JPS63115965A - Spherical gear - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate machining by providing the first tooth member having two kinds of tooth form portions and the second tooth member having a tooth form portion which can be engaged with one tooth form portion in the direction of a parallel. CONSTITUTION:There is provided a tooth member 6 having tooth form portions 4 engaged with each other in the direction of a longitude line and tooth form portions 5 engaged with each other in the direction of a parallel which are formed on a concentric circle with the tops of a pair of spherical surface bodies 1, 1' as the center. Further there is provided a tooth member 8 having tooth form portions 7 engaged with the tooth form portions 5 of the tooth member 6 in the direction of a parallel, which are formed at the root portions of the other spherical surface body confronting with the tooth member 6. Accordingly these tooth form portions can be respectively previously subjected to gear cutting by machining.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spherical gear that can be used for torque transmission in a flexible joint mechanism such as a wrist or arm of a robot.

Conventionally, spherical gears that can be used for torque transmission as described above are shown in Fig. 6 (al, (bl and 71m)).
(a), (bl) are known.

As shown in the figure, the spherical gear consists of a pair of first spherical bodies 21 and second spherical bodies 22 that abut each other, and a sixth spherical gear.
As shown in IiiiOfa+ and et. ．． as the negative joint member (male side). As can be seen from FIG. 6 tb+ showing its cross section, such a convex tooth 23 has a cross-sectional shape similar to that of a normal spur gear, etc., and its side surface 25 is formed, for example, into an involute curve or a curve close to this. There is.

Also, a second spherical body 2 that meshes with the male side meshing portion 241
2 side female side meshing part 241. Figure 7(a) and Mt.
As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of recessed holes 26 having the same shape are provided radially at equal pinch intervals around the center of the second spherical body 22, using the virtual spherical surface P2 as a pinch surface.

The pitch P1 of the convex teeth 23 and the edge ph of the concave holes 26 are the same so that both virtual spherical surfaces p, , p2 can roll into contact with each other cleanly, and the convex teeth 23 are aligned with the concave holes 26. The side surface 27 of the recessed hole 26 is also formed of an impoliate curve having the same shape as the corresponding convex tooth 23 or a part of a curve close to this so as to mesh and maintain smooth contact like gears.

In other words, the male side meshing part 241 and the female side meshing part 24 form gears with equal modières that mesh smoothly, as shown in FIG. , virtual spherical surfaces p, ,p correspond to the pinch surfaces of this gear. Therefore, in order to achieve smooth meshing between the male side meshing part 241 and the female side meshing part 24I like gears, the distance between the centers of the first spherical body 21 and the second spherical body 22 is set to the above-mentioned virtual spherical surface. It is set equal to the diameter of PI (P2). -Then, the convex teeth 23 and the concave holes 26 mesh together at the same time,
When one spherical body rotates, the other spherical body follows and rotates.

Problems with the Prior Art However, in the conventional spherical gear described above, it is difficult to process the recessed hole 26 of the second spherical body 22, and it is impossible to integrally mold the first spherical body 21. , assembled reconvex teeth 23, 23. . . . etc., the attachments previously drilled on the spherical surface of the first spherical body 21 are implanted into the holes by hand processing and fixed by caulking.

Therefore, there have been problems in that the processing cost is high and the reliability with respect to accuracy and the like is low.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention was devised in view of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a spherical gear that is inexpensive and highly reliable by having a structure that allows machining and assembly.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the main means adopted by the present invention is that each of a pair of spherical bodies that are in contact with each other is arranged on a concentric circle centered on the top of each spherical body. A first tooth member that is divisible and has a first tooth profile that can mesh with each other in the meridian direction and a second tooth profile that can mesh with each other in the latitude direction, and the other tooth member that faces the first tooth member. and a second separable tooth member having a third tooth profile that can mesh with the second tooth profile of the first tooth member in the latitudinal direction at the bottom of the tooth on the spherical body of the tooth member. It is a spherical gear related to points.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, examples embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention.

It should be noted that the following examples are examples embodying the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view of a spherical gear according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. A plan view as viewed from arrow C, FIG. 3 (al), (b) a perspective view of the latitude gear constituted by the second tooth member used in the spherical gear, and a plan view as seen from arrow D, FIG. 4 (ta+), (bl) 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of the first and second tooth members of the one and the other spherical gears that can mesh with each other, and FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the basic arrangement of first and second tooth members.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the spherical gear according to this embodiment has a pair of spherical bodies 1.1' that are in contact with each other. A spherical first tooth section 4 that can mesh with each other in the meridian direction (two arrow directions) on a concentric circle centered on the top, and a spherical first tooth section 4 that can mesh with each other in the meridian direction (two arrow directions);
A first tooth member 6,6. ...and the first tooth member 6
,6. A second tooth member in which a third tooth profile 7 capable of meshing with the second tooth profile 5 of the first tooth member 6 in the latitudinal direction is formed on the tooth bottom of the other spherical body facing... 8.8°...
・It is configured with the following.

Above 1. Second. The third tooth profile portions 4, 5.7 are each formed, for example, in an involute curve or a curve close to this.

Furthermore, in the spherical gear of this embodiment, the first tooth members 6, 6 . Meridian gears 9□, 9i, . . . are constructed by providing a plurality of ... over the entire circumference in the latitude direction
9C (Figure 2 Fa), (see bl) and the above 2nd
Tooth member 8.8. A latitude gear 10°, lO, which is constructed by providing a plurality of ... over the entire circumference in the latitude direction
b, 10e (see Figure 3 fan, (bl)),
As shown in FIG. 1, the spherical body 1 (
1′) are inserted into the center shaft 13 in which a latch tooth profile 12 is formed so as to be able to engage with each other in a divisible manner alternately via a rotation stopper key 14, and are supported by the center shaft 13 and the spherical table 15. It is assembled by

Note that the meridian gear 91. 9b, 9C and latitude gear 10
a, 10b, and 10c are configured such that the number of teeth increases sequentially from the top toward the meridian direction so that when assembled, each of them can form a spherical body, and the first. The tip of the second tooth member 6.8 is formed to have a predetermined radius of curvature so as to form part of a spherical surface.

