CN103786167A - Pneumatic plane bending flexible joint - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses an aerodynamic planar bending flexible joint, which comprises a constraint element, a joint skeleton, an air bag, an upper end cover, a lower end cover, an upper end cap, a lower end cap, and a fluid inlet; Constraining elements, the plurality of constraining elements are coaxially arranged in series to form a columnar structure, and three axially parallel tubular cavities are formed inside the columnar structure, and the axis of one of the three tubular cavities is aligned with the axis of the columnar structure The two tubular cavities other than the first tubular cavity are called the second tubular cavity, and the airbag is set in the second tubular cavity, and the two ends of the airbag are respectively connected with the upper head and the lower head , with a fluid inlet on the lower head. The driving device of the joint of the present invention is combined with the joint body to form an integrated structure, which is equivalent to two pneumatic artificial muscles connected in parallel, with one degree of freedom and one degree of mobility, and can realize active bending and axial bending of the bionic joint in two directions on the plane. elongation and other functions.

Description

Pneumatic planar bending flexible joint

technical field

The invention relates to a flexible joint for robot limbs, in particular to an aerodynamic planar bending flexible joint.

Background technique

At present, robot technology is widely used in the fields of industry, military, medical and service, and has become one of the important strategic support technologies of all countries in the world. As the key technology and core components of the robot, the structure, drive, motion performance and control methods of various active joints will determine the overall level of the robot. In the field of terrestrial, aquatic and humanoid robots, the flexible joints of limbs play an important role in solving the adaptability of flexible motion and grasping objects. Therefore, in-depth research on flexible joints has been carried out at home and abroad for many years and gratifying results have been achieved. The main contents of the research are the realization of joint drive devices, drive materials and joint flexible structures. Among them, the joint drive structure and control method are the research focus, and the drive material is the research difficulty.

The flexible joints that have been developed at home and abroad mainly include servo motor drive, hydraulic drive, cylinder drive, conductive polymer, electric drive and artificial muscle drive. Among them, the flexible joints driven by servo motors, hydraulic pressure and cylinders are basically mature in technology and widely used, but they are large in size and the degree of joint flexibility is limited; while conductive polymers and electric drives have small strokes and are mainly used in micro Dynamic joints; Pneumatic artificial muscle drives have good comprehensive flexibility and have been developed rapidly in recent years, but they have strong nonlinearity. The above driving devices must be used in conjunction with the mechanical structure in the application process, which is large in size and difficult to miniaturize. The motion track of the joint is determined by the mechanical structure and has poor flexibility.

Therefore, the existing artificial joints cannot fully meet the special needs in the fields of handling industrial products with large changes in form, underwater bionics, and special robots. It is necessary to continue to develop highly flexible joints.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, and provide an aerodynamic planar bending flexible joint for robot limbs.

An aerodynamic planar bending flexible joint of the present invention includes constraining elements, a joint skeleton, an air bag, an upper end cover, a lower end cover, an upper end cap, a lower end cap, and a fluid inlet, and several constraints are arranged between the upper end cap and the lower end cap The plurality of constraining elements are coaxially arranged closely in series to form a columnar structure, and three axially parallel tubular cavities are formed inside the columnar structure, and the axis of one tubular cavity in the three tubular cavities is in line with the columnar structure. The axis of the structure coincides, which is called the first tubular cavity, and the joint skeleton is set in the first tubular cavity, and the two ends of the joint skeleton are fixedly connected with the upper end cover and the lower end cover respectively; the structural dimensions of the two tubular cavities other than the first tubular cavity It is exactly the same, symmetrically distributed about the axis of tubular cavity 1, called tubular cavity 2, and an air bag is arranged in tubular cavity 2, and the two ends of the air bag are respectively connected with the upper head and the lower head to form a sealed cavity; the upper seal The head and the lower head are fixedly connected with the upper end cover and the lower end cover as a whole, and a fluid inlet is arranged on the lower end cover.

The constraining element is sheet-shaped, and the shape of the constraining element is a circle or a regular polygon. The hollow part of the constraining element is three circular holes, which are the local structures of the tubular cavity in different constraining elements. The diameter of the constraining element is equal to the The diameter of the tubular cavity.

The joint skeleton is a flexible shaft or an axially telescopic sleeve.

The flexible shaft is a cylindrical helical spring or a rubber shaft; the axially telescopic shaft sleeve is composed of a sleeve and an optical shaft, and the sleeve and the optical shaft are in clearance fit.

The lower head is provided with a fluid inlet to fill the pressure fluid. When the pressure of the fluid increases, the sealing cavity expands and pushes the restraint element to move to increase the active deformation of the joint. When the pressure of the fluid decreases, the rubber airbag recovers. , the joint deformation decreases, and the deformation is related to the form of the skeleton and the pressure-through state; when the skeleton is a flexible shaft and the ventilation pressure of the two airbags is different, the joint will undergo multidirectional active bending and elongation compound deformation in space, and the bending direction and deformation degree It is jointly determined by the fluid medium pressure and the number of pressurized airbags. When the ventilation pressure of the two airbags is the same or the position of the symmetrical airbags is the same, the joint will actively elongate, and the degree of deformation is jointly determined by the fluid medium pressure and the number of pressurized airbags; when the skeleton is Axially retractable sleeve, the joint only actively elongates when the airbag is ventilated, and the degree of deformation is determined by the pressure of the fluid medium and the number of pressurized airbags; the filling fluid can be a non-corrosive and non-toxic medium, such as compressed air , water, etc.

The invention has the advantages of small joint size and flexible movement, the drive device of the joint is combined with the joint body, which is equivalent to two pneumatic artificial muscles connected in parallel, with 1 degree of freedom and 1 degree of mobility, and can realize the bionic joint in two planes. Active bending and axial elongation in one direction and other functions; this joint is a flexible joint driven by fluid, and can be controlled by a proportional valve and two reversing valves. The method is simple and easy to realize; two proportional valves can also be used directly At this time, the joint has two degrees of freedom and the action is more flexible; as an action actuator, because its structure is mainly a composite elastic body, it has better adaptability and certain The cushioning effect can be used on the joints of bionic manipulator fingers, robot fish tails and fins, etc. It is especially suitable for grasping or handling fragile, fragile and irregular-shaped objects, and has good application value and market prospects.

Description of drawings

Below in conjunction with accompanying drawing and specific embodiment the present invention will be described in further detail:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an explosion of an aerodynamic planar bending flexible joint of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the axial side of the pneumatic planar bending flexible joint of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the flexible shaft skeleton of the pneumatic planar bending flexible joint of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the skeleton of the axially telescopic sleeve of the pneumatic planar bending flexible joint of the present invention.

In the figure 1. Upper head; 2. Upper end cover; 3. Joint skeleton; 3-1. Sleeve; 3-2. Optical axis; 4. Constraint element; 5. Air bag; 6. Lower end cover; 8. Fluid inlet.

Detailed ways

Example:

The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific examples.

The pneumatic planar flexible joint of the present invention is composed of an upper end cover 1, an upper end cover 2, a joint skeleton 3, a constraint element 4, an air bag 5, a lower end cover 6, a lower end cover 7 and a fluid inlet 8; the upper end cover 1 and the lower end cover 6 They are respectively located at both ends of the pneumatic planar flexible joint. In the middle of the pneumatic planar flexible joint are 20 constraining elements 4 coaxial close-packed and connected in series. The axis of a tubular cavity in the cavity coincides with the axis of the columnar structure, which is called tubular cavity 1, and joint skeleton 3 is arranged in tubular cavity 1 (accompanying drawing 3 is an example of a flexible shaft skeleton, and accompanying drawing 4 is axially adjustable. Telescopic sleeve skeleton example), the two ends of the joint skeleton 3 are fixedly connected with the upper end cover 2 and the lower end cover 6 respectively; except for the tubular cavity 1, the other two tubular cavities have the same structural size and are symmetrical about the axis of the tubular cavity 1 distribution, called the second tubular cavity, in which a rubber airbag 5 is set, and the two ends of the rubber airbag are respectively connected with the upper head 1 and the lower head 7 to form a sealed cavity; the upper head 1 and the lower head 7 is fixedly connected with the upper end cover 2 and the lower end cover 6 as a whole, and the lower end cover 7 is provided with a fluid inlet, and the upper end cover 2 and the lower end cover 6 can be assembled with the robot body by threaded connection.

Claims (4)

1. the bending flexible joint of Pneumatic plane, it is characterized in that: comprise confinement element, joint skeleton, air bag, upper end cover, bottom end cover, upper cover, low head, fluid intake, between upper end cover and bottom end cover, be provided with several confinement elements, described several confinement elements coaxially connect solid matter form column structure, at 3 tubular cavities that axis is parallel of the inner formation of column structure, the axis of a tubular cavity and the dead in line of described column structure in described 3 tubular cavities, be called tubular cavity one, in tubular cavity one, joint skeleton is set, joint skeleton two ends respectively with upper end cover, bottom end cover is fixedly connected with, 2 tubular cavity physical dimensions except tubular cavity one are identical, axis about tubular cavity one is symmetrical, is called tubular cavity two, in tubular cavity two, air bag is set, balloon ends is connected with upper cover, low head respectively, forms seal chamber, upper cover, low head are fixedly connected with integral with upper end cover, bottom end cover, be provided with fluid intake on low head.

2. the bending flexible joint of a kind of Pneumatic plane according to claim 1, it is characterized in that: described confinement element is sheet, the profile of confinement element is circle or regular polygon, the openwork part of confinement element is 3 circular holes, be the partial structurtes of described tubular cavity at different confinement elements, the diameter of confinement element equals the diameter of described tubular cavity.

3. the bending flexible joint of a kind of Pneumatic plane according to claim 1, is characterized in that: described joint skeleton is flexible shaft or axial scalable axle sleeve.

4. the bending flexible joint of a kind of Pneumatic plane according to claim 3, is characterized in that: described flexible shaft is cylindrically coiled spring or rubber axis; Axial scalable axle sleeve is made up of sleeve and optical axis, sleeve and optical axis matched in clearance.

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