Power transmission mechanism

Abstract

In a power transmission mechanism that transmits power through a wall using magnetic force, a driven unit installed inside the wall is made to reciprocate, and its stroke speed and distance can be easily adjusted. [Solution] A power transmission mechanism that transmits power through a wall using magnetic force, comprising: a driven unit having a driven magnet at its base end and a piston rod that can reciprocate along the axial direction; and a drive unit positioned opposite the driven magnet across the wall, which generates a magnetic field across the wall and alternately switches its polarity to cause the piston rod to reciprocate, wherein the drive unit comprises a rotating disc on which a plurality of drive magnets with different polarities are alternately arranged along the circumferential direction, and a control unit that controls the rotation of the rotating disc.

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a power transmission mechanism that transmits power through a wall using magnetic force.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in a device having a space separated by a wall, such as a vacuum container, a power transmission mechanism using a magnetic coupling that transmits power from a power source such as a motor disposed outside the wall to the inside of the wall using magnetic force is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, the conventional power transmission mechanism as described above is configured to rotate a driven unit installed inside the wall by a driving force generated by rotating a magnet of a driving unit installed outside the wall. That is, it is configured to transmit the rotational motion generated outside the wall through the wall and rotate the driven unit inside the wall.

[0005] Conventionally, in such a power transmission mechanism using magnetic force, there has been no mechanism that transmits the rotational motion generated by the driving unit outside the wall to the driven unit installed inside the wall as a linear reciprocating motion. Therefore, it is desired to develop a new power transmission mechanism that can transmit the rotational motion generated by the driving unit outside the wall to the driven unit installed inside the wall as a linear reciprocating motion using magnetic force. Moreover, it is desired that the stroke speed and stroke distance of the linear reciprocating motion can be easily adjusted.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and its main objective is to provide a power transmission mechanism that transmits power through a wall using magnetic force, which allows a driven unit installed inside the wall to reciprocate and to easily adjust its stroke speed and distance. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In other words, the power transmission mechanism according to the present invention is a power transmission mechanism that transmits power through a wall using magnetic force, and comprises a driven unit having a driven magnet at its base end and a piston rod that can reciprocate along the axial direction, and a drive unit arranged to face the driven magnet across the wall and generate a magnetic field across the wall and alternately switch its polarity to cause the piston rod to reciprocate, wherein the drive unit comprises a rotating disk on which a plurality of drive magnets with different polarities are alternately arranged along the circumferential direction, and a control unit that controls the rotation of the rotating disk.

[0008] In this configuration, a driven magnet is attached to the base end of the piston rod, and a rotating disk is positioned opposite it across a wall, with multiple drive magnets of different polarities alternately arranged along the circumferential direction. By rotating the disk, attractive and repulsive forces from the drive magnets periodically and alternately act on the base end of the piston rod, allowing it to reciprocate along the axial direction. Furthermore, by controlling the rotational speed of the turntable with the control unit, the repetition period of the attractive and repulsive forces acting on the piston rod can be changed, thereby easily adjusting the stroke speed of the piston rod's reciprocating motion. Furthermore, by changing the number and type of driven magnets installed at the base end of the piston rod, the magnitude of the attractive and repulsive forces acting on the piston rod can be adjusted, thereby easily adjusting the stroke distance of the piston rod's reciprocating motion.

[0009] The driven unit is preferably positioned along the axial direction toward the tip of the driven magnet and includes a biasing means for biasing the piston rod toward the base end. With this configuration, a biasing force is applied to the piston rod toward the base end, allowing the piston rod, which has been pushed toward the tip end by the repulsive force of the drive magnet, to be returned to the base end at high speed. This enables the piston rod to follow the rotating disc and reciprocate at high speed even when the disc is rotating at high speed.

[0010] A specific embodiment of the biasing means is a biasing magnet whose polarity is determined to act as a repulsive force on the driven magnet.

[0011] Furthermore, it is preferable that the power transmission mechanism, when viewed from the rotation axis direction of the turntable, has a plurality of driven units positioned on the rotation path of the plurality of drive magnets and arranged spaced apart from each other along the circumferential direction. In this way, rotating a single turntable makes it possible to reciprocate multiple piston rods.

[0012] Furthermore, the power transmission mechanism preferably comprises n × k driven units (where n is an integer of 2 or more, and k is an integer of 1 or more), and the plurality of driven units preferably have their piston rods reciprocating in the same phase with respect to each other, and each of the k piston rods reciprocating with a phase difference of 360 / n° from each other. When multiple driven units are provided, if all piston rods reciprocate in the same phase, a strong motor torque is required to rotate the turntable while the driven magnets of each piston rod are attracted to the drive magnets of the turntable. On the other hand, if the multiple piston rods are arranged so that their phases are equally staggered, the timing of the attractive force acting on the turntable from each piston rod can be distributed, thus reducing the motor torque required to rotate the turntable and saving power.

