Bucket Latching Interface for Autonomous Motor Control Cabinet Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial robots are often incompatible with industrial machines due to the need for specialized designs, leading to inflexibility and high costs in performing operations, and human workers face safety hazards when interacting with these machines.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a motor control cabinet with compatible components that allow standard industrial robots to perform operations using a bucket mechanism with a latching system, reducing the number of degrees of freedom required and enabling interaction through translation motion, and utilizing slider bearings to support the bucket, thus simplifying the robot's structure and operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If specialized robot designs are used to interact with industrial machines, then compatibility and operational capability are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a standardized bucket mechanism with latching system that can be used across different motor control cabinet models. This universal interface allows standard industrial robots to interact with various machine types without requiring specialized end effectors for each specific machine, thereby improving compatibility while maintaining simple robot designs
Solution Approach 2:
The bucket mechanism serves as an intermediary device between the industrial robot and the motor control cabinet. Rather than requiring the robot to directly manipulate complex machine components, the standardized bucket with its latching system and slider bearing interface acts as a mediator that simplifies the interaction, enabling standard robots to perform operations on diverse industrial machines
2Adaptability or versatility
If human workers directly interact with industrial machines, then operational flexibility is maintained, but safety hazards increase
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous robot system performs maintenance operations on motor control cabinets independently without requiring human workers to physically interact with the machines. The robot autonomously manipulates the standardized bucket mechanism to access and service internal components, thereby eliminating safety hazards associated with human exposure to electrical hazards, moving parts, and confined spaces while maintaining operational flexibility through programmable tasks
3Device complexity
If the number of degrees of freedom in the bucket mechanism is reduced, then robot structure is simplified, but operational capability may be limited
Solution Approach 1:
The bucket mechanism is segmented into distinct functional components: the bucket body for holding tools, the latching system for securing the bucket to the cabinet, and the slider bearing for smooth extraction and retraction. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently with minimal degrees of freedom, simplifying the overall robot structure while maintaining full operational capability through the coordinated action of these specialized segments
Data Source
AI summary
A bucket manipulating device comprising a main body and a latching system translatable between a protruded state and a retracted state relative to the main body. The latching includes a coupling portion that engages a handle of a bucket positioned within a cabinet. When the latching system is in the protruded state, the bucket manipulating system is configured to move to a position in which the main body becomes secured against the bucket. The latching system is configured to move to the retracted state to couple the coupling portion and the handle while the main body is secured against the bucket whereby the bucket and the bucket manipulating device are coupled together for movement. When the bucket manipulating device is moved, the bucket is moved with the bucket manipulating device for displacement relative to the cabinet.