TW201417971A - End effector module - Google Patents

Abstract

An end effector module has a palm seat extended with several finger arms, each finger arm being composed of four finger knuckles pivoted one by one, wherein the starting finger knuckle is disposed with a driving mechanism for driving the finger arm to spin; each finger knuckle uses a driving mechanism to drive the next finger knuckle to pivot and bend relative to each finger knuckle, enabling each finger arm to form of a motion module having four degrees of freedom for finely adjusting the position of the sucking device disposed on the end finger knuckle, so as to make the sucking device move in a direction normal to the sucking point selected on the surface of the object to be gripped, and approach to suck the object along the direction normal to the surface of the object to be gripped, thereby firmly gripping the object without falling off.

Description

Transient module

The invention relates to a terminal effect module, in particular to an end effector module in which each of the knuckles has a drive device to be fine-tuned to fit the surface-facing surfaces of the articles.

According to the conventional end effector structure, as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,501,498, it relies on the friction between the tip of the finger and the article to grasp the article, which is susceptible to the angle of the grip or the size of the article and the smoothness of the surface. However, there is a situation in which the gripping is not firm.

Another conventional end effector structure, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0156125, uses a combination of air pressure and a combination of a link and a spring to drive a finger to pivot, thereby forming an action of gripping an article, and this conventional The end of the knuckle of the end effector is provided with a suction device, which can absorb the articles by suction to improve the above-mentioned shortcomings of grasping the articles by friction.

However, although the finger portion of the conventional device has three sections, and similar to a human finger can be segmentally bent, and has a suction design at the end of the knuckle, it can only be bent and pivoted toward the palm of the hand like a human finger, that is, The movement pattern of each finger has only one degree of freedom, and the fine knuckle angle adjustment cannot be achieved, and the position of the suction device is difficult to move to the normal direction corresponding to the surface of the article, and then the line is selected according to the selected suction point. The direction is approaching and sucking, which has the disadvantage of poor gripping effect. In short, this conventional device is only suitable for the covering and grasping function of the special-shaped articles, and it is impossible to achieve the industrial use according to the selection of the suction point and the exact line direction.

Another conventional end effector structure, such as Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. P2010-155331A, is a specially designed suction device and a manipulator thereof, which are designed such that the suction device approaches and draws the object from the normal direction, but the robot is a fixed structure. It is not possible to pick up objects with variable shapes.

In view of this, how to solve the above problem is the primary problem to be solved by the present invention. Therefore, the inventor of the present invention finally has the invention after continuous hard thinking and trial work.

The main purpose of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide an end effector module that uses a motor driving gear provided in each knuckle to drive the entire finger arm to rotate, and also drives another set of gears to drive The next knuckle is bent so that the fingers of the present invention have multiple degrees of freedom and can be adapted to grip a variety of articles having different surface-facing surfaces.

For the purpose of the foregoing, the present invention provides an end effector module including a palm rest, and a plurality of finger arms extending from the palm rest toward the same side, each finger arm sequentially adopting a starting knuckle, a The first intermediate section, a second intermediate section and an end knuckle are pivoted one by one, wherein:
The first knuckle is configured to drive the first intermediate section to pivot and be bent relative to the starting knuckle, and the first driving mechanism can also be used to drive the first intermediate section to be associated with the The second intermediate section and the end knuckle rotate together;
The first intermediate section is provided with a second driving mechanism for driving the second intermediate section to pivot and is bent relative to the first intermediate section;
The second intermediate section is provided with a third driving mechanism for driving the end knuckle to pivot and bend relative to the second intermediate section;
Thereby, the respective finger arms respectively adjust the position of the suction device provided on the end knuckle by the relative bending of the rotation and the pivoting of each knuckle, so that the suction device moves to the surface of the clamped object A selected suction point is oriented in the normal direction and is approached in the normal direction to absorb the object.

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments illustrated herein. Of course, the invention is tolerated in certain arrangements of parts or components, but the selected embodiment is described in detail in the specification and its construction is shown in the drawings.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the end effector module of the present invention includes a palm rest 1 and a plurality of finger arms A extending from the palm rest 1 toward the same side, each finger arm A The sequence is composed of a starting knuckle 2, a first intermediate section 3, a second intermediate section 4 and an end phalanx 5, and the structure of each segment knuckle is detailed below.

