Strain wave gear device with torque sensor

Abstract

The strain wave gear device (1) has a unitized structure including a main bearing (5) that supports the internal gear (2) and the external gear (3) so that they can rotate relative to one another, and an output flange (6) connected to the external gear (3). The external gear (3) is wine glass shaped, ensuring a large hollow diameter required for installation in a robot joint or the like. A strain gauge (101) of a torque sensor (100) is attached to the outward-facing end face of the output flange (6) connected to the external gear (3). The torque sensor (100) can accurately detect the rotational torque without being affected by the deflection of the external gear (3), and the strain gauge (101) and the like are not exposed to oil, grease, and the like.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a strain wave gear device equipped with a torque sensor that detects rotational torque transmitted via an external gear. [Background technology]

[0002] In the collaborative robot market, torque sensing is required for each robot joint for collision detection and teaching by humans directly touching the robot arm. For this reason, a torque sensor is installed at the reducer of the robot joint. The reducer incorporated in the robot joint is required to have a hollow shape for wiring and the like. In addition, it is required to be small, have a short shaft length, have high rigidity, and be lightweight, and a configuration in which a torque sensor is built in or integrated into the reducer is adopted. In Patent Document 1, a strain gauge is attached to the diaphragm of a flexible external gear of a strain wave gearing used as a reducer, and the torque transmitted through the external gear is detected. In Patent Document 2, a strain gauge is attached from the diaphragm to the boss of a wine glass-shaped external gear of a strain wave gearing to detect rotational torque. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2004-198400 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2000-320622 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Harm gear devices used as reducers incorporated in robot joints and the like are required to have as large a hollow diameter as possible. Furthermore, the torque sensor mounted on the harm gear device has the following issues that need to be improved:

[0005] (Challenge 1: Improving torque detection accuracy) The flexible external gear of the strain wave gear device is bent into an elliptically shape by the wave generator, and each circumferential portion of the external gear is repeatedly displaced in the radial direction as the wave generator rotates. The radial displacement of the external gear caused by the rotation of the wave generator is also detected by a strain gauge. In Patent Document 1, measures are taken to reduce this type of displacement (elliptical distortion) of the external gear. It is desired to more reliably eliminate the effects caused by the displacement of the external gear and further improve the torque detection accuracy.

[0006] (Challenge 2: Improving the durability of the sensor unit) When detecting rotational torque using a strain gauge attached to the diaphragm of a flexible external gear, a large three-dimensional displacement occurs at the attachment portion of the strain gauge on the diaphragm due to the rotation of the wave generator in addition to rotational strain caused by the application of torque. The amount of displacement is large, on the order of several μm, and the strain gauge and lead wires are prone to breakage, resulting in low durability for practical use. In Patent Document 2, the strain gauge is attached to the diaphragm and the rigid boss in a state straddling the boundary between them, thereby preventing breakage of the lead wires, etc., but there is still room for improvement.

[0007] (Issue 3: Ease of sensor installation) Conventionally, the strain gauge is attached to the diaphragm of the external gear, which is subject to repeated elastic deformation, so there are issues with the material restrictions and the fact that it is not easy to install. In addition, since the sensor is installed inside the reducer, it is necessary to protect the strain gauge and other sensor components from grease and oil.

[0008] In addition, it is desirable for wave gear devices to be equipped with a symptom monitoring (failure prediction) function as a safety function for which there is growing demand these days. For example, it is desirable to be able to monitor the temperature, acceleration, etc. of the wave gear device and diagnose failure prediction and the like based on this. In this case, the following points need to be improved:

[0009] (Issue 4: The temperature sensor and acceleration sensor are located far from the reducer) Conventional robot joints may incorporate sensors other than torque sensors, such as temperature sensors and acceleration sensors. The sensors are often installed on the encoder board of the servo motor of the actuator incorporated in the robot joint. The encoder board is located away from the reducer (strain wave gear device), and it may not be possible to accurately obtain the temperature or vibration state of the part of the reducer that is the intended measurement, leaving room for improvement.

[0010] (Task 5: Recording the irregular torque generated in the reducer) When a robot arm collides or makes an emergency stop, abnormal torque may be applied to the reducer (strain wave gear device). This may result in damage to the reducer. However, in the past, there was no evidence that this abnormal torque was applied to the reducer, making it difficult to estimate the cause of damage.

[0011] In view of the above, the main object of the present invention is to provide a wave gear device with a torque sensor that can increase the hollow diameter and avoid a decrease in torque detection accuracy caused by bending of the external gear. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides The strain wave gear device is structured as a unit including a main bearing that supports the internal gear and the external gear so as to be capable of relative rotation, and a flange that functions as an output shaft or the like that is connected to the external gear, By using a wine glass shaped external gear, it is possible to secure the large hollow diameter required for incorporation into robot joints, etc. A torque detection element of a torque sensor is attached to a flange connected to the external gear, so that the rotational torque can be detected with high accuracy without being affected by the bending of the external gear. In particular, the torque detection element is attached to the outer end face of the flange so that it is not exposed to oil, grease, etc.

