Pneumatic soft body driver based on tubular fabric

Abstract

The invention provides a pneumatic soft driver based on tubular fabric. The pneumatic soft driver comprises a rubber tube, rubber plugs located at the two ends of the rubber tube and the tubular fabric connected to the rubber tube in a sleeving mode. Wherein one rubber plug is provided with a hole communicated with the rubber tube, the tubular fabric is of a plain weave and comprises a flexible area and a hard area, the flexible area is of a surface warp weave, and warp yarns floating on the surface are in a broken state. The tubular fabric is divided into the flexible area and the hard area, the two areas have different mechanical properties and deformation properties through the design of the organization structure, it is ensured that the inflated driver bends and deforms towards the hard area side, the driver has good bending performance, flexible and controllable movement is achieved, and the driving effect is good. The flexible robot has the advantages of light weight, high flexibility and excellent response speed, meets diversified application requirements, is low in cost, simple in structure and easy to implement, and can be widely applied to the fields of robots, medical equipment, wearable equipment and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of pneumatic soft actuators, and particularly to a pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric. Background Art

[0002] A pneumatic actuator is a device that uses compressed gas (usually air) as a power source to generate mechanical motion. They are widely used in industrial automation, robotics, medical equipment and other fields, and have the advantages of simple structure, fast response speed, high reliability, etc. Traditional pneumatic actuators are usually made of rigid materials. Although they can provide stable force output, their flexibility and adaptability are poor, which limits their application in complex environments. In recent years, pneumatic soft actuators have gradually become a research hotspot, especially by using flexible materials and pneumatic technology to achieve a more natural motion mode.

[0003] A pneumatic soft actuator is a type of actuator that is driven by gas pressure and made of flexible materials. They achieve deformation and motion through inflation and deflation, and have characteristics such as compliance, adaptability and safety, and are widely used in robotics, medical equipment, bionic systems and other fields. The working principle of a pneumatic soft actuator is based on the deformation control of flexible materials by gas pressure. When gas (usually air) is pumped into the actuator, the internal chamber expands, and the shape of the actuator changes, thus generating motion. By controlling the pressure and flow rate of the gas, precise motion control can be achieved.

[0004] At present, most common pneumatic soft actuators use elastic materials such as rubber or silicone to design the air chamber structure to achieve deformation. However, the preparation of the air chamber structure for complex motion modes is expensive and difficult. In view of this, we designed a pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to disclose a pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric. The tubular fabric is divided into a flexible region and a rigid region. Through the design of the tissue structure, the two regions have different mechanical properties and deformation properties, ensuring that the inflated actuator bends and deforms towards the rigid region side, enabling the actuator to have good bending performance, achieving flexible and controllable motion, being lightweight, highly flexible and having excellent response speed, meeting diverse application requirements, having low cost, simple structure and easy to implement, and can be widely used in robotics, medical equipment, wearable devices and other fields.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pneumatic soft actuator based on a tubular fabric, which includes a rubber tube, rubber plugs located at both ends of the rubber tube, and a tubular fabric sleeved on the rubber tube; one of the rubber plugs is provided with a hole communicating with the rubber tube, the tubular fabric is a plain weave, the tubular fabric includes a flexible area and a rigid area, and the flexible area is a surface warp structure and the warp yarns floating on the surface are in a disconnected state.

[0007] In some embodiments, the longitudinal length of the flexible area accounts for 50%-70% of the longitudinal length of the tubular fabric, and the circumferential length of the flexible area accounts for 20%-30% of the circumference of the tubular fabric.

[0008] In some embodiments, the tubular fabric is a polyester tubular fabric or a UHMWPE tubular fabric.

[0009] In some embodiments, the rigid area of the tubular fabric is woven with 1-5 harnesses, and the flexible area of the tubular fabric is woven with 6-10 harnesses.

[0010] In some embodiments, both ends of the tubular fabric and the rubber tube are bonded by glue.

[0011] In some embodiments, both ends of the tubular fabric are fixed with straps.

[0012] In some embodiments, a PU air tube is inserted into the hole, and the PU air tube is connected to an air pump through a pneumatic joint.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: The pneumatic soft actuator based on a tubular fabric provided by the present invention divides the tubular fabric into a flexible area and a rigid area. Through the design of the organizational structure, the two areas have different mechanical properties and deformation properties, ensuring that the inflated actuator bends and deforms toward the rigid area side, enabling the actuator to have good bending performance, realizing flexible and controllable movement, being lightweight, highly flexible, and having excellent response speed, meeting diverse application requirements, having low cost, simple structure and easy to implement, and can be widely applied in fields such as robots, medical devices, and wearable devices. Description of the Drawings

[0014] Figure 1 It is the internal structure diagram of the pneumatic soft actuator based on a tubular fabric shown in the present invention;

[0015] Figure 2 It is the three-dimensional diagram of the tubular fabric shown in the present invention;

[0016] Figure 3 It is the tissue diagram of the rigid area of the tubular fabric shown in the present invention;

[0017] Figure 4The weave diagram of the flexible area of the tubular fabric shown in the present invention;

[0018] Figure 5 The machine setting parameters diagram of the tubular fabric shown in the present invention;

[0019] Figure 6 The physical diagram of the pneumatic soft actuator based on the polyester tubular fabric shown in the present invention;

[0020] Figure 7 is Figure 6 The bending angle schematic diagram of the pneumatic soft actuator based on the polyester tubular fabric shown in

[0021] Figure 8 is Figure 6 The deformation performance diagram of the pneumatic soft actuator based on the polyester tubular fabric shown in

[0022] Figure 9 The physical diagram of the pneumatic soft actuator based on the UHMWPE tubular fabric shown in the present invention;

[0023] Figure 10 is Figure 9 The deformation performance diagram of the pneumatic soft actuator based on the UHMWPE tubular fabric shown in Detailed implementation manners

[0024] The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the various implementation manners shown in the drawings. It should be noted, however, that these implementation manners do not limit the present invention. Any equivalent transformation or substitution in terms of function, method, or structure made by those of ordinary skill in the art according to these implementation manners shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0025] As Figure 1-10 shown, the pneumatic soft actuator based on the tubular fabric includes a rubber tube 1. The rubber tube 1 is provided with an air cavity 10 for inflating and deflating. Both ends of the rubber tube 1 are blocked by rubber plugs 2 to ensure airtightness. The end 5 of the tubular fabric 4 and the rubber tube 1 are bonded by glue. The edge of the rubber plug 2 covers the end 5 of the tubular fabric 4, and glue is added between the rubber plug 2 and the tubular fabric 4 to further enhance the airtightness between the rubber tube 1 and the rubber plug 2.

[0026] One of the rubber plugs 2 is provided with a hole 20 communicating with the air cavity 10 of the rubber tube 1. A PU air tube 3 is inserted into the hole 20. The diameter of the hole is 8 mm, and the outer diameter of the PU air tube 3 is 8 mm. The PU air tube 3 is connected to an air pump through a pneumatic joint so as to inflate the air cavity 10 by controlling the air pump.

[0027] It also includes a tubular fabric 4 sleeved on the rubber tube 1. The tubular fabric 4 is a polyester tubular fabric or a UHMWPE tubular fabric. Both ends of the tubular fabric 4 are fixed with straps to prevent the position of the tubular fabric 4 from moving when the actuator bends.

[0028] The tubular fabric 4 is of plain weave. Plain weave fabrics have many interlacing points and a tight structure. Under the conditions of the same warp and weft density, twist, and fabric warp and weft density, plain weave fabrics have a stronger ability to resist external force deformation.

[0029] The tubular fabric 4 includes a flexible area 41 and a rigid area 42. The rigid area 42 is woven according to the Figure 3 shown weave diagram, and the flexible area 41 is woven according to the Figure 4 shown weave diagram. During weaving, according to the weave diagram, the rigid area 42 selects 1-5 harnesses for weaving. Because the structure of the flexible area 41 is different from that of the rigid area 42, the number of harnesses needs to be increased. The flexible area 41 selects 6-10 harnesses for weaving.

