Light weight robot mechanism

Claim 2

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a structure surrounding said work space; a pivot block adapted to be fixed with respect to said structure; an object flange spaced from said pivot block and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the pivot block and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable on said structure with respect to the pivot block and the work space; a plurality of actuators, each mounted on a respective one of the anchor blocks; and tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion whereby the tensile portions in cooperation with said collapsible element exert forces on the object flange that provide a state of force equilibrium, and wherein the anchor blocks are mountable on said structure with respect to the pivot block and each anchor block is mounted independently of each other anchor block to minimize the loading on the actuators in relation to the applied forces acting on the mechanism.

Claim 3

The object positioning mechanism of claim 1 wherein the first and second members of the collapsible element are telescopically movable with respect to each other.

Claim 4

The object positioning mechanism of claim 1 wherein the actuators include spools to selectively accumulate and pay out their respective tensile portions.

Claim 5

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a base adapted to be fixed with respect to said work space; an object flange spaced from said base and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the base and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the base and the work space; a plurality of actuators, each connected to a respective one of the anchor blocks; tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion; an energizing means operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the base whereby the object flange is always pulled by the tensile means toward the base while the object flange is simultaneously being pushed away from the base to place the object flange in a state of force equilibrium, said anchor blocks being mounted independently of each other and the base to position their respective actuator with respect to the work space to minimize the energy required to energize the actuators; and wherein the tensile means is a continuous element including said at least two of said tensile portions and operative with two of said actuators.

Claim 6

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a base adapted to be fixed with respect to said work space; an object flange spaced from said base and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the base and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the base and the work space; a plurality of actuators, each connected to a respective one of the anchor blocks; tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion; an energizing means operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the base whereby the object flange is always pulled by the tensile means toward the base while the object flange is simultaneously being pushed away from the base to place the object flange in a state of force equilibrium, said anchor blocks being mounted independently of each other and the base to position their respective actuator with respect to the work space to minimize the energy required to energize the actuators; and wherein the tensile means is a continuous element including said at least two of said tensile portions and operative with two of said actuators.

Claim 7

The object positioning mechanism of claim 4 wherein the continuous element has two ends connected respectively to the object flange.

Claim 8

The object positioning mechanism of claim 4 wherein the actuators connected to the at least two of said tensile portions include drive pulleys to change the length of its respective tensile portion of the continuous tensile means.

Claim 9

The object positioning mechanism of claim 6 wherein the energizing means includes pulleys on said collapsible member coplanar with the drive pulleys on said actuators for supporting the tensile means in its continuity and cooperating with the drive pulleys as such drive pulleys change the length of a respective tensile portion.

Claim 10

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a structure surrounding said work space; a pivot block adapted to be fixed with respect to said structure; an object flange spaced from said pivot block and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece, a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the pivot block and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable on said structure with respect to the pivot block and the work space; a plurality of actuators, each pivotally mounted on a respective one of the anchor blocks; and tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion whereby the tensile portions in cooperation with said collapsible element exert forces on the object flange that provide a state of force equilibrium, and wherein the anchor blocks are mountable on said structure with respect to the pivot block to minimize the loading on the actuators in relation to the applied forces acting on the mechanism; energizing means operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the pivot block whereby the object flange is always pulled by the tensile means toward the pivot block while the object flange is simultaneously being pushed away from the pivot block to place the object flange in a state of force equilibrium, said anchor blocks being mounted independently of each other and the pivot block to position their respective actuator with respect to the work space to minimize the energy required to energize the actuators; said object positioning mechanism including a third tensile portion connected to one of the actuators and having one end connected to the object flange and the other end connected to the second member of said collapsible member, and second energizing means cooperable with the first said energizing means and operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the pivot block while the object flange is pulled by the third tensile portion toward the pivot block, whereby to provide said object positioning mechanism with three degrees of freedom.

Claim 11

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a structure surrounding said work space; a pivot block adapted to be fixed with respect to said structure; an object flange spaced from said pivot block and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece, a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the pivot block and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable on said structure with respect to the pivot block and the work space; a plurality of actuators, each pivotally mounted on a respective one of the anchor blocks; and tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion whereby the tensile portions in cooperation with said collapsible element exert forces on the object flange that provide a state of force equilibrium, and wherein the anchor blocks are mountable on said structure with respect to the pivot block to minimize the loading on the actuators in relation to the applied forces acting on the mechanism; energizing means operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the pivot block whereby the object flange is always pulled by the tensile means toward the pivot block while the object flange is simultaneously being pushed away from the pivot block to place the object flange in a state of force equilibrium, said anchor blocks being mounted independently of each other and the pivot block to position their respective actuator with respect to the work space to minimize the energy required to energize the actuators; said object positioning mechanism including a third tensile portion connected to one of the actuators and having one end connected to the object flange and the other end connected to the second member of said collapsible member, and second energizing means cooperable with the first said energizing means and operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the pivot block while the object flange is pulled by the third tensile portion toward the pivot block, whereby to provide said object positioning mechanism with three degrees of freedom.

Claim 12

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a base adapted to be fixed with respect to said work space; an object flange spaced from said base and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the base and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the base and the work space; a plurality of actuators, each connected to a respective one of the anchor blocks; tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion; an energizing means operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the base whereby the object flange is always pulled by the tensile means toward the base while the object flange is simultaneously being pushed away from the base to place the object flange in a state of force equilibrium, said anchor blocks being mounted independently of each other and the base to position their respective actuator with respect to the work space to minimize the energy required to energize the actuators; said object positioning mechanism including a pulley fixed with respect to said base for supporting said tensile means between the said one ends of said tensile portions, said energizing means operating through said pulley and said object flange to maintain tension in said tensile means while said tensile portions both push and pull said object flange with respect to said base.

