US 11,865,704 B2
Joint structure for robot
Yoshihisa Ijiri, Kyoto (JP); Kazutoshi Tanaka, Tokyo (JP); Felix Von Drigalski, Tokyo (JP); Masashi Hamaya, Tokyo (JP); Yoshiya Shibata, Kyoto (JP); and Chisato Nakashima, Kyoto (JP)
Assigned to OMRON CORPORATION, Kyoto (JP)
Appl. No. 17/921,918
Filed by OMRON Corporation, Kyoto (JP)
PCT Filed May 10, 2021, PCT No. PCT/JP2021/017661
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Oct. 27, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/241181, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 2, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-094695 (JP), filed on May 29, 2020; and application No. 2020-208101 (JP), filed on Dec. 16, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0173691 A1, Jun. 8, 2023
Int. Cl. B25J 17/02 (2006.01)
CPC B25J 17/02 (2013.01) 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A joint structure for linking a first element and a second element of a manipulator of a robot to each other, the joint structure comprising:
a locking mechanism for switching between a free state, in which the second element is capable of moving independently from the first element, and a locked state, in which the second element is fixed to the first element,
wherein the locking mechanism includes:
a first member joined to the first element;
a second member joined to the second element;
a flexible wire-shaped member, one end of which is attached to the second member and another end of which is led out to an outside of the joint structure via a through hole provided in the first member; and
an elastic member connecting the first member and the second member to each other, and
the joint structure
enters the locked state by the wire-shaped member being pulled to bring the second member into contact with the first member, and
enters the free state by the wire-shaped member being fed to separate the second member from the first member, wherein, in the free state, the second member is suspended by the elastic member connecting the first member and the second member to each other.