JP7596751B2 - Exterior structure for robots - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an exterior structure for a robot.

For example, a robot is known that has an exterior that covers the outside of the skeleton including the joints, and the exterior has a soft part that covers the outside of the joints and flexibly deforms in response to the movement of the joints, and a hard part that is adjacent to the soft part and covers everything except the joints (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2019-171566 A

In the above robot, the deformation of the soft parts does not adequately follow the movement of the joints, and there is a risk of wrinkles forming in the soft parts.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and its main objective is to provide an exterior structure for a robot that allows the deformation of the soft parts to adequately follow the movement of the joints and neatly maintain the silhouette of the soft parts.

In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention is to
The robot has an exterior that covers an outside of a skeleton having joints,
The exterior is
A soft part that covers the outside of the joint and flexibly deforms in response to the movement of the joint;
A hard portion is provided adjacent to the soft portion and covers the portion other than the joint portion;
At least one of a first elastic member having one end connected to the hard portion and the other end in contact with the soft portion, and a second elastic member provided on the soft portion along the shape of the soft portion;
The exterior structure for a robot is provided with the above structure.

The present invention provides an exterior structure for a robot that allows the deformation of the soft parts to adequately follow the movement of the joints and neatly maintains the silhouette of the soft parts.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the skeleton of a robot. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the exterior of the robot. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of the hip joint soft part. FIG. 13 is a view showing a first elastic member provided on an exterior of the hip joint. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the knee joint. FIG. 6 is a top view of the knee joint shown in FIG. 5 .

EMBODIMENT 1
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the skeleton of a robot. A robot 10 according to this embodiment is configured as an articulated robot including, for example, a head 11, a body 12, arms 13, legs 14, etc.

The arm 13 has a shoulder joint 131 that can rotate around three axes, an elbow joint 132 that can rotate around one axis, and a wrist joint 133 that can rotate around two axes. The shoulder joint 131, elbow joint 132, and wrist joint 133 are connected by a frame or the like. A gripping part 134 consisting of multiple fingers is provided at the tip of the arm 13.

The shoulder joint 131, elbow joint 132, and wrist joint 133 are each provided with an actuator such as a servo motor and a reducer. Each actuator rotates the shoulder joint 131, elbow joint 132, and wrist joint 133 via a reducer in response to a control signal from the control device. This allows the arm 13 of the robot 10 to perform any desired movement, such as a hand waving motion or a grasping motion.

The leg 14 has a hip joint 141 that can rotate around three axes, a knee joint 142 that can rotate around one axis, and an ankle joint 143 that can rotate around two axes. The hip joint 141, knee joint 142, and ankle joint 143 are connected by a frame or the like.

The hip joint 141, knee joint 142, and ankle joint 143 are each provided with an actuator such as a servo motor and a reduction gear. Each actuator rotates the hip joint 141, knee joint 142, and ankle joint 143 via a reduction gear in response to a control signal from the control device. This allows the legs 14 of the robot 10 to perform any movement, such as walking.

The configuration of the robot 10 described above is merely an example and is not limiting. The robot 10 according to this embodiment can be applied to any multi-joint robot.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing the exterior of the robot. The robot exterior structure 1 according to this embodiment has an exterior 2 that covers the outside of the skeleton of the multi-jointed robot 10 as described above. The exterior 2 has a soft part 21 that flexibly deforms and a hard part 22 that is provided adjacent to the soft part 21.

The soft part 21 is connected to the hard part 22, for example, by pins or adhesive. The soft part 21 mainly covers the outside of each joint, and flexibly deforms in response to the movement of each joint. This allows each joint to move smoothly within its range of motion.

The soft part 21 has, for example, a hip joint soft part 211 that covers the hip joint 141, a knee joint soft part 212 that covers the knee joint 142, a shoulder joint soft part 213 that covers the shoulder joint 131, and a neck soft part 214 that covers the upper side of the tibia and the lower side of the knee joint.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a part of the hip joint soft part (the frame part in Figure 2). The soft part 21 is made of a flexible material such as urethane, polyester, or rubber. The soft part 21 may have Y-shaped or cross-shaped slits or holes so that it can easily follow deformations in three dimensions. The slits or holes are formed, for example, evenly in the soft part 21. If the soft part 21 is made of a material that has sufficient flexibility and restoring force, it is not necessary to form the above-mentioned slits or holes in the soft part 21.

The hard part 22 is provided adjacent to the soft part 21, and mainly covers parts other than the joints. The hard part 22 is provided in a location that does not affect the range of motion of each joint. The hard part 22 is fixed to the skeleton of the robot 10. The hard part 22 is made of plastic or thin metal that has sufficient rigidity to maintain the aesthetic appearance of the robot 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hard portion 22 has a torso hard portion 221 that covers the skeleton of the torso portion 12, a below-knee hard portion 222 that covers the skeleton below the knee, and a neck hard portion 223 that covers the underside of the tibia.

A pair of shoulder joint soft parts 213 are connected to both the left and right ends of the upper side of the hard body part 221. In response to the rotational movement of the shoulder joint 131 around three axes, the shoulder joint soft part 213 flexibly deforms to ensure the range of motion of the shoulder joint 131, while the shoulder joint soft part 213 and the hard body part 221 maintain the design appearance of the area near the shoulders.

The upper end of the hip joint soft part 211 is connected to the lower end of the hard body part 221. In response to the rotational movement of the hip joint 141 around three axes, the hip joint soft part 211 flexibly deforms to ensure the range of motion of the hip joint 141, while the hip joint soft part 211 and hard body part 221 maintain the design appearance of the area near the hip joint.

