Flexible jaw force sensing device

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of flexible clamping jaws, in particular to a flexible clamping jaw shape force detection device which comprises a support frame, a clamping assembly, an image acquisition assembly, a force measurement assembly and a transmission mechanism, the clamping assembly is arranged on the support frame and is used for clamping a clamping jaw to be detected; the image acquisition assembly is arranged on the support frame and has a collection direction parallel to the working surface of the clamping jaw to be detected; the force measurement assembly is arranged on the support frame and is oppositely arranged with the working surface of the clamping jaw to be detected; and the transmission mechanism is arranged on the support frame and can drive the clamping assembly to move to the image acquisition assembly and the force measurement assembly respectively. The clamping jaw in different states is photographed by the image acquisition assembly, the positive and negative pressure deformation variables are identified according to the clamping jaw images obtained by photographing, the actual clamping process is simulated by the force measurement assembly, the shape force in the clamping process of the clamping jaw is measured, the measurement precision is high, the degree of automation is high, the deformation and the thrust measurement are integrated into one device, and the product deformation and the thrust can be automatically measured by only one-step operation.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of flexible gripper, and particularly relates to a flexible gripper shape force detection device. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the continuous development of industrial automation technology, labor-intensive enterprises are using mechanical automation equipment to replace traditional manual labor. Using mechanical automation equipment to complete complex, periodic, repetitive and high-intensity work is one of the symbols of modern industry today. As the key end effector of these automation equipment, the gripper is crucial to realize various action functions. Compared with the traditional rigid gripper, the flexible gripper exhibits higher safety, easier control, lower weight and cost in the process of robot interaction. At the same time, it can also effectively handle irregular or fragile objects, and therefore is widely used in many fields and scenes such as biomedical, disaster rescue, scientific exploration, aerospace and wearable devices.

[0003] As one of the key components of automation equipment, the performance of the flexible gripper has a decisive influence on the working ability of the automation equipment, and therefore it is necessary to detect the performance of the flexible gripper product. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a flexible gripper shape force detection device to solve the problem of performance detection of the flexible gripper product in the prior art.

[0005] The present application provides a flexible gripper shape force detection device, comprising:

[0006] a support frame;

[0007] a clamping assembly arranged on the support frame and used for clamping a gripper to be detected;

[0008] an image acquisition assembly arranged on the support frame and having an acquisition direction parallel to a working surface of the gripper to be detected;

[0009] a force measurement assembly arranged on the support frame and arranged opposite the working surface of the gripper to be detected;

[0010] a transmission mechanism arranged on the support frame and capable of driving the clamping assembly to move to the image acquisition assembly and the force measurement assembly respectively.

[0011] In a possible design, the image acquisition assembly comprises:

[0012] a camera arranged on one side of the clamping assembly;

[0013] a background plate arranged on the other side of the clamping assembly and opposite the camera, and the background plate is provided with a light source.

[0014] In a possible design, the force measuring assembly comprises:

[0015] a blocking piece, which is arranged opposite to the working surface of the clamp jaw to be measured;

[0016] a force measuring piece, which is arranged on the blocking piece and is used for detecting the force generated during the mutual extrusion of the clamp jaw to be measured and the blocking piece.

[0017] In a possible design, the force measuring piece is a force sensor or a strain gauge.

[0018] In a possible design, the blocking piece comprises a fixed plate and a plurality of movable plates, the plurality of movable plates are uniformly arranged on one side of the fixed plate close to the clamp jaw to be measured, and a spring is arranged between each movable plate and the fixed plate.

[0019] In a possible design, the transmission mechanism comprises a guide rail and a driver, the guide rail is arranged on the support frame, and the driver can drive the clamping assembly to move along the guide rail to the image acquisition assembly and the force measuring assembly in sequence.

[0020] In a possible design, the clamping assembly comprises:

[0021] a base, which is arranged on the guide rail, is connected with the driver, can move along the guide rail, and is formed with a reference plate;

[0022] a push plate, which is arranged on the base and can move close to / draw away from the reference plate to clamp / release the clamp jaw to be measured.

[0023] In a possible design, the clamping assembly further comprises:

[0024] a first position limiter, which is arranged at the starting end of the guide rail;

[0025] a second position limiter, which is arranged on the guide rail and corresponds to the position of the image acquisition assembly;

[0026] a third position limiter, which is arranged on the guide rail and corresponds to the position of the force measuring assembly.

[0027] In a possible design, the clamping assembly further comprises a drag chain, the drag chain is arranged with an air pipe, one end of the air pipe is in communication with the pneumatic pump, and the other end is in communication with the inner cavity of the clamp jaw to be measured.

[0028] In a possible design, the clamping assembly further comprises a display, which is arranged on the support frame, is electrically connected with the camera, and is used for displaying the image of the clamp jaw to be measured taken by the camera.

[0029] The application has the following beneficial effects:

[0030] The flexible gripper shape force detection equipment of the present application takes pictures of the gripper in different states through the image acquisition assembly, identifies the positive and negative pressure deformation variables according to the gripper images obtained by taking pictures, simulates the actual gripping process through the force measurement assembly, and measures the shape force in the gripping process of the gripper. The measurement precision is high, the applicability is wide, the operation is simple, the automation degree is high, the deformation and thrust measurement are integrated into one equipment, only one step operation is needed to automatically measure the product deformation and thrust, the compatibility is good, and the same product of different sizes does not need to adjust the equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0031] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor.

[0032] Figure 1 The structure schematic diagram of the flexible gripper shape force detection equipment provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0033] Figure 2 The top view of the flexible gripper shape force detection equipment provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0034] Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the deformation detection process of the flexible gripper shape force detection equipment provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0035] Figure 4 The schematic diagram of the shape force detection process of the flexible gripper shape force detection equipment provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0036] Figure 5 The deformation schematic diagram of the gripper to be measured in the positive pressure state is shown in the figure.

[0037] Figure 6 The deformation schematic diagram of the gripper to be measured in the negative pressure state is shown in the figure.

[0038] Figure 7 The structure schematic diagram of the force measurement assembly of the flexible gripper shape force detection equipment provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0039] Figure 8 The structure schematic diagram of the movable plate is shown in the figure.

[0040] Figure 9 The structure schematic diagram of the elastic net and strain gauge is shown in the figure.

[0041] Reference signs:

[0042] 100. Support frame; 110. Control box; 120. Operation button; 130. Electrical control module; 200. Clamping assembly; 210. Base; 211. Reference plate; 220. Push plate; 230. Cylinder; 300. Image acquisition assembly; 310. Camera; 311. Lens; 312. Limiting collar; 320. Background plate; 400. Force measuring assembly; 410. Blocking component; 411. Fixed plate; 412. Movable plate; 413. Spring; 420. Force measuring component; 430. Elastic net; 500. Transmission mechanism; 510. Guide rail; 520. Driver; 600. Grip gripper to be measured; 710. First limiter; 720. Second limiter; 730. Third limiter; 800. Cable chain; 900. Display. Detailed Implementation

[0043] The technical solutions of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0044] The following is combined Figures 1-9 This describes the flexible gripper force detection device provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0045] Reference Figure 1 , Figure 2 As shown in the figure, this application provides a flexible gripper force detection device, including a support frame 100, a clamping assembly 200, an image acquisition assembly 300, a force measuring assembly 400, and a transmission mechanism 500. The support frame 100 is a rectangular frame, and the clamping assembly 200, the image acquisition assembly 300, the force measuring assembly 400, and the transmission mechanism 500 are respectively installed within the rectangular frame. The clamping assembly 200 is used to clamp the gripper 600 to be tested.

[0046] The image acquisition component 300 is used to capture the shape of the gripper 600 under test in the positive pressure gripping state and the negative pressure release state. The shooting direction of the image acquisition component 300 is the acquisition direction, which is parallel to the working surface of the gripper 600 under test, so that a side view of the gripper 600 under test can be captured to facilitate the measurement of the deformation of the gripper 600 under test.

[0047] The force measuring component 400 is used to measure the force generated by the gripper 600 under positive pressure clamping state. The force measuring component 400 is arranged opposite to the working surface of the gripper 600 under positive pressure clamping state so that the gripper 600 under positive pressure clamping state can press against the force measuring component 400 to generate deformation and generate force.

[0048] The transmission mechanism 500 is used to drive the clamping assembly 200 to move, so as to drive the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 on the clamping assembly 200 to move to the image acquisition assembly 300 and the force measuring assembly 400 respectively.

[0049] Referring to Figure 3 As shown in the drawings, in some specific embodiments, the image acquisition assembly 300 comprises a camera 310 and a background plate 320, the camera 310 is arranged on the left side of the clamping assembly 200, and a limiting sleeve ring 312 is further arranged on the support frame 100, and a lens 311 of the camera 310 extends out of the limiting sleeve ring 312. The background plate 320 is arranged on the right side of the clamping assembly 200, and the background plate 320 is arranged opposite to the camera 310, and a light source is arranged on the background plate 320. In this way, when the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 is photographed, the light source on the background plate 320 can emit reverse light, which is beneficial to make the edge of the photographed image of the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 more clear, and facilitate the calculation of the deformation amount of the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 in the positive pressure clamping state and the negative pressure releasing state. Wherein Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the deformation of the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 in the positive pressure state, Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the deformation of the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 in the negative pressure state.

[0050] Referring to Figure 4 As shown in the drawings, in some embodiments of the present application, the force measuring assembly 400 comprises a blocking piece 410 and a force measuring piece 420, for example, the blocking piece 410 is a plate structure, the blocking piece 410 is arranged opposite to the working surface of the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600, and the force measuring piece 420 is arranged on the blocking piece 410, the force measuring piece 420 is a force sensor or a strain gauge, and the force measuring piece 420 is used to detect the deformation force generated by the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 during the mutual extrusion of the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 and the blocking piece 410.

[0051] Referring to Figure 7 , Figure 8 As shown in the drawings, in some specific embodiments, the blocking piece 410 comprises a fixed plate 411 and a plurality of movable plates 412, the fixed plate 411 is mounted on the support frame 100, and the plurality of movable plates 412 are distributed in a rectangular array on one side of the fixed plate 411 close to the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600, a spring 413 is arranged between each movable plate 412 and the fixed plate 411, the left end of the spring 413 is riveted to the fixed plate 411, and the right end of the spring 413 is riveted to the corresponding movable plate 412. In this way, the movable plate 412 can simulate the deformation process of the to-be-clamped object extruded by the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600, when the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 extrudes the movable plate 412 in the positive pressure clamping state, because the shape of the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 is not fixed, the extrusion force of the movable plate 412 at different positions is also different, so that the size of the deformation force generated by the to-be-tested clamping jaw 600 at different positions can be measured.

[0052] Referring to Figure 8 ,Figure 9 As shown, in some embodiments, the elastic net 430 is arranged on the side of the movable plate 412 close to the measured gripper 600. The elastic net 430 is woven by elastic ropes, and the four corners of the elastic net 430 are fixed to the edges of the corresponding movable plate 412. A plurality of strain gauges are pasted on the elastic net 430, and each strain gauge corresponds to one movable plate 412. When the measured gripper 600 is in the state of being pressed by the movable plate 412, the measured gripper 600 can push the movable plates 412 at different positions to move backward by different distances due to the influence of the pressure distribution on the shape of the measured gripper 600. At the same time, the elastic net 430 deforms, and the corresponding strain gauges also move backward by different distances. Due to the constraint of the elastic net 430, the strain gauges can be in full contact with the measured gripper 600, so that the measured force of the strain gauges is more accurate.

[0053] Referring to Figures 1-4 As shown, in some embodiments, the transmission mechanism 500 includes a guide rail 510 and a driver 520. The guide rail 510 is arranged on the support frame 100, and the driver 520 is a motor whose output end is connected with a lead screw. A sliding block is threadedly sleeved on the lead screw, and the other end of the sliding block is in sliding fit with the guide rail 510. The motor can drive the lead screw to rotate, so that the sliding block slides along the guide rail 510. The clamping assembly 200 is installed on the sliding block, so that the motor can drive the clamping assembly 200 to move along the guide rail 510 to the image acquisition assembly 300 and the force measuring assembly 400 in turn.

[0054] In some embodiments, the clamping assembly 200 includes a base 210 and a push plate 220. The base 210 is installed on the sliding block, and the sliding block drives the base 210 to move along the guide rail 510 while moving along the guide rail 510. A reference plate 211 is formed on the base 210. The push plate 220 is slidingly arranged on the base 210, and a clamping space is formed between the reference plate 211 and the push plate 220 for accommodating the measured gripper 600. The push plate 220 is connected with the output end of the air cylinder 230, and the air cylinder 230 can drive the push plate 220 to move close to / distance from the reference plate 211 to clamp / release the measured gripper 600.

[0055] In some embodiments, a first limiter 710, a second limiter 720 and a third limiter 730 are further included. The first limiter 710 is arranged at the starting end of the guide rail 510. The second limiter 720 is arranged on the guide rail 510 at the position corresponding to the image acquisition assembly 300. The third limiter 730 is arranged on the guide rail 510 at the position corresponding to the force measuring assembly 400. The first limiter 710, the second limiter 720 and the third limiter 730 are respectively laser limiters for detecting the position of the measured gripper 600.

[0056] A drag chain 800 is further arranged on the support frame 100, and a gas pipe is arranged in the drag chain 800, one end of the gas pipe is communicated with the pneumatic pump, and the other end is communicated with the inner cavity of the measured gripper 600. During the movement of the measured gripper 600 along the guide rail 510, the drag chain 800 drives the gas pipe to move synchronously. The pneumatic pump can deliver the compressed air in the gas source to the gripper, so as to realize the inflation of the gripper to open or close the gripper; at the same time, the gas in the gripper can also be extracted through reverse operation to realize the deflation.

[0057] A display 900 is further arranged on the support frame 100, and the display 900 is electrically connected with the camera 310, and is used to display the image of the measured gripper 600 shot by the camera 310.

[0058] A control box 110 is further arranged on the support frame 100, the input end of the control module in the control box 110 is electrically connected with the first stopper 710, the second stopper 720 and the third stopper 730 respectively, and the output end of the control module is electrically connected with the driver 520, the camera 310 and the pneumatic pump respectively. An operation button 120 is further arranged on the support frame 100, and specifically includes a start / stop button, a clamping / loosening button and a reset button.

[0059] The working principle of the flexible gripper shape force detection equipment of the present application is as follows:

[0060] When measuring the parameters of the measured gripper 600, first, the first stopper 710 is used to confirm whether the base 210 is at the original position, if not, the reset button is pressed to reset it. After confirming that the base 210 is at the original position, the measured gripper 600 is connected with the gas pipe and placed between the reference plate 211 and the push plate 220, and the "clamping / loosening" button is pressed to make the electrical control system control the pneumatic cylinder 230 to push the push plate 220 to clamp the measured gripper 600. Then the "start / stop" button is pressed, the stepping motor drives the base 210 to move on the guide rail 510, and when the second stopper 720 detects that the measured gripper 600 moves to between the lens 311 of the camera 310 and the background plate 320, the stepping motor stops working, as shown in FIG. 8. At this time, the light source controller controls the background plate 320 to emit light, improves the brightness of the product background during shooting, and makes the camera 310 can clearly capture the contour shape of the measured gripper 600. The electrical control module 130 changes the state of the gripper by controlling the gas pressure entering the gripper, and at the same time, the camera 310 takes pictures of the gripper in different states, and transmits the image data to the control box 110, and the control box 110 identifies the finger size and its positive and negative pressure deformation according to the gripper image obtained by shooting, as shown in FIG. 9. Figure 3 Figure 5 、 Figure 6

[0061] ​​After the photographing is completed, the light source controller controls the light source of the background plate 320 to be extinguished, the stepping motor continues to drive the base 210 to move along the guide rail 510, and when the third limiter 730 detects that the measured clamping jaw 600 moves in front of the blocking piece 410, the stepping motor stops moving, at which time the working surface of the clamping jaw is in contact with the strain gauge, as shown in FIG. 8. Figure 4 The electrical control module 130 controls the air pressure into the clamping jaw. The movable plate 412 at different positions is pressed to produce different displacements of the spring 413 due to different extrusion forces, and correspondingly, the strain gauge can measure the shape force generated by the clamping jaw at different positions. After the force measurement is completed, the stepping motor drives the base 210 to reset, and the whole measurement process is completed. The measurement result will be displayed on the display 900. During the detection process, the detection process can be interrupted at any time by pressing the "start / stop" button, and the detection can be restarted by pressing the reset button.

