Soft robot mold

Abstract

A soft robot mold comprises an upper mold, a lower mold and an air cavity mold. A jacking mechanism is arranged in the lower mold and comprises a connecting piece, a first ejector pin and a second ejector pin, and the first ejector pin and the second ejector pin are connected through the connecting piece; the top end of the first ejector pin is connected with the air cavity mold, and the upper mold is provided with a pressing block corresponding to the second ejector pin. When the upper mold and the lower mold are closed in a covering mode, the second ejector pin is pressed into the lower mold through the pressing block, and the air cavity mold is attached to the lower mold. And when the upper mold is separated from the lower mold, the second ejector pin ejects out the air cavity mold, so that the air cavity mold is separated from the lower mold. By arranging the jacking mechanism, the air cavity mold can be jacked up during demolding, then the periphery of a product is separated from the periphery of the mold, demolding can be rapidly conducted without disassembling side face baffles, and then the production efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of mold technology, and in particular to a soft robot mold. Background Art

[0002] Soft robots can adapt to various unstructured environments and interact with humans more safely. Soft robots generally control their movements by setting up air cavities or flexible actuators inside the robots. This requires setting up more complex air cavities inside the soft robots to ensure the flexibility of the soft robots' movements.

[0003] The preparation of soft robots is generally done by fixing them in molds. The complex air cavity structure makes it very difficult to demold the soft robots. Careless operation will damage the structure of the soft robots. The baffles around the mold need to be removed during demolding, which is inefficient and leads to low overall productivity. Utility Model Content

[0004] In view of the above problems, the present application is proposed to provide a soft robot mold that overcomes the above problems or at least partially solves the above problems, comprising:

[0005] A soft robot mold, comprising an upper mold, a lower mold and an air cavity mold;

[0006] The lower mold is provided with a lifting mechanism inside, the lifting mechanism comprising a connecting piece, a first ejector pin and a second ejector pin, the first ejector pin and the second ejector pin are connected through the connecting piece; the top end of the first ejector pin is connected to the air cavity mold, and the upper mold is provided with a pressing block corresponding to the second ejector pin;

[0007] When the upper mold and the lower mold are covered, the pressing block presses the second ejector pin into the lower mold, and the air cavity mold fits the lower mold;

[0008] When the upper mold is separated from the lower mold, the second ejector pin ejects the air cavity mold to separate the air cavity mold from the lower mold.

[0009] Furthermore, the lifting mechanism also includes an elastic member, and the elastic member is arranged at the bottom of the connecting member.

[0010] Furthermore, a material injection port is provided in the middle of the upper mold.

[0011] Furthermore, the lower mold also includes a baffle, which is used to define the outer contour of the soft robot.

[0012] Furthermore, the baffle can be detachably arranged on the surface of the lower mold.

[0013] Furthermore, it also includes a bottom mold, the shape of which corresponds to the lower mold, and the bottom mold is used to seal the bottom of the soft robot.

[0014] Furthermore, the air cavity mold includes a base plate and a plurality of partitions, and the plurality of partitions are arranged on the base plate at equal intervals.

[0015] Furthermore, the lifting mechanism is further provided with a retaining member, the retaining member is provided on the second ejector pin, and the retaining member is used to limit the ejection of the second ejector pin.

[0016] This application has the following advantages:

[0017] In the embodiment of the present application, compared with the disadvantages of the soft robot mold in the prior art that it is difficult to demold and the demolding is difficult to operate, the present application provides a solution of separating the air cavity mold from the lower mold by a pin and then demolding, specifically a soft robot mold, including an upper mold, a lower mold and an air cavity mold; the lower mold is provided with a lifting mechanism inside, the lifting mechanism includes a connecting piece, a first ejector pin and a second ejector pin, the first ejector pin and the second ejector pin are connected by the connecting piece; the top of the first ejector pin is connected to the air cavity mold, and the upper mold is provided with a pressing block corresponding to the second ejector pin; when the upper mold and the lower mold are covered, the pressing block presses the second ejector pin into the lower mold, and the air cavity mold and the lower mold are fitted; when the upper mold and the lower mold are separated, the second ejector pin ejects the air cavity mold to separate the air cavity mold from the lower mold. By setting the lifting mechanism, the air cavity mold can be lifted up during demolding, and then the surrounding of the product can be separated from the surrounding of the mold, and the mold can be quickly demolded without removing the side baffle, thereby improving production efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the present application will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative labor.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a cross-sectional view of an upper mold and a lower mold of a soft robot mold provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view of the separation of an upper mold and a lower mold of a soft robot mold provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of a soft robot mold provided in one embodiment of the present application.

