IMPROVEMENTS TO REMOTE MANIPULATORS

1281449 Manipulators COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE 16 March, 1970 [31 March 1969] 12620/70 Heading B8H A master-slave manipulator comprises master and slave arms whose upper arms 15, 16 are mounted in shoulder yokes 13, 14 on a tube 9 which extends through the separating wall 1, wherein it is possible to subject the slave forearm 20 to an angular displacement relative to the master fore-arm 19 without modifying the position of this latter. The upper arm 15 comprises two coaxial tube elements 23, 24 and the upper arm 16 the tube elements 40, 41, the elements 24, 41 being capable of rotation. The aforesaid angular displacement is achieved by means of a sleeve 26 which is mounted within the upper arm 15 and is capable of rotation on bearings 25 and which is provided with a ring- gear 27 engaging aworm 28 coupled to a reductiongear motor 29 fixed to the tube element 24 and is also provided with a pulley 31. The pulley 31 has grooves 31a, 31b in which the extremities of cables 32a, 32b are fastened, the cables being guided to a pulley 39 on the upper slave-arm 16 by guide pulleys 33-38. As a normal control movement is imparted to the arm 15 by a control handle 21 through fore-arm 19 which produces a rotation of tubular element 24, this rotation is transmitted to the pulley 31 by means of the ring gear-motor system 27, 29 and thus the element 41 and slave fore-arm 20 rotate by the same amount by means of the pulley 33-38 and cables 32a, 32b. In order to obtain a relative angular displacement between the fore-arms 19, 20 it suffices to start the motor 29, thus causing rotation of the sleeve 26 by means of the ring gear 27, while the tube element 24 and fore-arm 19 remain stationary. It is also possible to obtain continuous balancing of the articulated master-slave assemblies by means of counterweights (43), (44), Fig. 2 (not shown), irrespective of the relative positions of the fore-arms 19, 20.