Wrist joint assembly

A wrist joint assembly for use with a mechanical manipulator arm for positioning an end-effector carried by said wrist joint on the terminal end of said manipulator arm, said wrist joint assembly being pivotable about a first axis to produce a yaw motion, a second axis to produce a pitch motion, and a third axis to produce a roll motion, wherein said first, second, and third axes are mutually perpendicular to each other and have a common point of origin, said wrist joint assembly comprising:

• a disk segment having an outwardly extending arm fixed to the terminal end of said manipulator arm;
• a first housing member rotatably carried on said disk segment about said first axis, first drive means for rotating said first housing member about said first axis to produce said yaw motion;
• a second housing member rotatably carried on said first housing member, second drive means connected between said first and second housing for rotating said second housing about said second axis to produce said pitch motion;
• a third housing member rotatably carried on said second housing member, third drive means connected between said third and second housings for rotating said third housing about said third axis to produce said roll motion;
• said first, second, and third drive means each including a first gear means affixed to each of said respective housing members, a plurality of motor members disposed in spaced-apart, parallel relation within said housing members and second gear means operatively connected to the output shafts of said motor members for meshing with and rotating said first gear means;
• and
• said motors being disposed to produce a required torque about each axis while enabling said housing members to be constructed of a reduced size so that said wrist joint assembly may be advantageously constructed to provide for good visibility around the joint.

A wrist joint assembly for use with a mechanical manipulator arm for positioning an end-effector carried by said wrist joint adjacent the terminal end of said manipulator arm, wherein said wrist joint assembly is pivotable about a first axis to produce a yaw motion, a second axis to produce a pitch motion, and a third axis to produce a roll motion, said wrist joint assembly comprising:

• a disk segment having an outwardly extending arm fixed to the terminal end of said manipulator arm;
• a spherical housing member rotatably carried on said disk segment about said first axis, a motor means carried by said disk segment, first gear means rotatably driven by said motor means, second gear means fixed to said spherical housing and meshing with second gear means for rotating said spherical housing about said disk segment to produce said yaw motion;
• a pair of spaced arm members pivotably carried on opposing sides of said spherical housing;
• a pitch housing member affixed between said spaced arm members, motor means carried within said pitch housing, first gear means rotatably driven by said motor means, second gear means fixedly carried by said spherical housing and meshing with said first gear means so that rotation of said first gear means causes said pitch housing to rotate about said spherical housing to produce said pitch motion;
• said pitch housing member having a cylindrical sleeve portion extending therefrom;
• a roll housing member rotatably carried on said sleeve portion, motor means carried within said sleeve portion, first gear means rotatably driven by said motor means, second gear means affixed to said roll housing and meshing with said first gear means so as to cause said roll housing to rotate and produce said roll motion;
• and
• a slip-ring member having a spindle portion affixed within said pitch housing, an outer casing of said slip-ring rotatably carried on said spindle in electrical contact therewith, said outer casing being connected to said roll housing so as to rotate therewith, conductor means connected between said end-effector and said outer casing to transmit electrical power and signals to said end-effector carried on said roll housing during continuous roll motion.