The starting knuckle 2 extends from the seat 1 , the starting knuckle 2 has a housing 21 , and the housing 21 is provided with a laterally adjacent first motor 22 and a second motor 23 . A first drive shaft 221 is defined in the motor 22, and a second drive shaft 231 is defined in the second motor 23. The first drive shaft 221 is axially fixed to a drive gear 24 for direct use by the first motor 22 The driving gear 24 is driven to rotate, and the second transmission shaft 231 is pivotally connected with a driven gear 25 by a bearing 251, so that the second motor 23 does not directly drive the driven gear 25 to rotate; wherein in the embodiment, the first motor 22 and the second motor 23 are respectively connected to a reducer 26, 27 and then connected to corresponding gears 24, 25 for adjusting the rotational speed of each of the gears 24, 25 by the motor. In addition, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the driving gear 24 and the driven gear 25 mesh with each other to drive the driven gear 25 to rotate by the driving gear 24, and a fixed surface of the driven gear 25 is fixed. The first bevel gear 252 is synchronously rotatable as the driven gear 25 rotates. The second transmission shaft 231 passes through the driven gear 25 and the first bevel gear 252 to form a connecting end 2311 at the end. The connecting end 2311 defines a pivot hole 2312. In the embodiment, the pivot A bearing 2313 is provided in the hole 2312.

The first intermediate section 3 also has a housing 31. One end of the housing 31 is provided with a connecting portion 32. The connecting portion 32 is a pair of spaced apart cylinders 321 , and a pivot 33 extends transversely through the two cylinders 321 and therebetween. The gap 322 is consolidating with the connecting portion 32, and the connecting end 2311 of the second driving shaft 231 extends into the gap 322. The pivot 33 passes through the pivot hole 2312 of the connecting end 2311 and is pivotable. Rotating in 2312 and pivoting with the first intermediate section 3. One end of the pivot shaft 33 is pivotally provided with a second bevel gear 34 meshing with the first bevel gear 252. The second bevel gear 34 can be driven by the first motor 22 via the first transmission shaft 221 The drive gear 24, the driven gear 25 and the first bevel gear 252 are driven to rotate, and the pivot 33 is rotated to pivot the first intermediate section 3. In addition, in the embodiment, the pivot 33 of the connecting portion 32 of the first intermediate section 3 is pivotally connected with one end of the second bevel gear 34 by a bearing 351 to engage with the first bevel gear 252. a seven bevel gear 35 for balancing the rotational inertia of the second bevel gear 34 on the pivot 33, wherein the seventh bevel gear 35 can be driven by the first bevel gear 252 It is idling with respect to the above-mentioned pivot 33 without affecting the overall operation of the end effector. The first intermediate section 3 is provided with a third motor 36 in the housing 31. After connecting a reducer 37, a third bevel gear 38 is connected, and the housing 31 of the first intermediate section 3 is adjacent to the housing 31. A pivoting portion 39 is disposed at the third bevel gear 38 for pivoting the second intermediate portion 4 downward.

The second intermediate section 4 also has a housing 41, and a connecting portion 42 is disposed at one end thereof. The connecting portion 42 is a pair of spaced apart cylinders 421, and a lateral pivot 43 is fixed on the two cylinders 421. The pivot 43 is passed through the pivoting portion 39 of the first intermediate section 3, so that the second intermediate section 4 is pivotable relative to the first intermediate section 3, and a pivot is provided on the pivot 43 The fourth bevel gear 44 engaged by the third bevel gear 38 drives the fourth bevel gear 44 through the rotation of the third bevel gear 38 to drive the pivot 43 to rotate, thereby pivoting the second intermediate section 4. In addition, the second intermediate section 4 is provided with a fourth motor 45 in the housing 41, which is connected to a reducer 46 and then connected to a fifth bevel gear 47, and the housing 41 of the second intermediate section 4 A pivoting portion 48 is disposed adjacent to the fifth bevel gear 47 for pivoting the end knuckle 5 downward.

