Robot arm with impact absorption structure

Abstract

A robot arm has an impact absorption structure for absorbing impact energy caused by a collision to protect a person from injury and the robot arm from being damaged. The robot arm includes a plurality of rigid beams provided at both end portions thereof to define a frame of the robot arm, and side members made of an elastic material and provided between the plurality of rigid beams to define an appearance of the robot arm and absorb the impact energy. Each side member includes a sheet made of a plastic material, a foam or honeycomb structure, and a fiber reinforced composite material attached to the sheet.

1 . A robot arm having an impact absorption structure for absorbing impact energy caused by a collision, comprising: 
 a plurality of rigid beams provided at both end portions of the robot arm to define a frame of the robot arm; and    side members made of an elastic material and provided between the plurality of rigid beams to define an appearance of the robot arm and to absorb the impact energy, each side member including: 
 a sheet made of a plastic material and having a foam or honeycomb structure; and  
 a fiber reinforced composite material attached to the sheet.  
   
   
   
       2 . The robot arm according to  claim 1 , wherein each side member has a corrugated surface.  
   
   
       3 . The robot arm according to  claim 1 , wherein each side member is made by a simultaneous hardening process and includes: 
 a hollow core member being made of the sheet , and having a plurality of grooves provided thereon.    
   
   
       4 . The robot arm according to  claim 3 , wherein each side member further includes: 
 a mounting piece inserted into each of the grooves of the hollow core member and made of a material suitable for machining work; and    a rigid structural member including the fiber reinforced composite material and attached to each of upper, lower, left and right side surfaces of the hollow core member, the rigid structural member having an opening provided thereon to expose the mounting piece to an outside of the rigid structural member.    
   
   
       5 . A robot arm having an impact absorption structure for absorbing impact energy caused by a collision, the robot arm comprising: 
 a plurality of block members made of a rigid material and connected with each other; and    connecting members for connecting one block member to another block member to define an appearance of the robot arm, each connecting member being deformed by a force stronger than a predetermined level, each connecting member including:    a sheet made of a plastic material and having a foam or honeycomb structure; and    a fiber reinforced composite material attached to the sheet.    
   
   
       6 . The robot arm according to  claim 5 , wherein each connecting unit is made by a simultaneous hardening process and includes: 
 a hollow core member being made of the sheet and having a plurality of grooves provided thereon.    
   
   
       7 . The robot arm according to  claim 6 , wherein each connecting unit further includes: 
 a mounting piece inserted into each of the grooves of the hollow core member and made of a material suitable for machining work; and    a rigid structural member including a fiber reinforced composite material and attached to each of upper, lower, left and right side surfaces of the hollow core member, wherein the rigid structural member has an opening provided thereon to expose the mounting piece to an outside of the rigid structural member.    
   
   
       8 . The robot arm according to  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 a porous sheet provided between the hollow core member and the rigid structural member.