Remotely operable articulated manipulator

• US 3,922,930 A
• Filed: 12/23/1974
• Issued: 12/02/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fletcher James C Administrator of The National Aeronautics and Space Administration With Respect To An Invention of, Ray E. Marlow
• Original Assignee: Fletcher James C Administrator of The National Aeronautics and Space Administration With Respect To An Invention of, Ray E. Marlow
• Inventors: Marlow, Ray E., Fletcher, James C. Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space (N/A)
• Primary Examiner(s): Gerin, Leonard H.
• Application Number:
  US05/535,410
• Time in Patent Office: 344 Days
• Field of Search: 74/665B,665C,416,417,384,385,52,1R 29/270 214/1B,18N
• US Class Current: 74/665.00B
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 17/0283 Three-dimensional joints
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 19/0029 arranged within the different robot elements
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 1/006 the driving and driven axes being designed to assume variable positions relative to one another during operation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/19056 Parallel
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/19516 Spur

Abstract

An improved, remotely operable, articulated manipulator including a plurality of serially connected drive shafts, a grasping device mounted at the distal end of the ultimate drive shaft of a plurality of drive shafts, a plurality of joints including meshed bevel gears interconnecting the drive shafts, whereby rotary motion is imparted to the grasping device in response to rotation imparted to said drive shafts, a plurality of drive tubes concentrically related to the drive shafts for imparting angular displacement to the drive shafts about axes normally related to the longitudinal axes thereof, and a differential including a multiplicity of driver inputs for selectively rotating the drive shafts and drive tubes about their longitudinal axis.

Claims

1. In a remotely operable, articulated manipulator including a plurality of serially connected drive shafts and a grasping device mounted at the distal end of the ultimate drive shaft of said plurality, the improvement comprising:

drive means for selectively imparting to said grasping device angular displacement about a pair of normally related axes, one of which comprises a projection of the longitudinal axis of said ultimate drive shaft.

2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said drive means includes:

A. a rotatable sleeve including a pair of normally related segments for supporting the ultimate drive shaft in an orthogonal relationship with the penultimate drive shaft of said plurality of drive shafts; and

B. means including a meshed pair of bevel gears for connecting the ultimate drive shaft in a driven relationship with the penultimate drive shaft.

3. The improvement of claim 2 further comprising:

means for imparting to said rotatable sleeve angular displacement about an axis of rotation coincident with the longitudinal axis of said penultimate drive shaft.

4. The improvement of claim 3 wherein said drive means includes:

A. a further drive shaft angularly related to the penultimate drive shaft; and

B. means including a meshed pair of bevel gears for connecTing said penultimate drive shaft in a driven relationship with said further drive shaft.

5. The improvement of claim 4 wherein said means for imparting angular displacement to said rotatable sleeve includes:

A. a drive tube concentrically related to said further drive shaft; and

B. a meshed pair of bevel gears connecting said rotatable sleeve in a driven relationship with said drive tube.

6. The improvement of claim 5 wherein said drive means further includes differential drive means comprising a first gear train connected with said further drive shaft and a second gear train connected with said drive tube, and means for selectively imparting angular motion to said first and second gear trains.

7. The improvement of claim 6 wherein said further drive shaft comprises a segmented drive shaft including:

A. a first shaft segment;

B. a second shaft segment angularly related to said first shaft segment;

C. a third shaft segment angularly related to said second shaft segment; and

D. means including a first meshed pair of bevel gears for connecting said second segment in a driven relationship with said first shaft segment, and a second meshed pair of bevel gears for connecting said second shaft segment in a driving relationship with said third shaft segment.

8. The improvement of claim 7 wherein said drive tube is a segmented drive tube including:

A. a first tube segment;

B. a second tube segment angularly related to said first tube segment;

C. a third tube segment angularly related to said second tube segment; and

D. means including a first meshed pair of bevel gears for connecting said second tube segment in a driven relationship with said first shaft segment, and a second meshed pair of bevel gears for connecting said second tube segment in a driving relationship with said third tube segment.