One end of the end knuckle 5 is provided with a connecting portion 51. The connecting portion 51 is a pair of wings 511 disposed on two sides of the end knuckle 5, and a lateral pivot 52 is fixed on the two wings 511. The shaft 52 is disposed through the pivoting portion 48 of the second intermediate portion 4 such that the end knuckle 5 is pivotable relative to the second intermediate portion 4, and the pivot 52 is provided with a fifth umbrella The sixth bevel gear 53 meshed by the gear 47 transmits the sixth bevel gear 53 through the rotation of the fifth bevel gear 47, and drives the pivot 52 to rotate, thereby pivoting the end knuckle 5. In addition, the end knuckle 5 is provided with a suction device 54 at one end of the connecting portion 51 for absorbing the surface of the object to make the grasping action stronger.

The above-mentioned components are one of the finger arms of the end effector module of the present invention. In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the end effector module has a palm 1 and a three-finger arm. A is combined and driven by the motors provided in the knuckles to respectively drive the knuckles, including the rotation of the finger arm A and the relative bending between the knuckles, which can be achieved by the following three actuation modes.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, when the first motor 22 is actuated and the second motor 23 is not actuated, the first motor 22 drives the driving gear 24 to rotate through its first transmission shaft 221, and drives the meshing mechanism thereof. The driven gear 25 causes the first bevel gear 252 disposed thereon to rotate synchronously to drive the second bevel gear 34 of the first intermediate section 3, thereby being fixed to the pivot of the first intermediate section 3 connecting portion 32. The shaft 33 pivots in the pivot hole 2312 of the connecting end 2311 of the second transmission shaft 231, thereby driving the first intermediate section 3 to pivot relative to the starting knuckle 2 to form a relative bending action. Incidentally, the bending action of the second intermediate section and the end knuckle is also used to convert the motor transmission direction by the bevel gear to generate a bending action, which will not be described in detail herein.

Secondly, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the first motor 22 is not actuated and the second motor 23 is actuated, the second transmission shaft 231 directly transmits the rotating motion to the first intermediate portion to which it is connected. a portion below section 3 (including the first intermediate section 3, the second intermediate section 4, and the end knuckle 5), such that the above portion is rotated; in addition, at the same time, the rotation of the first intermediate section 3 will drive the second The bevel gear 34 rotates on the first bevel gear 252, so that the portion below the first intermediate section 3 produces a bending action relative to the starting knuckle 2, so as a whole, the actuation mode will form an end effect. The device refers to both the rotation and bending of the arm A at the same time.

Thirdly, as shown in Fig. 7, if the finger arm A of the end effector is to be caused to rotate only, the first motor 22 and the second motor 23 must be activated simultaneously, wherein the second motor is as described in the above paragraph. The direct drive finger arm A generates the rotation, and then the speeds of the second transmission shaft 231 and the pivot shaft 33 of the first intermediate joint 3 are appropriately adjusted by the speed reducers 26 and 27 of the two motors 22 and 23, so that the speeds of the two are the same. Therefore, the rotation shape of the second bevel gear 34 can be idling without pivoting the portion below the first intermediate section 3 to be pivoted. As a whole, the actuation mode only causes the end effector to present the finger. The action of arm A rotation.

