Flexible reconfigurable angle tool positioner
By using a flexible, reconfigurable angle tooling positioner, which combines servo motor drive and manual locking device, the problems of large size and difficult modification of traditional aircraft component tooling are solved, enabling rapid and efficient assembly and low-cost production.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202511801847.4
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-12-02
- Publication Date
- 2026-01-27
AI Technical Summary
Traditional aircraft component manufacturing tooling is bulky, has a long design cycle, consumes a lot of materials, and cannot adapt to structural changes, resulting in high R&D costs and material waste.
Design a flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner, which adopts a servo motor driven active slide and driven slide structure, combined with a manual locking device, to achieve digital control and parameterized adjustment, and adapt to the assembly needs of different product structures.
It has increased the speed of aircraft component research and development and production, reduced design modification costs and material consumption, simplified tooling structure design, and improved assembly efficiency and flexibility.
Smart Images
Figure CN121403318A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of aircraft assembly technology, specifically to a flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner used in the manufacturing and assembly of aircraft parts. Background Technology
[0002] Traditional aircraft component manufacturing requires the design and manufacture of positioning and assembly tooling based on the component manufacturing and assembly needs. However, traditional tooling is mostly a frame structure to ensure stability, which is bulky and cannot adapt to a variety of different product parts. Its design and production cycle is long, materials are used extensively, and costs are high.
[0003] During the aircraft design, development, and trial production phase, component structures are frequently modified. If traditional tooling is altered, it will affect the corresponding tooling structure adjustment, leading to the remanufacturing of the entire tooling, or recutting, welding, and processing. This is detrimental to the rapid development of new products and models.
[0004] In traditional tooling design, when encountering parts that are at a certain angle to the coordinate system, a fully conformal locator made from a single piece of material is often used to ensure complete consistency with the theory. This is an extremely wasteful way of using materials. After optimization, welded structural parts are used in conjunction with adjustable conformal locators for tooling positioning. Although this method saves materials, it is extremely difficult to install and debug. Adjusting the position at a certain angle to the space means that moving in one direction will cause changes in the position in all other directions.
[0005] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a new type of flexible assembly system for aircraft components that can significantly improve the speed of R&D and production of aircraft parts during the R&D and prototyping stages, reduce design modification costs, reduce the design and manufacturing costs of parts and tooling, reduce material utilization, and reduce energy consumption and emissions. Summary of the Invention
[0006] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings and provide a flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner.
[0007] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to achieve the above objectives is as follows: A flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner includes an angle mounting plate and a base. One side of the angle mounting plate is a mounting reference surface, and the other side is a connecting surface. One end of the angle mounting plate located on the connecting surface is rotatably mounted on the side of the base via a rotating shaft mechanism. An active slide is slidably mounted on the top surface of the base. The active slide is connected to a drive mechanism. The active slide is rotatably connected to a driven slide via a driven rotating shaft. The driven slide is slidably mounted on the connecting surface of the angle mounting plate. A manual positioning and locking device and a manual locking device are mounted on the mounting reference surface of the angle mounting plate. The manual positioning and locking devices and the manual locking devices are arranged in a diagonally equidistant array on the mounting reference surface.
[0008] The drive mechanism includes a servo motor, which is connected to a lead screw via a reducer. The lead screw is connected to a lead screw nut of an active slide table. The active slide table is slidably mounted on an active slide rail on the base. The servo motor drives the lead screw to move the active slide table along the active slide rail. A driven slide rail is mounted on the connecting surface of the angle mounting plate, and the driven slide table is slidably mounted on the driven slide rail.
[0009] A shaft anti-collision frame is installed on the side of the base below the shaft mechanism.
[0010] At least two manual positioning and locking devices and two manual locking devices are installed on the mounting reference surface of the angle mounting plate.
[0011] The scheduling mounting plate has a weight-reducing groove.
[0012] An angle encoder is installed on the rotating shaft mechanism.
[0013] The angle encoder is equipped with a protective cover.
