Robotic wrist
First Claim
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1. A linkage device adapted to be secured at one end to a robot arm and to be secured at its other end to a workpiece gripper which comprises:
- a housing having one end and another end, an outer wall and an inner wall and a plate member joined to the inner and outer walls, said plate member intermediate the one end and the other end;
link means including a first link secured to the one end of the housing for angular motion;
means to lock the link in an arbitrary fixed position, said means to lock disposed within the inner wall for fluid tight sliding motion within the inner wall and along the longitudinal axis of the housing;
means to align the link in a standard resettable position said means disposed between the inner and outer walls for fluid tight sliding motion between said inner and outer walls;
means to create a fluid bearing surface between the link and the housing; and
means to move the means to lock the link and the means to align the link.
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Abstract
An accommodating linkage device which operates in three modes to provide, upon command, either: (1) a standard, resetable, rigid linkage between two objects; (2) a flexible linkage which responds to relative motion (forces) between two objects; (3) or an arbitrary, rigid linkage between two objects. The device includes two ball joints which connect to the two objects, a pair of locking pistons, and a pair of alignment pistons. Operation of the device is in response to either control signals or to forces generated by the relative motion of the two objects, depending upon operating mode.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A linkage device adapted to be secured at one end to a robot arm and to be secured at its other end to a workpiece gripper which comprises:
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a housing having one end and another end, an outer wall and an inner wall and a plate member joined to the inner and outer walls, said plate member intermediate the one end and the other end; link means including a first link secured to the one end of the housing for angular motion; means to lock the link in an arbitrary fixed position, said means to lock disposed within the inner wall for fluid tight sliding motion within the inner wall and along the longitudinal axis of the housing; means to align the link in a standard resettable position said means disposed between the inner and outer walls for fluid tight sliding motion between said inner and outer walls; means to create a fluid bearing surface between the link and the housing; and means to move the means to lock the link and the means to align the link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification