Air Balance Positioning Device Emergency Stop Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional positioning devices for machine tools and three-dimensional measuring devices face safety challenges during emergency stops, particularly when axes are driven at high speeds, as inertia causes movement and potential collisions between tools and workpieces or probes and measured objects, and require external power sources for safe stopping.
Innovation Solution
A positioning device utilizing an air balance system that cancels the self-weight of a vertical axis, incorporating an air supply source, pressure regulating device, and air balance pressure modifying unit to generate forces equal to or greater than the servo motor's thrust, enabling safe retracting actions without external power, using an air-driven brake system for actuation during power outages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional emergency stop methods are used with high-speed driving, then productivity is improved, but safety deteriorates due to inertia causing movement and potential collisions
Solution Approach 1:
The air balance system is pre-configured to automatically activate during emergency stops, creating a counteracting force that opposes the inertial movement of the vertical axis. This preliminary anti-action prevents collisions before they can occur by canceling the self-weight and inertial forces that would otherwise cause unsafe movement during emergency stopping.
2Reliability
If servo motor control is maintained during emergency stop to prevent collisions, then safety is improved, but device complexity and cost increase due to requiring expensive batteries and regenerative power circuits
Solution Approach 1:
The air balance system utilizes the existing air supply infrastructure already present in the machine tool for other functions. By repurposing this existing air supply to also power the emergency stop retraction mechanism, the system achieves self-service capability without requiring separate expensive power sources like batteries or regenerative circuits.
Solution Approach 2:
The air balance system serves multiple functions: it cancels the self-weight of the vertical axis during normal operation and simultaneously provides the emergency stop retraction force when needed. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated emergency power systems, reducing overall device complexity and cost.
3Reliability
If servo motor control is maintained during emergency stop, then safety is improved, but loss of time occurs due to requiring external power sources and complex control systems
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the electrical servo motor control system with a pneumatic air balance system for emergency stop functionality. This substitution eliminates the need to maintain complex electrical control during emergency situations and provides a more direct, faster-responding mechanical pneumatic system that activates immediately upon emergency stop.
4Reliability
If air balance pressure is modified to generate force equal to or greater than servo motor thrust, then safety is improved during earthquakes and other external forces, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the pressure parameter of the air balance based on operational conditions. During normal operation, pressure is maintained at levels sufficient to cancel self-weight. During emergency stops, the pressure is temporarily increased to generate forces equal to or greater than servo motor thrust, providing enhanced safety under external forces like earthquakes without requiring a permanently complex pressure control system.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances safety by allowing faster and more reliable retracting actions, even under external forces like earthquakes, without the need for expensive batteries or regenerative power circuits, and can be retrofitted inexpensively, ensuring safe operation during emergency stops.
Implementation Method 1
an air balance that cancels a self-weight of the vertical axis
Implementation Method 2
a pressure regulating device that regulates pressure of the air balance using air supplied from the air supply source
Implementation Method 3
an air balance pressure modifying unit that modifies the pressure of the air balance and moves the vertical axis in a direction which enables avoiding a collision
Data Source
AI summary
When an excitation of a servo motor is released due to an emergency stop, a power outage, or another operation performed on a positioning device, the positioning device uses air supplied from an air supply source to vary pressure of an air balance, which cancels a self-weight of a vertical axis driven by the servo motor, thereby moving the vertical axis.