Counterbalance assembly for rotatable robotic arm and the like

摘要

A counterbalance assembly for use with a rotatable arm in a robotic manipulator, wherein such arm is rotated about a rotation axis. The assembly further includes one or more compression springs for providing resistance to compressive forces, and converting apparatus for translating the rotational movement of the rotatable arm about the rotation axis into linear deflection of such compression spring, whereby resistance of the compression spring to linear deflection in either direction along its longitudinal axis establishes an effective counterbalancing force which reduces the load bearing on the arm drive regardless of the direction in which the rotatable arm is rotated.