A sandwich cushion fabric weaving method and a controlled textile-based pneumatic soft robot

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method for weaving a sandwich cushion fabric and a textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by the same, comprising a pneumatic soft robot; a super-anisotropic control component, using a sandwich cushion fabric, comprising control lines and a matrix, wherein the control lines are arranged at intervals on the matrix, and the matrix is formed into a closed tubular shape by sewing the control lines, and wrapped around the outside of the pneumatic soft robot. The present invention forms a super-anisotropic control component with a weft lining by embedding control lines in the matrix, and wrapping it on the surface of the pneumatic soft robot, thereby effectively limiting the expansion of the pneumatic soft robot in the weft direction, reducing the weft energy loss, and increasing the axial deformation rate, thereby improving the driving effect and achieving a high volume power density output. By regulating the tension of the warp control line, the bending deformation curvature of the robot can be conveniently regulated, thereby achieving convenient regulation of diversified deformations and a wide range of applications.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of pneumatic soft robots, in particular to a sandwich cushion fabric weaving method and a regulated textile-based pneumatic soft robot. Background Art

[0002] Soft robots are a new type of soft robot that can adapt to various unstructured environments and interact with humans more safely. The robot body is made of soft materials and is driven by air pressure.

[0003] Existing pneumatic soft robots often use elastic films or silicone films as pneumatic materials, which have problems such as discomfort when contacted by the human body, poor mechanical robustness, and low power density. At the same time, existing textile-based pneumatic soft robots are mainly designed in three ways: (1) woven fabrics are used as pneumatic deformation constraint layers, and pneumatic actuation deformation such as expansion and contraction is achieved by changing the braiding angle of the braided structure; (2) knitted fabrics or woven fabrics or a combination of the two fabrics are used as pneumatic deformation constraint layers, and the deformation shape is controlled by the elastic differences of different fabrics to achieve pneumatic actuation; (3) by pleating the fabric to construct different elasticities, pneumatic actuation such as bending deformation is achieved. However, existing textile-based pneumatic soft robots have problems such as low actuation efficiency, small actuation strain, and low volume power density. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this section is to summarize some aspects of the embodiments of the present invention and briefly introduce some preferred embodiments. Some simplifications or omissions may be made in this section and the abstract and title of this application to avoid obscuring the purpose of this section, the abstract and the title of the invention, and such simplifications or omissions should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0005] The present invention is proposed in view of the above-mentioned and / or existing problems in the existing textile-based pneumatic soft robots controlled by sandwich liner fabrics.

[0006] Therefore, the problems to be solved by the present invention are low actuation efficiency, small actuation strain, and low volume power density.

[0007] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: a weaving method for a sandwich lining fabric, characterized in that: it includes: selecting a primary braiding wire and extending it in the weft direction; determining primary stretching points equidistantly distributed in the direction of the extended primary braiding wire, wherein n primary stretching points are provided; at each primary stretching point, the primary braiding wire is pulled out of a primary U-shaped opening one by one in the warp direction, when n is an odd number, the stretching direction is upward to form a primary upper coil; when n is an even number, the stretching direction is downward to form a primary lower coil; taking a secondary braiding wire, extending it in the weft direction and being located below the primary braiding wire; at the Determine secondary stretching points in the direction of the secondary braiding wire, and each secondary stretching point corresponds to a primary stretching point; use the same method as the formation of the primary U-shaped mouth to pull out the secondary U-shaped mouth and form a secondary upper coil and a secondary lower coil; put the secondary upper coils on the corresponding primary upper coils one after another; add the braiding wire of the next level in turn, repeat the above steps of the secondary braiding wire in a cycle, and ensure that each N-level stretching point corresponds to the position of the previous level stretching point in turn, where N ≥ 2, and N is a natural number, to form a matrix; select a control line, extend it in a certain direction, and insert it from the front and back of the adjacent coils in turn.

[0008] As a preferred solution of the weaving method of the sandwich liner fabric of the present invention, the upper coils and lower coils of the braided wires at each level have the same structure.

[0009] As a preferred solution of the weaving method of the sandwich padding fabric described in the present invention, the extension direction of the control line is the weft direction, and the position coincides with the extension state line of the N-level braiding line, and the control line passes through the back of the upper coil and the front of the lower coil of the N-level braiding line in sequence.

[0010] As a preferred solution of the weaving method of the sandwich lining fabric of the present invention, there are M control lines, and the spacing between the control lines at each level is J braided lines, J={1,2,…,m}, where m is the last one.

