Micro-porous throttling high-rigidity high-bearing circular air cushion

Abstract

The utility model relates to air cushion technology field discloses a kind of micropore throttling high rigidity high bearing circular air cushion, including air cushion pedestal, sealing plate, cover plate, hinge seat, hinge column, O-ring and screw, gas passage is provided in the air cushion pedestal, cover plate is installed above the gas passage, for connecting external gas supply and using glue sealing plugging, throttling micropore is uniformly distributed in annular and is processed on the air cushion pedestal upper surface, one end of throttling micropore is communicated with gas passage, throttling micropore other end is connected cross uniform pressure groove, the cross uniform pressure groove is arranged in the center position of air cushion pedestal upper surface.The utility model is provided with micropore annular distribution and cross uniform pressure groove pressure equalization, can significantly improve air cushion load;Improve pressure distribution uniformity, reduce the pressure gradient in local range, improve the high-pressure gas film bearing area of air cushion, improve the rigidity and stability of air cushion.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of air flotation technology, specifically a microporous throttling high-rigidity high-load-bearing circular air flotation pad. Background Technology

[0002] Existing suspension technologies such as mixed-pressure air suspension, air-magnetic suspension, and acoustic-pressure air suspension all evolved from static pressure gas lubrication technology. Ultimately, they are all based on the throttling structure of static pressure gas guide rails, supplemented by other new structures or control methods for performance improvement.

[0003] Based on their throttling mechanisms, basic throttling structures can be classified into orifice throttling, slit throttling, throttling using novel materials, variable throttling, and composite throttling. Orifice throttling, porous material throttling, and composite throttling are the three most commonly used throttling forms in static pressure gas guides.

[0004] Orifice throttling is the simplest, most effective, and most basic throttling structure. Most other throttling forms are derived from the principle of orifice throttling and are structurally modified.

[0005] Both slit throttling and new material throttling are ideal structures for orifice throttling. Following the Laval nozzle principle, they enhance pressure homogenization by expanding the throttling influence area, thereby improving guide rail performance.

[0006] The new material throttling device is a throttling element made of porous material with a certain porosity. After the pressurized gas passes through the porous material throttling device, a pressure gas film is formed.

[0007] Variable throttling is a method of actively controlling the pressurized gas source. It typically uses a pressure deformation device for feedback control, which can effectively improve the stiffness and load-bearing capacity of bearings under very low gas consumption conditions. The disadvantage of variable throttling is that it is greatly affected by the gas supply pressure, gas type, and ambient temperature, making it difficult to achieve the optimal load-displacement characteristics of the bearing as required by the design, thus limiting its application.

[0008] Composite throttling utilizes microstructures such as shallow cavities and grooves to create secondary or multiple throttling effects on the air flotation working surface, thereby improving throttling efficiency and pressure homogenization. Composite throttling microstructures mainly include cavity and multi-groove types, with different structural combinations arising from variations in supply pressure and the length, width, and diameter of the working surface. Due to their unique structure, the throttling device is less prone to clogging, exhibiting inherent advantages in operational stability and service life.

[0009] Cavity-type composite throttling allows for a larger throttling orifice diameter. It mainly improves the stiffness characteristics of bearings or guide rails by reducing the thickness of the gas film, generating secondary throttling, and forming a stepped dynamic pressure effect. However, it also creates an additional gas volume and is prone to lateral flow inside, which can easily generate air hammer vibration, thus reducing stability.

[0010] Multi-groove composite throttling forms a linear air supply source similar to slit throttling in structure, thus possessing the advantage of stability. However, since the groove-like microstructures are often far from the air source, negative pressure is easily formed inside, resulting in a reduction in load-bearing capacity.

[0011] Traditional methods typically improve the mechanical properties of air-supported cushions by increasing the air supply pressure and the air flotation area. However, this performance suffers significantly when limited by space or high stability requirements. Furthermore, there is limited literature on small-sized air-supported cushions. Therefore, researching novel microporous throttling, high-load-bearing, high-stiffness, small-sized circular air-supported cushions is of great significance in addressing the constraints of miniaturization and performance maximization. Utility Model Content

[0012] The purpose of this invention is to provide a microporous throttling high-rigidity and high-load-bearing circular air-floating pad to solve the problem mentioned in the background art that air-floating pads cannot simultaneously achieve stiffness, stability and load-bearing capacity.

[0013] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides the following technical solution: a microporous throttling high-rigidity, high-load-bearing circular air-bearing pad, comprising an air-bearing base, a sealing plate, a cover plate, a hinge seat, a hinge column, an O-ring, and screws. The air-bearing base has a gas channel, and a cover plate is installed above the gas channel for connecting to an external air supply source and sealing it with adhesive. The upper surface of the air-bearing base is machined with uniformly distributed throttling micropores in a ring. One end of each throttling micropore communicates with the gas channel, and the other end is connected to a cross-shaped pressure equalization groove located at the center of the upper surface of the air-bearing base. A hinge seat is fixedly connected to the lower part of the air-bearing base by screws, and the hinge seat is connected to the hinge column. An O-ring is positioned between the air-bearing base and the cover plate to enhance airtightness.

[0014] As a further technical solution of this utility model, the diameter of the air-floating base is 60mm, and the air-floating pad is in the working range of 1μm to 15μm film thickness.

[0015] As a further technical solution of this utility model, a bearing surface is provided below the air flotation base for receiving the stable airflow discharged by the throttling micro-holes and the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove.

[0016] As a further technical solution of this utility model, the cover plate and the air-floating base are sealed and bonded together with glue, and the air tightness test is qualified.

[0017] As a further technical solution of this utility model, the hinge column serves as an external connection interface for installing the air-floating pad onto the required structure or motion component.

[0018] As a further technical solution of this utility model, the cover plate is made of transparent polycarbonate material and is used to observe the gas flow state and micropore distribution inside the gas channel.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this utility model are: 1. By setting microporous annular uniform distribution and cross-shaped pressure equalization grooves, the load of the air float can be significantly improved; 2. Improves the uniformity of pressure distribution, reduces the pressure gradient in local areas, increases the high-pressure air film bearing area of ​​the air-floating pad, and improves the stiffness and stability of the air-floating pad. Attached Figure Description

[0020] Figure 1 This is a frontal cross-sectional view of the present invention. Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove distribution of this utility model; Figure 4 This is an enlarged schematic diagram of the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove of this utility model; Figure 5 Pressure distribution cloud map for design of traditional air-bearing pad foundation; Figure 6 This invention provides an optimized design for the pressure distribution cloud map. Figure 7 This is a load-bearing capacity curve of the present invention; Figure 8 This is a stiffness curve diagram of the present invention.

[0021] In the diagram: 1. Air-floating base; 2. Sealing plate; 3. Cover plate; 4. Hinge seat; 5. Hinge column; 6. O-ring; 7. Screw; 8. Gas channel; 9. Throttling micro-orifice; 10. Cross-shaped pressure equalization groove; 11. Bearing surface. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0023] Please see Figure 1-8This utility model provides an embodiment of a microporous throttling high-rigidity and high-load-bearing circular air-float, including an air-float base 1, a sealing plate 2, a cover plate 3, a hinge seat 4, a hinge column 5, an O-ring 6, and screws 7. The air-float base 1 is provided with a gas channel 8, and a cover plate 3 is installed above the gas channel 8 for connecting an external air supply source and sealing it with glue. The upper surface of the air-float base 1 is processed with throttling micropores 9 evenly distributed in a ring. One end of the throttling micropores 9 is connected to the gas channel 8, and the other end of the throttling micropores 9 is connected to a cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10. The cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10 is located at the center of the upper surface of the air-float base 1. The diameter of the air-float base 1 is 60mm. The air-float is in the working range of 1μm to 15μm film thickness. A bearing surface 11 is provided below the air-float base 1 for receiving the stable airflow led out by the throttling micropores 9 and the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10. Specifically, such as Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the air-floating base 1 is an integrally machined structure, made of high-strength aluminum alloy using CNC precision machining. Its outer diameter is 60mm. A gas channel 8 is machined from bottom to top in the center of the base. This channel is used to introduce external air supply into the internal air chamber, forming a stable airflow. The gas channel 8 runs vertically and is closed at the top by a cover plate 3. Multiple sets of throttling micro-holes 9 are machined on the upper surface of the air-floating base 1. These micro-holes are distributed in a ring at equal intervals along the circular edge, with each micro-hole having a diameter controlled at the tens of micrometer level, achieving precise throttling. One end of the throttling micro-hole 9 communicates with the gas channel 8, and the other end connects to the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10 in the central area. When the equipment is working, external air supply passes through... The gas enters the gas channel 8 through the cover plate 3 interface. The gas is transported upward to the throttling micro-orifice 9. Due to the extremely small size of the micro-orifice, the gas flow rate is increased. After the high-speed airflow flows into the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10, it changes direction in the groove and diffuses along the groove body. At the same time, a pressure equalization process is completed in the area of ​​the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10, avoiding high pressure concentration at a single point and improving the uniformity of air pressure distribution on the entire bearing surface 11. Finally, the gas is evenly distributed to the bearing surface 11 located below the air float base 1 via the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10, forming a stable gas film with a thickness of about 1μm to 15μm below the bearing surface 11. This gas film supports the loaded object in a non-contact state. Through the action of the gas film, the friction and vibration caused by traditional mechanical contact can be eliminated.

[0024] The air-float base 1 is fixedly connected to the hinge seat 4 by screws 7. The hinge seat 4 is connected to the hinge column 5. The O-ring 6 is set between the air-float base 1 and the cover plate 3 to enhance the air tightness. The cover plate 3 and the air-float base 1 are sealed and bonded with glue and have passed the air tightness test. The hinge column 5 serves as an external connection interface for installing the air-float pad onto the required structure or moving component. The cover plate 3 is made of transparent polycarbonate material and is used to observe the gas flow state and micropore distribution inside the gas channel 8. Furthermore, the cover plate 3 is made of transparent polycarbonate material, which makes it easy to observe the internal structure of the channel. The cover plate 3 is sealed to the air-floating base 1 with high-strength industrial adhesive and is equipped with O-rings 6 to enhance the sealing performance and ensure no gas leakage under high pressure. To ensure assembly integrity and safety, the cover plate 3 needs to be tested for air tightness after installation, and it can be put into use only after passing the test.

[0025] Furthermore, the hinge seat 4 is fixedly connected to the lower surface of the air-floating base 1 by screws 7. A hinge column 5 is installed in the middle of the hinge seat 4. The hinge seat 4 can be connected to an external mechanism to realize the flexible assembly or rotational degree of freedom adjustment of the entire platform or support structure.

[0026] Specifically, such as Figure 5 , Figure 6 , Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown, to verify the air flotation performance of this device, ANSYS Fluent simulation software was used to simulate and analyze the gas flow and load-bearing performance of the circular air flotation pad under different film thicknesses. In the simulation settings, the inlet pressure was set to a uniform value, and the control variable was the air film thickness. Under the condition of simulating incompressible gas, two air flotation pad models were compared: one with a cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10 and the other without a pressure equalization groove, within the film thickness range of 1μm to 15μm. During the simulation, the pressure distribution on the bearing surface 11 under each film thickness was statistically analyzed, and the air pressure distribution on the bearing surface 11 was integrated to calculate the load-bearing capacity F of the air flotation guide rail. The results are shown in the figure. Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, under the same film thickness conditions, the optimized air-floating pad exhibits a more uniform pressure distribution and a significantly larger coverage area in the high-pressure region. Further data comparison results indicate that, Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown, the optimized design scheme increases the load-bearing capacity by up to 9.55%, while under the same conditions, the stiffness of the structure increases by 18.3%, demonstrating that the cross-shaped pressure equalization structure has significant advantages in improving air film stability and load-bearing performance.

