JPS6260232B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a flexible arm device used, for example, in industrial robots.

Prior Art Most of the arms used in industrial robots employ link mechanisms. This link mechanism is not suitable when the work space is narrow and there are obstacles in front. In order to overcome this drawback, an arm was constructed by connecting a large number of discs with varying thicknesses, and by rotating these discs, the arm could be bent in any direction (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58 - Publication No. 59785)
and multi-jointed arm (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 129687/1987)
is proposed.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, although the above-mentioned conventional arm can be bent in any direction, it cannot be expanded and contracted at the same time, which poses a problem when attempting to automate complex processes. Ta.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a flexible arm device that can solve the above problems.

Means for solving the problem In order to solve the above problem, 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 held by each rod-shaped body so as to be slidable in the axial direction thereof, and one end of which 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 the swinging link and the corresponding sliding body and guides the first swinging link within one space partitioned by the first plane;
A basic unit consisting of a swinging link and a second connecting link that connects the corresponding sliding body and guides the second swinging link in the other space separated by the first plane, respectively. A plurality of swinging links are connected via a spherical bearing interposed between the other ends of the swinging links, and each swinging link free end of the basic unit located at the end of the plurality of basic units and a frame. are connected to each other via driving swing links, and a spherical bearing is interposed in the connecting portion between each swing link and each drive swing link, and each drive swing link is separately swung. It is equipped with a drive device to move it.

Operation In the above configuration, if each set of the first and second swing links provided on the rod-shaped body arranged and connected in an equilateral triangle shape is swung by the drive device at the same swing angle, the flexible arm expands and contracts, and by swinging each set of the first and second swing links at different swing angles, the flexible arm bends in a predetermined direction.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 7. 1 is a flexible arm device,
A plurality of basic units 3 (two in this embodiment) forming the flexible arm 2, a first end unit 4 connected to one end of the basic unit 3, and the other end of the basic unit 3. a second end unit 5 connected to the side;
and a drive device 6 that bends the flexible arm 2 in any direction via the second end unit 5 and extends and contracts the flexible arm 2. Hereinafter, the flexible arm 2, the first end unit 4, the second end unit 5, and the drive device 6 will be explained in this order. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the flexible arm 2 is composed of a plurality of basic units 3. As shown in FIGS. This basic unit body 3 has a first plane (for example, a first plane).
Three rod-like bodies 8 are arranged in an equilateral triangular shape in a horizontal plane (in the figure), and their ends are connected to each other via a connecting member 7, and each of these rod-like bodies 8 is slidable in its axial direction. A sliding body (for example, a near bearing) 9 whose appearance is maintained, and each of the above-mentioned rod-shaped bodies 8
It is pivotally supported near one end via a connecting pin 10 (within the first plane and having an axis perpendicular to the rod-shaped body 8), and is pivoted on a second plane perpendicular to the first plane (vertical plane in FIG. 1). ), and the middle part of each first swing link 11 and the corresponding sliding body 9 are connected to connect the first swing link 11 to the first swing link 11 and the second swing link 12 which are swingable within A first connecting link 14 that guides its swinging within one space (the upper space in FIG. 1) divided by one plane, an intermediate portion of each second swinging link 12, and a sliding body corresponding thereto. 9 to guide the swinging of the second swinging link 12 in the other space (the lower space in FIG. 1) separated by the first plane.
It consists of 5. In addition, each of the above-mentioned rod-shaped bodies 8
Of course, the length of each swing link 11,
The lengths of the 12 comrades and the lengths of the respective connecting links 14 and 15 are equal, and the lengths of the respective swing links 11 and 12 and the respective connecting links 14 and 1 are equal.
5 are provided alternately on both sides of the rod-shaped body 8, and
The ends of each connecting link 14, 15 are connected to the other by a mounting pin 16 parallel to the connecting pin 10, respectively. The flexible arm 2 is constructed by connecting two of the basic units 3, and a spherical bearing 17 is used at the connecting part. A spherical bearing 17 is attached to the other end (upper end) of the swing link 11 via a mounting pin (having an axis parallel to the connecting pin 10) 18, and a spherical bearing 17 is attached to the other (for example, upper) basic unit. A holding box 19 that holds the spherical bearing 17 is attached to the other end (lower end) of the second swing link 12 of 3B. Next, the first and second end unit bodies 4, 5
I will explain about it. As shown in FIG. 1, the first end unit 4 is for connecting the flexible arm 2 and the operation part (for example, the wrist part) of the robot, and has an equilateral triangular shape like the basic unit 3. The three connecting rod-shaped bodies 20 connected to the second
It is composed of a swing link 12 and a swing link 21 for connection, and this swing link 2 for connection
1 and the basic unit 3 above the flexible arm 2
The first swing link 11 of B is also connected via the same spherical bearing 17 as described above. Also, the 6th
As shown in the figure, the second end unit 5 connects the flexible arm 2 and its drive device 6, and is one end of a drive link 22 similar to the first swing link 11 of the basic unit 3. is supported on the frame 23 via the support pin 24 in the same arrangement as the basic unit 3, and the other end is connected to the basic unit 3A below the flexible arm 2 via the same spherical bearing 17 as above. 2 swing links 12. Next, to explain the driving device, a cylinder device (for example, a hydraulic cylinder) 25 is attached to the lower surface of the pedestal 23 at a position corresponding to each driving swing link 22, and each piston rod 25a is attached to each driving swing link 22. It is connected to the middle portion of the swing link 22 via a connecting pin 26 .