[0011] As a preferred embodiment of the weaving method of the sandwich lining fabric of the present invention, the spinning process of the braided yarn is a core-spun fancy loop yarn with PU filament as the core and PET fiber as the outer shell, and the PU filament is fed into a ring spinning machine for spinning under an external tension of 3.5 times.

[0012] As a preferred solution of the weaving method of the sandwich lining fabric of the present invention, the control line is a low-elastic polyester yarn spun from polyester roving.

[0013] A textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by a sandwich padded fabric comprises a pneumatic soft robot; a super anisotropic control component, wherein the super anisotropic control component adopts the sandwich padded fabric and comprises a control line and a matrix, wherein the control line is arranged on the matrix, and the matrix is coated on the outside of the pneumatic soft robot.

[0014] As a preferred solution of the textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by the sandwich liner fabric described in the present invention, the pneumatic soft robot includes an airbag and an end sealing sleeve arranged at one end of the airbag, and a circular hole is provided in the middle of the end sealing sleeve.

[0015] As a preferred solution of the textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by the sandwich lining fabric described in the present invention, the control lines include weft lines and warp lines, the weft lines are arranged at intervals in the weft direction on the base, and the warp lines are arranged at intervals in the warp direction on the base.

[0016] As a preferred solution of the textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by the sandwich lining fabric of the present invention, the warp length of the warp line can be adjusted by stretching.

[0017] The present invention has the following beneficial effects: By embedding control wires within a matrix to form a hyper-anisotropic control assembly with a weft lining, which is then coated on the surface of a pneumatic soft robot, the invention effectively limits the robot's expansion in the weft direction, reducing weft energy loss while simultaneously increasing the axial deformation rate, enhancing driving efficiency, and achieving high volumetric power density output. By adjusting the tension of the warp control wires, the robot's bending curvature can be easily controlled, enabling convenient control of diverse deformations and a wide range of applications. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for describing the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can also derive other drawings based on these drawings without inventive effort. Among them:

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic planar structural diagram of the super anisotropy control component of the weaving method of the sandwich liner fabric of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 The weaving method of the sandwich liner fabric of the present invention is a distribution diagram of reference coordinate systems at various levels and stretching points.

[0021] Figure 3 The figure is a schematic diagram of the braided wire structure of the weaving method of the sandwich liner fabric of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 4 The figure is a schematic diagram of the unit structure of the super anisotropy control component of the weaving method of the sandwich liner fabric of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the positions of the weaving method of the sandwich liner fabric of the present invention, in which the weft threads are arranged at intervals, namely, 1, 2 and 3 braiding threads.

[0024] Figure 6 This is the overall structural diagram of the textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by the sandwich liner fabric of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the actuation process of the textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by the sandwich liner fabric of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 8 A comparison diagram of the drive deformation angle and actuation speed of the textile-based pneumatic soft robot (a) controlled by the sandwich liner fabric of the present invention and the traditional pneumatic robot (b). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] In the following description, many specific details are set forth to facilitate a full understanding of the present invention. However, the present invention may also be implemented in other ways different from those described herein. Those skilled in the art may make similar generalizations without violating the connotation of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0029] Secondly, the term "one embodiment" or "embodiment" herein refers to a specific feature, structure, or characteristic that may be included in at least one implementation of the present invention. The phrase "in one embodiment" appearing in various places throughout this specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it refer to a separate or selective embodiment that is mutually exclusive of other embodiments.

[0030] Example 1

[0031] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 , which is the first embodiment of the present invention. According to this method, a sandwich lining fabric can be woven.

[0032] The weaving method of sandwich lining fabric includes the following basic steps:

[0033] A primary braided wire 100 is selected and extended along the weft direction.

[0034] Specifically, in the present invention, the weft direction is the horizontal weaving direction, and the radial direction is the direction of fabric growth during weaving, with the radial and weft directions being perpendicular to each other. Starting from the first weaving thread, the rows of weaving threads arranged along the warp direction are referred to as primary weaving threads, secondary weaving threads, tertiary weaving threads, and so on, to Nth-level weaving threads.

[0035] At the beginning of the weaving process, the starting ends of the braiding wires need to be temporarily fixed. For example, the starting ends of the first-level braiding wire 100 can be fixed by clamping. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the braiding wires can be temporarily fixed before the fabric is weaved. After the fabric is weaved, the temporary fixation of the ends of the braiding wires can be removed.

[0036] In the direction of the extended primary braided wire 100 , evenly spaced primary stretching points D- 1 are determined, and n primary stretching points D- 1 are provided.