Claim 13

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a base adapted to be fixed with respect to said work space; an object flange spaced from said base and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the base and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the base and the work space; a plurality of actuators, each connected to a respective one of the anchor blocks; tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion; an energizing means operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the base whereby the object flange is always pulled by the tensile means toward the base while the object flange is simultaneously being pushed away from the base to place the object flange in a state of force equilibrium, said anchor blocks being mounted independently of each other and the base to position their respective actuator with respect to the work space to minimize the energy required to energize the actuators; said object positioning mechanism including a pulley fixed with respect to said base for supporting said tensile means between the said one ends of said tensile portions, said energizing means operating through said pulley and said object flange to maintain tension in said tensile means while said tensile portions both push and pull said object flange with respect to said base.

Claim 14

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a base adapted to be fixed with respect to said work space; an object flange spaced from said base and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the base and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the base and the work space; a plurality of actuators, each connected to a respective one of the anchor blocks; tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion; an energizing means operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the base whereby the object flange is always pulled by the tensile means toward the base while the object flange is simultaneously being pushed away from the base to place the object flange in a state of force equilibrium, said anchor blocks being mounted independently of each other and the base to position their respective actuator with respect to the work space to minimize the energy required to energize the actuators; and wherein each tensile portion terminates at one end at said object flange and has another end connected to the first member of the collapsible member.

Claim 15

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a base adapted to be fixed with respect to said work space; an object flange spaced from said base and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the base and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the base and the work space; a plurality of actuators, each connected to a respective one of the anchor blocks; tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion; an energizing means operable through the first and second members of the collapsible member to push the object flange away from the base whereby the object flange is always pulled by the tensile means toward the base while the object flange is simultaneously being pushed away from the base to place the object flange in a state of force equilibrium, said anchor blocks being mounted independently of each other and the base to position their respective actuator with respect to the work space to minimize the energy required to energize the actuators; and wherein each tensile portion terminates at one end at said object flange and has another end connected to the first member of the collapsible member.

Claim 16

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a mounting structure defining ceiling and walls surrounding said work space; a pivot block adapted to be fixed with respect to one of said ceiling and walls of said structure; an object flange spaced from said pivot block and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the pivot block and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the pivot block and said work space on a selected one of the ceiling and walls of said structure; a plurality of actuators, each mounted on a respective one of the anchor blocks; and tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion whereby the tensile portions in cooperation with said collapsible element exert forces on the object flange that provide a state of force equilibrium, and wherein each anchor block is mounted independently of each other anchor block on a preselected one of the ceiling and walls to minimize the loading on the actuators in relation to the applied forces acting on the mechanism.

Claim 17

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a mounting structure defining ceiling and walls surrounding said work space; a pivot block adapted to be fixed with respect to one of said ceiling and walls of said structure; an object flange spaced from said pivot block and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the pivot block and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the pivot block and said work space on a selected one of the ceiling and walls of said structure; a plurality of actuators, each mounted on a respective one of the anchor blocks; and tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion whereby the tensile portions in cooperation with said collapsible element exert forces on the object flange that provide a state of force equilibrium, and wherein each anchor block is mounted independently of each other anchor block on a preselected one of the ceiling and walls to minimize the loading on the actuators in relation to the applied forces acting on the mechanism.

Claim 18

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a mounting structure defining non-co-planar mounting planes surrounding said work space; a pivot block adapted to be fixed with respect to one of said mounting planes of said structure; an object flange spaced from said pivot block and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the pivot block and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the pivot block and said work space on a selected one of the mounting planes of said structure; a plurality of actuators, each mounted on a respective one of the anchor blocks so that at least two of said actuators are mounted on different mounting planes; and tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion whereby the tensile portions in cooperation with said collapsible element exert forces on the object flange that provide a state of force equilibrium, and wherein each anchor block is mounted independently of each other anchor block on a preselected one of the mounting planes to minimize the loading on the actuators in relation to the applied forces acting on the mechanism.

Claim 19

An object positioning mechanism adjustable with respect to a work space adaptable for working on a large workpiece such as a commercial aircraft or the like, comprising: a mounting structure defining non-co-planar mounting planes surrounding said work space; a pivot block adapted to be fixed with respect to one of said mounting planes of said structure; an object flange spaced from said pivot block and adapted to hold a tool for working on said workpiece; a collapsible element having first and second members movable linearly with respect to each other; the first member being pivotally connected to the pivot block and the second member being affixed to the object flange; a plurality of anchor blocks each being independently mountable with respect to the pivot block and said work space on a selected one of the mounting planes of said structure; a plurality of actuators, each mounted on a respective one of the anchor blocks so that at least two of said actuators are mounted on different mounting planes; and tensile means including a plurality of tensile portions, at least two of said tensile portions connected at one end thereof to the object flange and at their respective other ends thereof to a respective one of the actuators, each of the actuators being energizable to change the length of its respective tensile portion by selectively pulling on its respective tensile portion whereby the tensile portions in cooperation with said collapsible element exert forces on the object flange that provide a state of force equilibrium, and wherein each anchor block is mounted independently of each other anchor block on a preselected one of the mounting planes to minimize the loading on the actuators in relation to the applied forces acting on the mechanism.

Claim 20

The object positioning mechanism of claim 12 wherein said mounting planes are intersecting planes.