Metal working – Piezoelectric device making
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-10
2003-02-04
Vo, Peter (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Piezoelectric device making
C029S740000, C029S741000, C029S739000, C029S751000, C029S752000, C029S753000, C029S754000, C029S758000, C029S760000, C294S100000, C294S082230, C901S038000, C901S039000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06513213
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an improvement of a method of producing a microgripper which is used in transportation and an assembling work of a minute part, or a so-called microassembly work.
BACKGROUND ART
Although there are many microgrippers (hereinafter, referred to as grippers) which are in the research and development stage, grippers which have been commercialized are very small in number. This seems to be affected by the difficulty of micronization of a gripper actuator itself. Under such circumstances, as a conventional art of an actuator showing a fundamental configuration of a product, known is JP-A-8-90477.
Such an actuator is characterized in a driving mechanism in which expansion and contraction displacement of a movable frame due to a piezoelectric element is transformed into opening and closing displacement of U-like gripping fingers via a swinging mechanism configured by a hinge and levers, and has an effect that the gripping fingers exert uniform opening and closing behavior on an object to be gripped.
In the gripper of the conventional art, however, a displacement magnifying mechanism is required in order to use expansion and contraction displacement of the piezoelectric element as operation displacement of the gripper, and hence the structure is complicated. For example, expansion and contraction displacement of a piezoelectric element is on the order of nm. Therefore, there is a problem in that, in order to obtain even opening and closing displacement of only about several hundreds of &mgr;m the gripping fingers, a magnifying mechanism of several hundreds of times is necessary.
The inventor of the present invention has proposed a gripper comprising a displacement magnifying member in which the displacement amount of a tip end portion is made large without using a magnifying mechanism on the basis of slight translational displacement of a driving section, and which is configured by two V-shaped edges for gripping an object to be gripped (International Application No. PCT/JP97/0461).
In order to produce a gripper comprising a displacement magnifying member which has plural V-shaped edges, it may be usually contemplated that plural V-shaped edges which have been independently worked are prepared and then joined to one another. However, there is a problem in that the working accuracy is hardly ensured and the assembly is cumbersome.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The invention has been conducted in order to solve the problem. It is an object of the invention to provide a method of producing a microgripper which comprises a displacement magnifying member (gripping member) for gripping a minute part or the like.
In order to attain the object, the method of producing a microgripper of a first aspect is a method of producing a microgripper including: a translational driving section having a moving portion which is housed in a case, and which is translationally moved; and a displacement magnifying member which comprises at least two V-shaped edges having a substantially V-like shape, which has a coupling portion that commonly owns one ends of the V-shaped edges on an open end side, other ends of the V-shaped edges being connected to the case, and in which the coupling portion is connected to the moving portion of the translational driving section, and the coupling portion is pulled on the basis of translational movement, whereby displacement amounts of the tip ends of the V-shaped edges are inwardly magnified more than an amount of the translational movement, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of: in a state where the displacement magnifying member has at least two edge portions in which the V-shaped edges having the coupling portion are developed in a substantially flat plane, outwardly bending the edge portions at a substantially center; and inwardly bending the edge portions at a vicinity of the coupling portion.
The method of producing a microgripper of a second aspect is characterized in that the method comprises a step of outwardly bending the other ends of the V-shaped edges consisting of the displacement magnifying member, so as to be connected to the case, thereby obtaining a fixing piece.
The method of producing a microgripper of a third aspect is characterized in that the edge portions have an identification portion for visually recognizing a place to be bent.
The method of producing a microgripper of a fourth aspect is characterized in that the coupling portion of the displacement magnifying member has a doughnut-like shape, and boundary portions between the coupling portion and the edge portions are smaller in width than the edge portions.
The method of producing a microgripper of a fifth aspect is characterized in that the microgripper has a ring member which is fixed to the case, and the fixing piece is engagingly fixed to a cutaway formed in an inner side of the ring member.
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96-DETC/DAC—1497, Proceedings of the 1996 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference Patent abstract of Japan Hei. 8-90477.
International Search Report.
Muramatsu Naoki
Tada Tomoyosi
Nguyen Tai
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Vo Peter
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