[0037] Specifically, the primary stretching point D- 1 is not a point on the primary braided wire 100 , but a point in the space in the weft direction where the primary braided wire 100 is located, and is fixed relative to the primary braided wire 100 .

[0038] The present invention establishes a reference coordinate system in the weft direction of each braided yarn level. For example, the weft direction of primary braided yarn 100: The origin of primary reference coordinate system O1 is the starting point of primary braided yarn 100; the horizontal coordinate X1 aligns with the trailing end of primary braided yarn 100; and the vertical coordinate Y1 aligns with the radial direction. Primary stretching points D-1 are multiple fixed points equidistantly spaced in the positive direction of horizontal coordinate X1 of primary reference coordinate system O1.

[0039] At each primary stretching point D-1, the primary braided wire 100 is pulled out of the primary U-shaped mouth 101 one by one along the warp direction. When n is an odd number, the stretching direction is upward to form a primary upper coil 101a; when n is an even number, the stretching direction is downward to form a primary lower coil 101b.

[0040] Specifically, ensure that the starting end of the primary braided wire 100 is fixed and the trailing end is able to adaptively shrink in the weft direction. Use a slender hook (or other tool) to hook the primary braided wire 100 at each primary stretching point D-1 (starting from the primary reference coordinate system O1 along the positive direction of the horizontal coordinate X1) and pull out the primary U-shaped opening 101.

[0041] Take a secondary braided wire 200, extend it in the weft direction and place it below the primary braided wire 100; determine secondary stretching points D-2 in the direction of the secondary braided wire 200, and each secondary stretching point D-2 corresponds to a primary stretching point D-1.

[0042] Similar to the braiding process for the primary braid 100, the secondary braid 200 also requires establishing a reference coordinate system: the secondary reference coordinate system O2. The origin of the secondary reference coordinate system O2 is the starting point of the secondary braid 200. The horizontal coordinate X2 is aligned with the direction of the secondary braid 200's end, and the vertical coordinate Y2 is aligned with the radial direction.

[0043] A plurality of equally spaced secondary stretching points D-2 are determined in the positive direction of the horizontal coordinate X2. The secondary stretching points D-2 are set corresponding to the primary stretching points D-1. When the longitudinal directions of O1 and O2 are consistent, the longitudinal directions of each secondary stretching point D-2 are also consistent with the longitudinal directions of the primary stretching point D-1.

[0044] The present invention stipulates that: "below" of a certain level of braiding wire represents the setting direction of the next level of braiding wire or the growth direction of knitted fabric knitting, and "above" represents the other side direction of a certain level of braiding wire relative to the "below".

[0045] In the same manner as the primary U-shaped mouth 101 is formed, the secondary U-shaped mouth 201 is drawn out and the secondary upper coil 201 a and the secondary lower coil 201 b are formed.

[0046] The secondary upper coils 201a are sequentially placed on the corresponding primary upper coils 101a one after the other.

[0047] The present invention defines that “front” and “rear” are two directions perpendicular to and opposite to “downward”.

[0048] The braided wire of the next level is added in sequence, and the above steps S4 to S6 are repeated in a cycle, and it is ensured that each N-level stretching point DN corresponds to the position of the previous level stretching point in sequence, where N≥2 and N is a natural number, to form a matrix 300.

[0049] A control wire 400 is selected and extended in a certain direction, and is passed through the front and back of adjacent coils in sequence.

[0050] Specifically, "adjacent coils" can be the upper and lower coils of the same braided wire, the upper and lower coils corresponding to different braided wires in the warp direction, the upper (lower) coil of the Nth braided wire in the diagonal direction, and the upper (lower) coil of the N+1th braided wire adjacent to the upper (lower) coil of the Nth braided wire. The number of adjacent coils can be M, where M = {1, 2, ..., m}, where m is a natural number.

[0051] The upper coil and lower coil structures of each level of braided wire are the same.

[0052] The extension direction of the control line 400 is the weft direction, and its position coincides with the extension state line of the N-level braided wire. The control line 400 passes through the back of the upper coil and the front of the lower coil of the N-level braided wire in sequence.

[0053] There are M control lines 400, and the spacing between each level of control lines 100 is J braided lines, where J = {1, 2, ..., m}, and m is the last line. This is used to adjust the density of the control lines 400.

[0054] Attachment Figure 8 This is an example when J={1,2,3}.

[0055] The spinning process of the braided line is a core-spun fancy loop yarn with PU filament as the core and PET fiber as the shell. The PU filament is fed into the ring spinning machine for spinning under an external tension of 3.5 times.

