Double-helix digital oscillating cylinder applied to deep sea manipulator

Abstract

The invention discloses a double-helix digital oscillating cylinder applied to a deep sea manipulator, and belongs to the technical field of hydraulic cylinders. After the piston rod, the piston and the guide sleeve are sleeved with sealing pieces, the piston rod is installed in the cylinder body and then matched with the piston and the guide sleeve, the piston rod, the guide sleeve and the cylinder body are connected together through a threaded gland, and after hydraulic oil is input into the two cavities respectively, the guide sleeve and the piston rod can synchronously swing relative to the cylinder body to output the rotation angle and the rotation torque in a double-end mode. Or the guide sleeve and the piston rod are fixed to swing the cylinder body to output the rotation angle and the rotation torque. A built-in angle sensor is used for collecting angle signals, and the rotation angle of the swing cylinder is accurately controlled; an external pressure sensor is used for collecting pressure signals, and the purpose of accurately outputting torque is achieved by accurately controlling the pressure difference of the two cavities of the swing cylinder. The invention has the characteristics of good deep sea environment adaptability, high control precision, low processing difficulty, small damage to the sealing element, high production efficiency, long service life and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of hydraulic cylinders, and in particular to a double-helix digital swing cylinder applied to a deep-sea manipulator. Background Art

[0002] Conventional double-helix swing cylinders are not designed for deep-sea applications. They generally use threaded structures to transmit torque and axial force at the same time, and at the same time, they cannot accurately control the output angle and torque. This structure has the following problems: 1. There is no sealing design that can withstand external pressure, and it cannot be used in deep-sea environments; 2. The coaxiality requirements of the piston rod thread, the guide sleeve thread and the inner hole of the cylinder body are high, otherwise it is easy to "hold back", increase the leakage of the cylinder and may damage the piston rod, which invisibly increases the processing accuracy and difficulty of the parts; 3. The O-ring on the guide sleeve, which plays a static sealing role, will also enter in a spiral extrusion shape during the screw-in process of the guide sleeve, so that the seal may be damaged by torsion, deformation and other problems. 4. Torque and axial force are transmitted simultaneously between the piston rod and the guide sleeve through the thread. Under long-term repeated impact of large torque, there is a risk of fatigue bite of the thread. 5. The control of the output rotation angle and torque is not accurate enough. 6. Because the trapezoidal thread in the double helix structure rotates in both directions, the thread cannot be self-locking and has no overload protection function. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of this, the present invention provides a double-helix digital oscillating cylinder for use in deep-sea manipulators, which can solve the problems of accurate output rotation angle and torque, deep-sea environment application, overload protection, thread fatigue bite and seal torsion, etc., reduces the difficulty of processing and assembly of the hydraulic cylinder, improves production efficiency, and further expands the scope of use of the double-helix oscillating cylinder.

[0004] A double-helix digital swing cylinder used in a deep-sea manipulator, comprising a cylinder body, a piston rod, a piston, a guide sleeve, a threaded gland, an angle sensor, a transmission shaft, a lever and a watertight socket;

[0005] The piston rod has a hollow inner hole for installing an angle sensor, a transmission shaft and a watertight socket;

[0006] After the piston rod, piston and guide sleeve are sealed, the piston rod is installed in the cylinder body and matched with the piston and guide sleeve, and the piston rod, guide sleeve and cylinder body are connected together through a threaded gland, and the guide sleeve and piston rod are connected by a profile thread limiter;

[0007] The angle sensor is fixed in the inner hole of the piston rod and connected to the lever through the transmission shaft, and the lever is fixed to the cylinder body through a nut; when the cylinder body rotates, the lever is driven to make the transmission shaft rotate relative to the angle sensor, so that the angle sensor obtains a rotation angle signal, and then outputs a signal from the watertight socket at the tail of the piston rod through a cable connected to the angle sensor, and then the central processing unit performs logical operations based on the collected numerical values, obtains the angle value in real time, and adjusts the rotation angle through the output flow; the two chambers on the cylinder body are provided with oil port seats, and the pressure sensor is installed on the oil port seats, and the pressure sensor collects and transmits the pressure signals of the two chambers for accurately controlling the output torque; after the hydraulic oil is respectively input into the two chambers, the guide sleeve and the piston rod can synchronously swing the double-headed output rotation angle and rotation torque relative to the cylinder body; or the guide sleeve and the piston rod are fixed to let the cylinder body swing to output the rotation angle and rotation torque.

