Movable arm and design method of movable arm

Abstract

A movable arm includes a base secured to a mounting surface; a movable body pivotally attached to the base to rotate about the base and carrying an object; and a restoring body for biasing the movable body to a home position. An elastic modulus of the restoring body, a deformation amount of the restoring body in the home position and dimensions of individual parts are determined to ensure that the gravity acting on the movable body and the biasing force exerted by the restoring body are balanced regardless of the position of the movable body. Therefore, the position of the movable body can be maintained by the elastic force of the restoring body regardless of the frictional force and thus the movable arm is hardly affected by the wear, attaining a greater life span than in a case of maintaining the movable body by the frictional force.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a movable arm in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a major part of the movable arm shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view depicting the major part of the movable arm shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are explanatory views illustrating the operation of the movable arm shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 4A shows a movable body kept in a home position, FIG. 4B illustrates the movable body displaced from the home position, and FIG. 4C depicts the movable body whose displacement is further increased from the state illustrated in FIG. 4B;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view illustrating a method of calculating a condition required for imparting desired property to a movable arm;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a movable arm in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a movable arm in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A movable arm comprising: a base mounted on a mounting surface;a movable body for supporting an object, the movable body being pivotally attached to the base to rotate to change a position of the object with respect to the base; anda restoring body for biasing the movable body in a direction to return the movable body to a home position with respect to the base, the restoring body being coupled to the movable body at a first coupling location spaced apart from a pivot axis of the movable body and to the base at a second coupling location spaced apart from the pivot axis of the movable body, the restoring body exerting a elastic force in a direction to make the first and second coupling location move closer to or away from each other,wherein a elastic modulus of the restoring body, a deformation amount of the restoring body in the home position and dimensions related to the base, the movable body and the restoring body are determined to allow thatwhen the base is mounted on the mounting surface such that the second coupling location of the restoring body to the base and the pivot axis of the movable body lie on a common vertical plane and a center of gravity of the movable body and the object as a whole is placed above the pivot axis of the movable body while the movable body is in the home position,a force exerted by a gravity to increase displacement of the movable body away from the home position is balanced with a force exerted by the restoring body to return the movable body to the home position, regardless of a position of the movable body with respect to the base, at least between the home position and a position in which the pivot axis of the movable body and the center of gravity of the movable body and the object as a whole lie side by side in a horizontal direction.

2. The movable arm of claim 1, further comprising a sliding body being interposed between the base and the movable body, the sliding body made of a material having a smaller friction coefficient than the base and the movable body.

3. A method of designing the movable arm of claim 1, comprising the step of solving an identity equation for a parameter indicative of the position of the movable body with respect to the base to determine the elastic modulus of the restoring body, the deformation amount of the restoring body in the home position and the dimensions related to the base, the movable body and the restoring body.