Air Chuck Locking Mechanism for Grip Retention on Air Loss
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air chucks that use compressed air to open and close fingers for gripping work lack a mechanism to lock the fingers in place when air supply is interrupted, leading to potential work misalignment or dropping, which can cause damage to the work or surrounding devices and pose safety risks.
Innovation Solution
An air chuck with a locking mechanism that includes first and second locking members and a drive device, allowing the fingers to be locked at work grip positions using a wedging action, ensuring the fingers remain gripped even when compressed air is stopped.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a locking mechanism is added to maintain gripping force when air supply is interrupted, then safety and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking members are designed to dynamically respond to air pressure changes. When air pressure is normal, the locking members remain separated allowing finger movement. When air pressure drops below a threshold, the locking members automatically engage through spring force or pressure differential, locking the fingers in place without requiring external control signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism is self-activating based on air pressure conditions. The system uses the air pressure itself as the control signal - when pressure drops, the locking members automatically engage without needing sensors, controllers, or external actuation. This self-service approach maintains reliability while minimizing added complexity.
2Device complexity
If locking members are displaced through rotation of the cylinder tube, then the locking mechanism can be actuated without additional actuators, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cylinder tube serves multiple functions: it acts as both the pneumatic actuator for finger movement and the drive mechanism for rotating the locking members. By integrating these two functions into a single component, the invention eliminates the need for separate actuators while using the existing rotational movement to control the locking mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the locking mechanism's drive function with the cylinder tube's existing rotational movement. Instead of adding a separate actuator for the locking members, the design combines the locking member rotation with the cylinder tube's natural rotation during finger opening/closing, creating a unified mechanism that reduces overall system complexity.
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
The locking mechanism effectively prevents work misalignment or dropping, ensuring safety by maintaining the gripping force and preventing damage to the work or surrounding devices when compressed air is interrupted.
Implementation Method 1
allowing the fingers to be locked at work grip positions using a wedging action
Data Source
AI summary
A chuck mechanism operates a piston in a cylinder tube by using action of compressed air and opens and closes, by using a rod coupled to the piston, a pair of fingers, thereby gripping work W. The locking mechanism locks the fingers at work grip positions. The locking mechanism includes a first locking member, a second locking member, and a drive device. The first locking member is displaced when the pair of fingers are opened or closed. The second locking member retains the first locking member so as to lock the fingers at the work grip positions. The drive device relatively displaces the first locking member and the second locking member to locking positions and non-locking positions.