shaft of one motor. And a flexible bending drive module that performs bending according to the fixed position of each wire in the rotation direction and position of the motor output shaft. 9. A driving unit for generating a wire driving force of the motor is mounted intensively inside a driving object such as a stuffed animal, and a bending elastic body is fixed to a portion to be driven, so that the number of bending driving can be increased. 3. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 2, wherein the drive is facilitated. 10. A driving section for generating a wire driving force of the motor is mounted outside a driving object such as a stuffed animal, and a bending elastic body is fixed to a portion to be driven, thereby facilitating expansion of the number of bending driving. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 2, wherein: 11. A connecting snap ring is attached to a tip of the first elastic body, and the snap ring is connected to a snap provided at a desired driving position of a driving object so that the curved elastic body can be easily fixed. The flexible bending drive module according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: 12. A bendable coil spring, a wire fixed to one end of the coil spring so as to be offset outward from the center of the coil spring, and a wire fixed to the other end of the coil spring and inserted through the wire. A flexible bending drive module comprising: a hollow tube.