Expansion and contraction device and test device provided with expansion and contraction device

Abstract

The invention provides a test device which is provided with a telescopic device capable of effectively extending and reducing the separation interval between universal joints and can be compactly arranged. The vibration excitation device performs vibration excitation by rotating a nut (41) through an actuator (10) between cross shaft joints (11, 13) connected with a base (101) and a supporting table (103) to enable a ball screw shaft (17) to slide forwards and backwards and expand and contract, and is provided with a rectangular plate (20) which swings with an X axis (21) and a Y axis (23) as the center between the base side and the actuator side. A space (25) for accommodating the ball screw shaft without limiting the movement of one end of the ball screw shaft is opened on the inner side of the rectangular plate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a telescopic device that realizes necessary telescopic extension with a compact structure and a test device equipped with the telescopic device. Background Art

[0002] As a test device for an expansion and contraction device that adjusts the separation interval between universal joints provided at both ends by using a plurality of driving forces from a driving source, a driving simulator described in Patent Document 1 is known, for example.

[0003] In this driving simulator, six sets of telescopic devices are used to realize six degrees of freedom movement, such as tilting of the top support platform supporting the vehicle cab relative to the base (base) in the XYZ direction, pitch direction, roll direction and yaw direction.

[0004] Prior art literature

[0005] Patent Literature

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-33671 Summary of the invention

[0007] Problems to be solved by the invention

[0008] However, in such a telescopic device, in order to make the support side move effectively relative to the base side, it is necessary to reduce the area of ​​the support side and the base side and lower the overall height in order to meet the needs of saving space and improving workability while ensuring the telescopic distance.

[0009] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a telescopic device that can effectively extend and reduce the separation interval between universal joints and to provide a test device that can be compactly installed.

[0010] Solutions to Solve Problems

[0011] One solution of the invention of a telescopic device for solving the above-mentioned problem is the following telescopic device, which is arranged in a manner interposed between a first connected member and a second connected member, and is telescopic in the separation direction of the first connected member and the second connected member to adjust the separation interval, and is characterized in that the telescopic device comprises: a first universal joint, which is connected to the first connected member; a second universal joint, which is connected to the second connected member; a device base, which is connected to the first universal joint and can support a posture relative to the first connected member in a freely changeable manner; a sliding member, which extends along the separation direction of the first connected member and the second connected member and is slidably held on the device base in the longitudinal direction, and at the same time, the opposite end of the device base is connected to the second universal joint in a manner that can freely change the posture relative to the second connected member; and a sliding mechanism, which receives a driving force from a driving source to slide the sliding member in the length direction so as to slide the sliding member in the length direction, wherein one or both of the first universal joint and the second universal joint include: a swinging member having two sets of rotating axes in a direction orthogonal to the sliding direction of the sliding member and swinging around the rotating axes; a first shaft supporting member rotatably supporting the first rotating axis of the swinging member and being fixed to the first connected member or the second connected member; and a second shaft supporting member rotatably supporting the second rotating axis of the swinging member and being fixed to the device base or the end of the sliding member on the side opposite to the device base, the swinging member being formed so as to accommodate the end of the sliding member in a manner that does not restrict the movement of the sliding and swinging sliding member, and being open in the extension direction of the sliding member.

[0012] One solution of the invention of a test device for solving the above-mentioned problem is a test device provided with at least three groups of the above-mentioned telescopic devices, characterized in that it has a substrate component of the first connected component and a top plate component of the second connected component, and for each of the telescopic devices, the separation interval between the substrate component and the top plate component is changed to change the posture of the top plate component relative to the substrate component.

[0013] Effects of the Invention

[0014] Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the sliding component can be slid until the end side is accommodated in the opening space of the swinging component of the universal joint, the separation interval between the universal joints can be reduced from the value obtained by adding the size of the universal joint to the length of the sliding component by the amount of sliding movement into the opening space, and by sliding the end of the sliding component out of the opening space of the swinging component, the separation interval between the universal joints that is the same as before can be ensured.

[0015] Therefore, the separation interval between the universal joints of the telescopic device can be effectively shortened and lengthened, and the test device can be compactly installed using the telescopic device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 This is a perspective view showing the appearance of a vibration excitation device as an example of a test device equipped with the expansion and contraction device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 1 is a front view showing the vibration excitation device.

[0018] Figure 3 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view parallel to the parallel direction of the drive source showing the telescopic device.

[0019] Figure 4 is a diagram showing the telescopic device, (a) is perpendicular to Figure 3 (b) is a partial longitudinal sectional view parallel to the direction of (a), and (b) is a IVb-IVb sectional view of the universal joint of the telescopic device in (a).

