TORQUE SENSOR
First Claim
1. A torque sensor for detecting torque about a predetermined rotation axis (Z), comprising:
- an annular deformation body (30;
30A) made of a material that produces elastic deformation due to exertion of torque to be detected, having a through-opening portion (H30) through which the rotation axis (Z) is inserted;
a left side support body (10) disposed at a position adjacent to a left side of the annular deformation body (30;
30A), when viewed in such a reference observation direction that the rotation axis (Z) creates a horizontal line extending left and right;
a right side support body (20) disposed at a position adjacent to a right side of the annular deformation body (30;
30A), when viewed in the reference observation direction;
a left side connection member (11, 12) for connecting a left side connection point (P11, P12) on a left-hand side surface of the annular deformation body (30;
30A) to the left side support body (10);
a right side connection member (21, 22) for connecting a right side connection point (P21, P22) on a right-hand side surface of the annular deformation body (30;
30A) to the right side support body (20);
a displacement electrode (E31 to E34;
E31A to E34A;
E31L to E34L) fixed to an inner peripheral surface or an outer peripheral surface of the annular deformation body (30;
30A), for producing displacement caused by elastic deformation of the annular deformation body (30;
30A);
a fixed electrode (E21 to E24;
E21A to E24A;
E21S to E24S;
E24B) disposed at a position opposed to the displacement electrode (E31 to E34;
E31A to E34A;
E31L to E34L), fixed to the left side support body (10) or the right side support body (20); and
a detector circuit (41 to 43, 51 to 55) for outputting an electrical signal indicating torque about the rotation axis (Z) exerted on one of the right side support body (10) and the left side support body (20) with the other loaded, based on an amount of fluctuation in capacitance value of a capacitive element (C1 to C4;
C4A, C4B;
C1-1 to C4-2) composed of the displacement electrode (E31 to E34;
E31A to E34A;
E31L to E34L) and the fixed electrode (E21 to E24;
E21A to E24A;
E21S to E24S;
E24B), whereinan orthogonal projection image of the left side connection point (P11, P12) and an orthogonal projection image of the right side connection point (P21, P22) with respect to a plane of projection orthogonal to the rotation axis (Z) are formed at different positions.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A small, high-stiffness torque sensor. An annular deformable body is disposed between left and right side supports. Convex sections protruding from the left side support in a rightward direction are joined to the left side surface of the annular deformable body, and convex sections protruding from the right side support in a leftward direction are joined to the right side surface of the annular deformable body. When force is applied to the right side support and torque around the Z axis acts on the left side support, the annular deformable body is elliptically deformed and the long-axis position of the inner peripheral surface of the annular deformable body moves away from the Z axis while the short-axis position moves closer to the Z axis. The acting torque is detected as a variation in the capacitance value of capacitive elements formed by displacement electrodes and fixed electrodes.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A torque sensor for detecting torque about a predetermined rotation axis (Z), comprising:
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an annular deformation body (30;
30A) made of a material that produces elastic deformation due to exertion of torque to be detected, having a through-opening portion (H30) through which the rotation axis (Z) is inserted;a left side support body (10) disposed at a position adjacent to a left side of the annular deformation body (30;
30A), when viewed in such a reference observation direction that the rotation axis (Z) creates a horizontal line extending left and right;a right side support body (20) disposed at a position adjacent to a right side of the annular deformation body (30;
30A), when viewed in the reference observation direction;a left side connection member (11, 12) for connecting a left side connection point (P11, P12) on a left-hand side surface of the annular deformation body (30;
30A) to the left side support body (10);a right side connection member (21, 22) for connecting a right side connection point (P21, P22) on a right-hand side surface of the annular deformation body (30;
30A) to the right side support body (20);a displacement electrode (E31 to E34;
E31A to E34A;
E31L to E34L) fixed to an inner peripheral surface or an outer peripheral surface of the annular deformation body (30;
30A), for producing displacement caused by elastic deformation of the annular deformation body (30;
30A);a fixed electrode (E21 to E24;
E21A to E24A;
E21S to E24S;
E24B) disposed at a position opposed to the displacement electrode (E31 to E34;
E31A to E34A;
E31L to E34L), fixed to the left side support body (10) or the right side support body (20); anda detector circuit (41 to 43, 51 to 55) for outputting an electrical signal indicating torque about the rotation axis (Z) exerted on one of the right side support body (10) and the left side support body (20) with the other loaded, based on an amount of fluctuation in capacitance value of a capacitive element (C1 to C4;
C4A, C4B;
C1-1 to C4-2) composed of the displacement electrode (E31 to E34;
E31A to E34A;
E31L to E34L) and the fixed electrode (E21 to E24;
E21A to E24A;
E21S to E24S;
E24B), whereinan orthogonal projection image of the left side connection point (P11, P12) and an orthogonal projection image of the right side connection point (P21, P22) with respect to a plane of projection orthogonal to the rotation axis (Z) are formed at different positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 30)
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22. A torque sensor for detecting torque about a predetermined rotation axis (Z), comprising:
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an outer annular deformation body (80) made of a material that produces elastic deformation due to exertion of torque to be detected, having a through-opening portion (H80) through which the rotation axis (Z) is inserted; an inner annular deformation body (90) made of a material that produces elastic deformation due to exertion of torque to be detected, having a through-opening portion (H90) through which the rotation axis (Z) is inserted, disposed inside of the outer annular deformation body (80); a left side support body (60) disposed at a position adjacent to a left side of the outer annular deformation body (80) and the inner annular deformation body (90), when viewed in such a reference observation direction that the rotation axis (Z) creates a horizontal line extending left and right; a right side support body (70) disposed at a position adjacent to a right side of the outer annular deformation body (80) and the inner annular deformation body (90), when viewed in the reference observation direction; an outer left side