[0030] The flexible area 41 is a surface warp structure. All the warp yarns in the flexible area 41 float on the weft yarns, and the floating warp yarns on the surface are in a disconnected state, retaining the weft float length. On the one hand, it greatly reduces the restraint of the flexible area 41 on the rubber tube 1 and provides conditions for the expansion of the rubber tube 1. On the other hand, the flexible area 41 has a small warp pressure, which is convenient for the rubber tube 1 to bend towards the rigid area 42. It can not only achieve a good bending degree, but also the tubular fabric 4 will not be damaged, so it can be reused, reducing costs.

[0031] The rigid area 42 maintains the original plain weave structure unchanged, has a binding effect on the tubular fabric 4, and has a strong ability to resist deformation, which can ensure that the inflated rubber tube 1 only expands towards the flexible area 41 and bends towards the rigid area 42 side.

[0032] Through the design of the organizational structure, the flexible area 41 and the rigid area 42 have different mechanical properties and deformation properties, ensuring that the inflated actuator bends and deforms towards the rigid area 42 side, enabling the actuator to have good bending performance, realizing flexible and controllable movement, being lightweight, highly flexible, and having excellent response speed, meeting diverse application requirements, having low costs, a simple structure, and being easy to implement, and can be widely applied in fields such as robots, medical devices, and wearable devices.

[0033] The size of the flexible area 41 can be designed according to the bending performance requirements. In this embodiment, the proportion of the longitudinal length of the flexible area in the longitudinal length of the tubular fabric is 60%, and the proportion of the circumferential length of the flexible area in the circumference of the tubular fabric is 25%.

[0034] After filling the air chamber 10 of the rubber tube 1 with gas, the rubber tube 1 expands towards the flexible region 41. As it expands and bulges, the air chamber 10 of the rubber tube 1 gradually bends towards the rigid region 42 side, achieving a constrained bending.

[0035] As Figure 7 , Figure 8 and Figure 10 shown, as time goes on, the pressure inside the air chamber 10 of the rubber tube 1 becomes greater and greater, and the bending degree of the pneumatic soft actuator based on the tubular fabric becomes greater and greater, proving that the pneumatic soft actuator based on the tubular fabric can achieve good bending performance.

[0036] The series of detailed descriptions listed above are only specific descriptions of the feasible implementation manners of the present invention, and they are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any equivalent implementation manners or modifications made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0037] In addition, it should be understood that although this specification is described according to the implementation manners, not every implementation manner only includes an independent technical solution. This narrative manner of the specification is only for clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in each embodiment can also be appropriately combined to form other implementation manners that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. Pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric, characterized in that It includes a rubber tube, rubber plugs located at both ends of the rubber tube, and a tubular fabric sleeved on the rubber tube; one of the rubber plugs is provided with a hole communicating with the rubber tube, the tubular fabric is of plain weave, the tubular fabric includes a flexible area and a rigid area, and the warp yarns floating on the surface in the flexible area are in a disconnected state.

2. The pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric according to claim 1, wherein The proportion of the longitudinal length of the flexible area in the longitudinal length of the tubular fabric is 50%-70%, and the proportion of the circumferential length of the flexible area in the circumference of the tubular fabric is 20%-30%.

3. The pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tubular fabric is a polyester tubular fabric or a UHMWPE tubular fabric.

4. The pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric according to claim 1, wherein, The rigid area of the tubular fabric is woven with 1-5 harnesses, and the flexible area of the tubular fabric is woven with 6-10 harnesses.

5. The pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric according to claim 1, characterized in that, Both ends of the tubular fabric and the rubber tube are bonded by glue.

6. The pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric according to claim 5, characterized in that, Both ends of the tubular fabric are fixed by straps.

7. The pneumatic soft actuator based on tubular fabric according to claim 1, characterized in that, A PU air tube is inserted into the hole, and the PU air tube is connected to an air pump through a pneumatic joint.

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