Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F2/00—Filters implantable into blood vessels; Prostheses, i.e. artificial substitutes or replacements for parts of the body; Appliances for connecting them with the body; Devices providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body, e.g. stents
  • A61F2/50—Prostheses not implantable in the body
  • A61F2/54—Artificial arms or hands or parts thereof
  • A61F2/58—Elbows; Wrists ; Other joints; Hands
  • A61F2/583—Hands; Wrist joints
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
  • B25J15/00—Gripping heads and other end effectors
  • B25J15/0009—Gripping heads and other end effectors comprising multi-articulated fingers, e.g. resembling a human hand
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
  • B25J9/00—Programme-controlled manipulators
  • B25J9/10—Programme-controlled manipulators characterised by positioning means for manipulator elements
  • B25J9/1075—Programme-controlled manipulators characterised by positioning means for manipulator elements with muscles or tendons
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
  • B25J9/00—Programme-controlled manipulators
  • B25J9/10—Programme-controlled manipulators characterised by positioning means for manipulator elements
  • B25J9/14—Programme-controlled manipulators characterised by positioning means for manipulator elements fluid
  • B25J9/142—Programme-controlled manipulators characterised by positioning means for manipulator elements fluid comprising inflatable bodies
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F2/00—Filters implantable into blood vessels; Prostheses, i.e. artificial substitutes or replacements for parts of the body; Appliances for connecting them with the body; Devices providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body, e.g. stents
  • A61F2/50—Prostheses not implantable in the body
  • A61F2/54—Artificial arms or hands or parts thereof
  • A61F2/58—Elbows; Wrists ; Other joints; Hands
  • A61F2/583—Hands; Wrist joints
  • A61F2/586—Fingers
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F2/00—Filters implantable into blood vessels; Prostheses, i.e. artificial substitutes or replacements for parts of the body; Appliances for connecting them with the body; Devices providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body, e.g. stents
  • A61F2/50—Prostheses not implantable in the body
  • A61F2/54—Artificial arms or hands or parts thereof
  • A61F2/58—Elbows; Wrists ; Other joints; Hands
  • A61F2/583—Hands; Wrist joints
  • A61F2/586—Fingers
  • A61F2002/587—Thumbs
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F2/00—Filters implantable into blood vessels; Prostheses, i.e. artificial substitutes or replacements for parts of the body; Appliances for connecting them with the body; Devices providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body, e.g. stents
  • A61F2/50—Prostheses not implantable in the body
  • A61F2/68—Operating or control means
  • A61F2/70—Operating or control means electrical
  • A61F2002/701—Operating or control means electrical operated by electrically controlled means, e.g. solenoids or torque motors

Definitions

• the air inlet and exhaust porting means of the air muscle may be constituted as a single combined port commonly integral with one or the other of the closure arrangements, but it may be separate from such closure arrangement, being, advantageously, a tapping at the mid-length position of the tubular chamber.
• a major virtue of the air muscle in the context of humanoid robotics, more particularly the humanoid forearm, is the ability to accommodate within the limited space available, many more actuators of air muscle form than is possible using other types of actuator, of the moving piston variety, for example. Whilst air muscles have been employed in at least one prior robotic forearm for the actuation of the hand and constituent parts thereof, the degrees of movement available in the prior art arrangement has, notwithstanding the local relatively large number of muscles employed, been quite limited in number, around twelve.
• the humanoid hand to be powered by the several air muscles in the forearm exhibited marked differences from the human hand that it purported to emulate, notably in the -4- number and local relative disposition of the digits and their phalanges.
• the number degrees of movement in the hand being severely limited, as stated, and each degree of hand movement being under the control of one or, sometimes two, individual air muscles, the number of air muscles present in the forearm and employed in the actuation of the hand and its several constituent parts was correspondingly small.
• Such robotic forearm and hand configurations are capable of closely mimicking the movements of the human hand, exhibiting, as such configurations do, all twenty-four degrees of movement observed in the hand.