[0013] In addition, the flange has an annular recess on its outer end face which functions as a recess for accommodating a sensor, and sensors such as a temperature sensor and an acceleration sensor are mounted on the sensor board of the torque sensor housed therein, making it possible to precisely monitor the condition and symptoms of the strain wave gear device without increasing the size of the sensor arrangement area. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 2A is a longitudinal sectional view showing a strain wave gear device with a torque sensor to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram of each sensor mounted on a sensor board of a torque sensor housed in a sensor housing recess. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A torque sensor-equipped strain wave gear device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment described below.

[0016] The strain wave gear device with a torque sensor 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as the "strain wave gear device 1") is a strain wave gear device with a unitized structure, and includes a rigid internal gear 2, a flexible external gear 3, a strain wave generator 4, a main bearing 5 consisting of a cross roller bearing that supports the internal gear 2 and the external gear 3 so that they can rotate relative to one another, and a disk-shaped output flange 6 connected to the external gear 3. In this example, the internal gear 2 is a stationary member attached to a fixed member (not shown), the strain wave generator 4 is an input member to which rotation is input from a rotation input shaft such as a motor shaft, and the external gear 3 is an output member that outputs reduced rotation via the output flange 6 to a load side (not shown). The strain wave gear device 1 is incorporated into, for example, a robot joint and used as a reducer for a finite rotation actuator that rotates a load side member within a finite rotation angle range of less than 360 degrees around a joint shaft.

[0017] The internal gear 2 comprises a rigid annular member 21 with a rectangular cross section, and internal teeth 22 formed along its inner circumferential surface. The external gear 3 is a wine-glass-shaped external gear, and comprises a cylindrical body 31 that is radially flexible, external teeth 32 formed on the outer circumferential surface of one open end of the cylindrical body, a diaphragm 33 that is continuous with the other end of the cylindrical body 31 and extends radially inward, and a rigid boss 34 that is continuous with the inner circumferential edge of the diaphragm 33. The external teeth 32 face the internal teeth 22 of the internal gear 2. The boss 34 is a cylindrical portion 35 that extends coaxially from the inner circumferential edge of the diaphragm 33 in a first direction 11 toward the opposite side to the cylindrical body 31 along the direction of the axis 1a (axial direction). (Hollow shaft part) and cylindrical section 35 (Hollow shaft part) The cylindrical portion 35 has an annular portion 36 which extends radially outward from the axial end of the cylindrical portion 35. The outer diameter of the annular portion 36 is equal to or slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the cylindrical body portion 31. (Hollow shaft part) A large diameter boss hollow portion 37 is defined by the circular inner peripheral surface of the boss.

[0018] The wave generator 4 includes a rigid ring-shaped cam plate 41 and a wave generator bearing 42 that is attached to a non-circular outer peripheral surface, for example an elliptical outer peripheral surface, of the cam plate 41 and bent into a non-circular shape. The wave generator 4 is fitted into the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body portion 31 on which the external teeth 32 of the external gear 3 are formed, at the side of the open end. The portion on which the external teeth 32 are formed is bent into a non-circular shape, for example an elliptical shape, by the wave generator 4, so that the external teeth 32 mesh with the internal teeth 22 at a plurality of positions spaced apart in the circumferential direction. The cam plate 41 is connected to a rotation input shaft (not shown), such as a motor shaft, and is driven to rotate. When the cam plate 41 rotates, the meshing position of the external teeth 32 with respect to the internal teeth 22 moves in the circumferential direction. The circular inner peripheral surface of the cam plate 41 defines a wave generator hollow portion 43 having a size approximately equal to that of the boss hollow portion 37.

[0019] A main bearing 5 is arranged outside the cylindrical body 31 of the external gear 3, next to the internal gear 2 in the axial direction. The main bearing 5 coaxially surrounds the cylindrical body 31 of the external gear 3 and includes an outer ring 51, an inner ring 52, and a plurality of rolling elements 53 inserted into a raceway formed between them. The inner ring 52 is coaxially fastened and fixed to the annular internal tooth end face of the internal gear 2 facing the first direction 11. The outer ring 51 is connected to the boss 34 of the external gear 3 via an output flange 6.

