Automatic Assembly Machine With Electronic Motion Synchronization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic assembly machines are complex to design and implement, inflexible, and require significant renovations to modify process parameters or working trajectories, limiting their adaptability and reliability, especially for complex assembling tasks.
Innovation Solution
A machine with a conveyor and manipulating units, where the conveyor actuator moves intermittently between working stations, and electronically controllable actuators are synchronized using programmable control units to generate synchronization signals, allowing for flexible adjustment of working stations and motion trajectories without mechanical reconfiguration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mechanical synchronization using cams and kinematic mechanisms is used, then the conveyor and manipulating units are synchronized, but the machine becomes very complex to design and implement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical synchronization system (cams and kinematic mechanisms) with an electronic control system. A central control unit generates synchronization signals that are sent to actuators, eliminating the need for complex mechanical linkages while maintaining reliable synchronization between the conveyor and manipulating units.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a central control unit as an intermediary that coordinates the operation of the conveyor actuator and manipulating unit actuators. This control unit generates and distributes synchronization signals, acting as a mediator that ensures all components operate in coordination without direct mechanical coupling.
2Productivity
If mechanical synchronization mechanisms are used, then the machine can operate, but it is not flexible and requires complete renovation to modify process parameters
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic control through a programmable central control unit that can adjust process parameters (speed, acceleration, deceleration, pause time) without physical reconfiguration. The electronic synchronization system allows real-time modification of operating conditions, making the machine adaptable to different production requirements while maintaining continuous cycle operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables parameter changes by using electronic control signals instead of fixed mechanical settings. The central control unit can modify speed, acceleration, deceleration, and pause time parameters through software programming, allowing the same hardware to operate under different process conditions without mechanical renovation.
3Reliability
If mechanical synchronization is used, then the actuators are moved according to a given time sequence, but modifying the working trajectory of interface elements is a painstaking task
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical trajectory definition (through cams and linkages) with electronic control. The central control unit generates synchronization signals that define the timing and trajectory of interface elements through programmable logic, making trajectory modification simple software changes rather than painstaking mechanical reconfiguration.
4Adaptability or versatility
If electronic synchronization is used in prior art machines, then the system is more flexible, but it is not very reliable and relatively inflexible for complex assembling machines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enhances reliability by implementing a feedback mechanism where the central control unit monitors the operation of the conveyor actuator and manipulating unit actuators. The control unit generates synchronization signals based on feedback from the system state, ensuring reliable coordination even in complex assembling operations while maintaining the flexibility of electronic control.
Data Source
AI summary
A machine for the automatic, continuous-cycle assembling of a plurality of components for making an assembly comprises a conveyor, movable to transport a first of the plurality of components along a working path through successions of alternating advances and pauses; a conveyor actuator, configured to drive the conveyor to move intermittently; and one or more manipulating units configured to perform operations on the components in a working zone. The manipulating unit includes an interface element, movable by means of an actuating unit along a manipulating trajectory between a working position and a rest position, configured to pick up a second component and assemble it with the first component. The machine comprises a control unit configured to control the conveyor actuator in response to a synchronization signal and to control the movement of the actuating units according to a predetermined law of motion synchronously with the synchronization signal.