The spherical gear according to one embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned spherical gear will be explained.

For example, when a pair of the spherical gears are disposed in mesh with each other, rotation and torque transmission in the meridian direction of the spherical gears are performed between the first toothed portions 4 of the first tooth members 6 of the spherical gears. The transmission of rotation and torque in the latitudinal direction is performed by meshing the second tooth section 5 of the first tooth member 6 of one spherical gear and the second tooth member 8 of the other spherical gear. This is done by meshing with the third toothed portion 7.

Therefore, in the above spherical gear, the output shaft 11 of one spherical gear is supported at a predetermined angle with respect to the output shaft 11 of the other spherical gear, and the output shaft 11 of one spherical gear is connected to the output shaft 11 of the other spherical gear. It is possible to transmit rotation and torque to the output shaft 11 of one spherical gear, and to transmit the rotation and torque of the output shaft 11 of one spherical gear to the output of the other spherical gear while swinging the other output shaft 11 in the meridian direction. It is also possible to transmit it to the shaft 11.

Since the spherical gear is configured as described above, the first tooth profile portion 4 of the first tooth member 6. The second tooth profile portion 5 and the third tooth profile portion 7 of the second tooth member 8 each have a structure in which gears can be easily cut by #R machining in advance.

In addition, in this embodiment, the first tooth member 6°6,...
- and second tooth member 8,8. . . . are meridian gears 9a, 9b, 9e and latitude gears 101, IL, 10, respectively.
．． Since the spherical gear is integrally machined, the spherical gear can be assembled in a short time with high precision.

Further, as described above, the first tooth member 6 and the second tooth member 8 are set in advance to the meridian gears 9□, . . . and the latitude gears 10□, .
...It is also possible to construct a spherical gear by implanting the first tooth member 6 and the second tooth member 8, which have been individually machined in advance, on a spherical surface without integrally processing them.

Furthermore, the number of teeth of the first tooth member 6 and the second tooth member 8 is increased, and the module is made smaller. By improving the meshing ratio of the second tooth members 6 and 8, the first. Second tooth member 6
and 8 can be omitted as appropriate.

In addition, in the spherical gear according to this embodiment, since the first tooth member 6 is formed with the first tooth profile part 4 and the second tooth profile part 5 in the meridian direction and the latitude direction, respectively, In the meridian direction of the first tooth member 6, there is a portion where there is no mesh at the tip of the tooth.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, when the first tooth members 6 are the same in the latitude direction and are arranged linearly in the meridian direction, the first tooth members 6 of the mutual spherical gears In theory, there will be a portion where no mesh exists in the meridian direction.

Therefore, as in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. The module of each latitude direction of the second tooth member 6.8 is changed in each meridian direction to change the pinch, and the number of teeth is increased toward the outer circumference so that the meshing positions are mutually shifted in the latitude direction when viewed in the meridian direction. This makes it possible to ensure a predetermined meshing ratio.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a pair of spherical bodies that are in contact with each other, each of which has a first tooth profile that can engage in the meridian direction on a concentric circle centered on the top of each spherical body, and a first tooth profile that can engage in the meridian direction. a divisible first tooth member on which a second tooth profile portion capable of interlocking is formed, and the first tooth on the bottom of the tooth on the other spherical body facing the first tooth member. Since it is a spherical gear characterized by having a second tooth member that is separable and has a third tooth profile that can mesh with the second tooth profile of the member in the latitudinal direction, machining is not required. and a structure that allows assembly. Therefore, it is possible to provide an inexpensive and highly reliable spherical gear.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cross section of the left half of a spherical gear according to an embodiment of the present invention (however, for ease of understanding, Wr
Diagonal lines representing surfaces may be omitted or shown in Figure 2+a1. (b) is a perspective view including a partial cross section of the meridian gear constituted by the first tooth member used in the spherical gear, and a plan view taken in the direction of arrow C;
Fig. 3(a) is a perspective view including a partial cross section of the latitude gear constituted by the second tooth member used in the spherical gear, and a plan view as viewed from arrow D; Fig. 4 Fal, 01) is An explanatory view showing the arrangement of the first and second tooth members of the one and the other spherical gears that can mesh with each other, FIG. 1. Explanatory diagram showing the basic arrangement of the second tooth member, Fig. 6 tag,
(bl is a front view and a sectional view taken along the arrow B-A of the conventional spherical gear, and FIG. (Explanation of symbols) 4...First tooth profile portion 5...Second tooth profile portion 6.
...First tooth member 7...Third tooth profile part 8...
Second tooth member! L+ 9h, 9c...Meridian gear 10a, lOh, 10c...Latitude gear 12...Clutch tooth profile portion. B -b) (a) groan (b)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Each of the pair of spherical bodies that abuts each other is capable of engaging with each other in the latitudinal direction with a first tooth profile that can engage with each other in the meridian direction on a concentric circle centered on the top of each of the spherical bodies. a dividable first tooth member having a second tooth profile formed thereon; and a second tooth profile of the first tooth member on the bottom of the tooth on the other spherical body facing the first tooth member. A spherical gear comprising: and a second separable tooth member formed with a third tooth profile that can mesh in the latitudinal direction.