Connection Assembly Counterweight Fluttering Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing connection assemblies for hydraulic, pneumatic, and electric circuits face challenges with reduced tolerance to relative positioning defects due to offset and parallelism issues, leading to increased bulk and weight of guide components, which complicates subsequent connections.
Innovation Solution
A connection assembly with a movable plate featuring a centring component, positioning member, and a fluttering device that allows rotational and translational movement, enabling high tolerance to positioning defects while maintaining compact guide components, and a method that includes precise positioning and coupling of connector elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the movable plate is suspended cantilever by the fluttering device, then the plate can compensate for positioning defects during connection, but the weight of the plate and its components changes the position of the plate before connection, reducing tolerance to positioning defects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a counterweight mechanism that balances the weight of the movable plate and its components. By providing an opposing force equal to the gravitational force acting on the movable plate, the counterweight system prevents weight-induced position changes, thereby maintaining the plate's tolerance to positioning defects throughout the connection cycle.
2Adaptability or versatility
If considerable clearances and relatively large guide surfaces are used between centring component and centring member, then the connection assembly can tolerate positioning defects, but the guide surfaces increase the bulk and weight of the centring components and members
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs curved or spherical guide surfaces instead of flat planar surfaces between the centring component and centring member. This curvature allows for automatic self-alignment and compensation of positioning defects through the geometric properties of the curved surfaces, achieving the same tolerance effect with significantly reduced clearance and smaller component dimensions.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide surfaces are designed to be dynamically adaptive, allowing the centring component and centring member to adjust their relative positions during the connection process. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the system to accommodate positioning defects without requiring large static clearances, thereby reducing the overall bulk of the guide components.
3Ease of operation
If the movable plate is moved towards the fixed plate with a linear cylinder, then the connection can be made, but the movable plate may have offset in the plane and angular difference between planes, requiring a fluttering device that increases complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the fluttering device functionality directly into the linear cylinder assembly, combining the linear motion generation and the angular compensation functions into a single unified mechanism. This merging eliminates the need for separate fluttering devices, reducing the overall complexity of the connection assembly while maintaining both connection capability and positioning defect compensation.
Solution Approach 2:
The linear cylinder is designed to perform multiple functions: it provides the primary linear motion for connection while simultaneously incorporating features that enable angular adjustment and compensation for positioning defects. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, thereby simplifying the overall device 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 solution enhances the tolerance to relative positioning defects, reduces bulk, and maintains precise positioning during connections and disconnections, ensuring reliable and efficient coupling of hydraulic, pneumatic, and electric circuits.
Implementation Method 1
a fluttering device arranged between the movable component and the movable plate, so as to allow, when the movable plate is between its first and second positions, at least one range of movement of the movable plate relative to the fixed support in rotation about and/or in translation along at least one axis perpendicular to the direction of connection
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly and method for connecting a movable plate to a fixed plate for connecting hydraulic, pneumatic and/or electric circuits and wherein the movable plate and the fixed plate have matching connector elements. The movable plate includes at least one centering component capable of interacting with the fixed plate. The assembly includes an actuator having a fixed support, a movable component for moving the movable plate relative to the fixed support, between a first retracted position corresponding to a disconnected state of the plates and a second position corresponding to a connected state. The assembly also includes a device for moving the movable plate relative to the actuator, and the movable plate and the fixed support respectively have at least one positioning member and at lest one positioning component which interact to position the movable plate relative to the fixed support when the movable plate is in the first position.