[0014] The features of this invention are: guided by the concept of flexibility and based on digitalization, it designs and constructs a set of reconfigurable tooling that can be digitally and parametrically adjusted infinitely and can be adapted to clamping and positioning according to different product structures, thus realizing a new type of component assembly tooling that is highly efficient, has a high utilization rate, and a high degree of freedom to replace traditional frame tooling. Attached Figure Description
[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a side view of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the angle mounting plate structure of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing the connection between the active slide and the driven slide of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the drive mechanism structure of the present invention; Figure 6 This is an exploded view of the rotating shaft mechanism of the present invention; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the manual positioning and locking device of the present invention; Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the manual locking device of the present invention.
[0016] The components include: 1. Base; 2. Active slide; 3. Angle mounting plate; 4. Driven slide; 5. Mounting reference surface; 6. Manual positioning and locking device; 7. Manual locking device; 8. Shaft anti-collision frame; 9. Shaft mechanism; 10. Active slide; 11. Driven shaft; 12. Driven slide; 13. Driven slide rail; 14. Active lead screw; 15. Active slide rail; 16. Reducer; 17. Servo motor; 18. Angle encoder; 19. Protective cover; 20. Connecting surface; 21. Weight reduction groove. Detailed Implementation
[0017] like Figure 1-8 As shown, this invention is a flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner, including an angle mounting plate 3 and a base 1. The base 1 is a high-strength welded structural component, balancing weight and rigidity. One side of the angle mounting plate 3 is a mounting reference surface 5, and the other side is a connecting surface 20. The end of the angle mounting plate 3 located on the connecting surface 20 is rotatably mounted on the side of the base 1 via a rotating shaft mechanism 9. An active slide rail 15 is mounted on the top surface of the base 1, and an active slide table 10 is slidably mounted on the active slide rail 15. The active slide table 10 is connected to a drive mechanism, which includes a servo motor 17. The servo motor 17 is connected to an active lead screw 14 via a reducer 16. The active lead screw 14 is connected to a lead nut of the active slide table 10. The active slide table 10 is slidably mounted on the active slide rail. On 15, the servo motor 17 drives the active lead screw 14 to drive the active slide 10 to slide along the active slide rail 15. The active slide 10 is rotatably connected to the driven slide 12 through the driven rotating shaft 11. The connecting surface 20 of the angle mounting plate 3 is equipped with the driven slide rail 13. The driven slide 12 is slidably mounted on the driven slide rail 13. The active slide 10 moves linearly along the active slide rail 15. The servo motor 17 drives the reducer 16 to reduce the speed and increase the torque, which is ultimately driven by the active lead screw 14. When the active slide 10 moves linearly, it will drive the driven slide 12 through the driven rotating shaft 11 to move linearly along the driven slide rail 13. The rotating shaft mechanism 9 is used as the rotation axis to make the angle mounting plate 3 swing around its axis to complete the attitude adjustment.
[0018] An angle encoder 18 is installed inside the rotating shaft mechanism 9 to directly detect the actual swing angle of the angle mounting plate 3, and forms a closed-loop control mode with the servo motor 17 through the system, thereby realizing high-precision positioning and repeatable positioning functions. In order to prevent the rotating shaft mechanism 9 from being affected by impacts, interference, etc. during use, a rotating shaft anti-collision frame 8 is installed on the side of the base below the rotating shaft mechanism, and a protective cover 19 is installed for the angle encoder 18.
[0019] The angle mounting plate 3 serves as the main mounting and fixing reference component. Its structure is welded from high-strength materials, balancing strength and weight. To reduce structural weight and enhance the contact and locking effect between the reference surface and the tooling, a weight-reducing groove 21 is provided on the mounting reference surface 5 of the angle mounting plate, and a manual positioning and locking device 6 and a manual locking device 7 are installed thereon. The manual positioning and locking devices 6 and 7 are arranged in a diagonally equidistant array on the mounting reference surface 5. After angle adjustment, the position of the angle mounting plate 3 is fixed. The tooling to be installed will pass through the mounting reference surface 5 of the angle mounting plate 3. The tooling is fixed on the mounting reference surface 5 of the angle mounting plate 3 by using a combination of at least two manual positioning locking devices 6 and two manual locking devices 7. The manual positioning locking device 6 has a positioning and locking function, which can limit the radial and axial movement of the connected object. The manual locking device 7 has a single locking function, which can only limit the radial movement of the connected object. The combination of the two locking mechanisms can adapt to the connection of external tooling of different specifications and provide an adjustable angle, large size, high precision flexible mounting reference surface.