[0020] Figure 5 It is a perspective view showing a swing member of a universal joint of the telescopic device.

[0021] Figure 6 1 and 2 are diagrams showing a universal joint of the telescopic device when not swinging, wherein (a) is a partial longitudinal sectional view parallel to one direction, and (b) is a partial longitudinal sectional view parallel to a direction orthogonal to (a).

[0022] Figure 7 1 and 2 are diagrams showing the universal joint when the telescopic device is swinging, wherein (a) is a partial longitudinal sectional view parallel to one direction, and (b) is a partial longitudinal sectional view parallel to a direction orthogonal to (a).

[0023] Figure 8 The figures illustrate the effects of the excitation device, (a) is its plan model diagram, and (b) is its front model diagram.

[0024] Fig. 9 The figures are figures showing a conventional excitation device for comparison with this excitation device, (a) is a plan model diagram thereof, and (b) is a front model diagram thereof.

[0025] Fig.10 This is a front model diagram for comparison with a conventional vibration excitation device in a state where a plurality of actions are arranged in parallel in order to illustrate the effect of the vibration excitation device.

[0026] Fig.11 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing the conventional excitation device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figures 1 to 11 It is a diagram for explaining a vibration excitation device as an example of a test device equipped with the expansion and contraction device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] exist Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the embodiment, the vibration device (test device) 100 is configured to function as a six-legged member constituting a part of the driving simulator, and is configured to be supported by six sets of actuators (extension devices) 10 between a base (substrate member, base, first connected member) 101 installed in a test room or the like and a support platform (top plate member, second connected member) 103 of a cab or the like on which the driving simulator is fixed. The six sets of actuators 10 of the vibration device 100 are extended and retracted in accordance with control signals from a main computer (not shown) of the driving simulator to adjust the separation intervals between the installation parts, thereby enabling the support platform 103 to perform six degrees of freedom such as tilting motion in the XYZ direction, pitch direction, roll direction, and yaw direction relative to the base 101. Here, in this embodiment, the vibration device 100 having six sets of actuators 10 is used as an example for explanation, but it is not limited to this. For example, by having three or more sets of actuators 10, it is of course possible to support the support platform so that it can be displaced relative to the base.

[0029] The vibration excitation device 100 is manufactured so that the two ends 10e of the two sets of actuators 10 are substantially aligned with the common base 101 and the support 103 and the vertex vicinities 101Ta and 103Ta of the triangles 101T and 103T facing each other at the approximate center. Figure 8 The excitation device 100 is a structure in which the triangle 103T of the support table 103 is rotated 60° relative to the triangle 101T of the base 101 (see Figure 8 ), the two ends 10e of each two sets of actuators 10 are set on the support blocks 101B and 103B so as to be between the adjacent vertices 101Ta and 103Ta in the forward and reverse rotation directions starting from the vertices 101Ta and 103Ta, and the six sets of actuators 10 are respectively arranged between the base 101 and the support table 103. Thus, the vibration excitation device 100 can change the support table 103 supported relative to the base 101 to a desired posture and stable state or support while performing vibration, etc. by adjusting the separation intervals between the two ends 10e of the six sets of actuators 10 respectively.

[0030] Moreover, if Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown in the figure, the actuator 10 is provided with a cross-axis joint (first universal joint) 11 on the support block 101B of the base 101, and the device base 15 is supported so that the posture relative to the base 101 can be freely changed, and a cross-axis joint (second universal joint) 13 is provided on the support block 103B of the support table 103, and the upper end portion 17e of the ball screw shaft (sliding member) 17 slidably held on the device base 15 in the longitudinal direction is supported so that the posture relative to the support table 103 can be freely changed. In other words, the actuator 10 supports the support table 103 so that the posture relative to the base 101 can be freely changed.

[0031] like Figure 5 As shown, the cross-axis joint 11 on the side of the base 101 is made into a shape in which a pair of X-axes 21 protrude from the center of two parallel side surfaces 20a on one side of the rectangular plate 20, and a pair of Y-axes 23 protrude from the center of two parallel side surfaces 20b on the other side of the rectangular plate 20, the pair of X-axes 21 are rotatably supported by bearings 27b in a pair of bearings (second axis support components) 27 separately erected along the X-axis direction in the figure on the upper surface of the base 101, and the pair of Y-axes 23 are rotatably supported by bearings 29b in a pair of bearings (first axis support components) 29 separately erected along the Y-axis direction in the figure on the lower surface of the device base 15.