[0008] Furthermore, the piston rod and the guide sleeve are respectively equipped with a cartridge balancing valve, and the oil inlets of the two chambers are hydraulically controlled ports. When oil is introduced into one chamber, the other chamber is discharged. Otherwise, the oil is locked to ensure that the rotation angle will not change, thereby realizing the self-locking function of the swing cylinder within the swing range.

[0009] Furthermore, there is a rotating seal between the transmission shaft and the angle sensor end cover, and an O-ring is used for sealing between the angle sensor end cover and the piston rod; O-rings are used for sealing on the end face and radial direction between the watertight socket and the piston rod; thereby ensuring that the sealing structure of the angle sensor can meet the requirements of deep-sea applications, and at the same time, the watertight socket also serves to prevent the threaded cover from loosening.

[0010] Furthermore, the cylinder body is provided with a shift block, a mounting flange and an oil port seat, wherein the shift block is used to connect the angle sensor; the mounting flange is used to connect the manipulator; the oil port seat is used to connect the hydraulic control port and serves as a mounting base for the pressure sensor.

[0011] Furthermore, the guide sleeve and the piston rod both have two sets of rotating seals, one inside and one outside, to meet the application requirements of internal pressure work and protection against external pressure seawater; the convex polygonal structure in the profile connection is used to transmit torque between the guide sleeve and the piston rod, and a threaded gland is used at the end of the piston rod to limit and transmit axial force.

[0012] Furthermore, the cylinder body and the piston, as well as the piston and the piston rod, use non-self-locking trapezoidal threads to transmit torque.

[0013] Beneficial effects:

[0014] 1. The present invention designs the piston rod into a hollow structure, and installs an angle sensor, a transmission shaft and a watertight socket inside. The built-in angle sensor is used to collect angle signals to accurately control the rotation angle of the swing cylinder; the external pressure sensor is used to collect pressure signals, and the purpose of accurate output torque is achieved by accurately controlling the pressure difference between the two chambers of the swing cylinder. At the same time, through the unique sealing design, the present invention has good adaptability to deep-sea environment and has the characteristics of high control accuracy, low processing difficulty, little damage to seals, high production efficiency and long service life.

[0015] 2. The present invention adopts a convex polygonal structure (such as a triangle, square or hexagon, etc.) in a profile connection method between the piston rod and the guide sleeve to transmit torque, and a threaded structure to transmit axial force, thereby avoiding the risk of fatigue biting caused by repeated impact of the thread due to the original use of the threaded structure to transmit both torque and axial force, thereby improving transmission efficiency and reliability. Moreover, during assembly, the guide sleeve can be directly pressed into the cylinder body without rotation, and the seal can slide smoothly into the cylinder barrel with the guide sleeve without twisting, and the installation is very simple.

[0016] 3. The left and right ends of the double-helix digital swing cylinder of the present invention are integrated with balancing valves, which have a certain hydraulic circuit control function, can realize the self-locking and overload protection function of the swing cylinder, and the internal design cleverly uses the hydraulic control oil circuit to realize the lubrication of the bearings, thereby improving product reliability and extending product service life. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 This is the appearance structure diagram of the double helix digital swing cylinder of the present invention

[0018] Figure 2 The structural principle diagram of the double-helix digital swing cylinder of the present invention

[0019] Figure 3 The hydraulic principle diagram of the double-helix digital swing cylinder of the present invention

