JPS61203287A - Finger for robot hand - 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 (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a finger for a robot hand that is made of a tubular body made of a flexible material that can be bent by internal pressure.

(Prior technology) In the past, most of the fingers for robot hands were constructed using mechanical levers, fingers, etc., but recently, fingers for robot hands are made of flexible tubes that are bent by air pressure. Fingers have also been developed, and one such type made by Nippon Oil Seal is well known.

This finger is a tubular body made of a flexible material that has an air pressure supply port at one end and is closed at the other end, and has a bellows structure part with equal unevenness pitch and height on the upper side of the cross section, and a bellows structure part on the lower side of the cross section. It has a thick plate-like part, which is closed and the other end is flat.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) This robot hand finger uses the other end as the tip when grasping an object, but since this part is formed flat, the edge is rounded. Although it does not interfere with work in factories, etc., it could not be used as a medical device for treating patients because the corner of the tip could injure the patient. Furthermore, since the curvature when curved was an arc with a constant radius from the base to the tip, it was not always suitable for gripping.

(c) Means for Solving the Problems) An object of the present invention is to solve the problems with the conventional fingers for a robot hand, to make it possible to handle a patient as a medical instrument, and to make it more suitable for grasping. To achieve this object, the robot hand finger of the present invention has one end open to connect to a pressure supply pipe and the other end closed. It is a tubular body made of a flexible material, with a bellows structure part provided on one side wall, a thick plate-like part provided on the side wall opposite to the one side wall, and the other end formed into a round shape, and the tubular body is formed by internal pressure. It is characterized by providing means for changing the curvature when curved.

[Function] By forming the other end, which becomes the tip when gripping, into a round shape, it is possible to prevent injury when handling a human body such as a sick person, and a means is provided to make the curvature when curved variable. This allows it to be designed to curve with the most suitable curvature for gripping the target object.

(Example) The finger for a robot hand of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of an embodiment of a finger for a robot hand according to the present invention. The finger 1 is a tubular body made of a relatively flexible material such as rubber, vinyl, or a polymer compound such as urethane, and an opening 2 formed at one end is connected to a predetermined pressure supply path. The other end of the tubular body, the front holding part 8, is closed and formed into a round shape. A thin bellows structure portion 4 is formed on one side wall of the finger 1. The bellows structure portion 4 is set so that the height of the ridges is higher when it is closer to the opening 2, and the height of the ridges becomes lower as it approaches the tip a. A thick plate-like portion 5 is provided on the side wall facing the bellows structure portion 4.

Next, we will explain the action of this robot hand finger.0 When pressure is supplied through the opening 2 from a pressure supply path (not shown), the bellows structure section stretches and the plate-shaped section 5 does not stretch, so the finger 1 It curves toward the plate-like portion 5 side. At this time, the bellows structure portion 4 has a high peak on the side of the opening 2 and the height of the peak decreases toward the tip, so the portion closer to the opening 2 side is curved more and the curvature decreases toward the tip. The curvature of the curve changes as follows. This allows the fingers 1 to bend significantly, especially at the base near the opening 2, making it easier to grasp objects. Note that the change in the height of the mountain is not limited to that shown in this embodiment, and may be set so as to obtain a change in curvature suitable for the shape of the object to be grasped.

In this embodiment, the height of the mountain was changed as a means of changing the curvature, but by changing the curvature in this way, a curved shape suitable for grasping the target object can be obtained.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the next embodiment of the invention.

In this embodiment, instead of changing the height of the peaks of the bellows structure portion 4, grooves 6 are provided in the plate-like portion 5 to change the curvature of the finger 1. Note that the number and position of the grooves 6 are appropriately selected so as to obtain a curvature suitable for grasping the target object.

3.4.15 is an embodiment of a robot hand using the fingers of FIG. 1. First, in FIG. 3.4, the second frame 8 is fixed to the first frame 7 with bolts 9 and nuts 10. Attachments 11, 12 for attaching the fingers 1 are attached to the first frame 1 and the second frame 8, respectively, and are attached by nuts 18.14. These mounts each have a pressure supply channel 15.113 in the center;
A pressure supply line 17.18 is connected to this passage 15.16, which communicates with a pressure source (not shown). The finger 1 is fixed to the mounting bases 11 and 12 with a string or the like after applying a sealant. 19
is a thin, glove-like cover made of a material with excellent elasticity and flexibility, such as rubber.

Next, I will explain how Nico's robot hand works. After positioning a predetermined object 20 to be grasped between fingers 1 and 1'', fingers 1.
1'', they curve inward to grasp the object 20 as shown in FIG. It can also be operated pneumatically, so
It can also be used to handle human bodies such as sick people.The tip of the 〇 is rounded so that it will not cause any damage when handling human bodies such as sick people, and it also has a means to change the curvature when curved. As a result, the grip can be designed to curve with a curvature suitable for grasping the object to be grasped.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, an example in which the height of the peaks of the bellows structure was changed and an example in which grooves were provided in the plate-like part were explained as means for varying the curvature, but there are other methods in which the pitch of the peaks in the bellows structure is changed. Alternatively, the thickness of the plate-like portion may be changed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of a robot hand finger of the present invention, Fig. 2- is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 8.4.
．． FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a robot hand using the robot hand fingers of FIG. 1.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A tubular body made of a flexible material with one end open to be connected to a pressure supply path and the other end closed, a bellows structure part provided on one side wall, and a side wall opposite to the one side wall. 1. A finger for a robot hand, characterized in that a thick plate-like portion is provided at the tubular body, the other end is formed into a round shape, and means for changing the curvature when the tubular body is curved by internal pressure is provided. 2. The finger for a robot hand according to claim 1, wherein the means changes the height of the peaks of the bellows structure. 3. The finger for a robot hand according to claim 1, wherein the means includes a groove formed in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the plate-like portion.