[0022] Description of reference numerals: 101, lower mold; 102, upper mold; 103, elastic member; 104, connecting member; 105, first ejector pin; 106, second ejector pin; 107, air cavity mold; 108, injection port; 109, baffle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to make the objects, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and understandable, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0024] The inventors analyzed the prior art and found that when preparing a soft robot through a mold, the internal air cavity structure is relatively complex and the demolding is easily damaged. During demolding, all the side baffles need to be removed before the finished product can be demolded, which is very inconvenient and affects production efficiency.

[0025] Reference Figure 1-3 , shows a soft robot mold provided by an embodiment of the present application, including an upper mold 102, a lower mold 101 and an air cavity mold 107; a lifting mechanism is provided inside the lower mold 101, and the lifting mechanism includes a connecting piece 104, a first ejector pin 105 and a second ejector pin 106, and the first ejector pin 105 is connected to the second ejector pin 106 through the connecting piece 104; the top of the first ejector pin 105 is connected to the air cavity mold 107, and the upper mold 102 is provided with a pressing block corresponding to the second ejector pin 106; when the upper mold 102 and the lower mold 101 are covered, the pressing block presses the second ejector pin 106 into the lower mold 101, and the air cavity mold 107 is fitted with the lower mold 101; when the upper mold 102 and the lower mold 101 are separated, the second ejector pin 106 ejects the air cavity mold 107 to separate the air cavity mold 107 from the lower mold 101.

[0026] In the embodiments of the present application, compared with the disadvantages of the soft robot mold in the prior art that it is difficult to demold and the demolding is difficult to operate, the present application provides a solution for separating the air cavity mold from the lower mold by using an ejector pin and then demolding. Specifically, a soft robot mold includes an upper mold 102, a lower mold 101 and an air cavity mold 107; a lifting mechanism is provided inside the lower mold 101, and the lifting mechanism includes a connecting piece 104, a first ejector pin 105 and a second ejector pin 106, and the first ejector pin 105 and the second ejector pin 106 are connected by the connecting piece 10 4; the top of the first ejector pin 105 is connected to the air cavity mold 107, and the upper mold 102 is provided with a pressing block corresponding to the second ejector pin 106; when the upper mold 102 and the lower mold 101 are covered, the pressing block presses the second ejector pin 106 into the lower mold 101, and the air cavity mold 107 is fitted with the lower mold 101; when the upper mold 102 and the lower mold 101 are separated, the second ejector pin 106 ejects the air cavity mold 107 to separate the air cavity mold 107 from the lower mold 101. By setting up a lifting mechanism, the air cavity mold can be lifted up during demoulding, and then the surrounding of the product can be separated from the surrounding of the mold, and the mold can be quickly demoulded without removing the side baffle, thereby improving production efficiency.

[0027] It should be noted that the soft robot mold is used in the following way: injecting robot material into the lower mold 101; when the injection depth approaches the boundary of the baffle 109, the injection is stopped; the upper mold 102 and the lower mold 101 are covered; the pressing block of the upper mold 102 presses the second ejector pin 106 to shrink the second ejector pin 106; the second ejector pin 106 drives the first ejector pin 105 to move downward through the connecting piece 104; the downward movement of the first ejector pin 105 makes the air cavity mold 107 fit the lower mold 101; and then the robot material is injected into the mold to fill the cavity formed by the upper mold 102 and the lower mold 101; and the mold is placed under suitable conditions to solidify the internal material. After molding, the upper mold 102 is separated from the lower mold 101, the pressing block pressure is lost, the second ejector pin 106 pops out, driving the first ejector pin 105 to pop out, and the first ejector pin 105 lifts the air cavity mold 107 to separate the air cavity mold 107 from the lower mold 101, thereby separating the molded soft robot from the lower mold 101, and removing the soft robot from the air cavity mold 107 to complete the demolding.

[0028] The upper mold 102 is a mold for controlling the surface shape of the soft robot, and can be set to a curved surface or a wave structure according to actual application conditions to improve the applicability of the soft robot.

[0029] Next, a soft robot mold in this exemplary embodiment will be further described.

[0030] In an embodiment of the present application, the lifting mechanism further includes an elastic member 103 , and the elastic member 103 is disposed at the bottom of the connecting member 104 .

[0031] As an example, the elastic member is configured as a plurality of springs, and the springs are evenly arranged to ensure that when the connecting member 104 is lifted up, the connecting member 104 can be moved upward in parallel without offset. At the same time, the number of springs is set to ensure that when the upper mold 102 is separated from the lower mold 101, the stored kinetic energy can lift the air cavity mold 107 so that the finished product can be separated from the lower mold 101. The mass of the upper mold 102 is also required to be able to hold down the lifting mechanism.