[0020] Among them: 1- lever, 2- oil inlet connector, 3- cartridge balance valve, 4- cylinder body, 5- hydraulic control pipe, 6- pressure sensor, 7- watertight socket, 8- sensor connector, 9- transmission shaft, 10- sealing end cover, 11- sensor mounting seat, 12- angle sensor, 13- piston rod, 14- thrust bearing, 15- piston, 16- guide sleeve, 17- threaded gland, 18- watertight connector. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0022] As attached Figure 1 and 2As shown, the present invention provides a double-helix digital swing cylinder for deep-sea manipulators, which is composed of a lever 1, an oil inlet joint 2, a plug-in balance valve 3, a cylinder body 4, a pressure sensor 6, a watertight socket 7, a sensor joint 8, a transmission shaft 9, a sealing end cover 10, a sensor mounting seat 11, an angle sensor 12, a piston rod 13, a thrust bearing 14, a piston 15, a guide sleeve 16, a threaded gland 17, a watertight joint 18 and a seal. During assembly, the piston rod 13, the piston 15, and the guide sleeve 16 are first assembled with seals, and then the bearing 14 is respectively assembled on the piston rod 13 and the guide sleeve 16, and then the piston rod 13 with the above parts is assembled into the cylinder body 4, and then the piston 15 is installed, and then the guide sleeve 16 is installed, and then the piston rod 13 and the guide sleeve 16 are connected with the threaded gland 17 to complete the assembly of the swing cylinder. The assembly process of the rotation signal acquisition system is as follows: first, connect the transmission shaft 9, the sensor mounting seat 11, and the angle sensor 12 together to complete the assembly, then install the angle sensor mounting seat 12 into the inner hole at the left end of the piston rod 13, and then pass the sealing end cover 10 through the transmission shaft 9 and install it on the end face of the inner hole at the left end of the piston rod 13, then pass the shifting rod 1 through the shifting block on the cylinder body 4 and connect it to the transmission shaft 9, then lead out the cable of the angle sensor 12 and connect it to the cable in the watertight joint 18, and then put the excess cable into the inner hole of the piston rod 13, and finally install the seal on the watertight joint 18 and fix it to the right end face of the piston rod 13 with bolts. The assembly process of the pressure signal acquisition system is as follows: install the pressure sensor 6 on the oil port seat of the cylinder body 4, and its cable can be directly introduced into the signal box.

[0023] The angle signal of the double-helix digital swing cylinder is collected by the angle sensor 12. The angle sensor 12 is fixed to the inner hole of the piston rod through the sensor mounting seat 11, and is connected to the cylinder lever 1 through the transmission shaft 9. The lever 1 is fixed to the cylinder body 5 through a nut. When the cylinder body 5 rotates, the lever 1 is driven to rotate the transmission shaft 9 relative to the angle sensor 12, so that the angle sensor 12 obtains the rotation angle signal, and then outputs the signal from the watertight socket 7 at the tail of the piston rod through the cable connected to the angle sensor 12. Then, the central processing unit performs logical operations based on the collected values, obtains the angle value in real time, and regulates it through the output flow.

[0024] The pressure signal of the double-helix digital swing cylinder is collected by the pressure sensor 6 and transmitted to the signal box, and the central processing unit performs logical operations according to the pressure difference between the two chambers, obtains the torque value in real time and adjusts it by controlling the pressure difference between the two chambers through the output pressure.

[0025] The piston rod and guide sleeve of the double-helix digital swing cylinder are integrated with a plug-in balance valve, with relevant oil circuits inside. The oil inlets of the two chambers are hydraulically controlled ports. When oil is introduced into one chamber, the oil is discharged from the other chamber. Otherwise, the oil is locked to ensure that the rotation angle will not change. Therefore, the self-locking function of the swing cylinder can be realized within the swing range. Figure 3As shown, taking the movement of the swing cylinder piston from left to right as an example: when the hydraulic oil flows in from port A, it enters port A1 of port A balancing valve 3 through port A2 and at the same time also enters the external control port B3 of port B balancing valve 3, opening the control oil circuit of port B balancing valve 3; the hydraulic oil reaching port A1 continues to pass through port A0 (at the same time, the pressure sensor 6 at port A0 collects the pressure signal and transmits it out), enters the left chamber of the swing cylinder, and pushes the swing cylinder to move from left to right (at the same time, the angle sensor 12 inside the piston rod collects the angle signal and transmits it out), while the hydraulic oil in the right chamber of the swing cylinder passes through port B0 (at the same time, the pressure sensor 6 at port B0 collects the pressure signal and transmits it out) under the push of the piston, and reaches port B1 of port B balancing valve 3. Since the control oil circuit of port B balancing valve 3 has been opened, the hydraulic oil can flow out through port B2 of the balancing valve 3 and return to port B. During this process, if the input of hydraulic oil from port A stops, the control oil circuit of the balance valve 3 at port B cannot be opened, the hydraulic oil in the right chamber of the swing cylinder cannot be discharged, and the rotation angle of the swing cylinder will not change, thus realizing the self-locking function. At the same time, the hydraulic control ports of the two chambers can also provide lubricating oil circuits for the thrust bearing to ensure the lubrication of the bearing. In addition, the balance valve can also pre-set the overload pressure, and the oil will be drained if it exceeds the setting, thereby realizing the overload protection function and ensuring that the entire device will not be damaged.