The lower end of the knee joint soft part 212 is connected to the upper end of the below-knee hard part 222. In response to the rotational movement of the knee joint 142 around one axis, the knee joint soft part 212 flexibly deforms to ensure the range of motion of the knee joint 142, while the knee joint soft part 212 and the below-knee hard part 222 maintain the design appearance of the area near the knee joint.

As described above, only the parts that affect the range of motion of each joint are covered with the soft part 21, and the soft part 21 is flexibly deformed according to the movement of each joint, thereby ensuring the range of motion of each joint, while the other parts that do not affect the range of motion of each joint are covered with the hard part 22, thereby maintaining the aesthetic appearance of the robot as a whole.

However, conventionally, for example, soft parts that cover joints such as hip joints, which have many movable axes, deform in complex ways and are difficult to restore to their original shape. The deformation of the soft parts does not adequately follow the movement of the joints, and there is a risk of wrinkles forming in the soft parts.

In contrast, the exterior structure for a robot 1 according to this embodiment includes a first elastic member having one end connected to the hard portion 22 and the other end abutting the soft portion 21. Even if the soft portion 21 is deformed in a complex manner and is difficult to restore to its original shape, the other end of the first elastic member can abut against the soft portion 21 and restore it to its original shape. In other words, the deformation of the soft portion 21 can adequately follow the movement of the joint, and the silhouette of the soft portion 21 can be neatly maintained.

Figure 4 shows the first elastic member provided on the exterior of the hip joint. The first elastic member 23 is a plate-shaped member of a predetermined length. The first elastic member 23 may be a rod-shaped member. The first elastic member 23 is made of an elastic material such as metal, rubber, or synthetic resin. The elastic coefficient of the first elastic member 23 is set so that it can sufficiently follow the deformation of the soft portion 21.

One end of the first elastic member 23 is connected to the inside of the lower end of the hard torso part 221. The other end of the first elastic member 23 abuts against the inside of the hip joint soft part 211. In this way, one end of the first elastic member 23 is fixed to the hard torso part 221, and the other end is only in contact with the hip joint soft part 211. As a result, in response to the movement of the hip joint 141, the hip joint soft part 211 flexibly deforms and then returns to its original shape due to the contact force of the first elastic member 23. In this way, the first elastic member 23 has the function of smoothing out wrinkles in the soft part 21.

A configuration may be adopted in which a plurality of first elastic members 23 are provided between the soft portion 21 and the hard portion 22. Note that FIG. 4 above shows the left hip joint. As shown in FIG. 4, one end of the first elastic member 23 is connected to the left side of the torso hard portion 221, and the other end abuts against the left side of the hip joint soft portion 211.

The first elastic member 23 is provided on the right hip joint 141 as well as on the left hip joint 141. That is, one end of the first elastic member 23 is connected to the right side of the hard body part 221, and the other end abuts on the right side of the hip joint soft part 211. In this way, it is preferable to provide the first elastic member 23 in correspondence with the part of the soft part 21 that deforms in a complex manner.

The robot exterior structure 1 according to this embodiment may further include a stretchable outer skin that covers the outside of the exterior 2. The outer skin is made of, for example, synthetic fibers such as polyester fibers. Since the outer skin is stretchable, it does not affect the movement of the joints, and furthermore, it can completely cover and hide the seams of the exterior 2, thereby further enhancing the aesthetic appearance of the design of the robot 10.

EMBODIMENT 2
Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the knee joint. Fig. 6 is a top view of the knee joint shown in Fig. 5. The robot exterior structure 1 according to the second embodiment may further include a second elastic member 24 provided on the knee joint soft part 212 along the shape of the knee joint soft part 212. In this way, even if the knee joint soft part 212 deforms in a complex manner and is difficult to restore to its original shape, the second elastic member 24 can restore the knee joint soft part 212 to its original shape.

The second elastic member 24 is a plate-shaped member. The second elastic member 24 may be a rod-shaped member. The second elastic member 24 is formed in a roughly C-shape to fit the shape of the knee joint soft part 212. The second elastic member 24 is connected to the knee joint soft part 212 with an adhesive or the like. The elastic coefficient of the second elastic member 24 is set so that it can adequately follow the deformation of the knee joint soft part 212.

5 is an enlarged view of the left knee joint. The second elastic member 24 is provided on the right knee joint soft part 212 as well as on the left knee joint soft part 212.
In the above embodiment, at least one of the first elastic member 23 and the second elastic member 24 may be provided.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the claims.

1 Exterior structure for robot, 2 Exterior, 10 Robot, 11 Head, 12 Torso, 13 Arm, 14 Leg, 21 Soft part, 22 Hard part, 23 First elastic member, 24 Second elastic member, 131 Shoulder joint, 132 Elbow joint, 133 Wrist joint, 134 Grip, 141 Hip joint, 142 Knee joint, 143 Ankle joint, 211 Hip joint soft part, 212 Knee joint soft part, 213 Shoulder joint soft part, 214 Neck soft part, 221 Torso hard part, 222 Knee lower hard part, 223 Neck hard part

Claims (2)

The robot has an exterior that covers an outside of a skeleton having joints,
The exterior is
A soft part that covers the outside of the joint and flexibly deforms in response to the movement of the joint;
A hard portion is provided adjacent to the soft portion and covers the portion other than the joint portion;
a first elastic member, one end of which is connected to an inner side of a lower end of a hard part that covers a skeleton of a torso part of the robot, and the other end of which abuts against an inner side of a soft part that covers a hip joint of the robot;
An exterior structure for a robot comprising: The exterior structure for a robot according to claim 1,
The exterior structure for a robot further comprises a second elastic member connected to a soft portion covering a knee joint of the robot along the shape of the soft portion .

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