• FIG.l is a pictorial diagram of the robotic forearm and hand configuration
• Fig.2 shows, in plan, a longitudinal section through part of the hand portion, the wrist joint, and certain elements of the forearm;
• Fig.3 shows a part-section taken in the plane III-III of Fig.2;
• Fig.4 shows, in plan, the hand and the wrist- simulating joint
• Fig.5 depicts a side view of a finger-simulating digit
• Fig.6 depicts an edge view of the digit of Fig.5a
• Fig.7 depicts a side view of the thumb-simulating digit
• -6- Fig.8 is a projected plan view of the digit of Fig.7;
• Fig.9 shows a detail of the digit of Figs.7 and 8.
• the robotic forearm and hand configuration comprises: a hand portion 11, a forearm portion 13, and means incorporated in said forearm 13 and operative to produce local relative angular movements in the several movable parts of the forearm and hand configuration, all as hereinafter described.
• the hand portion 11 comprises: a rigid main palm part 15a; projecting from said palm part 15a at a transversely extensive forward boundary 17 thereof, rigid first, second, and third link elements 19a, 19b, 19c, respectively; first, second and third finger-simulating digits, 21a, 21b, 21c, respectively; first and second auxiliary palm parts 15b, 15c, respectively; a rigid fourth link element 19d; a finger-simulating fourth digit 2Id; and a fifth or thumb-simulating digit.
• the link elements 19a, 19b, 19c are respectively pivotally coupled at side by side positions to the main palm part 15 at or adjacent to said forward boundary 17 in such manner as to permit angular movement of said link elements 19a, 19b, 19c, about respective pivot axes substantially normal to the main palm part 15.
• the link elements 19a, 19b, 19c have portions 23a, 23b, 23c, respectively, said portions projecting forwardly of the forward boundary 17.
• the digits 21a, 21b, 21c are respectively pivotally coupled to the link elements 19a, 19b, 19c, at axes, as 25a, extending transversely of the main palm part 15a, orthogonal to the pivot axes of the link elements, as 19a.
• the auxiliary palm part 15b is supported adjacent to a first side-boundary 27 of the main palm part 15a at bearing means 29, being bearing means permitting local relative pitch movement of the auxiliary palm part 15b about an axis X X extending transversely of the main palm part 15a.
• the fourth link element 19d is pivotally coupled to the auxiliary palm part 15b at a position adjacent to its forward boundary 31, the pivot axis being substantially normal to the plane of the link element 15b, notionally the plane of the drawing.
• the link element I9d has a portion 23d which projects forwardly of the forward auxiliary palm part boundary 31.
• the fourth digit 21d is pivotally coupled to the fourth link element 19d at a location 25d, being pivotally coupled to the link element 19d for angular displacement thereof about an axis transversely orthogonal to the pivot axis of the link element 19d and parallel to the axis X X.
• the auxiliary palm part 15c is part, the root part, of a carrier arrangement 33.
• the auxiliary palm part 15c is supported in bearings 35, defining pivot axis
• the bearings 35 being carried by the main palm part 15a at a position adjacent to a side boundary 37 thereof, being a side boundary transversely remote from the side boundary 27.
• the auxiliary palm part 15c is connected to the fifth or thumb-simulating digit 39 by a coupling part 41, the longitudinal axis L L of which is forwardly inclined at an acute angle with respect to the axis
• the coupling part 41 which has a circumferentially extending flange 41f, is supported in bearings 41b such as to be angularly displaceable about its inclined axis Y Y.
• the fifth, or thumb-simulating, digit 39 is angularly displaceable with respect to coupling part 41 about an axis normal to the axis L L, being, in the drawing, the axis at 39' normal to the plane of the drawing.
• the forearm portion 13 comprises a shaft 43 and a multiplicity of air muscles 45, being, in number, not less than the number of degrees of angular movement -9- available throughout the forearm and hand configuration.