[0032] Therefore, in the excitation device 100, the bearings 27 and 29 of the base 101 and the device base 15 respectively keep the X-axis 21 and the Y-axis 23 of the cross-axis joint 11 (rectangular plate 20) rotatable, so that the rectangular plate 20 functions as a swinging part relative to the base 101, thereby supporting the posture of the device base 15 of the actuator 10 to be freely changeable.

[0033] The cross-axis joint 13 on the support platform 103 side is the same as the cross-axis joint 11, and a pair of X-axes 31 of the cross component 30 are rotatably supported by bearings 37b in a pair of bearings 37 that are separated and uprightly arranged along the X-axis direction on the lower surface of the support platform 103, and a pair of Y-axes 33 of the cross component 30 are rotatably supported by bearings 39b in a pair of bearings 39 that are separated and uprightly arranged along the Y-axis direction at the upper end portion 17e of the ball screw shaft 17.

[0034] Thus, in the vibration device 100, the bearings 37 and 39 of the support platform 103 and the ball screw shaft 17 respectively hold the X-axis 31 and the Y-axis 33 of the cross-axis joint 13 (cross member 30) to rotate freely, so that the cross member 30 swings relative to the support platform 103 and the posture of the ball screw shaft 17 of the actuator 10 can be supported to be freely changeable. In other words, the posture of the support platform 103 can be supported to be freely changeable relative to the ball screw shaft 17 of the actuator 10.

[0035] Here, in the excitation device 100 of the present embodiment, the case where the rectangular plate 20 is configured only on the cross-axis joint 11 on the base 101 side of the actuator 10 is described as an example, but it is not limited to this. Of course, it can also be configured on the cross-axis joint 13 on the support platform 103 side instead, or it can also be configured on both of them.

[0036] The device base 15 has a shell part 15a, which together with the ball screw shaft 17 holds a nut (ball housing) 41 constituting a rotating ball screw 40 (for example, manufactured by THK Corporation) on one end side so as to be relatively rotatable. A bearing 29 is formed at the other end on the opposite side of the shell part 15a in a form protruding toward the base 101 side, and the bearing 29 holds the Y-axis 23 of the cross-axis joint 11 on the base 101 side so as to be rotatable.

[0037] The rotating ball screw 40 is constructed such that a nut 41 is rotatably held on a shell part 15a of a device base 15 on a side of a base 101, and on a side of a support platform 103, a bearing 37 for rotatably holding a Y-axis 33 of a cross part 30 is formed so as to protrude toward an upper end part 17e of the support platform 103, and the ball screw shaft 17 is slidably held in the nut 41.

[0038] Although omitted from the illustration, the rotating ball screw 40 is constructed such that a spiral thread groove (spiral groove) shape for housing a plurality of balls (ball group) so as to be able to roll is formed on the outer circumference of the ball screw shaft (spiral groove structure shaft) 17 and the inner circumference of the nut 41, and the balls housed in the spiral groove are pushed out in one direction by relative rotation of one of the ball screw shaft 17 and the nut 41 with respect to the other, and the other of the ball screw shaft 17 and the nut 41 slides in the opposite direction.

[0039] In addition, the actuator 10 is provided with a servo motor (drive source) 49 in parallel in such a manner that the driving rotation axis is parallel to the nut 41 (ball screw shaft 17) of the rotating ball screw 40 of the device base 15 which is rotatably held on the side of the base 101. The device base 15 includes: a pulley 43 fixed in such a manner that it can rotate coaxially with the driving rotation axis of the servo motor 49; a pulley 45 fixed in such a manner that it can rotate coaxially with the nut 41; and a belt 47 wound around the pair of pulleys 43, 45 and transmitting the driving rotation force of the servo motor 49 to the nut 41, thereby functioning as a driving force conversion mechanism.

[0040] Thus, the actuator 10 drives and controls the servo motor 49 to rotate the nut 41 of the rotating ball screw 40 forward and reversely, so that the ball screw shaft 17 can slide in the forward and reverse directions, and the ball screw shaft 17 can move forward and backward relative to the device base 15 (nut 41) on the base 101 side toward the support platform 103 side to extend and retract the entire length.

[0041] At this time, in the actuator 10, the cross-axis joints 11 and 13 on the two end sides support the base 101 and the device base 15 (the nut 41 of the rotating ball screw 40) and the support platform 103 and the upper end 17e of the ball screw shaft 17 of the rotating ball screw 40 according to the extension and contraction of the entire length so that their relative postures can be freely changed, thereby being able to function as an excitation device 100 and realize 6-degree-of-freedom tilting or excitation movements.