[0026] The above implementation process first simplifies the assembly. The guide sleeve can be directly pressed in without rotation, so that there is no screwing action during the installation of the seal. Therefore, the seal will not be twisted and deformed to produce resistance. At the same time, the convex polygon structure is used to transmit torque and the thread structure is used to transmit axial force, respectively, avoiding the risk of fatigue bite that is easily generated by the thread structure transmitting torque and axial force at the same time. Secondly, because there are angle sensors and pressure sensors that can collect real-time rotation and pressure signals, the rotation angle and output torque of the double-helix digital swing cylinder used in the deep sea can be accurately controlled. Thirdly, because there is a sealing structure for external seawater and internal hydraulic oil, the double-helix digital swing cylinder can meet the deep-sea application environment. From the second, because the balance valve is integrated, the oil circuit control function is realized to meet the self-locking and overload protection requirements of the swing cylinder. Finally, because of the above effects, the present invention has good controllability and adaptability to deep-sea environments, and has the characteristics of high control accuracy, low processing difficulty, small damage to the seal, convenient assembly, short processing cycle, high production efficiency and long service life.

[0027] In summary, the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A double-helix digital swing cylinder used in deep-sea manipulators, characterized in that: It includes a cylinder body, a piston rod, a piston, a guide sleeve, a threaded gland, an angle sensor, a transmission shaft, a lever and a watertight socket; The piston rod has a hollow inner hole for installing an angle sensor, a transmission shaft and a watertight socket; After the piston rod, piston and guide sleeve are sealed, the piston rod is installed in the cylinder body and matched with the piston and guide sleeve, and the piston rod, guide sleeve and cylinder body are connected together through a threaded gland, and the guide sleeve and piston rod are connected by a profile thread limiter; The angle sensor is fixed in the inner hole of the piston rod and connected to the lever through the transmission shaft, and the lever is fixed to the cylinder body through a nut; when the cylinder body rotates, the lever is driven to make the transmission shaft rotate relative to the angle sensor, so that the angle sensor obtains a rotation angle signal, and then outputs a signal from the watertight socket at the tail of the piston rod through a cable connected to the angle sensor, and then the central processing unit performs logical operations based on the collected numerical values, obtains the angle value in real time, and adjusts the rotation angle through the output flow; the two chambers on the cylinder body are provided with oil port seats, and the pressure sensor is installed on the oil port seats, and the pressure sensor collects and transmits the pressure signals of the two chambers for accurately controlling the output torque; after the hydraulic oil is respectively input into the two chambers, the guide sleeve and the piston rod can synchronously swing the double-headed output rotation angle and rotation torque relative to the cylinder body; or the guide sleeve and the piston rod are fixed to let the cylinder body swing to output the rotation angle and rotation torque.

2. The double-helix digital swing cylinder for deep-sea manipulator according to claim 1, characterized in that: The piston rod and the guide sleeve are respectively provided with a cartridge balancing valve, and the oil inlets of the two chambers are hydraulically controlled ports for each other. When oil is introduced into one chamber, the other chamber is discharged. Otherwise, the oil is locked to ensure that the rotation angle will not change, thereby realizing the self-locking function of the swing cylinder within the swing range.

3. The double-helix digital swing cylinder for deep-sea manipulator according to claim 2, characterized in that: There is a rotating seal between the transmission shaft and the angle sensor end cover, and an O-ring is used for sealing between the angle sensor end cover and the piston rod; O-rings are used for sealing on the end face and radial direction between the watertight socket and the piston rod; thereby ensuring that the sealing structure of the angle sensor can meet the requirements of deep-sea applications, and at the same time, the watertight socket also serves to prevent the threaded cover from loosening.

4. The double-helix digital swing cylinder for deep-sea manipulator according to claim 3, characterized in that: The cylinder body is provided with a shift block, a mounting flange and an oil port seat, wherein the shift block is used to connect the angle sensor; the mounting flange is used to connect the manipulator; the oil port seat is used to connect the hydraulic control port and serves as a mounting base for the pressure sensor.

5. The double-helix digital swing cylinder for deep-sea manipulator according to claim 4, characterized in that: The guide sleeve and the piston rod are provided with two sets of rotating seals, one inside and one outside, to meet the application requirements of internal pressure work and protection against external pressure seawater; the convex polygonal structure in the profile connection is used to transmit torque between the guide sleeve and the piston rod, and a threaded gland is used at the end of the piston rod to limit and transmit axial force.

6. The double-helix digital swing cylinder for deep-sea manipulator according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The cylinder body and the piston as well as the piston and the piston rod are both connected by non-self-locking trapezoidal threads to transmit torque.

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