Integrated Adapter Plate for Protected Gearbox Sensor Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing adapter plates for connecting motors to gearboxes are large and require additional adaptations, and they fail to effectively protect sensors and enable efficient data evaluation and storage.
Innovation Solution
A compact adapter plate design with a pocket hole opening for a sensor mechanism that includes a sensor, memory, and evaluation unit, which is overmolded or cast into the plate, allowing direct screw-fitting to the gearbox and protecting the sensor from damage while enabling data evaluation and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the adapter plate is made compact, then the device complexity and space requirements are reduced, but the sensor protection and data evaluation capabilities may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor mechanism installation is completely received within the clearance of the adapter plate, with the sensor housing nested inside the plate structure. This nesting approach allows the sensor protection functionality to be integrated within the compact plate volume without requiring additional external protective structures, thus resolving the contradiction between compact size and sensor protection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The adapter plate combines multiple functions into a single integrated structure: mechanical coupling between motor and gearbox, sensor housing, data evaluation unit, and memory storage. By merging these functions into one compact unit rather than separate components, the design achieves space reduction while maintaining all necessary protective and evaluative capabilities.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the sensor mechanism installation is completely received in the clearance, then the sensor is protected from environmental influences, but the access and maintenance may become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter plate is designed with a removable or accessible cover section that segments the sealed clearance structure. This allows the sensor mechanism to remain protected within the enclosed clearance during operation, while providing controlled access pathways for installation, maintenance, and data retrieval without requiring complete disassembly of the entire adapter plate.
3Extent of automation
If the adapter plate integrates memory and evaluation unit, then data evaluation and storage are enabled, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The evaluation unit and memory are integrated as electronic components within the sensor mechanism installation that is received in the adapter plate clearance. By combining these data processing and storage functions into the same housing as the sensor, rather than using separate external units, the design achieves automation capability while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity through spatial integration.
Data Source
AI summary
Adapter plate (1) for connecting a gearbox to a motor, having a plate (3) having a continuous through opening (11) for introducing an output shaft of a motor capable of being assembled on the plate (3); a clearance (9) which in terms of the axis of the through opening (11) in the plate (3) opens in a radially outward manner and is configured as a pocket hole opening, and a sensor mechanism installation which is completely received in the clearance (9) and comprises a sensor, a memory, and an evaluation unit, wherein the sensor and the memory are connected to the evaluation unit.