[0042] Here, in the vibration excitation device 100 of the present embodiment, a case where a rotating ball screw 40 is mounted and a sliding mechanism is mounted so that the ball screw shaft 17 slides in the axial direction instead of rotating in the longitudinal direction is described as an example, but it is not limited to this. For example, the following sliding mechanism may also be used: the ball screw shaft 17 is replaced with an externally threaded shaft (spiral groove structure shaft) having an external thread (spiral groove shape) formed on the outer circumferential surface, and an internally threaded nut having an internal thread (spiral groove shape) formed on the inner circumferential surface that is screwed with the external thread is maintained to be freely rotatable, thereby allowing the externally threaded shaft to slide in the forward and backward directions while rotating forward and reversely.

[0043] Moreover, if Figure 5 As shown, the actuator 10 is formed with a storage space 25 having a large opening in the form of having substantially parallel inner peripheral surfaces 20i on the inner side of the parallel side surfaces 20a and 20b of the rectangular plate 20. Figure 6 As shown, the rectangular plate 20 allows the end portion of the base 101 side of the ball screw shaft 17 that slides in the up-down direction according to the relative rotation of the nut 41 of the rotating ball screw 40 to move into the storage space 25 without restriction.

[0044] In particular, Figure 7 As shown in (a), the rectangular plate 20 and the bearing 27 of the device base 15 that supports a pair of X-axes 21 so as to be rotatable are integrally rotated forward and reversely around the Y-axis 23 of the bearing 29 that is rotatably supported on the side of the base 101. Therefore, there is no need to ensure that the inner circumferential surface 20i of the storage space 25 between the pair of X-axes 21 is wider, and the ball screw shaft 17 will not directly contact the inner circumferential surface 20i of the storage space 25.

[0045] In addition, if Figure 7As shown in (b), the pair of Y-axes 23 of the rectangular plate 20 are rotatably supported by the bearing 29 provided on the base 101 side, and the end portion of the ball screw shaft 17 on the base side 101 swings in the storage space 25 integrally with the bearing 27 of the device base 15, so it is necessary to ensure that the inner circumferential surface 20i of the storage space 25 between the pair of Y-axes 23 is wider than the swing amount. In short, the rectangular plate 20 is made so that the movement of the end portion of the ball screw shaft 17 on the base side 101 that swings integrally with the bearing 27 of the device base 15 is not restricted and does not contact the inner circumferential surface 20i of the storage space 25. That is, the cross-axis joint 13 on the support platform 103 side is constructed as a so-called universal joint using a cross component 30, and in contrast, the cross-axis joint 11 on the base 101 side is constructed as a hollow cross-axis joint using a rectangular plate 20 that forms a storage space 25 and has an X-axis 21 and a Y-axis 23, and is made to be able to freely swing and accommodate the base 101 side end of the ball screw shaft 17 of the rotating ball screw 40 in the storage space 25 on the inner side of the opening in the extension direction of the ball screw shaft 17.

[0046] Therefore, if Figure 8 As shown, the actuator 10 is connected to the cross-axis joint 11 to support the support platform 103, and can allow the cross-axis joint 13 connected to the base 101 to move (enter) the base 101 side end of the ball screw shaft 17 of the rotating ball screw 40 into the storage space 25 of the rectangular plate 20.

[0047] Therefore, the vibration device 100 can be set to Fig.11 The conventional excitation device 200 (see FIG. 2 ) supports the support table 203 via the actuator 210 so that the posture relative to the base 201 can be changed freely. Fig. 9 ) has a compact structure. The areas of the base 101 and the support platform 103 of the excitation device 100 are smaller than those of the base 201 and the support platform 203 of the excitation device 200, which can also make the required installation space compact.

[0048] Here, if we simply explain, Fig.11 As shown, the conventional actuator 210 is connected with cross-axis joints 211 and 213 having the same structure as the cross-axis joint 11 of the present embodiment, and supports the support table 203 so that the posture thereof can be changed relative to the base 201. The actuator 210 uses the rotational driving force of the servo motor 249 transmitted via the pulleys 243 and 245 and the belt 247 to rotate the ball screw shaft 217 of the rotating ball screw 240 rotatably supported by the nut 241 fixed to the base body 215 to move up and down, thereby changing the separation interval of the cross-axis joints 211 and 213 and changing the posture of the support table 203 relative to the base 201.