connection member (61, 62) for connecting an outer left side connection point on a left-hand side surface of the outer annular deformation body (80) to the left side support body (60); an outer right side connection member (72) for connecting an outer right side connection point on a right-hand side surface of the outer annular deformation body (80) to the right side support body (70); an inner left side connection member (63, 64) for connecting an inner left side connection point on a left-hand side surface of the inner annular deformation body (90) to the left side support body (60); an inner right side connection member for connecting an inner right side connection point on a right-hand side surface of the inner annular deformation body (90) to the right side support body (70); an outer displacement electrode (E81, E82) fixed to an inner peripheral surface of the outer annular deformation body (80), for producing displacement caused by elastic deformation of the outer annular deformation body (80); an inner displacement electrode (E91, E92) fixed to an outer peripheral surface of the inner annular deformation body (90) so as to be opposed to the outer displacement electrode (E81, E82), for producing displacement caused by elastic deformation of the inner annular deformation body (90); and a detector circuit for outputting an electrical signal indicating torque about the rotation axis (Z) exerted on one of the right side support body (70) and the left side support body (60) with the other loaded, based on an amount of fluctuation in capacitance value of a capacitive element (C1 to C4) composed of the outer displacement electrode (E81, E82) and the inner displacement electrode (E91, E92), wherein with respect to a plane of projection orthogonal to the rotation axis (Z), an orthogonal projection image of the outer left side connection point and an orthogonal projection image of the outer right side connection point are formed at different positions, and an orthogonal projection image of the inner left side connection point and an orthogonal projection image of the inner right side connection point are formed at different positions.
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23. A torque sensor for detecting torque about a Z-axis in an XYZ three-dimensional coordinate system, comprising:
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an outer annular deformation body (80) made of a material that produces elastic deformation due to exertion of torque to be detected, having a through-opening portion (H80) through which the Z-axis is inserted, disposed on an XY plane about an origin O; an inner annular deformation body (90) made of a material that produces elastic deformation due to exertion of torque to be detected, having a through-opening portion (H90) through which the Z-axis is inserted, disposed on the XY plane about the origin O and disposed within the through-opening portion (H80) of the outer annular deformation body (80); a left side support body (60) disposed at a position adjacent to a negative Z-axis region side of the outer annular deformation body (80) and the inner annular deformation body (90); and a right side support body (70) disposed at a position adjacent to a positive Z-axis region side of the outer annular deformation body (80) and the inner annular deformation body (90), a first outer left side connection point and a second outer left side connection point being provided on a negative Z-axis-side side surface of the outer annular deformation body (80), and a first outer right side connection point and a second outer right side connection point being provided on a positive Z-axis-side side surface of the outer annular deformation body (80), a first inner left side connection point and a second inner left side connection point being provided on a negative Z-axis-side side surface of the inner annular deformation body (90), and a first inner right side connection point and a second inner right side connection point being provided on a positive Z-axis-side side surface of the inner annular deformation body (90), and further comprising; a first outer left side connection member (61) for connecting the first outer left side connection point to the left side support body (60), a second outer left side connection member (62) for connecting the second outer left side connection point to the left side support body (60), a first outer right side connection member for connecting the first outer right side connection point to the right side support body (70), a second outer right side connection member (72) for connecting the second outer right side connection point to the right side support body (70); a first inner left side connection member (63) for connecting the first inner left side connection point to the left side support body (60), a second inner left side connection member (64) for connecting the second inner left side connection point to the left side support body (60), a first inner right side connection member for connecting the first inner right side connection point to the right side support body (70), a second inner right side connection member for connecting the second inner right side connection point to the right side support body (70); an outer displacement electrode (E81, E82) fixed to an inner peripheral surface of the outer annular deformation body (80), for producing displacement caused by elastic deformation of the outer annular deformation body (80); an inner displacement electrode (E91 to E94) fixed at a position opposed to the outer displacement electrode (E81 to E84) in an outer peripheral surface of the inner annular deformation body (90), for producing displacement caused by elastic deformation of the inner annular deformation body (90); and a detector circuit for outputting an electrical signal indicating torque about the Z-axis exerted on one of the right side support body (60) and the left side support body (70) with the other loaded, based on an amount of fluctuation in capacitance value of a capacitive element (C1 to C4) composed of the outer displacement electrode (E81 to E84) and the inner displacement electrode (E91 to E94), wherein when orthogonal projection images are obtained by projecting both side surfaces of the outer annular deformation body (80) and the inner annular deformation body (90) on the XY plane, a projection image of the first outer right side connection point is disposed on a positive X-axis, a projection image of the second outer right side connection point is disposed on a negative X-axis, a projection image of the first outer left side connection point is disposed on a positive Y-axis, a projection image of the second outer left side connection point is disposed on a negative Y-axis, a projection image of the first inner right side connection point is disposed on a positive Y-axis, a projection image of the second inner right side connection point is disposed on a negative Y-axis, a projection image of the first inner left side connection point is disposed on a positive X-axis, and a projection image of the second inner left side connection point is disposed on a negative X-axis. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification