JPS61136789A - Flexible arm device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flexible arm device used, for example, in an industrial robot.

Many of the arms used in conventional technology industrial robots employ link mechanisms. This link mechanism is not suitable when one working space is narrow and there are obstacles in front. To solve this problem, an arm was constructed by connecting a number of discs with varying thicknesses, and by rotating the discs, the arm could be bent in any direction (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58 -59785) and multi-jointed arm (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-129687)
No. 2) has been proposed.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, although the above-mentioned conventional arms can be bent in any direction, they cannot simultaneously extend and contract, which poses a problem when attempting to automate complex processes. 6 Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a flexible arm device that can solve the above problems.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the flexible arm device of the present invention includes three rod-shaped bodies arranged in an equilateral triangle shape in a first plane and whose ends are connected to each other; A sliding body is held by each rod-shaped body so as to be slidable in its axial direction, and a sliding body whose one end is pivotally supported by each of the rod-shaped bodies and is swingable in a second plane perpendicular to the first plane. first and second swing links;
A first connecting link that connects each first swinging link and its corresponding sliding body and guides the first swinging link within one space partitioned by the first plane, and each second swinging link and the corresponding sliding body. a second swinging link connected to a corresponding sliding body to guide the second swinging link in the other space partitioned by the first plane;
A plurality of basic units consisting of connecting links are connected via spherical bearings interposed between the other ends of the corresponding swinging links, and each of the basic units is located at an end of the plurality of basic units. The free ends of the swing links of the basic unit and the pedestal are respectively connected via driving swing links.

A spherical bearing is interposed in the connecting portion between each swing link and each drive swing link, and a drive device is provided for separately swinging each of the drive swing links.

Effect In the above configuration, if each set of the first and second swing links provided on the rod-shaped bodies arranged and connected in an equilateral triangle shape is caused to swing by the drive device at the same swing angle, the flexible arm is The flexible arm bends in a predetermined direction by extending and contracting and by swinging each set of first and second swing links at different swing angles.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 7. , (1) is a flexible arm device.

A plurality of (two in this example) basic unit bodies (3) constituting the flexible arm (2), a first end unit (4) connected to one end side of the basic unit body (3); .

A second end unit (5) connected to the other end of the basic unit (3), and the flexible arm (2) can be bent in any direction via this second end unit (5). and a drive device i (6) that extends and retracts the same. Below, the flexible arm (2), the first end unit (4),
Second pancreatic unit (5), [IEl+Mffi (6) will be explained in JIIJ. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the flexible arm (2) is made up of a plurality of basic units (3
). This basic unit (3) is
They are arranged in an equilateral triangular shape in a first plane (for example, a horizontal plane in FIG.
), and a sliding body (for example, a linear bearing) (9) whose appearance is maintained so as to be able to slide freely in the axial direction of each of these rod-like bodies (8), F-,
2. A connecting pin (having an axis within the first plane and orthogonal to the rod-like body (8)) (10
) and is perpendicular to the first plane.
first and second swing links (11) and (12) that are swingable in a vertical plane (in the figure).

The middle part of each first swing link (11) and the corresponding sliding body (9) are connected to each other so that the first swing link (11)
A first connecting link (1
4), and the intermediate part of each second swing link (12) and the corresponding sliding body (9) are connected to each other to form a second swing link (12).
) and a second connecting link (15) that guides its swing within the other space (the lower space in FIG. 1) divided by the first plane. In addition, the length of each rod-shaped body (8) is as follows.

Of course, the length of each swing link (If) (12).

The lengths of each connecting link (14) (15) are equal, and each swinging link (11) (
12) and each connecting link C14) (15) is a rod-shaped body (
8), and each connecting link (
14) The ends of (is) are connected to the connecting pin (1), respectively.
0) and is connected to its counterpart by a mounting pin (16) parallel to the other. The flexible arm (2) is made by connecting two of the above-mentioned basic units (3), and a spherical bearing (17) is used in the connecting part. At the other end (upper end) of the first swing link (11) of the unit body (3A), there is a mounting pin (connection pin
The spherical bearing (17) is attached via (1g) (1g), and the second swing link (12) of the other (for example, upper) basic unit (3B)
At the other end (lower end), a holder 1 (19) for holding the spherical bearing (17) is attached.Next, regarding the first and second end units (4) and (5), explain.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first end unit (4) is for connecting the flexible arm (2) and the operation part (for example, wrist part) of the robot, and the basic unit (3) Similarly, three connecting rods connected in an equilateral triangle shape (2
0) and a connecting swing link (21) similar to the second swing link (12), and the upper base of the connecting swing link (21) and the flexible arm (2). The unit body (3B) is also connected to the first swing link (11) via the same spherical bearing (17) as described above. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the second end unit (5
) is the flexible arm (2) and its driving bag ffi
(6), one end of a drive link (22) similar to the first swing link (11) of the basic unit (3) is placed on the mount ( 23) The second swing of the basic unit (3A) below the flexible arm (2) is supported on the top via the support pin (24), and the other end is supported via the same spherical bearing (17) as above. dynamic link (
12). Next, the drive device will be explained. and on the lower surface of the pedestal (23) at positions corresponding to the respective driving swing links (22).