By the above three actuation modes, the finger arm of the end effector can be controlled to rotate and relatively bend, thereby forming each arm to form an action module with four degrees of freedom, and can pass through each of the three knuckles The independent motor controls the rotation of the gear, and the suction device on the end knuckle is finely adjusted to move it to a selected suction point P on the surface of the object O as shown in FIG. In the line direction N, and approaching the normal direction N and sucking the object, thereby firmly grasping the object to avoid falling; further, the actions of the respective arm A as described above have four degrees of freedom, respectively. The end effector of the invention has a combination of a plurality of gripping directions, and is suitable for gripping various objects having different surface-facing surfaces, improving the application range of the end effector and the gripping effect.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned suction device 54 includes a suction cup 541 and a line 542, and the actuation mode is a method of selecting the suction point along the surface of the object by the end effector arm A having four degrees of freedom as described above. The line direction approaches the suction point, and the line 542 controls the suction cup 541 to pick up the object. The suction device 54 has two implementations. First, the suction cup 541 of the suction device 54 is composed of an electromagnet for clamping a magnetically sensitive object. After the suction device 54 is moved to the appropriate position of the object to be gripped as described above, the current is applied to the wire 542 to cause the suction cup 541 to be magnetized, and the clamped object O is firmly sucked by the magnetic force. Secondly, the line 542 of the suction device 54 is a duct, and the air duct can blow and suck air, so that the suction cup 541 generates a suction force to the clamped object O, wherein when the air duct takes in air, the air duct can make The air pressure in the suction cup 541 is lowered to generate an adsorption force for the object O to be gripped; and the suction device 54 can also apply the Bernoulli's Law, when the air duct blows air from the object O, The speed at which the air flows through the respective surfaces of the gripped object O is different, thereby causing a pressure difference to generate a force for pushing the gripped object O toward the suction cup 541, so that the suction cup 541 adsorbs the gripped object O.

The above description of the embodiments is intended to be illustrative of the invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. From the above detailed description, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can achieve the foregoing objects and is in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Law.

1. . . Sitting

2. . . Starting knuckle

twenty one. . . case

twenty two. . . First motor

221. . . First drive shaft

twenty three. . . Second motor

231. . . Second drive shaft

2311. . . Connection end

2312. . . Pivot hole

2313. . . Bearing

twenty four. . . Drive gear

25. . . Passive gear

251. . . Bearing

252. . . First bevel gear

26, 27. . . Reducer

3. . . First intermediate section

31. . . case

32. . . Connection

321. . . Cylinder

322. . . Void

33. . . Pivot

34. . . Second bevel gear

35. . . Seventh bevel gear

351. . . Bearing

36. . . Third motor

37. . . Reducer

38. . . Third bevel gear

39. . . Pivot

4. . . Second intermediate section

41. . . case

42. . . Connection

421. . . Cylinder

43. . . Pivot

44. . . Fourth bevel gear

45. . . Fourth motor

46. . . Reducer

47. . . Fifth bevel gear

48. . . Pivot

5. . . End knuckle

51. . . Connection

511. . . Wing

52. . . Pivot

53. . . Sixth bevel gear

54. . . Suction device

541. . . Suction cup

542. . . line

A. . . Finger arm

N. . . Normal direction

O. . . Caught

P. . . Draw point

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the present invention

Figure 2 is a perspective exploded view of the finger arm of the present invention

Figure 3 is a partial enlarged view of the first knuckle and the first intermediate section of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic view showing the action state of the control knuckle bending according to the present invention.

5 and 6 are schematic views showing the action state of controlling the knuckle at the same time of rotation and bending according to the present invention.

Figure 7 is a schematic view showing the action state of controlling the rotation of the phalanx according to the present invention.

Figure 8 is a schematic view showing the state of use of the gripping articles of the present invention.

1. . . Sitting

2. . . Starting knuckle

2311. . . Connection end

twenty four. . . Drive gear

25. . . Passive gear

252. . . First bevel gear

3. . . First intermediate section

321. . . Cylinder

33. . . Pivot

34. . . Second bevel gear

35. . . Seventh bevel gear

38. . . Third bevel gear

39. . . Pivot

4. . . Second intermediate section

421. . . Cylinder

43. . . Pivot

44. . . Fourth bevel gear

47. . . Fifth bevel gear

48. . . Pivot

5. . . End knuckle

511. . . Wing

52. . . Pivot

53. . . Sixth bevel gear

54. . . Suction device

541. . . Suction cup

542. . . line

A. . . Finger arm

Claims (11)

