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JP-7856393-B2 - Vibration actuators, multi-axis stages, articulated robots, continuous robots

JP7856393B2JP 7856393 B2JP7856393 B2JP 7856393B2JP-7856393-B2

Inventors

  • 有満 安倫

Assignees

  • キヤノン株式会社

Dates

Publication Date
20260511
Application Date
20210831

Claims (20)

  1. A vibrating body including an elastic body and an electromechanical energy conversion element, The system comprises a contact body that is elongated in a predetermined direction and in contact with the vibrating body, A vibrating actuator configured such that the vibrating body and the contact body move relative to each other in a predetermined direction due to the vibration of the vibrating body, The end of the contact body is covered with a viscoelastic material in the circumferential direction with respect to the predetermined direction. The viscoelastic body has a first notched window portion, and the vibrating body and the contact body are in contact through the first window portion, characterized in that the viscoelastic body has a first notched window portion, and the vibrating body and the contact body are in contact through the first window portion.
  2. The vibration-type actuator according to claim 1, characterized in that the total length of the viscoelastic body in the predetermined direction is at least half the wavelength of the vibration wave in the natural vibration mode accompanied by out-of-plane vibration excited in the contact body in conjunction with the vibration of the vibrating body.
  3. The natural vibration mode excited by the vibrating body is an out-of-plane bending vibration mode that generates a plurality of nodal lines in the predetermined direction, The vibration actuator according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the sum of the lengths of the viscoelastic material in the predetermined direction is equal to or greater than the distance between adjacent nodal lines.
  4. The elastic body has a plurality of protrusions, The vibration-type actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the sum of the lengths of the viscoelastic body in the predetermined direction is equal to or greater than the distance between the centers of adjacent plurality of protrusions.
  5. The vibration-type actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the viscoelastic body is located at both ends of the elongated contact body.
  6. The vibration-type actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the viscoelastic body is provided at a position including an antinode in a natural vibration mode involving out-of-plane vibration excited to the contact body when the viscoelastic body is not provided to the contact body.
  7. The viscoelastic material is a member having hollow pores, When the viscoelastic body is not attached to the contact body, the inner circumference of the hole in the viscoelastic body is The vibration actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the sum of the lengths around the contact body in a cross-section perpendicular to the predetermined direction is smaller than the sum of the lengths around the contact body.
  8. The vibrating actuator includes a contact support portion that supports the contact body so that it can move in the predetermined direction, The vibration actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the viscoelastic body has a second window portion which is cut out so as to expose a guide portion into which the contact body and the contact body support portion come into contact.
  9. The vibration-type actuator according to claim 8, characterized in that the guide portion is in contact with the contact body via the second window portion.
  10. Further equipped with a holding part, The vibrator is held by the holding part, The vibrating actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, in a cross-section of the vibrating actuator perpendicular to the predetermined direction, the width dimension of the viscoelastic body is smaller than the width dimension of the vibrating body or the width dimension of the holding portion.
  11. The vibration actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising a plurality of vibrating bodies, wherein the vibrating bodies are moved relative to a common contact body on which the viscoelastic body is attached in a predetermined direction.
  12. The vibration-type actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the viscoelastic body is formed from a rubber material.
  13. A vibration-type actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that an endless viscoelastic body covering the side surface of the contact body is attached to a part of the contact body.
  14. The vibration-type actuator according to claim 13, characterized in that the viscoelastic body has a window portion cut out so that a part of the contact body is exposed.
  15. The vibration-type actuator according to claim 14, characterized in that a portion of the contact body protrudes from the window portion.
  16. A vibrating actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 15, It has an exterior member that houses a part of the aforementioned vibrating actuator inside, An actuator unit in which a portion of the contact body of the vibrating actuator is exposed to the outside of the exterior member.
  17. A vibrating actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 15, A component driven by the aforementioned vibrating actuator, An electronic device characterized by having the following features.
  18. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein a plurality of the vibration-type actuators are arranged radially in a cross-section perpendicular to the predetermined direction.
  19. A vibrating actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 15, The fixing part to which the aforementioned vibrating actuator is fixed, A multi-axis stage characterized by comprising a stage connected to the contact body and moving relative to the fixed part in a predetermined direction.
  20. A multi-joint robot characterized by being equipped with a vibration-type actuator as described in any one of claims 1 to 15 as a drive source.

Description

This invention relates to a vibratory actuator in which a vibrating body and a contact body move relative to each other, a multi-axis stage, a multi-joint robot, and a continuous-body robot. Vibration actuators have been proposed that generate thrust between a vibrating body and a contacting body by combining different vibration modes, and that change the frictional force between the vibrating body and the contacting body by exciting with a single vibration mode. Patent Document 1 discloses a vibration-absorbing member provided between a relative moving member (contact body) and a second base member to avoid the generation of noise (also called squeal) caused by unwanted vibrations and to prevent a decrease in driving efficiency. This configuration absorbs unwanted vibrations generated in the relative moving member (contact body) by the elliptical motion produced by the oscillator (vibrating body). However, the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1 tends to have low output per unit volume or weight, posing a challenge in space utilization efficiency. The first reason for this is the need for a second base member supporting one side of the second base member. Since the second base member is larger than the relative moving member (contact body), the entire ultrasonic motor (vibration actuator) becomes larger, making miniaturization difficult. The second reason is that because a vibration absorbing member is provided across the entire surface between the relative moving member (contact body) and the second base member, the surface that can be used for frictional sliding of the relative moving member (contact body) is inevitably limited. Therefore, the surface facing the frictional sliding surface cannot be used for driving because the vibration absorbing member is attached to it. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-324865 This is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of the vibrating body.This is a schematic diagram illustrating the vibration modes excited in a vibrating body.These are a front view, a bottom view, and a side view showing the schematic configuration of a vibrating actuator according to the first embodiment.This is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a vibratory actuator according to the first embodiment.This diagram illustrates the configuration of a connecting part that connects vibrating body units and a modified example thereof.These are a plan view, a front view, and a side view showing the schematic configuration of a vibrating actuator according to the first embodiment.This is a front view showing the schematic configuration of a vibratory actuator according to the second embodiment.These are a plan view and a front view showing the schematic configuration of a vibratory actuator according to the second embodiment.These are a plan view, a front view, and a bottom view showing the schematic configuration of the contact unit and contact body according to the second embodiment.This is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of supporting a contact body using multiple vibrating bodies.This diagram illustrates an example configuration in which a displacement detection means is provided for a vibrating unit.This diagram illustrates the schematic configuration of the actuator unit according to the third embodiment.This is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of the apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.This diagram illustrates the schematic configuration of the apparatus according to the fifth embodiment.This is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of a multi-axis stage according to the sixth embodiment.This is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of a multi-joint robot according to the seventh embodiment.This is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of a continuous robot according to the eighth embodiment.This is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of a wire-driven manipulator for a continuous robot according to the eighth embodiment. The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, we will describe the vibrating body and contact body commonly used in the vibrating actuators according to the embodiments described later. Figure 1(a) is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of the vibrating body 1 that constitutes the vibrating actuator, Figure 1(b) is a front view of the vibrating body 1, and Figure 1(c) is a side view of the vibrating body 1. For the sake of explanation, as shown in Figures 1(a) to 1(c), a Cartesian coordinate system consisting of the x-axis (x direction), y-axis (y direction), and z-axis (z direction) is set for the vibrating body 1. The z direction is the thickness direction of the vibrating body 1 and is the direction of protrusion of the two protrusions 2a (details will be described later). The y direction is the longitudinal direction of the vibrating body 1 and is the direction connecti