A rotating joint assembly with a hard stop mechanism for a puppeteering device or animatronic remote manipulator requiring more than 360 degrees of rotation.
A rotating joint assembly such as an interface device in a master device or remote manipulator for a puppeteering device or other mechanical system operating in response to operator input and requiring more than 360 degrees of rotation. The rotating joint assembly includes a hard stop assembly that limits the rotation of its rotating component(s) to a predefined maximum amount of rotation such as to less than two full revolutions, e.g., some rotation amount between 360 and 720 degrees. The hard stop assembly includes a Geneva drive body or driven wheel with a hard stop body rigidly coupled with the Geneva drive body to rotate it between a disengaged position (during the first revolution) and one of two engaged positionsby rotation of an inner ring (at some point during the second revolution in either direction).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates a side perspective view of a remote manipulator system with a rotating joint assembly (e.g., a wrist joint) with a hard stop assembly of the present description;
FIG. 2 is a partial top view of the remote manipulator system of FIG. 1 providing greater detail for the rotating wrist assembly and its hard stopassembly;
FIG. 3 is partial bottom view of the remote manipulator system of FIGS. 1and 2 providing different details for the rotating wrist assembly and its hard stop assembly than FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a side view of an exemplary rotating joint assembly with a hard stop assembly with the hard stop body of the hard stop assembly in a disengaged position;
FIG. 5 is a side view of the rotating joint assembly of FIG. 4 after rotationin a clockwise direction with an engagement pin engaging the Geneva body (or driven wheel) to rotate the hard stop body or member toward the engaged position;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial view of the rotating joint assembly of FIGS. 4 and 5 after further rotation of the inner ring to position the hard stop body or member in the engaged position;
FIG. 7 is a side view of the rotating joint assembly of FIGS. 4-6 after additional rotation of the inner ring to its maximum amount of rotation (or maximum number of revolutions)with a clockwise hard stop post abutting a contact surface on a lobe or arm of the hard stop body or member limiting any further clockwi
1. A rotating joint assembly, comprising: an outer support member; an inner joint member positioned centrally within the outer support member and pivotally coupledwith the outer support member to be selectively rotated about a rotation axis passing through the center of the inner joint member; and a hard stop assembly including: a circular track, on a surface of the inner joint member, with a guide surface facing outward toward the outer support member; a Geneva drive body with three arms each with a contact surface for contacting the guide surface of the circular track and with adjacent pairs of the armsbeing separated by a slot in the Geneva drive body, wherein the Geneva drive body is pivotally coupled with the outer support member; a hard stop body with a pair of arms each with a contact surface, wherein the hard stop body is rigidly coupled to or integrally formedwith the Geneva drive body; an engagement pin on the surface of the inner joint member positioned and configured to engage and rotate the Geneva drive body via the slots with rotation of the inner joint member; and a pair of hard stop posts angularly offset in oppositedirections from the engagement pin by an offset angle, wherein the hard stop posts are each positioned and configured to physically abut one of the contact surfaces of one of the arms of the hard stop body during rotation of the inner joint member in one of the clockwise and counterclockwise directions.
10. A joint assembly with a hard stop to limit rotation after a first revolution, comprising: an outer support ring; an inner ring mounted on aninner surface of the outer support ring for rotation about a central axis extending through the inner ring; and a hard stop assembly adapted to be in a disengaged state during a first revolution in either direction about the central axis and to be in an engaged stated after a predefined angular rotation after the first revolution in either of the directions, wherein the hard stop assembly comprises a Geneva drive body pivotally mounted on the outer support ring and an engagement pin on a surface of the inner ring for rotating the Geneva drive body between the disengaged state and the engaged state during rotation of the inner ring.
14. A joint assembly with a hard stop for limiting rotation after a full revolution, comprising: an outer support ring; an inner ring pivotally coupled with the outer support member; and a hard stop assembly including: a circular track, on a surface of the inner ring, with a guide surface facing outward toward the outer support ring; a Geneva drive body with arms with adjacent pairs of the arms being angularly offset, wherein the Geneva drive body is pivotally coupled with the outer support member; a hard stop body with a pair of arms, wherein the hard stop body rotates with the Geneva drive body; an engagement pin on the surface of the inner ring positioned and configured to engage and rotate the Geneva drive body between a disengaged position with a middle one of the arms of the Geneva drive body contacting the guide surface and one of two engaged positions with one of the arms other than the middle one of the arms of the Geneva drive body contacting the guide surface; and a pair of hard stop posts each positioned on the surface of the inner ring so as to contact one of the arms of the hard stop body during rotation of the inner ring when the Geneva drive body is in one of the two engaged positions.