[0013] Specific examples of such power transmission mechanisms include those comprising an even number of the driven units, arranged such that when the piston rods of half of the driven units switch from forward motion to reverse motion, the piston rods of the remaining half of the driven units switch from reverse motion to forward motion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present invention configured in this way, in a power transmission mechanism that transmits power through a wall using magnetic force, a driven unit installed inside the wall can be reciprocated, and its stroke speed and distance can be easily adjusted. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] A schematic diagram showing the configuration of the power transmission mechanism of one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] A schematic diagram showing the configuration and operation of the power transmission mechanism of the same embodiment. [Figure 3] A diagram schematically showing the configuration and operation of a power transmission mechanism in another embodiment. [Figure 4] A diagram schematically showing the configuration and operation of a power transmission mechanism in another embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0016] Hereinafter, a power transmission mechanism 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0017] The power transmission mechanism 100 of this embodiment transmits power across walls using magnetic force. Specifically, it transmits power from a power source such as a motor 22 located outside the container to a piston rod 11 located inside the container, across the walls.

[0018] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, this power transmission mechanism 100 includes a driven unit 1 provided in a container and having a piston rod 11, and a driving unit 2 provided outside the container and transmitting power through the wall to drive the piston rod 11.

[0019] The driven unit 1 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is vertically attached to the inner wall surface of the wall W of the container using a dedicated jig. Specifically, this driven unit 1 includes a piston rod 11 and a cylindrical (cylindrical) container that houses the piston rod 11 so as to be reciprocally movable along the axial direction. Both the piston rod 11 and the cylindrical container 12 are made of a non-magnetic material.

[0020] The tip of the piston rod 11 facing the inside of the container functions as an acting portion, and a permanent magnet (driven magnet 13), such as a neodymium magnet, is provided at the base end portion facing the inner wall surface of the container. This driven magnet 13 is attached so that the direction of its magnetic axis coincides with the axial direction of the piston rod 11. In this embodiment, the S pole faces the wall surface of the container and the N pole faces the inside of the container. Hereinafter, the movement of the piston rod 11 toward the tip side is referred to as forward movement, and the movement toward the base end side is referred to as backward movement.

[0021] The driving unit 2 is disposed at a position facing the driven unit 1 (specifically, the driven magnet 13) through the wall. This driving unit 2 generates a magnetic field in the container through the wall and reciprocates the piston rod 11 by alternately switching its polarity.

[0022] Specifically, this driving unit 2 includes a rotating disk 21 provided with a plurality of magnets (driving magnets 24) along the circumferential direction, a motor 22 that rotationally drives the rotating disk 21, and a control unit 23 that controls the motor 22 to control the rotational speed of the rotating disk 21.

[0023] The rotating disc 21 is disc-shaped, and its flat surface (driving surface) 21s, which is circular in plan view, faces the outer wall of the container, and the axis of rotation set at its center is positioned to coincide with the axial direction of the piston rod 11. As shown in Figure 2, multiple drive magnets 24 (four in this embodiment) with different polarities are arranged alternately along the circumferential direction on the driving surface 21s of the rotating disc 21. That is, the multiple drive magnets 24 are arranged along the circumferential direction with alternating polarities, more specifically, with alternating south poles and north poles.

[0024] These multiple drive magnets 24 are identical in shape, size, material, and magnetic strength, and are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction. Each drive magnet 24 is mounted on the turntable 21 such that its magnetic axis coincides with the rotation axis direction of the turntable 21. Viewed from the rotation axis direction of the turntable 21, the aforementioned driven unit 1 is positioned such that the axis of the piston rod 11 lies on the rotation path of the multiple drive magnets 24.

[0025] The motor 22 is a power source for rotating the turntable 21 at a desired speed and direction, and transmits mechanical power to the turntable 21 via its rotating shaft. The motor 22 is, for example, an electric motor such as a DC motor, a brushless DC motor, or a stepping motor.

[0026] The control unit 23 controls the rotation speed and direction of the turntable 21 by adjusting the power supplied to the motor 22. The control unit 23 receives instruction signals regarding the rotation speed and direction of rotation from the user via a predetermined input interface, and adjusts the power supplied to the motor 22 based on these instruction signals.

[0027] In the power transmission mechanism 100 of this embodiment configured as described above, by rotating the turntable 21, attractive and repulsive forces are exerted on the piston rod 11 via the drive magnet 24 and the driven magnet 13, allowing the piston rod 11 to reciprocate freely. Specifically, as shown in Figure 2(a), when the turntable 21 rotates and the drive magnet 24 with the same poles approaches the driven magnet 13, a repulsive force acts on the driven magnet 13, causing the piston rod 11 to move toward the tip (forward movement). On the other hand, as shown in Figure 2(b), when the turntable 21 rotates and the drive magnet 24 with different poles approaches the driven magnet 13, an attractive force acts on the driven magnet 13, causing the piston rod 11 to move toward the base (reverse movement). In other words, in this embodiment, the piston rod 11 performs two reciprocating movements for every one rotation of the turntable 21.