• the shaft 43 being the radius-simulating portion of the forearm 13, has, at one end 43a, a pivotal coupling with an upper arm portion 46 at an elbow joint 47.
• the shaft 43 at its other end 43b is received within a bore 49 formed in a wrist joint-carrying stanchion 51.
• the stanchion 51 which is of square cross-section has a cylindrical transverse passage 51a therethrough.
• the wrist-simulating joint 53 includes opposed parallel plates 55a, 55b, respectively, the one 55a being integral with or constituting a portion of the main palm part 15, the other 55b being supported, at one end, by a side wall member 57 upstanding from the main palm part 15, and, at the other, by the stanchion 51, the plate 55b being fixed to the stanchion 51 with a portion of its inwardly facing surface 55b' in face to face contact with a face portion of the stanchion 51, the face of the stanchion 51 that is parallel to the stanchion face portion that is in contact with the surface 55b' being, itself, in contact with the main palm part 15.
• the plate portion 55a and the plate 55b have axially aligned apertures, 57a, 57b, respectively.
• a universal joint between the hand and forearm portions of the configuration is constituted as a double bearing arrangement 61 having first and second bearing portions 63a, 63b, respectively.
• the bearing portion 63a comprises a block 65, of square cross-section, having first, second, third and fourth passages 67a, 67b, 67c, 67d, respectively.
• the first passage 67a which extends between two opposite faces of the block 65, has a cylindrical passage portion intermediate two conical end portions.
• the second passage 67b is a threaded cylindrical passage extending from a third face of the block 65 to communicate with the passage 65a with the axis of the passage 65b orthogonal to that of the passage 65a.
• the third and fourth passages 67c, 67d are aligned with their common axis orthogonal to the axes of both the passage 65a and the passage 65b.
• the block 65 is held fixed with respect to the plates 55a, 55b, screws 69a, 69b, respectively, extending through and being under clamping pressure with, the inner races 71a, 71b, respectively, of rolling bearings 73a, 73b, respectively located each with an interference fit between the bearing outer races and respective walls of the apertures 57a, 57b.
• the other portion 63b of the double bearing comprises a double rolling bearing, the outer races of which have an interference fit with the wall of the transverse stanchion passage 51a.
• a screw 75 extends through the inner races of the double bearing 63b into the threaded passage 67b.
• the universal joint configuration 61 permits relative movement between the hand 11 and forearm 13 about the two orthogonal axes, namely the transverse axis defined by the screw 75 and the axis normal to the latter axis, being the axis extending longitudinally of the passage 67a.
• the air muscles 45 being the actuation members for inducing angular displacements between the several parts of which the configuration is composed are clustered lengthwise about the shaft 43.
• the muscles 45 are each anchored at one end to a local reference frame portion (not shown) , not necessarily being the same reference frame portion for each muscle, being a portion (not shown) incorporated in the elbow joint 47.
• the air muscles are equal in number to not less than the number of angular movements capable of being executed between the several parts of the configuration in performing the variety of movements of which the forearm, hand and the wrist joint are capable, around fifty muscles being present in the forearm for this purpose. Movement of the several elements of the configuration is effected either by a single muscle and a conventional spring or, where appropriate, by two muscles.
• Air muscles being, of course, capable of exerting tractive forces, only, either a conventional spring or a second muscle must be employed to effect return movement extending the first muscle to its full -12- length preparatory to the execution of the next full working stroke of the muscle.
• the objective of the design is to provide a configuration capable of performing substantially all of the functions of which the human hand, including, as examples, the ability to bring the thumb, forefinger and small finger together with their tips in contact.
• the hand as hereinbefore described is so capable, but as indicated, such dexterity demands the provision in the local relatively small compass of the forearm of many air muscles. Not all of these are, of course, active at any given time, but a substantial number of muscles might be so active in the performance of compound movements of the hand and wrist joint. It is important, therefore, that the muscles should present a smooth encounter with one another thereby to minimise mutual abrasion during space-seeking jostling contact therebetween.
