Transducer with six degrees of freedom
US4369663A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 3, 1981 |
| Grant date | Jan 25, 1983 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 3, 2001 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG05G9/04737
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A transducer having six degrees of freedom is provided for converting forces and moments applied to a movable member, particularly to the movable arm of a robot, into electrical signals. The transducer includes a cylindrical body which is intended to be connected to the movable member and whose lateral surface has two axially spaced portions each provided with four equiangularly spaced metal plates. A cylindrical casing is resiliently supported about the body and provided on its inner surface with two substantially semi-cylindrical metal plates arranged facing the plates carried by the body in such a way as to define therewith a narrow interspace and to constitute eight capacitors. The capacitances of these capacitors depend on the relative positions of the plates of the casing and the plates of the body. The transducer also includes detectors connected to the plates of the body and of the casing. The detectors are arranged to measure the capacitance of each of the capacitors and to provide, on the basis of this measurement, electrical signals indicative of the forces and the moments applied to the movable member.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.