KR102537746B1 - Stack Type Soft Actuator - Google Patents

Abstract

The stacked soft actuator of the present invention includes a plurality of expansion parts that are expanded and stacked by pneumatic pressure; a plurality of protection units disposed to surround the plurality of expansion units and rotatably connected to each other at one side by a connecting wire; and a pneumatic flow path connected to the inner spaces of the plurality of expansion units to suck or discharge air.

Description

Stack Type Soft Actuator {Stack Type Soft Actuator}

The present invention relates to a multilayer soft actuator, and more particularly, to a multilayer soft actuator with improved durability, including protection units having expansion units that are expanded by pneumatic pressure stacked and disposed to surround the expansion units and one side of which is rotatably connected. it's about

Devices such as pneumatic mattresses and soft grippers are made of flexible and lightweight materials in various shapes to make soft actuators move, and achieve their purpose through pneumatic intake, hold, and exhaust. Although this elastic and lightweight material shows the characteristics of being able to handle objects of unspecified appearance, such as curved surfaces or irregularities, the actuator can be easily damaged by repetitive motions and contacts. Therefore, there arises a problem of additionally using protective equipment to protect the actuator from external stimuli or replacing the actuator at a rapid cycle.

Research on soft actuators using pneumatics in a structure made of elastic and light materials is focused on improving materials and structural functions. However, even if the material and mechanical performance are improved, it cannot be said that the durability of the actuator for repeated use and the safety against external impact are secured. Therefore, it is necessary to additionally wear equipment to protect the actuator or to replace it in a short period of time. In this process, work is stopped and additional resources are consumed.

Patent Publication No. 10-2018-0104667

The object of the present invention is to provide a multi-layered soft actuator that protects a weakly durable expansion unit with a high-strength protection unit and controls its movement, thereby improving the durability of the soft actuator and reducing the impact of external impact by the expansion unit. do.

Multilayer soft actuator of the present invention for achieving the above object, a plurality of expansion parts that are expanded and stacked by pneumatic pressure; a plurality of protection units disposed to surround the plurality of expansion units and rotatably connected to each other at one side by a connecting wire; and a pneumatic flow path connected to the inner spaces of the plurality of expansion units to suck or discharge air.

The expansion unit may include a plurality of chambers that communicate with each other and gradually become thicker toward one side during expansion, and at least one supporter that is fused to communicate between the plurality of chambers and controls an expansion rate of each chamber.

The plurality of protection units may include an upper protection unit covering upper surfaces of the plurality of expansion units, a lower protection unit covering lower surfaces of the plurality of expansion units, and an inner protection unit disposed between the plurality of expansion units. there is.

The connection wire may be composed of two or more connection wires connecting each one side of the upper surface side protection part, the inner protection part, and the lower surface side protection part.

The pneumatic passage passes through the upper surface side protection unit, the inner protection unit, and the plurality of expansion units, and may be disposed adjacent to the connection wire.

The inner protection part may be separated by cutting the middle of the longitudinal direction and connected therebetween by a plurality of elastic connecting bars.

According to the multilayer soft actuator of the present invention, the durability of the soft actuator can be improved and the impact can be reduced by the expansion part against external impact by protecting the weakly durable expansion part with a high-strength protection part and controlling its movement. there is.

In addition, the expansion rate of each chamber can be appropriately controlled by forming a supporter that divides the internal space of the expansion unit into a plurality of chambers and communicates with each other.

1 is an upper perspective view showing the structure of a multilayer soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a front view showing the structure of a multilayer soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a downward perspective view showing the structure of a multilayer soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a perspective view showing that the laminated soft actuator of the present invention is expanded.
5 is a front view showing the expanded soft actuator of the laminated type according to the present invention.

Since the present invention can apply various transformations and have various embodiments, specific embodiments will be exemplified and described in detail in the detailed description. However, it should be understood that this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and includes all transformations, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms used in the present invention are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present invention, terms such as 'include' or 'having' are intended to designate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features It should be understood that the presence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof is not precluded.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. At this time, it should be noted that in the accompanying drawings, the same components are indicated by the same reference numerals as much as possible. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted. For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some components are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated.

1 is an upper perspective view showing the structure of a multilayer soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a front view showing the structure of a multilayer soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is one of the present invention It is a downward perspective view showing the structure of the multilayer soft actuator according to the embodiment.

The stacked soft actuator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is arranged to surround a plurality of expansion parts 110 that are inflated and stacked by pneumatic pressure, and the plurality of expansion parts are rotated with each other by a connection wire 140 on one side It includes a plurality of protective parts 130 that are possibly connected, and a pneumatic flow path 150 that is connected to the inner space of the plurality of expansion parts and sucks or discharges air.

