Coupling Device with Pins and Grooves for Shaft Misalignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coupling devices between electric motor output shafts and drive reduction gear input shafts in home automation and solar protection installations often suffer from misalignment issues, leading to operating noise and premature wear, and are either expensive or complex to manufacture and assemble.
Innovation Solution
A coupling device featuring a first and second member with external longitudinal grooves and a coupling element with series of pins projecting from its surface, allowing for effective torque transmission while accommodating misalignment and simplifying manufacturing and assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a universal joint is used to accommodate shaft misalignment, then the coupling can handle misaligned shafts, but the device becomes more expensive and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling element is divided into multiple pins distributed around its circumference, each pin independently engaging with longitudinal grooves in the shafts. This segmentation allows each pin to independently accommodate misalignment while maintaining overall coupling integrity, avoiding the need for a complex universal joint structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The longitudinal grooves act as intermediaries between the pins and the shafts, allowing the pins to slide within the grooves to accommodate misalignment. This intermediary mechanism provides a simple yet effective way to handle shaft misalignment without complex universal joints.
2Power
If a three-piece coupling assembly with ribs and grooves is used, then torque can be transmitted, but the manufacture and assembly become complex and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling element integrates multiple functions into a single component: torque transmission through pins, misalignment accommodation through pin sliding in grooves, and structural support through the cylindrical body. This merging eliminates the need for complex multi-piece assemblies with intricate rib and groove interactions.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having grooves in the coupling element that receive ribs from the shafts (complex three-piece design), the invention inverts the approach by having pins on the coupling element that engage with grooves in the shafts. This inversion simplifies the coupling element to a single piece while maintaining effective torque transmission.
3Ease of manufacture
If shafts are equipped with bearings that are not precisely aligned, then the assembly is easier to manufacture, but operating noise and premature wear occur
Solution Approach 1:
The longitudinal grooves are designed with sufficient length and appropriate spacing to accommodate potential misalignments before they cause harmful effects. This beforehand cushioning allows the pins to slide within the grooves, absorbing misalignment errors and preventing the noise and wear that would otherwise occur from rigid, precision-aligned connections.
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 provides a reliable, cost-effective, and efficient torque transmission between the output and input shafts, reducing noise and wear, and simplifying the manufacturing and assembly process.
Implementation Method 1
each pin comprises a head in the form of a section of a sphere which protrudes from the surface of the coupling element
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a coupling device (200) to be installed between an output shaft and an input shaft, such as an output shaft of an electric motor and an input shaft of a reducing gear of an actuator for driving a screen or a hatch that is part of home-automation equipment for closure, solar protection, or projection. Said coupling device (200) includes a first member (201) which is rotatably secured, or suitable for being rotatably secured, to the output shaft, and which is provided with at least one longitudinal outer groove (2013), and a second member (202) which is rotatably secured, or suitable for being rotatably secured, to the input shaft, and which is provided with at least one longitudinal outer groove (2023). Said coupling device (200) further includes an element (203) for rotatably coupling the first and second members together, which has, on at least one surface (2031) thereof, at least two series (S1, S2) of lugs (204) projecting from said surface, wherein the lugs (204) are inserted into the longitudinal outer groove (2013) of the first member (201) and the longitudinal outer groove (2023) of the second member (202), respectively.