Horizontal-arm CMM Counterweight Roller Guidance
Solution Overview
Problem
The high manufacturing costs of horizontal-arm coordinate measuring machines are due to the need for accurate machining of the upright with sliding guides, which increases the cost of the guides and the manufacturing process.
Innovation Solution
The use of an elastic anchoring system with wheels and blade springs for the counterweight, eliminating the need for sliding guides on the upright, reduces manufacturing costs and allows for regular movement while tolerating surface irregularities and inertia forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sliding guides are used within the upright for the counterweight, then the counterweight movement is constrained and guided, but the manufacturing costs increase due to accurate machining requirements and guide costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional sliding guide system with a roller-based system. The counterweight is equipped with rollers that run along the inner walls of the upright, substituting the complex sliding guide mechanism with a simpler roller system that reduces manufacturing requirements and costs while maintaining effective guidance and constraint of the counterweight movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the contact mechanism from sliding contact to rolling contact. By introducing rollers between the counterweight and the upright walls, the system transforms the friction and guidance mechanism from sliding to rolling, which reduces the precision requirements for the upright surfaces and lowers manufacturing costs while maintaining reliable movement guidance.
2Manufacturing precision
If the upright is machined with high accuracy to provide resting surfaces for guides, then the guide functionality is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the sliding guide system with a roller-based system. The counterweight is equipped with rollers that run along the inner walls of the upright, substituting the complex sliding guide mechanism with a simpler roller system that reduces manufacturing requirements and costs while maintaining effective guidance and constraint of the counterweight movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses rollers that can be replaced more easily than machining the entire upright with high precision. The rollers serve as consumable or replaceable components that tolerate surface irregularities, allowing the upright to be manufactured with lower precision while maintaining functional performance through the intermediary roller elements.
3Reliability
If sliding guides are used in the upright, then the counterweight is properly guided, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the sliding guide system with a roller-based system. The counterweight is equipped with rollers that run along the inner walls of the upright, substituting the complex sliding guide mechanism with a simpler roller system that reduces manufacturing requirements and costs while maintaining effective guidance and constraint of the counterweight movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the guidance function into separate components: the upright provides the structural framework, while the rollers mounted on the counterweight provide the actual guidance and constraint. This segmentation allows each component to be simpler and more easily manufactured, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining guidance functionality.
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
This solution significantly reduces manufacturing costs by eliminating the need for sliding guides on the upright, ensuring accurate and reliable movement of the counterweight, and accommodating surface irregularities, thus enhancing the overall efficiency of the machine.
Implementation Method 1
The elastic rest in the opposite direction, i.e. against the frontal plate (26) of the upright, is defined by a wheel (34) supported by a respective spring (35)
Implementation Method 2
Within the aforesaid cavity (27) is accommodated a counterweight (28), which is guided within the upright (17) by means of a system of wheels (33, 34) carried by the counterweight and placed in contact with the walls of the upright (17)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A coordinate measuring machine (1) comprising a base (2) provided with guides (3) parallel to a first X axis, a first carriage (4) mobile on the guides (3) along the X axis and provided with an upright (17), a second carriage (6) carried by the upright (17) and mobile along a second vertical Z axis, and a horizontal-arm (7) carried by the second carriage (6) and axially mobile along a third horizontal Y axis perpendicular to the X axis; a counterweight (28), fastened to the second carriage (6) by means of a belt (29) , is mobile along the Z axis within the upright (17) and is provided with wheels (33, 34) in contact with side walls (24, 25, 26) of the upright (17) .