[0056] The spinning process of the braided yarn is to feed 364tex3.64g / 10m PET roving into the rear roller and feed 20D PU filament from the front roller of the ring spinning machine. The spindle speed is set to 8000r / min, and a roller with a diameter of 25mm×25mm×25mm and a roller spacing of 18mm×38mm is used. The twist coefficient is 320, the twist is 870 per meter, and the total drafting multiple is set to 25, of which the drafting multiple of the rear zone is 1.2. The PU filament is fed under an external tension of 3.5 times, and single yarns with S twist and Z twist are spun respectively. During the spinning process, the relative humidity is maintained at 65±2%.

[0057] The control line 400 is a low-elastic polyester yarn spun from polyester roving.

[0058] The spinning process of control line 400 is to spin 10tex low-elastic polyester yarn with 669.9tex6.69g / 10m polyester roving; the twist coefficient is 320, the twist is 620 per meter, the twist direction is Z twist, the total draft is 22.3 times, the back zone draft is 1.2 times, the spinning frame process parameters are as follows: the main shaft speed is set to 8000r / min, and a roller with a diameter of 25mm×25mm×25mm and a roller spacing of 18mm×38mm is used. During the spinning process, the relative humidity is maintained at 65±2%.

[0059] Specifically, the manufacturing process of the sandwich padding fabric is as follows: the three-layer knitted fabric is made on a double-needle bar knitting machine with a needle gauge of 16 and a weaving width of 132 cm. The braiding thread and the control thread 400 are used as the loop thread and the embedded yarn respectively; during weaving, the S-twisted and Z-twisted braiding threads are arranged in sequence at intervals. During weaving, the braiding threads are hooked by the front and rear knitting needles at intervals, interlaced with each other to form two front and rear coils, embedded in the weft thread 401a, and lined with the warp thread 401b in the warp direction.

[0060] Example 2

[0061] Reference Figures 1 to 5 , which is the second embodiment of the present invention, and this embodiment is based on the previous embodiment.

[0062] This embodiment provides a textile-based pneumatic soft robot regulated by a sandwich padded fabric, and the textile-based pneumatic soft robot regulated by a sandwich padded fabric includes a pneumatic soft robot 500 and a super-anisotropic control component 600; the pneumatic soft robot 500 is used to achieve interaction, and the super-anisotropic control component 600 greatly reduces the expansion of the pneumatic cylindrical pneumatic soft robot 500 in the weft direction (non-actuating direction) and increases the expansion deformation in the warp direction (actuating direction), thereby greatly improving the actuation efficiency of the pneumatic soft robot, improving the actuation strain rate, and achieving high volume power density output.

[0063] Specifically, the hyper-anisotropic control component 600 uses a sandwich padded fabric, including control wires 400 and a base 300. The control wires 400 are arranged at intervals on the base 300. The base 300 is sewn by the control wires 400 to form a closed tube and wrapped around the outside of the pneumatic soft robot 500.

[0064] Preferably, the hyper-anisotropy control component 600 is formed into a tubular shape by flat-seam-sealing the edges of the control line 400 .

[0065] The portion of the control wire 400 embedded in the pneumatic soft robot 500 is restricted from stretching, while the other portion will stretch, thereby achieving bending deformation of the pneumatic soft robot 500.

[0066] Furthermore, the hyperanisotropic control assembly 600 can cover a portion of the outer surface of the pneumatic soft robot 500. The control wires 400 can be distributed along the base 300 in a latitudinal, radial, or diagonal direction. In this embodiment, the control wires 400 are distributed along the latitudinal direction of the base 300, thereby limiting the expansion of the pneumatic soft robot 500 in the latitudinal direction (non-actuating direction) and concentrating the driving force in the longitudinal direction (actuating direction). The control wires 400 are distributed along the longitudinal direction of the base 300, thereby limiting the stretching of the pneumatic soft robot 500 in this part, causing the pneumatic soft robot 500 to bend.

[0067] When actuated, the shape and contour of the pneumatic soft robot 500 will change. The control wire 400 embedded in the hyper-anisotropic control component 600 will limit the expansion of the pneumatic soft robot 500. When pressurized, the embedded latitudinal control wire 400 can limit the latitudinal expansion. The part embedded with the longitudinal control wire 400 is restricted from stretching, while the other parts will stretch, thereby realizing the bending deformation of the pneumatic soft robot 500.

[0068] Example 3

[0069] Reference Figures 1 to 8 , which is the third embodiment of the present invention, is based on the first two embodiments.