[0020] The output flange 6 includes an outer annular portion 61, an intermediate annular portion 62, and an inner annular portion 63 from the outer peripheral side toward the inner peripheral side. The outer annular portion 61 is fastened and fixed coaxially to an outer ring end face of the outer ring 51 of the main bearing 5 facing the first direction 11 by a fastening bolt 7. The inner annular portion 63 is fastened coaxially to an annular boss end face of the annular portion 36 of the boss 34 of the external gear 3 facing the first axial direction 11 by a fastening bolt 8. The intermediate annular portion 62 of the output flange 6 is formed with an annular recess having a rectangular cross-sectional shape of a predetermined depth in the direction opposite to the first direction 11, which opens to the side of the first axial direction 11, as a sensor storage recess 64. A torque sensor 100 is attached to the sensor storage recess 64.

[0021] The torque sensor 100 detects the rotational torque transmitted through the external gear 3 and the output flange 6, and includes a strain gauge 101 attached to the output flange 6, a sensor board 102 on which wiring and electronic components for signal processing are mounted, and wiring 103 drawn out from the sensor board 102 to the outside. The strain gauge 101 is attached to an end face portion of the intermediate annular portion 62 of the output flange 6 facing the first direction 11, i.e., a bottom surface portion 65 of the sensor housing recess 64. For example, a plurality of sets of strain gauges 101 are attached at equal angular intervals along the circumferential direction. Alternatively, a wiring pattern or the like defining the strain gauges may be directly laminated on the bottom surface portion 65. The sensor board 102 is, for example, a disk-shaped board, and is fixed to the output flange 6.

[0022] Here, in addition to the circuit section for the torque sensor, a temperature sensor 110 and an acceleration sensor 120 are also mounted on the sensor board 102 of the torque sensor 100. Fig. 1(B) is a schematic functional block diagram of each sensor mounted on the sensor board 102 housed in the sensor housing recess 64. The sensor board 102 is mounted with a temperature sensor 110 (detection circuit and signal processing circuit) and an acceleration sensor 120 (detection circuit and signal processing circuit) together with a signal processing circuit 104 for processing a signal from the strain gauge 101 of the torque sensor 100. The sensor board 102 is also equipped with a control unit 105 consisting of a microcomputer, a storage unit 106 consisting of an EEPROM, a flash memory, etc., and a communication module 107 (RS-485, etc.), and information on the detected torque, reducer temperature, and acceleration is stored in the storage unit 106 and transmitted to a higher-level device (not shown).

[0023] As described above, the strain gauge 101 of the torque sensor 100 is attached to the output flange 6 that outputs the reduced rotation from the external gear 3, and the external gear 3 is wine-glass shaped. This allows the torque sensor 100 to accurately detect only the rotational torque while ensuring a sufficiently large hollow space in the strain gauge 101. The use of the wine-glass shaped external gear 3 makes it easy to achieve a hollow diameter ratio of 20% or more relative to the device outer diameter. Furthermore, the temperature sensor 110 and acceleration sensor 120 are mounted on the sensor board 102, making it possible to precisely monitor the condition and symptoms of the reducer that is made up of the strain wave gearing 1. This will be described in detail below.

[0024] (Regarding assignment 1) By mounting the strain gauge 101 of the torque sensor 100 on the output flange 6, which is a rigid member, the influence of strain occurring in the external gear 3 due to the rotation of the wave generator 4 can be reliably removed from the torque sensor output. The output flange 6 is fastened to a main bearing 5 (cross roller bearing), and the moment load of a robot arm or the like in which the strain wave gear device 1 is incorporated is received by the main bearing 5. For this reason, no moment load is applied to the output flange 6, which is the torque detection site. Therefore, the torque sensor 100 can detect only the rotational torque, and therefore has high torque detection accuracy.

[0025] (Regarding assignment 2) Since the output flange 6 is not deflected by the wave generator 4, unlike the external gear 3, breakage of the strain gauge 101 of the torque sensor 100 and the lead wires drawn out therefrom can be prevented.

[0026] (Regarding assignment 3) The installation portion of the torque sensor 100 in the strain wave gear device 1 is a sensor accommodating recess formed on the side of the output flange 6 facing the first axial direction 11. The sensor accommodating recess is open to the outside of the device, and it is possible to freely select a semiconductor type torque detection element, etc., rather than being limited to a typical resistor-based strain gauge. The torque sensor 100 is disposed at a position on the output flange 6. outside The end face side, i.e., the inside of the strain wave gear device 1, is separated by the output flange 6. The torque sensor 100 does not require any protection against grease or oil that may be filled or supplied inside. Of course, it is also possible to seal off the sensor housing recess with a lid.