[0027] Calculation results show that: under the optimized design, the pressure distribution on the bearing surface 11 of the air-bearing pad is significantly more uniform, the area of ​​the high-pressure region is increased, and the pressure gradient in the edge region is reduced; the overall bearing capacity is increased by 9.55%, and the structural stiffness is increased by 18.3%.

[0028] Working principle: Gas first enters the gas interface connected to the cover plate 3 from an external gas source, and then is transported downwards along the gas channel 8. After being transported downwards along the channel, the gas enters multiple sets of throttling micro-holes 9 arranged on the air-float base 1. These micro-holes are distributed on the upper surface of the air-float base 1 in a ring-shaped uniform arrangement. The diameter of each set of throttling micro-holes 9 is precisely controlled at the micrometer level, playing a throttling role. Due to the extremely small cross-section of the throttling micro-holes 9, the gas velocity increases significantly when passing through, forming a high-speed jet, which provides the necessary kinetic energy for subsequent gas pressure equalization and gas supply to the bearing surface 11. After the high-speed airflow is ejected from the throttling micro-holes 9, it directly enters the gas flow path set on the air-float base 11. In the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10 in the central area of ​​the air-float base 1, the gas gradually decelerates and achieves a lateral pressure equalization distribution during its flow inside the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10. This weakens the high pressure concentration caused by local throttling, thereby improving the uniformity of the overall air film. As the gas continues to diffuse and move within the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10, its flow state tends to stabilize, and the pressure distribution gradually reaches a certain equilibrium condition. Finally, the airflow that has undergone pressure equalization treatment is distributed from the cross-shaped pressure equalization groove 10 along each outlet area to the bearing surface 11 below the air-float base 1, forming a thin and uniform air film between the bearing surface 11 and the supported object, thus achieving non-contact support.

[0029] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that it can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of this invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered illustrative and non-limiting in all respects, and the scope of this invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. Thus, it is intended that all variations falling within the meaning and scope of equivalents of the claims be included within this invention. No reference numerals in the claims should be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A microporous throttling high-rigidity, high-load-bearing circular air-bearing pad, comprising an air-bearing base (1), a sealing plate (2), a cover plate (3), a hinge seat (4), a hinge column (5), an O-ring (6), and a screw (7), characterized in that: The air-floating base (1) is provided with a gas channel (8), and a cover plate (3) is installed above the gas channel (8) for connecting to an external gas supply source and sealing it with glue. The upper surface of the air-floating base (1) is processed with throttling microholes (9) evenly distributed in a ring. One end of the throttling microhole (9) is connected to the gas channel (8), and the other end of the throttling microhole (9) is connected to a cross pressure equalization groove (10). The cross pressure equalization groove (10) is located at the center of the upper surface of the air-floating base (1). The air-floating base (1) is fixedly connected to a hinge seat (4) by screws (7) below. The hinge seat (4) is connected to the hinge column (5). The O-ring (6) is located between the air-floating base (1) and the cover plate (3) to enhance air tightness.

2. The microporous throttling high-rigidity high-load-bearing circular air-bearing pad according to claim 1, characterized in that: The air-floating base (1) has a diameter of 60 mm, and the air-floating pad is in the working range of 1 μm to 15 μm film thickness.

3. The microporous throttling high-rigidity high-load-bearing circular air-bearing pad according to claim 1, characterized in that: The air-float base (1) has a bearing surface (11) below it, which is used to receive the stable airflow output by the throttling micro-hole (9) and the cross pressure equalization groove (10).

4. The microporous throttling high-rigidity high-load-bearing circular air-bearing pad according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cover plate (3) and the air-floating base (1) are sealed together with glue and have passed the air tightness test.

5. A microporous throttling high-rigidity, high-load-bearing circular air-bearing pad according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hinge column (5) serves as an external connection interface for mounting the air cushion onto the desired structure or motion component.

6. The microporous throttling high-rigidity high-load-bearing circular air-bearing pad according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cover plate (3) is made of transparent polycarbonate material and is used to observe the gas flow state and micropore distribution inside the gas channel (8).

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