Each cylinder device i (e.g. hydraulic cylinder) (
25) is installed, and each piston rond (
25a) is connected to the intermediate portion of each driving swing link (22) via a connecting pin (26).

Therefore, when the three cylinder groups ffi (25) arranged on the lower surface of the pedestal (23) are operated with the same stroke amount, for example, each driving swing link (22) swings downward, the basic unit The second swing link (12) of the body (3)
) follows, and the rod-shaped body (8) and this second swing link (12
) and the sliding body (
9) moves inward, and the rod-shaped body (8) and the first swing link (
The angle (β) formed with 11) also becomes smaller (of course,
α=β6), so the overall size will shrink.

Also, 3 cylinders! For example, 1 of (25)
When the stroke amount is increased by 4M, the drive swing link (22) connected to that cylinder group ffi (25) tilts more than the other drive swing links (22). Each swing link (11), (12), and (21) connected to (22) also tilts significantly, so that the flexible arm (2) as a whole expands and contracts and bends in that direction. In addition, spherical bearings (
17) is interposed, so the flexible arm (2)
can be tilted freely. In addition, by appropriately selecting the stroke amount of the three cylinder devices (25),
The length of the flexible arm (2) and its bending direction can be freely adjusted. In addition, FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view when the flexible arm (2) is bent in a certain direction.

In the above embodiment, the swing links (11) and (12) attached to the rod-shaped body (8) were mounted near one end, but they may be mounted in the center, near the other end, or at the ends.

That is, the distance shown in FIG. 1 can be selected to any value.

Effects of the Invention According to the above configuration of the present invention, the flexible arm includes three rod-shaped bodies arranged and connected in an equilateral triangle shape, and the first and second rocking bodies that swing in opposite directions to each of these nine rod-shaped bodies. Since the structure is constructed by connecting a plurality of basic units consisting of links, if each set of the first and second swing links is swung at the same angle by the drive device, the spacing between each rod-shaped body, that is, the flexible The arm can be extended and contracted. In addition, since a spherical bearing is interposed in the connection between the basic units,
By swinging each set of the first and second swing links at different angles, the first planes constituted by the respective rod-like bodies can be tilted to each other, so that the flexible arm can be extended and contracted at the same time as desired. It can also be tilted in any direction.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a connecting portion of a rod-shaped body, and Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway view taken along the line I-I in Fig. 2. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the swing link portion, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the connecting link portion, FIG. 6 is a side view of the drive device, and FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing the operation. (1) Flexible arm device, (2) Flexible arm, (3) (3A) (3B) Basic unit, (5) Second end unit, (6 )...
Drive device, (8)...rod-shaped body, (9)...sliding body,
(11)...First swing link, (12)...Second swing link, (14)...First connecting link, (15)
...Second connecting link, (17)...Spherical bearing, (2
1)... Swing link for connection, (22)... Swing link for drive, (23)... Frame agent Mori
Yoshihiro Moto fp A2') - Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure f Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Three rod-shaped bodies arranged in an equilateral triangle shape in a first plane and whose ends are connected to each other, and a sliding body held by each rod-shaped body so as to be slidable in its axial direction; First and second swing links each having one end pivotally supported by each of the rod-shaped bodies and swingable in a second plane perpendicular to the first plane; each first swing link and its corresponding sliding link; Connect the moving object and
A first connecting link that guides the swinging link in one space partitioned by the first plane, and a first connecting link that connects each second swinging link and its corresponding sliding body so that the second swinging link is guided by the first plane. A plurality of basic units consisting of a second connecting link that guides within the other partitioned space are connected via spherical bearings interposed between the other ends of the corresponding swinging links, and the plurality of Each swing link free end of the basic unit body located at the end of the basic unit body is connected to the frame via a drive swing link, and each swing link and each drive swing link are connected to each other via drive swing links. A spherical bearing is inserted in the connection part with
A flexible arm device further comprising a drive device that swings each of the driving swing links separately.