Robot arm link with embedded cables and robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12103167-B2
Application number	US-201917616046-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2019
Priority date	Jul 17, 2019
Publication date	Oct 1, 2024
Grant date	Oct 1, 2024

Abstract

Robot arm link (100) comprises a body made of non-metallic material, a transmission cable (102) made of conducive material and embedded within the body (101), and at least one connector (103) arranged on the body (101) and coupled to the transmission cable (102), each connector (103) adapted to be electrically connected to a connector (1031) of a further robot arm link (1001) of a same specification, a sensor (301), or a power source (302) of the robot (200). By embedding the transmission cable (102) within the non-metallic material to form the robot arm link (100), there is no need to consider how to route the cable (102) and thus the difficulty of cable routing design can be significantly reduced. Furthermore, the efficiency of robot assembly and maintenance can be increased accordingly. In addition, the cables (102) arranged in the robot arm links (101) are not easily damaged, thereby increasing the service life of the robot.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A robot arm link for a robot, comprising:
a body made of non-metallic material;
the sensor;
a motor;
a first transmission cable in electrical connection with the sensor;
a second transmission cable in electrical connection with the motor;
a third transmission cable comprising:
a signal transmission cable for transmitting signal of a sensor, and
a power transmission cable for transmitting electrical power to the motor; and

at least one connector arranged on the body and coupled to a respective end of the third transmission cable, the at least one connector comprising:
a signal sub-conductor coupled to the signal transmission cable, and
a power sub-conductor coupled to the power transmission cable,
wherein the at least one connector comprising:
a first connector coupled to a first end of the third transmission cable, the first connector being configured to electrically connect the third transmission cable with the sensor and the motor; and
a second connector coupled to a second end of the third transmission cable, the second connector being configured to electrically connect the third transmission cable with a connector of another robot arm link:

wherein the at least one connector is configured to electrically insulate the signal sub-conductor and the power sub-conductor from each other;

wherein each of the first transmission cable, the second transmission cable, and the third transmission cable are made of conductive material and embedded within the body.

2. The robot arm link of claim 1 , wherein each of the first transmission cable, the second transmission cable, and the third transmission cable is integrally formed in the body by injection molding the body.

3. The robot arm link of claim 1 , wherein the non-metallic material comprises at least one of: plastic material, or composite material.

4. The robot arm link of claim 1 , wherein the at least one connector is electrically connected to the connector of the other robot arm link through at least one of: a moving cable, a pair of contactless inductive coupling components, or a slip ring.

5. The robot arm link of claim 1 , wherein each of the first transmission cable, the second transmission cable, and the third transmission cable comprises a conductor or a combination of the conductor and a shield surrounding the conductor.

6. The robot arm link of claim 1 , wherein the at least one connector is integrally formed on a surface of the body by injection molding the body.

7. The robot arm link of claim 1 , wherein the at least one connector is electrically connected to the connector of the other robot arm link through a moving cable.

8. The robot arm link of claim 1 , wherein the at least one connector is electrically connected to the connector of the other robot arm link through a pair of contactless inductive coupling components.

9. The robot arm link of claim 1 , wherein the at least one connector is electrically connected to the connector of the other robot arm link through a slip ring.

10. A system comprising:
a robot comprising:
a sensor;
a motor; and
at least one robot arm link comprising:
a body made of non-metallic material,
a first transmission cable in electrical connection with the sensor,
a second transmission cable in electrical connection with the motor,
a third transmission cable comprising:
a signal transmission cable, and
a power transmission cable, and at least one connector comprising:
a signal sub-conductor coupled to the signal transmission cable, and
a power sub-conductor coupled to the power transmission cable,
wherein the at least one connector comprising:
 a first connector arranged on the body and coupled to a first end of the third transmission cable, the first connector being configured to electrically connect the third transmission cable with the sensor and the motor, and
 a second connector arranged on the body and coupled to a second end of the third transmission cable, the second connector being configured to electrically connect the third transmission cable with a connector of another robot arm link;
wherein the at least one connector is configured to electrically insulate the signal sub-conductor and the power sub-conductor from each other;

wherein each of the first transmission cable, the second transmission cable, and the third transmission cable are made of conductive material and embedded within the body.

11. A system comprising:
a robot comprising:
a plurality of robot arm links, at least one robot arm link of the plurality of robot arm links comprising:
a body made of non-metallic material;
a sensor;
a motor;
a first transmission cable in electrical connection with the sensor;
a second transmission cable in electrical connection with the motor;
a third transmission cable
a signal transmission cable for transmitting signal of the sensor, and
a power transmission cable for transmitting electrical power; and

at least one connector
a signal sub-conductor coupled to the signal transmission cable, and
a power sub-conductor coupled to the power transmission cable, and

wherein the at least one connector comprising:
a first connector arranged on the body and coupled to a first end of the third transmission cable, the first connector being configured to electrically connect the third transmission cable with the sensor and the motor, and
a second connector arranged on the body and coupled to a second end of the third transmission cable, the second connector being configured to electrically connect the third transmission cable with a connector of another robot arm link of the plurality of robot arm links;

wherein the at least one connector is configured to electrically insulate the signal sub-conductor and the power sub-conductor from each other;

wherein each of the first transmission cable, the second transmission cable, and the third transmission cable are made of conductive material and embedded within the body.

Assignees

• Abb Schweiz Ag

Inventors

• Zhang Jiafan
• Gu Hao

Classifications

• B25J18/00

  Arms · CPC title

• B25J9/0009

  Constructional details, e.g. manipulator supports, bases · CPC title

• H02G11/00

  Arrangements of electric cables or lines between relatively-movable parts · CPC title

• B25J19/0029 Primary

  arranged within the different robot elements · CPC title