[0020] This invention adopts a flexible design philosophy and digitalization as its control foundation. It designs and constructs a reconfigurable tooling system capable of digital and parameterized stepless adjustment, adapting to different product structures for clamping and positioning. This achieves a new type of component assembly tooling that is highly efficient, has high utilization, and offers high degrees of freedom, replacing traditional jig tooling. The flexible angle mounting plate 3 is used to install and fix tooling, molding blocks, fixtures, etc. A fully closed-loop controlled servo motor 17 drives a precision guide drive structure, which in turn adjusts the angle of the reconfigurable angle mounting plate 3. This ensures that the mounting reference surface 5 of the angle mounting plate 3 remains parallel to the angled part positioning surface, simplifying the tooling structure design, facilitating installation and debugging, and saving materials. Furthermore, combined with the servo drive controlled by the system, it can record the angle values of the angle mounting plate 3 adapted to various products, allowing for rapid reconfiguration when assembling different products as needed.
[0021] The steps for using this invention are as follows: Manual adjustment of positioning method: For the first time, a flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner was used for positioning tooling for a new product. First, a coordinate system was established by measuring the ground TB points using a laser tracker and fitting the theoretical values. Use a laser tracker to measure the position measurement points on the angle mounting plate 3 respectively; The angle mounting plate 3 is swung to the theoretical installation position designed by the tooling through the integrated control system. Install the tooling onto the manual positioning and locking device 6 and the manual locking device 7 of the angle mounting plate; The position of the angle mounting plate 3 is stored through the integrated control system; It can perform the assembly of parts corresponding to the tooling; Automatically adjust positioning method: For the first time, a flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner was used for positioning tooling for a new product. First, use 3D software to adjust the corresponding tooling to the 3D coordinate system of the flexible reconfigurable angle tooling locator. Using 3D software, the coordinate values of the measured point on the angle mounting plate 3 of the flexible reconfigurable angle tooling locator in the 3D coordinate system are extracted, and the angle values between the plane of the angle mounting plate 3 and the XZ plane are measured. Import the coordinate values and angles into the integrated control system operating software; Run the equipment's automatic positioning program; Use a laser tracker for inspection and calibration; It can perform the assembly of parts corresponding to the tooling.
[0022] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any equivalent substitutions or modifications made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present invention, based on the technical solution and inventive concept of the present invention, should be covered within the scope of protection of the present invention.
Claims
1. A flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner, characterized in that: The device includes an angle mounting plate and a base. One side of the angle mounting plate is a mounting reference surface, and the other side is a connecting surface. The end of the angle mounting plate located on the connecting surface is rotatably mounted on the side of the base via a rotating shaft mechanism. An active slide is slidably mounted on the top surface of the base. The active slide is connected to a drive mechanism. The active slide is rotatably connected to a driven slide via a driven rotating shaft. The driven slide is slidably mounted on the connecting surface of the angle mounting plate. A manual positioning and locking device and a manual locking device are mounted on the mounting reference surface of the angle mounting plate. The manual positioning and locking devices and the manual locking devices are arranged in a diagonally equidistant array on the mounting reference surface.
2. The flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The drive mechanism includes a servo motor, which is connected to a lead screw via a reducer. The lead screw is connected to a lead screw nut of an active slide table. The active slide table is slidably mounted on an active slide rail on the base. The servo motor drives the lead screw to move the active slide table along the active slide rail. A driven slide rail is mounted on the connecting surface of the angle mounting plate, and the driven slide table is slidably mounted on the driven slide rail.
3. The flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner as described in claim 1, characterized in that: A shaft anti-collision frame is installed on the side of the base below the shaft mechanism.
4. The flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner as described in claim 1, characterized in that: At least two manual positioning and locking devices and two manual locking devices are installed on the mounting reference surface of the angle mounting plate.
5. The flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The scheduling mounting plate has a weight-reducing groove.
6. The flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner as described in claim 1, characterized in that: An angle encoder is installed on the rotating shaft mechanism.
7. A flexible reconfigurable angle tooling positioner as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The angle encoder is equipped with a protective cover.