The expansion unit 110 is elastically inflated by air pressure injected into the internal space, and the expanded shape may be formed to have a predetermined three-dimensional shape. The expansion unit 110 may be formed of an elastic synthetic resin material so that a sealed space is formed therein and air is injected into the space so as to expand into a predetermined shape. The expansion unit 110 may be arranged so that a plurality of expansion units 110 are stacked to have a substantially rectangular parallelepiped contour shape when contracted.

In the drawing, an embodiment in which three expansion parts 110 are stacked is shown. The shape and number of expansion units 110 are not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and two or more expansion units may be stacked according to a device in which a soft actuator is used.

The plurality of protection parts 130 may be made of a material having greater strength than the expansion part 110 expanded by pneumatic pressure, and may be arranged to surround the plurality of expansion parts 110 . In contrast to the expansion of the expansion unit 110 , the protection unit 130 is made of a hard material that is hardly deformed and surrounds the expansion unit 110 to prevent damage to the expansion unit 110 . The plurality of protection parts 130 are formed in the form of a rectangular plate having a predetermined thickness, and rib parts extending toward the expansion part 110 may be formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction. Each rib part may be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval, and a connection wire 140 may be connected between the rib parts on one side.

The pneumatic passage 150 is connected to the inner space of the plurality of expansion parts 110 to suck or discharge air. The pneumatic passage 150 may include an intake hose 152 for sucking air into the inner space and an exhaust hose 154 for discharging air from the inner space.

The pneumatic passage 150 may be arranged to pass through the plurality of protection parts 130 and the plurality of expansion parts 110 sequentially and communicate with the inner space of each expansion part 110 . At this time, the pneumatic passage 150 may be intermittently arranged instead of continuously arranged inside each expansion part 110 . Thus, when the plurality of expansion parts 110 are expanded and deformed, the pneumatic passage 150 inside the stacked soft actuator 100 may stretch in its longitudinal direction.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the multilayered soft actuator of the present invention inflated, Figure 5 is a front view showing the multilayered soft actuator of the present invention inflated.

The expansion unit 110 may include a plurality of chambers that communicate with each other and gradually become thicker toward one side during expansion, and at least one supporter 120 that is fused to communicate between the plurality of chambers and controls the expansion rate of each chamber. there is.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the plurality of chambers are connected to the first chamber 111 formed in a substantially flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the first chamber 111 is expanded thicker than the first chamber 111. A second chamber 113, a third chamber 115 connected to the second chamber 113 and expanded more thickly than the second chamber 113, and a third chamber 115 connected to the third chamber 115 It may include a fourth chamber 117 that expands more thickly. The second chamber 113 and the third chamber 115 may have a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape when contracted and expand in the thickness direction when expanded. The fourth chamber 117 may be formed to have a substantially elliptical cylindrical shape when contracted and become thicker when expanded to expand into a substantially cylindrical shape.

Supporters 120 are fused and connected between the plurality of chambers, and a communication hole is formed inside the connection part of each supporter 120 so that the internal spaces of the chambers can communicate with each other. The plurality of supporters 120 include a first supporter 122 fused between the first chamber 111 and the second chamber 113, and a first supporter 122 fused between the second chamber 113 and the third chamber 115. The second supporter 124 and the third supporter 126 fused between the third chamber 115 and the fourth chamber 117 may be included. The number of supporters 120 may be determined according to the number of chambers. In addition, each supporter 120 may be formed long in the width direction, but two or more may be intermittently formed in the width direction. The supporter 120 may play a role of controlling an appropriate expansion rate according to air pressure injected when the chambers connected to both sides of the supporter 120 expand.

The plurality of protection parts 130 include an upper surface side protection part 132 surrounding the upper surface side of the plurality of expansion parts 110 and a lower surface side protection part 134 covering the lower surface side of the plurality of expansion parts 110 and , It may include an inner protection part 136 disposed between the plurality of expansion parts 110 .

The upper surface side protection part 132 is disposed to surround the upper surface side of the uppermost expansion part 110 among the plurality of stacked expansion parts 110, and the lower surface side protection part 134 is stacked on the plurality of expansion parts 110 It is disposed to surround the lower surface of the lowermost expansion part 110, and the inner protection part 136 is inserted between the plurality of stacked expansion parts 110 and can be arranged to space the two expansion parts 110 apart from each other. there is.