[0028] With the power transmission mechanism 100 of this embodiment configured in this way, a driven magnet 13 is provided at the base end of the piston rod 11, and a rotating disc 21 is arranged opposite it across a wall, with multiple drive magnets 24 of different polarities alternately arranged along the circumferential direction. By rotating the rotating disc 21, attractive and repulsive forces from the drive magnets 24 act periodically and alternately on the base end of the piston rod 11, allowing it to reciprocate along the axial direction. Furthermore, by controlling the rotational speed of the turntable 21 with the control unit 23, the repetition period of the attractive and repulsive forces acting on the piston rod 11 can be changed, thereby easily adjusting the stroke speed of the reciprocating motion of the piston rod 11. Furthermore, by changing the number and type of driven magnets 13 provided at the base end of the piston rod 11, the magnitude of the attractive and repulsive forces acting on the piston rod 11 can be adjusted, thereby easily adjusting the stroke distance of the reciprocating motion of the piston rod 11.

[0029] However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, in the power transmission mechanism 100 of another embodiment, the driven unit 1 may include a biasing means 25 that biases the piston rod 11 toward the base end. This biasing means 25 is positioned in the cylindrical container 12 toward the tip side of the driven magnet 13, and as shown in Figure 3, it may be composed of a permanent magnet (biasing magnet) whose polarity is determined to act as a repulsive force toward the driven magnet 13. This biasing magnet is housed in the cylindrical container 12 such that the direction of its magnetic axis coincides with the direction of the magnetic axis of the driven magnet 13, and that its poles face the driven magnet 13. Note that the biasing means 25 may be composed of an elastic member such as a spring instead of a permanent magnet.

[0030] Furthermore, while the power transmission mechanism 100 in the above embodiment is provided with one driven unit 1 corresponding to one drive unit 2, it is not limited to this. In other embodiments of the power transmission mechanism 100, multiple driven units 1 may be provided to one drive unit 2. Specifically, as shown in Figure 4, when viewed from the direction of the rotation axis, multiple driven units 1 may be located on the rotation path of multiple drive magnets 24 and spaced apart from each other along the circumferential direction.

[0031] In this case, if there are n × k driven units 1 (where n is an integer of 2 or more and k is an integer of 1 or more), it is preferable that the multiple driven units 1 are arranged such that the piston rods 11 of each of the k driven units 1 reciprocate in the same phase with respect to each other, and that the reciprocating motion of each of the k piston rods 11 is offset from each other by 360 / n°. That is, there are n sets of driven units 1, each set consisting of k driven units 1, where the piston rods 11 of the k driven units 1 in each set reciprocate in the same phase with respect to each other, and the n sets of driven units 1 are arranged such that the piston rods 11 reciprocate offset from each other by 360 / n°.

[0032] For example, if an even number of driven units 1 are provided, the piston rods 11 of the remaining half of the driven units 1 may be configured to switch from forward motion to forward motion at the same time that the piston rods 11 of half of the driven units 1 switch from forward motion to reverse motion. In other words, the piston rods 11 of multiple driven units 1 may reciprocate so that their phases are shifted by 180° from each other.

[0033] Furthermore, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible without departing from its spirit. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0034] 100 ···Power transmission mechanism 1 ···Driven unit 11. Piston rod 13 ···Driven magnet 2 ···Drive Unit 21 ··· Rotating disc 23 ···Control Unit 24 ···Drive magnet W...wall

Claims

1. A power transmission mechanism that transmits power through a wall using magnetic force, A driven unit having a driven magnet at its base end and a piston rod capable of reciprocating along the axial direction, The system includes a drive unit positioned opposite the driven magnet across a wall, which generates a magnetic field across the wall and alternately switches its polarity to cause the piston rod to reciprocate, The aforementioned drive unit, A rotating disc in which multiple drive magnets with opposite polarities are alternately arranged along the circumferential direction, A power transmission mechanism comprising a control unit that controls the rotation of the rotating disc.

2. The power transmission mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the driven unit is positioned in the axial direction toward the tip of the driven magnet, and the driving unit comprises a biasing means for biasing the piston rod toward the base end.

3. The power transmission mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the biasing means is a biasing magnet whose polarity is determined to act a repulsive force on the driven magnet.

4. The power transmission mechanism according to claim 1, wherein, viewed from the axis of rotation of the rotating disk, the plurality of driven units are located on the rotation path of the plurality of drive magnets and are spaced apart from each other along the circumferential direction.

5. The system comprises n × k of the aforementioned driven units (where n is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and k is an integer greater than or equal to 1), The power transmission mechanism according to claim 4, wherein each of the k driven units has a piston rod that reciprocates in the same phase with respect to each other, and each of the k piston rods reciprocates in the same phase with respect to each other by 360 / n°.

6. The system comprises an even number of the aforementioned driven units, and the plurality of the aforementioned driven units are The power transmission mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the piston rods of half of the driven units are arranged to switch from forward motion to reverse motion at the same time that the piston rods of the remaining half of the driven units switch from reverse motion to forward motion.

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