[0032] In one embodiment of the present application, an injection port 108 is provided in the middle of the upper mold 102 .

[0033] It should be noted that the injection port 108 is used to inject the production material of the soft robot into the cavity so that the production material completely fills the cavity. If the overall volume of the mold is large, multiple injection ports 108 can also be set to ensure that the internal cavity of the mold is filled. After the internal finished product is formed, the upper mold 102 can be separated from the finished product by blowing air into the injection port 108, which facilitates the disassembly of the upper mold 102.

[0034] In one embodiment of the present application, the lower mold 101 further includes a baffle 109, and the baffle 109 is used to define the outer contour of the soft robot.

[0035] It should be noted that the baffle 109 is a structure for controlling the surface shape of the soft robot. According to actual application conditions and requirements, the baffle 109 can be set to a curved surface or a wavy structure, etc., to change the structure of the soft robot to improve the applicability of the soft robot.

[0036] In one embodiment of the present invention, the baffle 109 is detachably disposed on the surface of the lower mold 101 .

[0037] It should be noted that if the first ejector pin 105 cannot be lifted or is still difficult to remove after being lifted, the baffle plate 109 can be removed to perform demoulding operation, and the baffle plate 109 of different models can also be replaced according to different needs.

[0038] In one embodiment of the present invention, a bottom mold is further included, the shape of the bottom mold corresponds to the lower mold 101, and the bottom mold 101 is used to seal the bottom of the soft robot.

[0039] It should be noted that after the soft robot is detached from the air cavity mold, material can be injected into the bottom mold according to actual needs, and then the previously prepared soft robot can be placed in the bottom mold. When the material in the bottom mold solidifies, the soft robot completes the bottom sealing. The bottom mold can also be set with different patterns according to actual needs, so that the soft robot has a bottom surface with preset patterns.

[0040] If the bottom mold is not used for bottom sealing, two soft robots prepared by the above molds can also be glued together to complete the preparation of the soft robot.

[0041] In one embodiment of the present invention, the air cavity mold 107 includes a substrate and a plurality of partitions, and the plurality of partitions are arranged on the substrate at equal intervals.

[0042] It should be noted that by setting different partitions and the air cavity structure inside the soft robot, the flexibility and controllability of the soft robot's movement can be ensured.

[0043] In an embodiment of the present invention, the lifting mechanism is further provided with a retaining member, and the retaining member is provided on the second ejector pin 106 , and the retaining member is used to limit the ejection of the second ejector pin 106 .

[0044] It should be noted that when the upper mold 102 is unable to press the second ejector pin 106 , the retaining member may also be used for auxiliary restriction.

[0045] Although the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, those skilled in the art may make additional changes and modifications to these embodiments once they have learned the basic creative concept. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0046] Finally, it should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or terminal device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or terminal device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprise a ..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or terminal device including the elements.

[0047] The above is a detailed introduction to a soft robot mold provided by the present application. Specific examples are used in this article to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method of the present application and its core idea; at the same time, for general technical personnel in this field, according to the idea of ​​the present application, there will be changes in the specific implementation method and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

Claims

1. A soft robot mold, characterized in that: It includes an upper mold, a lower mold and an air cavity mold; The lower mold is provided with a lifting mechanism inside, the lifting mechanism comprising a connecting piece, a first ejector pin and a second ejector pin, the first ejector pin and the second ejector pin are connected through the connecting piece; the top end of the first ejector pin is connected to the air cavity mold, and the upper mold is provided with a pressing block corresponding to the second ejector pin; When the upper mold and the lower mold are covered, the pressing block presses the second ejector pin into the lower mold, and the air cavity mold fits the lower mold; When the upper mold is separated from the lower mold, the second ejector pin ejects the air cavity mold to separate the air cavity mold from the lower mold.

2. The soft robot mold according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting mechanism also includes an elastic member, and the elastic member is arranged at the bottom of the connecting member.

3. The soft robot mold according to claim 1, characterized in that: A material injection port is arranged in the middle of the upper mold.

4. The soft robot mold according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lower mold also includes a baffle, which is used to define the outer contour of the soft robot.

5. The soft robot mold according to claim 4, characterized in that: The baffle can be detachably arranged on the surface of the lower mold.

6. The soft robot mold according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a bottom mold, the shape of which corresponds to the lower mold, and the bottom mold is used to seal the bottom of the soft robot.

7. The soft robot mold according to claim 1, characterized in that: The air cavity mold comprises a base plate and a plurality of partition plates, wherein the plurality of partition plates are arranged at equal intervals on the base plate.

8. The soft robot mold according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting mechanism is further provided with a blocking piece, which is arranged on the second ejector pin and is used to limit the ejection of the second ejector pin.

Images