[0049] Thus, for example, when functioning as a six-legged member forming part of a driving simulator, e.g. Fig.10 As shown, under test conditions where the support surface supporting the test object vibrates between a height Hb at a lower position (Ba, Bb) and a height Ht at a higher position (Ta, Tb) with a height Hn at rest (Na, Nb) as the center, in the conventional excitation device 200, it is necessary to ensure a large installation area of ​​the base 201 and the support platform 203 as well as a space in the height direction. In contrast, in the excitation device 100 of the present embodiment, the installation area of ​​the base 101 and the support platform 103 as well as the space in the height direction can be compactly reduced.

[0050] In this way, in the vibration excitation device 100 equipped with the actuator 10 of this embodiment, the base 101 side end of the ball screw shaft 17 of the rotating ball screw 40 can be moved to the storage space 25 of the rectangular plate 20 of the cross-axis joint 11. Even if it has the same function as the previous actuator 200, even if it is formed into a compact structure, the installation place can be made compact.

[0051] The scope of the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described in the drawings, but also includes all embodiments that bring effects equivalent to the purpose of the present invention. In addition, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the combination of the features of the invention determined by the scope of each technical solution, but can be determined by all desired combinations of all disclosed specific features.

[0052] Explanation of symbols

[0053] 10—actuator (telescopic device), 11—cross-axis joint (first universal joint), 13—cross-axis joint (second universal joint), 15—device base, 15a—housing component, 17—ball screw shaft (sliding component), 20—rectangular plate (swinging component), 20i—inner circumference, 21—X-axis, 23—Y-axis, 25—storage space, 27, 29—bearings, 30—cross component, 41—nut, 43, 45—pulley, 47—belt, 49—servo motor, 100—excitation device, 101—base (substrate component, base, first connected component), 103—support platform (top plate component, second connected component).

Claims

1. A telescopic device, which is disposed between a first connected member and a second connected member, and is telescopic in a separation direction of the first connected member and the second connected member to adjust the separation interval, wherein the telescopic device is characterized in that it comprises: a first universal joint connected to the first connected member; a second universal joint connected to the second connected member; a device base connected to the first universal joint and supporting a posture relative to the first connected member in a freely changeable manner; a sliding member extending in the direction in which the first connected member and the second connected member separate from each other and being slidably held on the device base in the longitudinal direction, and having an end portion on the side opposite to the device base connected to the second universal joint in such a manner that the posture relative to the second connected member can be freely changed; as well as a sliding mechanism that receives a driving force from a driving source to slide the sliding member in the length direction and slides the sliding member in the length direction, One or both of the first universal joint and the second universal joint include: A swing member having two sets of rotation axes in directions orthogonal to the sliding direction of the sliding member and swinging around the rotation axes; a first shaft supporting member that rotatably supports a first rotating shaft portion of the swinging member and is fixed to the first connected member or the second connected member; and a second shaft support member that rotatably supports the second rotation shaft portion of the swing member and is fixed to the device base or the end portion of the sliding member on the side opposite to the device base; The swing member is formed so that a space for accommodating an end portion of the sliding member is open in the extending direction of the sliding member so as not to restrict the movement of the sliding member that slides and swings.

2. The telescopic device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sliding member is formed on a spiral groove structure shaft having a spiral groove formed on the outer peripheral surface side of a circular cross section. The sliding mechanism is configured to convert the rotational driving force received from the driving source into a linear driving force by utilizing the spiral groove shape of the spiral groove structure shaft, thereby sliding the spiral groove structure shaft in the axial direction.

3. The telescopic device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The sliding mechanism has: A ball group is accommodated in the spiral groove shape of the spiral groove structure shaft in a manner that it can roll freely; A ball housing having a spiral groove shape formed on the inner peripheral surface side facing the outer peripheral surface of the spiral groove structure shaft to accommodate the ball group in the spiral groove shape in a rolling manner and maintain the accommodated state of the ball group; as well as A driving force conversion mechanism positions the ball housing in the axial direction of the spiral groove structure shaft and holds it rotatably around the outer periphery of the spiral groove structure shaft, and receives a rotational driving force from the driving source to rotate the ball housing.

4. The telescopic device according to claim 3, characterized in that: A motor for rotating the rotating shaft is arranged adjacent to the spiral groove structure shaft as the power source. The driving force conversion mechanism includes a driving force conversion mechanism that transmits the rotational driving force of the motor to the ball housing by winding a belt around a pair of pulleys, and the pair of pulleys are provided to rotate coaxially with the ball housing and the rotating shaft of the motor, respectively.

5. A test device, which is provided with at least three or more sets of telescopic devices according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the test device is characterized in that: A base plate member including the first connected member and a top plate member including the second connected member, The spacing between the base member and the top plate member is changed for each of the telescopic devices, so that the posture of the top plate member relative to the base member is changed.

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