• a feature of the muscle commonly the cause of such abrasion is the protuberance presented by the means employed to close the muscle at its ends.
• the closure means has comprised or included the common circlip, the screw-form pinion of a rack and pinion band tightening mechanism and the tail end of the clip, being liable to rise away from the -13- encircling band portion of the clip, each constituting a hazard so far as abrasive contact between muscles is concerned.
• Protuberances of the sort mentioned are not present in the latter design. Liability of failure of such muscles, as a result of abrasive contact therebetween, is very substantially reduced least.
• the limitation of prior art forearm air muscle arrangements the number of muscles that may be gathered around the radius, that is to say, is obviated. Whereas in prior arrangements around twelve muscles only could be incorporated in the forearm, muscle designs in accordance with the last mentioned co-pending Patent Application enables a full set of muscles, around forty-eight, to be employed, packed together in space-seeking jostling contact, this without subjecting the several muscles to any substantial increase in muscle failure rate under their rubbing contact.
• each digit comprising a multiplicity of phalange-simulating segments 77, three segments in the fingers, two in the thumb.
• Each segment 77 comprises two spaced parallel flat plates, as 77a, 77b, respectively, the spaced plates of contiguous segments 77 overlapping at end portions 79a, 79b, respectively, thereof and being coupled together at parallel pivot axes, as 81, orthogonal to the planes of the parallel plates 77a, 77b and intercepting said parallel plates at a position within said overlapping end portions 79a, 79b.
• tendon guide wheels are pinned to the link elements 19a to 19d, respectively.
• Tendon guide posts, as 85, are respectively outstanding from the several digits, both finger and thumb, at appropriately distributed locations thereof.
• the drawings are largely self-explanatory.
• Tendons 87 from muscles of the forearm 13 are routed by way of the passage 67a through the bearing block 65, passing around appropriate guide posts 85 and/or guide wheels, -15-
• the finger-simulating digits 21a to 21d, 41f for the thumb-simulating digit 39 to optimally selected tendon fixing positions which may be the guide post 85 positions, typically as shown, of the several relatively angularly movable parts of the hand 11, phalanges of the finger digits 21a to 2Id, the thumb- simulating digit 39, relatively amgularly movable members at the wrist-simulating joint 53, the radius- simulating member 49 and the main palm part 15, that is to say.
• the endmost and next adjacent phalanges of the digit are biassed towards the unbent state, each by a leaf spring 88, this in order to avoid employing a tendon where this is desirable.
• sensors for sensing different physical variables arising both within the configuration and in the environment with which the configuration interfaces are to be incorporated at appropriate locations of the configuration.
• Movement sensors as 89, distributed throughout the configuration at appropriate locations serve to sense relative angular movements between hand 11 with respect to the forearm 13 about the wrist joint, of the fingers 21a to 2Id with respect to one another, of the thumb 35 with respect to the main palm part 15 , of the several phalanges 77 of both the fingers and the -16- thumb-simulating digits, and of the auxiliary palm parts 15a, 15b, with respect to the main palm part 15. Spacings between parallel plates 77a, 77b, of which the phalanges 77 of the several digits are constituted, serve to accommodate sensors and associated electronics.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Orthopedic Medicine & Surgery (AREA)
• Robotics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Transplantation (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Cardiology (AREA)
• Rheumatology (AREA)
• Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
• Vascular Medicine (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Manipulator (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=9933641

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (19)

Families Citing this family (9)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 2002
  • 2002-03-25 GB GB0206974A patent/GB2386886A/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2003
  • 2003-03-24 WO PCT/GB2003/001246 patent/WO2003080297A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2003-03-24 JP JP2003578109A patent/JP2005537138A/ja active Pending
  • 2003-03-24 EP EP03712401A patent/EP1487617A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2003-03-24 AU AU2003217015A patent/AU2003217015A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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