The upper surface side protection part 132 includes a rib extending downward from the longitudinal end, the lower surface side protection part 134 includes a rib part extending upward from the longitudinal end, and the inner protection part 136 has a length It may include ribs extending upward and downward from the direction end. Each rib part of the protection part 130 may be arranged to be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval even when the expansion part 110 contracts. In addition, as described above, the connection wire 140 is connected between the ribs on one side of the protection parts 130, so that when the expansion parts 110 expand, the protection part ( 130) of the other rib parts may be opened.

The pneumatic flow path 150 may pass through the upper surface side protection unit 132 , the inner protection unit 136 , and the plurality of expansion units 110 and may be disposed adjacent to the connection wire 140 . 2 and 5, since the connection wire 140 is connected between the right end ribs of the plurality of protection parts 130, the pneumatic passage 150 is located close to the connection wire 140. It is preferable to place When the pneumatic passage 150 is disposed close to the right end, the length of the pneumatic passage 150 disposed inside the stacked soft actuator 100 when the expansion part 110 expands can be minimized.

On the other hand, the inner protection portion 136 may be separated by cutting the middle in the longitudinal direction and connected therebetween by a plurality of elastic connecting bars 137 . When the plurality of expansion parts 110 expand, they may expand not only in the thickness direction but also in the longitudinal direction. So, the upper surface side protection part 132 and the lower surface side protection part 134 are formed integrally and firmly so as not to stretch in the longitudinal direction, but the inner protection part 136 can be slightly stretched in the longitudinal direction and the middle part is formed in the thickness direction. It is desirable to be able to bend a little.

The inner protection part 136 is arranged so that the left part of the pneumatic flow passage 150 is cut and the two separated parts are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and two elastic connecting bars 137 can be coupled between the separated two parts. . The elastic connecting bar 137 is made of a material that can be elastically bent in its thickness direction and can be slightly stretched in the longitudinal direction as well. By separating the middle of the inner protection part 136 and connecting it with the elastic connection bar 137, the elastic connection bar 137 of the inner protection part 136 is elastically deformed when the expansion part 110 expands. The expansion unit 110 may expand more smoothly.

According to the multilayer soft actuator of the present invention, an expansion unit having weak durability is wrapped and protected by a protection unit having high strength, and its movement is controlled, thereby improving durability of the soft actuator and reducing impact by the expansion unit against external impact.

In addition, the expansion rate of each chamber can be appropriately controlled by forming a supporter that divides the internal space of the expansion unit into a plurality of chambers and communicates with each other.

In the above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described, but those skilled in the art can add, change, delete, or add components within the scope not departing from the spirit of the present invention described in the claims. Various modifications and changes may be made to the present invention, which will also be included within the scope of the present invention.

100: stacked soft actuator
110: expansion unit 111: first chamber
113: second chamber 115: third chamber
117: fourth chamber 120: supporter
122: first supporter 124: second supporter
126: third supporter 130: protection unit
132: upper side protection unit 134: lower side protection unit
136: inner protection unit 137: elastic connecting bar
140: connecting wire 150: pneumatic oil
152: intake hose 154: exhaust hose

Claims (6)

A plurality of expansion parts that are inflated and stacked by pneumatic pressure;
a plurality of protection units arranged to surround the plurality of expansion units and rotatably connected to each other by a connecting wire on one side; and
A pneumatic flow path connected to the inner spaces of the plurality of expansion units to suck or discharge air;
the expansion part
A plurality of chambers that communicate with each other and gradually become thicker toward one side during expansion;
The multilayer soft actuator, characterized in that it comprises at least one supporter that is fused to communicate between the plurality of chambers and controls the expansion rate of each chamber. delete According to claim 1,
The plurality of protection units
an upper surface-side protection unit surrounding the upper surface side of the plurality of expansion units;
A lower surface side protection part surrounding the lower surface side of the plurality of expansion parts;
Layered soft actuator comprising an inner protection part disposed between the plurality of expansion parts. According to claim 3,
The connecting wire is a layered soft actuator, characterized in that consisting of two or more connecting wires connecting between each one side of the upper surface side protection unit, the inner protection unit and the lower side protection unit. According to claim 4,
The pneumatic flow path is a laminated soft actuator, characterized in that disposed adjacent to the connection wire and connected to the upper surface side protection unit, the inner protection unit and the plurality of expansion units through and through. According to claim 3,
The inner protection part is a layered soft actuator, characterized in that the middle of the longitudinal direction is cut and separated and connected by a plurality of elastic connecting bars.

Images