[0070] The pneumatic soft robot 500 includes an airbag 501 and an end sealing sleeve 502 fixed to one end of the airbag 501 with sealant. The end sealing sleeve 502 has a circular hole 102a in the middle. The driving air pressure rushes into the airbag 501 through the circular hole 102a to drive the pneumatic soft robot 500.

[0071] In this embodiment, the airbag 501 is a silicone film with a thickness of 0.3 mm and a Shore hardness of 20. By selecting a suitable airbag 501, the braking effect of the pneumatic soft robot 500 covering the super-anisotropic control component 200 is improved.

[0072] The control lines 400 include weft lines 401 a and warp lines 401 b . The weft lines 401 a are arranged at intervals in the weft direction on the substrate 300 , and the warp lines 401 b are arranged at intervals in the warp direction on the substrate 300 .

[0073] The length of the warp wires 401b can be adjusted by stretching. The bending shape and curvature of the pneumatic soft robot 500 can be controlled by adjusting the length of the warp control wires 400. By varying the length and position of the embedded warp control wires 400, the expansion trajectory of two-dimensional objects can be programmed, allowing them to achieve various shape changes in three-dimensional space.

[0074] It should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions of the present invention may be modified or replaced by equivalents without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the present invention, which should all be included in the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by a sandwich lining fabric, characterized by: include, Pneumatic soft robots (500); A hyper-anisotropic control component (600), the hyper-anisotropic control component (600) adopts a sandwich lining fabric, comprising a control line (400) and a base (300), the control line (400) being arranged on the base (300), and the base (300) being coated on the outside of the pneumatic soft robot (500); The weaving method of the sandwich liner fabric comprises the following steps: A primary braided wire (100) is selected and extended in the weft direction; Determining evenly spaced primary stretching points (D-1) in the direction of the extended primary braided wire (100), wherein n primary stretching points (D-1) are provided; At each of the first-level stretching points (D-1), the first-level braided wire (100) is pulled out one by one along the warp direction to form a first-level U-shaped opening (101); at the first-level stretching points at odd positions, the stretching direction is upward to form a first-level upper coil (101a); and at the first-level stretching points at even positions, the stretching direction is downward to form a first-level lower coil (101b); A secondary braided wire (200) is taken, and the secondary braided wire is extended in the weft direction and is located below the primary braided wire (100); secondary stretching points (D-2) are determined in the direction of the secondary braided wire (200), and each secondary stretching point (D-2) corresponds to a primary stretching point (D-1); Using the same method as that used to form the primary U-shaped opening (101), a secondary U-shaped opening (201) is pulled out to form a secondary upper coil (201a) and a secondary lower coil (201b); The secondary upper coils (201a) are sequentially sleeved on the corresponding primary upper coils (101a) one after the other; The braided wires of the next level are sequentially added, and the steps of the second-level braided wire (200) are repeated in a cycle, and each N-level stretching point (DN) is ensured to correspond to the position of the stretching point of the previous level in sequence, wherein N ≥ 3, and N is a natural number, to form a matrix (300); A control line (400) is selected, and the control line (400) is a plurality of weft lines (401a) extending in the weft direction, and the plurality of weft lines (401a) are arranged at intervals in the weft direction on the base (300), and each weft line is sequentially inserted from the front and back of adjacent coils, and the control line (400) is a low-elastic polyester yarn spun from polyester roving; the control line (400) will limit the expansion of the pneumatic soft robot (500), and when pressurized, the weft lines (401a) will limit the weft expansion, while other parts will stretch, thereby achieving bending deformation of the pneumatic soft robot.

2. The textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by a sandwich cushion fabric according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper coil and lower coil structures of each level of braided wire are the same.

3. The textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by a sandwich cushion fabric according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spinning process of the braided thread is a core-spun fancy loop yarn with PU filament as the core and PET fiber as the outer shell.

4. The textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by a sandwich liner fabric according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pneumatic soft robot (500) comprises an airbag (501) and an end sealing sleeve (502) arranged at one end of the airbag (501), wherein a circular hole (502a) is provided in the middle of the end sealing sleeve (502).

5. The textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by a sandwich cushion fabric according to claim 4, characterized in that: The control line (400) further comprises warp lines (401b), and the warp lines (401b) are arranged at intervals in the warp direction on the substrate (300).

6. The textile-based pneumatic soft robot controlled by a sandwich cushion fabric according to claim 5, characterized in that: The warp length of the warp line (401b) is adjusted by stretching.

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