Hydraulic Cylinder Sensor Alignment Tool for Cap-End Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The placement of position sensors in hydraulic cylinders is difficult due to the cap end being welded in place prior to sensor installation, making it challenging to align the sensor properly within the long tubular cylinder.
Innovation Solution
A sensor installation tool with an elongate portion and a delivery head, featuring a centering portion and positioning portion, is used to guide the sensor into a pocket at the cap end of the hydraulic cylinder, ensuring accurate alignment and secure seating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the cap end is welded in place prior to sensor installation, then the structural integrity of the hydraulic cylinder is improved, but the alignment precision of the sensor becomes difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by providing alignment features (alignment pins, alignment grooves) that are pre-formed on the sensor and cap end before welding. This allows the sensor to be precisely positioned and aligned with the piston rod bore before the cap end is welded to the barrel, ensuring accurate alignment is maintained after welding completes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses an intermediary alignment mechanism consisting of alignment pins and grooves that mediate between the sensor and the hydraulic cylinder components. These alignment features transfer precise positional information from the piston rod bore to the sensor mounting location on the cap end, enabling accurate sensor alignment even after welding.
2Ease of operation
If the sensor is placed from the rod end through the length of the cylinder, then access to the cap end is achieved, but the complexity of proper placement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary alignment system (alignment pins, alignment grooves, and corresponding alignment features) that simplifies the placement process. Instead of requiring complex manual alignment procedures through the entire cylinder length, the alignment features guide the sensor into proper position automatically, reducing placement complexity while maintaining ease of access from the rod end.
Data Source
AI summary
A sensor installation tool for installing a sensor in a pocket in a cap end of a hydraulic cylinder may include an elongate portion configured for reaching through a hydraulic cylinder from outside a rod end to a cap end thereof and having a proximal end and a distal end. The tool may also include a delivery head arranged on a distal end and comprising a centering portion and a positioning portion. The centering portion may be configured to engage an inner surface of the hydraulic cylinder to hold the positioning portion in a centered position within the cylinder and the positioning portion may be configured to hold the sensor at the centered position to align the sensor with the pocket and drive the sensor into the pocket.