[0027] (Regarding assignment 4) A temperature sensor 110 and an acceleration sensor 120 are also mounted on the sensor board of the torque sensor 100 in a sensor housing recess formed in the output flange 6. This makes it possible to use the following functions. That is, the temperature sensor 110 is used to measure the temperature of the strain wave gear device 1 (reduction gear section), and based on this, the state of grease deterioration and poor lubrication can be observed. In particular, when used in high temperature conditions, the sealed grease deteriorates early, resulting in wear in the strain wave gear device 1 due to poor lubrication. Such a situation can be prevented. It will also be possible to equip the strain wave gear device 1 with a function that issues a warning when the temperature becomes too high. For example, vibrations will occur if an abnormality occurs in the raceway surfaces or steel balls of the bearings used in the strain wave gear device 1. Such vibrations can be detected immediately by an acceleration sensor and used for preventive maintenance. Furthermore, if vibrations are occurring in a robot in which a strain wave gear device is incorporated, frequency analysis data of the acceleration sensor signal can be used as information for investigating the cause.

[0028] (Regarding assignment 5) By installing an EEPROM or FLASH (registered trademark) on the sensor board, it is possible to equip it with a function to automatically save the peak value and the number of times when a torque greater than the allowable torque is applied, and a function to record temperature data. The recorded data can be used to investigate when a malfunction occurs. In addition, the recorded data can be output as an alert to the user and used for preventive maintenance. Of course, it is also possible to provide redundancy by installing multiple systems of sensors, for example two systems.

[0029] (Other embodiments) In the above-described wave gearing 1, the boss 34 of the external gear 3 and the output flange 6 on which the torque sensor 100 is mounted are fastened with bolts. Alternatively, it is possible to join the output flange 6 to the boss 34 of the external gear 3 by welding. By changing to welding, the wave gearing 1 can be made even flatter and the rotational torque can be improved.

[0030] In the above-described strain wave gear device 1, the internal gear 2 is the stationary (fixed) member, the external gear 3 is the driving member, and the flange on which the torque sensor 100 is mounted is the output flange 6 fixed to the external gear 3. Alternatively, by changing the structure of the input shaft connected to the wave generator 4, it is possible to make the external gear 3 to which the flange on which the torque sensor 100 is mounted is fixed the stationary member, and the internal gear 2 the driving member capable of outputting reduced rotation with a movable angle of 360 degrees or more.

Claims

1. A rigid internal gear; A flexible external gear arranged coaxially inside the internal gear; a wave generator that is coaxially disposed inside the external gear and bends the external gear non-circularly to partially mesh with the internal gear, thereby moving the meshing position of both gears in a circumferential direction; a main bearing that is coaxially disposed outside the external gear and supports the internal gear and the external gear so as to be capable of relative rotation; a flange for connecting and fixing the external gear to one raceway of the main bearing; a torque sensor for detecting a rotational torque transmitted via the external gear; It is equipped with the external gear is a wine-glass shaped external gear, the external gear comprising: a cylindrical body portion having external teeth formed on an outer circumferential surface thereof and capable of bending in the radial direction; a diaphragm extending radially inward from one end of the cylindrical body portion; and a rigid boss formed continuous with the inner circumferential edge of the diaphragm, the boss comprising: a hollow shaft portion extending coaxially from the inner circumferential edge in a first direction along the axial direction toward the opposite side to the cylindrical body portion; and an annular portion extending coaxially radially outward from an axial tip of the hollow shaft portion, A strain wave gear device, characterized in that a torque detection element of the torque sensor is disposed on the flange.

2. In claim 1, The flange has an outer flange end surface facing in the first axial direction, The torque detection element is attached to the outer end surface of the flange.

3. In claim 2, further comprising: The strain wave gear device includes a temperature sensor and an acceleration sensor mounted on a sensor substrate of the torque sensor disposed on the outer end face side of the flange.

4. In claim 1, The main bearing is located between the internal gear and the flange in the axial direction, The flange is an outer peripheral portion coaxially fixed to an outer ring end surface facing the first direction in the axial direction of an outer ring that is the one of the raceways of the main bearing; an inner peripheral portion coaxially fixed to a boss end surface of the boss of the external gear, the boss end surface facing the first direction in the axial direction; and The intermediate portion is provided between the outer peripheral portion and the inner peripheral portion, The strain wave gear device includes a flange outer end surface in the intermediate portion that faces the first direction in the axial direction, and the torque detection element is disposed on the flange outer end surface in the intermediate portion that faces the first direction in the axial direction.

5. In claim 4, the intermediate portion of the flange includes a sensor receiving recess; the sensor accommodating recess is a recess that is open in the first direction between the outer circumferential side portion and the inner circumferential side portion and has a predetermined depth in a direction opposite to the first direction, A strain wave gear device in which the outer end surface of the flange on which the torque detection element is arranged is a bottom surface portion of the sensor accommodating recess.

6. In claim 5, further comprising: A strain wave gear device comprising a temperature sensor and an acceleration sensor mounted on a sensor substrate of the torque sensor disposed in the sensor housing recess.

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