JPS6154554B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a manipulator device that has a wide working area and can provide a wide common working area when a plurality of manipulators are used.

The degree of freedom structure of the Stampford manipulator, which is conventionally considered to have an excellent degree of freedom distribution, consists of a vertical rotational degree of freedom, a horizontal rotational degree of freedom, and a link direction expansion and contraction degree of freedom, as shown in Figure 1. There is. In this figure, 1 is a fixed end of the manipulator, 2 is a rotating shaft that has rotational freedom in the vertical direction with respect to the fixed end 1, and 3 is a first arm fixed horizontally to the rotating shaft 2. , 4 is a rotating shaft having a rotational degree of freedom in the horizontal direction with respect to the first arm 3, 5 is a second arm fixed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotating shaft 4, and 6 is the rotating shaft A third arm 7, which has a degree of freedom of expansion and contraction in the axial direction of the second arm 5, is the tip of the third arm 6.

FIG. 2 is a working area diagram when the manipulators shown in FIG. 1 are used as a pair. In this figure, is a first manipulator, is a second manipulator, 8 is a work area of the first manipulator, 9 is a work area of the second manipulator, and 10 is a common work area of each of the manipulators. . Otherwise, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 indicate the same parts.

By the way, the third drawback of the above manipulator is
Although the arm 6 can extend and contract in the axial direction, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient degree of freedom in extension and contraction, and the arm 6 tends to rattle. Further, when a pair of manipulators are used, the common work area 10 becomes narrower than the work area formed by the rotation radius of one manipulator. In addition, common work area 10
Attempting to make it wider had disadvantages such as the manipulator mechanism becoming larger.

This invention was made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.The arm stroke is sufficient and there is no play, and the common working area is extremely wide when using multiple manipulators as mentioned at the beginning. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a manipulator device having a structure that allows This invention will be explained below.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an individual manipulator used in the present invention, where 11 is a fixed end of the manipulator, 12 is a rotating shaft having a rotational degree of freedom in the vertical direction at the fixed end 11, and 13 is a first arm. One end side 13a is integrally formed perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotating shaft 12, and a bearing 14 is fixed to the other end side 13b. 15 is a rotating shaft having a degree of freedom of rotation in the vertical direction of the bearing 14; 16 is the rotating shaft 1;
A second arm 17 is fixed at right angles to the axial direction of the second arm 16, a rotating shaft 17 has a degree of freedom of rotation in the horizontal direction, and a third arm 18 has one end 18a that rotates. It is integrally formed perpendicular to the axial direction of the shaft 17, and the other end side 18b is a distal end portion 1 to which a hand portion and a wrist portion (not shown) are attached.
It has become 9.

FIG. 4 is a working area diagram when the manipulators shown in FIG. 3 are used as a pair. In this figure, XI is the first manipulator, XII is the second manipulator, and 20 is each of the manipulators XI and XII.
This is a common work area for Otherwise, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3 indicate the same parts.

As shown in FIG. 6, the configuration of an embodiment of this pair of manipulator devices is such that the fixed end 11 of the first manipulator is provided with a second A rotating shaft 12' of the manipulator is provided so as to have a degree of rotational freedom in the vertical direction. A first arm 13' and second and third arms are formed on the rotating shaft in the same manner as the first manipulator.

In this way, each of the manipulators XI and XII can place their respective rotating shafts 12 on the same axis of the fixed end 11, so that the conventional manipulators
It is possible to obtain a common work area 20 having a larger area than the common work area 10 formed by. Further, the tip end 19 of the third arm 18 can take any three-dimensional position within the operating region.

Figure 5 shows an example of a manipulator used in this invention with a counterbalance attached.
Reference numeral 21 denotes a counterbalance attached to one end of the third arm 18, and the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3 indicate the same parts.

In this way, by attaching a hand and a wrist (not shown) to the tip 19 of the third arm 18 and arranging the drive device for the hand and wrist so as to act as a counterbalance 21, the third
The gravitational load on the arm 18 can be reduced. In addition, the first arm 13 and the second arm 1
6. Since the second arm 16 is composed of the third arm 18, the second arm 16
can take a sufficient stroke S.

As explained above, in the present invention, one end side of the fixed end of the manipulator is provided with a first arm having a degree of freedom of rotation in the vertical direction, and the other end side of the first arm has a degree of freedom of rotation in the vertical direction. Second
Since the second arm is provided with a third arm whose one end side has a degree of freedom of rotation in the horizontal direction, the second arm is rotated in the horizontal plane in the circumferential direction formed by the rotation of the first arm. You can take enough strokes inside. Therefore, since the direction of this stroke is in the horizontal plane, the actuator that drives the first arm is not affected by gravity at all, and the load is reduced. Furthermore, since there is no arm that operates by expanding and contracting in the axial direction of the arm, backlash is reduced and the precision of the manipulator can be improved. In addition, when two manipulators of the present invention are used as a pair, the rotation axis of the first arm can be placed on the first axis of the fixed end, so the common manipulator has a larger area than conventional manipulators. A working area is obtained, and the tip of the third arm can take any three-dimensional position within the working area.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional manipulator, Fig. 2 is a working area diagram when the manipulators shown in Fig. 1 are used as a pair, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a working area diagram of the manipulator device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example in which a counterbalance is attached to the manipulator used in the present invention. Figure 6 shows
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the manipulator device of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a fixed end, 12 and 12' are rotating shafts,
13, 13' are first arms, 14, 14' are bearings, 15, 15' are rotating shafts, 16, 16' are second arms, 17, 17' are rotating shafts, 18, 18' are third arms. The arms 19 and 19' are the tips.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A first arm having one end having a first degree of freedom of rotation in the vertical direction is provided at the fixed end, and a second arm having a degree of freedom of rotation in the vertical direction at the other end of the first arm.
A plurality of manipulators are used in which the second arm is provided with a third arm having a rotational degree of freedom in the horizontal direction on one end side, and each of the first arms of the plurality of manipulators is arranged on the same rotation axis. A manipulator device characterized by being supported by.