[0062] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the orientations or positional relationships indicated by the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application.

[0063] In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are only used for description purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first", "second", etc. can explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality of" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically limited.

[0064] In the present application, unless otherwise specifically defined and limited, the terms "mounting", "connection", "connection", "fixing" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, can be fixedly connected, or can be detachably connected, or can be integrated; can be mechanically connected, or can be electrically connected or can communicate with each other; can be directly connected, or can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium; can be the internal communication or interaction relationship of two elements, unless otherwise specifically limited. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0065] In this application, the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "an example", "a specific example", or "some examples" mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. The illustrative appearances of the above-mentioned terms in various places in the specification are not necessarily intended to refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples. Moreover, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are used herein to describe various embodiments or examples and are not necessarily intended to denote a particular order, position, or priority of the elements being described. In addition, the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", "including", "has", "having", "contains", "containing", or any other similar word(s), are intended to be inclusive or open ended and not restrictive or exhaustive. In other words, the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", "including", "has", "having", "contains", "containing", or any other similar word(s), are intended to cover a special embodiment or example, but not exclude other embodiments or examples. In addition, the terms "an" and "one" are intended to be inclusive or open ended and not restrictive or exhaustive. In other words, the terms "an" and "one" are intended to cover both the singular aspect and the plural aspect, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0066] Although the embodiments of the present application have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above-described embodiments are exemplary, and are not to be interpreted as limiting the present application, and that the ordinary skilled person in the art can make changes, modifications, replacements, and variations to the above-described embodiments within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A flexible gripper-shaped force detection device, characterized in that, include: Support frame; A clamping assembly, disposed on the support frame, is used to clamp the jaws to be tested; An image acquisition component is mounted on the support frame, with the acquisition direction parallel to the working surface of the gripper to be measured; A force measuring component is mounted on the support frame and positioned opposite to the working surface of the gripper to be measured. A transmission mechanism, mounted on the support frame, is capable of driving the clamping assembly to move to the image acquisition assembly and the force measuring assembly, respectively. The force measuring component includes: The blocking component is positioned opposite to the working surface of the gripper to be tested. A force measuring element is disposed on the blocking element and is used to detect the force generated during the mutual compression between the gripper to be tested and the blocking element; The blocking component includes a fixed plate and multiple movable plates. The multiple movable plates are evenly arranged on the side of the fixed plate near the gripper to be tested. Each movable plate is provided with a spring between itself and the fixed plate. It also includes a cable chain, in which an air tube is provided. One end of the air tube is connected to a pneumatic pump, and the other end is connected to the inner cavity of the gripper to be tested.

2. The flexible gripper force detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The image acquisition component includes: A camera is positioned on one side of the clamping assembly; A background plate is located on the other side of the clamping assembly, opposite to the camera, and a light source is provided on the background plate.

3. The flexible gripper force detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The force measuring device is a force sensor or strain gauge.

4. The flexible gripper force detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transmission mechanism includes a guide rail and a driver. The guide rail is mounted on the support frame, and the driver can drive the clamping component to move sequentially along the guide rail to the image acquisition component and the force measuring component.

5. The flexible gripper force detection device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The clamping assembly includes: A base, disposed on the guide rail and connected to the driver, is movable along the guide rail and forms a reference plate; A push plate is disposed on the base, and the push plate can move closer to / away from the reference plate to clamp / release the jaws to be tested.

6. The flexible gripper force detection device according to claim 5, characterized in that, Also includes: The first limiter is located at the starting end of the guide rail; The second limiter is disposed on the guide rail at the position corresponding to the image acquisition component; The third limiter is set on the guide rail at the position corresponding to the force measuring component.

7. The flexible gripper force detection device according to claim 2, characterized in that: It also includes a display, which is mounted on the support frame and electrically connected to the camera, for displaying images of the gripper under test captured by the camera.

Images