An end effector module includes a palm rest, and a plurality of finger arms are extended from the palm seat toward the same side, and each finger arm sequentially has an initial knuckle, a first intermediate section, and a second middle The section and the one end knuckle are pivoted one by one, wherein:
The first knuckle is configured to drive the first intermediate section to pivot and be bent relative to the starting knuckle, and the first driving mechanism can also be used to drive the first intermediate section to be associated with the The second intermediate section and the end knuckle rotate together;
The first intermediate section is provided with a second driving mechanism for driving the second intermediate section to pivot and is bent relative to the first intermediate section;
The second intermediate section is provided with a third driving mechanism for driving the end knuckle to pivot and bend relative to the second intermediate section;
Thereby, the respective finger arms respectively adjust the position of the suction device provided on the end knuckle by the relative bending of the rotation and the pivoting of each knuckle, so that the suction device moves to the surface of the clamped object A selected suction point is oriented in the normal direction and is approached in the normal direction to absorb the object. The end effector module according to claim 1, wherein the suction device comprises a suction cup, which is composed of an electromagnet, and the current is supplied to the suction cup to generate a magnetic force for the object to be gripped. The end effector module of claim 1, wherein the suction device has a suction cup and a duct, and the air duct can blow and suck air for the suction cup to generate suction force on the gripped object. . The end effector module of claim 1, wherein the first driving mechanism comprises a first motor and a second motor disposed on the starting knuckle, the first motor extending a first a second drive shaft, wherein the second drive shaft is axially fixed to a drive gear, and the second drive shaft is pivotally coupled to a drive gear by a bearing, and the drive gear is coupled to the drive shaft The driven gears are meshed with each other, and the first gear shaft is fixed to the driven gear, and the second transmission shaft passes through the driven gear and the first bevel gear to form a connecting end, and a pivot hole is disposed on the connecting end One end of the first intermediate section is provided with a connecting portion, and a pivot is laterally fixed to the connecting portion, and the pivot shaft passes through the pivot hole of the second transmission shaft to be rotatable in the pivot hole, and the belt The first intermediate portion pivots, and one end of the pivot pivotally defines a second bevel gear that meshes with the first bevel gear, and the second bevel gear can be driven by the first motor, first Transmission of drive shaft, drive gear, driven gear and first bevel gear Rotate and drive the pivoting of the first pivot intermediate section. The end effector module of claim 4, wherein the pivot of the connecting portion of the first intermediate portion is passed through a pivot hole of the connecting end of the second transmission shaft with a bearing. The end effector module of claim 4, wherein the pivot portion of the connecting portion of the first intermediate portion is pivotally connected to the first end of the second bevel gear with a bearing and the first The bevel gear meshes with the seventh bevel gear, and the seventh bevel gear can be idly rotated relative to the pivot shaft by the first bevel gear. The end effector module of claim 4, wherein the first motor and the second motor are each connected to a reducer and then connected to a corresponding gear. The end effector module of claim 1, wherein the second driving mechanism includes a third motor disposed in the first intermediate section, and a third bevel gear is coupled thereto, and the first An intermediate portion is provided with a pivoting portion near the third bevel gear; and one end of the second intermediate portion is provided with a connecting portion, which is fixed with a lateral pivot, and the pivot of the second intermediate portion is passed through a pivoting portion of the first intermediate portion, and a fourth bevel gear meshing with the third bevel gear is disposed on the pivot shaft, and the fourth bevel gear is driven by the rotation of the third bevel gear. The pivoting of the second intermediate section is driven to pivot the second intermediate section. The end effector module of claim 8, wherein the third motor is coupled to a reducer and then coupled to the third bevel gear. The end effector module of claim 1, wherein the third driving mechanism comprises a fourth motor disposed in the second intermediate section, and a fifth bevel gear is coupled thereto, and the first The second intermediate portion is provided with a pivoting portion near the fifth bevel gear; and one end of the end knuckle is provided with a connecting portion, and the connecting portion is fixed with a lateral pivot, and the pivot of the end knuckle is worn Passing through the pivoting portion of the second intermediate portion, and the pivot shaft is provided with a sixth bevel gear that meshes with the fifth bevel gear, and the sixth bevel gear is driven by the rotation of the fifth bevel gear. The pivoting of the end phalanx is driven to pivot the end knuckle. The end effector module of claim 10, wherein the fourth motor is coupled to a reducer and then coupled to the fifth bevel gear.