Samsung patents robot joint that bends to absorb impact
This patent describes a mechanical system for robots that uses flexible arms and ball joints to allow a moving part to shift slightly under pressure. The design lets the robot arm absorb shocks instead of resisting them rigidly, which helps protect the machine and anything it touches.
In the filing’s own words
A compliance device includes a fixed platform in which a fixed origin of a fixed coordinate system having 3 axes of X-Y-Z is defined, a moving platform which is configured to move relative to the fixed platform and in which a moving origin of a moving coordinate system having 3 axes of x-y-z is defined, and a compliance mechanism including a plurality of unit compliance mechanisms configured to elastically support the moving platform against the fixed platform, each of the plurality of unit compliance mechanisms including a cantilever structure, which includes a first end fixed to the fixed platform and a second end on the opposite side from the first end, and a link, which is coupled to the second end of the cantilever structure via a first ball joint and coupled to the moving platform via a second ball joint.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A compliance device comprising: a fixed platform in which a fixed origin of a fixed coordinate system having 3 axes of X-Y-Z is defined; a moving platform which is configured to move relative to the fixed platform and in which a moving origin of a moving coordinate system having 3 axes of x-y-z is defined; and a compliance mechanism comprising a plurality of unit compliance mechanisms configured to elastically support the moving platform against the fixed platform, each of the plurality of unit compliance mechanisms comprising a cantilever structure, which comprises a first end fixed to the fixed platform and a second end opposite to the first end, and a link, which is coupled to the second end of the cantilever structure via a first ball joint and coupled to the moving platform via a second ball joint.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
- Official title
- Compliance device and working robot including the same
- Patent number
- US12741388B2
- Application number
- 18527465
- Filed
- Dec 4, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 5
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
B25J 17/0225 Operations & transportB25J 13/085 Operations & transportMore from Samsung in Robots & automation
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.