Therefore, when the three cylinder devices 25 disposed on the lower surface of the pedestal 23 are operated with the same stroke amount to swing each driving swing link 22 downward, the second swing of the basic unit 3 is caused. dynamic link 1
2 follows, and the rod-shaped body 8 and this second swing link 12
At the same time as the angle (α) formed between the rod-shaped body 8 and the first swing link 11 becomes smaller, the sliding body 9 moves inward, and the angle (β) formed between the rod-shaped body 8 and the first swing link 11 also becomes smaller (of course, α=β ). Therefore, it will shrink overall. Furthermore, if the stroke amount of, for example, one of the three cylinder devices 25 is increased, the drive swing link 22 connected to that cylinder device 25 will tilt more than the other drive swing links 22. Each of the swing links 11, 12, and 21 connected to the drive swing link 22 also tilts significantly, so that the flexible arm 2 as a whole expands and contracts as well as bends in that direction. In addition, since the spherical bearings 17 are interposed at the connecting portions of the unit bodies 3, 4, and 5, the flexible arm 2 can freely tilt. Furthermore, by appropriately selecting the stroke amounts 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 of the flexible arm 2 bent in a certain direction.

In the above embodiment, the swing links 11 and 12 attached to the rod-shaped body 8 are attached near one end, but they may be attached to the center, near the other end, or at the ends. That is, the distance l in FIG. 1 can be chosen to be any value.

Effects of the Invention According to the configuration of the present invention described above, the flexible arm includes three rod-shaped bodies arranged and connected in an equilateral triangle shape, and first and second swing links that swing in opposite directions to these rod-shaped bodies. Since it is constructed by connecting a plurality of basic units consisting of can be expanded and contracted. In addition, since a spherical bearing is interposed in the connecting portion between the basic unit bodies, if each set of the first and second swing links is swung at different angles, the structure formed by each rod-shaped body can be adjusted. The first planes can be inclined with respect to each other, so that the flexible arm can be extended and contracted and also inclined in any direction.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a connecting portion of a rod-shaped body, and FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway view taken in the direction of the - arrow in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the swing link, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the connecting link, FIG. 6 is a side view of the drive device, and FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing the operation. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Flexible arm device, 2... Flexible arm, 3, 3A, 3B... Basic unit body, 5... Second end unit body, 6... Drive device, 8... Rod-shaped body, 9...
Sliding body, 11... First swing link, 12... Second swing link, 14... First connection link, 15... Second connection link, 17... Spherical bearing, 21... Swing link for connection, 22... For driving Swing link, 23... mount.

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, a sliding body held by each rod-shaped body so as to be slidable in its axial direction, and the above-mentioned First and second swing links each having one end pivotally supported by each rod-shaped body and swingable in a second plane perpendicular to the first plane; each first swing link and a corresponding sliding body; A first connecting link that connects the first connecting link to guide the first swinging link in one space partitioned by the first plane, and a first connecting link that connects each second swinging link and the corresponding sliding body. A basic unit consisting of a second connecting link that guides two swinging links in the other space separated by a first plane, and a spherical bearing interposed between the other ends of the corresponding swinging links. A plurality of swinging links are connected to each other via drive swinging links, and each swinging link free end of the basic unit located at the end of the plurality of basic units is connected to the mount via a drive swinging link, A flexible arm device, characterized in that a spherical bearing is interposed in the connecting portion between each swing link and each drive swing link, and a drive device is provided that separately swings each of the drive swing links. .