US 5,634,377 AGranted

Articulated robot

AssigneeSony Corporation

InventorsAkira Kimura, Morio Tominaga

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Abstract

A robot has a base shaft portion disposed on a base, a first arm attached in a rotatable state to the base shaft portion, and a second arm attached in a rotatable state to the first arm. Balance setting is performed so as to position the center of gravity of the second arm above the rotation shaft of the second arm. A housing to which the motor, whose driving power is transmitted to a rotation shaft of the second arm by a steel belt, and harmonic reduction gear for rotating the second arm are fixed, is supported in a rotatable state with respect to the first arm, the drive shaft of the motor being disposed substantially coaxial with a rotation shaft of the first arm. A support arm of the housing is supported in a rotatable and slidable state along the length direction of the first arm by a support member fixed to the base shaft portion. In adjusting the tension of the steel belt the housing is displaced by a setting bolt to change the gap between the rotation shaft of the second arm and the output shaft of the harmonic reduction gear.

Claims9

Dependent claims

An articulated robot comprising:

a base shaft portion rigid with a base;
a first elongate body having first and second ends, the first elongate body being pivotally supported at its first end on the base shaft portion so as to be rotatable with respect to the base about a first rotational center and in a first plane which is essentially normal to the base shaft portion;
a second elongate body having first and second ends, the second elongate body being pivotally connected at its first end to the second end of the first elongate body so as to be rotatable with respect to the first elongate body about a second rotational center and about a second plane which is essentially parallel to the first plane;
first drive means;
support means, fixed to one of the base or the base shaft portion for supporting the first drive means above the first elongate body and isolating a mass of the first drive means from the first elongate body and therefore preventing the mass of the first drive means from increasing an inertia of the first elongate body;
driving power transmission means for transmitting driving power from the first drive means to a rotation shaft operatively connected with the second elongate body for selectively rotating the second elongate body with respect to the first elongate body;
and
adjustment means for moving the drive shaft of the first driving means relative to the rotation shaft of the second elongate body, the support means including a support arm for supporting the first drive means, the support arm being rotatably supported on a support member provided on one of the base and the base shaft portion and slidable toward the base shaft portion.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.