A new-type Torque Limiter with Friction Adjusting Mechanism for Robots

A new-type torque limiter with friction adjusting mechanism consists of rollers, retainer and plates. Since the mechanism is simple, it is easy to miniaturize the structure and implement the robot joint of which the spatial constraint is severe. In this paper, principle of a new-type torque limiter with friction adjusting mechanism is described and it is shown that the sliding torque could be adjusted by the pressing force stably by means of its motion model and experimental results. Furthermore, its application to a robot hand is introduced and the usefulness is confirmed.