End Effector Protection Cover with Elastic Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional protection structures for end effectors in industrial robots are complex, prone to grease leakage, and difficult to clean, leading to potential damage from high-pressure liquids and particles during mechanical machining.
Innovation Solution
A protection apparatus comprising a cover, an annular elastically deformable sealing member, and a fixing member, which covers the exterior of the end effector to prevent exposure and includes additional sealing members to prevent grease leakage and damage, featuring a compact design for easy assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a double sealing structure with holder and binding band is used to prevent grease leaking, then sealing reliability is improved, but device complexity increases and cleaning difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the holder and binding band into a single integrated fixing member that directly fastens the cover to the end effector body. This merging eliminates the separate components and their associated complexity while maintaining the sealing function through the simplified structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent removes the complex holder and binding band assembly from the sealing structure, extracting only the essential fixing function. The simplified fixing member directly secures the cover without requiring additional components, thereby reducing device complexity while preserving sealing reliability.
2Reliability
If a double sealing structure with holder and binding band is used to prevent grease leaking, then sealing reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to difficult cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the holder and binding band into a single integrated fixing member, the patent creates a smoother, more continuous surface structure that eliminates gaps and crevices where debris and grease could accumulate, thereby facilitating easier cleaning while maintaining sealing reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of designing a complex multi-component sealing structure that requires disassembly for cleaning, the patent inverts the approach by creating a simplified integrated structure that can be easily accessed and cleaned as a single unit, improving ease of operation without compromising sealing function.
3Reliability
If conventional protection structure with multiple components is used, then sealing function is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase due to multiple assembly interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple sealing components into a single integrated cover assembly with a unified sealing interface. This reduces the number of assembly interfaces from multiple separate joints to a single continuous sealing surface, thereby lowering manufacturing precision requirements while maintaining effective sealing function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates intermediate sealing components and their associated assembly interfaces. By directly fastening the cover to the end effector body with a single fixing member, the design reduces the number of precision-critical interfaces, making manufacturing and assembly more tolerant of dimensional variations.
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 effectively prevents high-pressure liquids and particles from damaging gear sealing, prevents grease leakage, and simplifies assembly by eliminating the need for long chamfers, ensuring a compact and efficient sealing mechanism.
Implementation Method 1
an annular elastically deformable sealing member
Implementation Method 2
the cover and the sealing member are configured to jointly cover the sealing part so as to prevent the sealing part from being exposed to an exterior
Data Source
AI summary
The present application discloses a protection apparatus. The protection apparatus is connected to an end effector which includes a casting, a fixed part fixed to the casting, a rotational part rotatable relative to the fixed part, and a sealing part provided in a circumference of the rotational part. The protection apparatus comprises a cover, an annular elastically deformable sealing member and a fixing member; the sealing member is partly accommodated between the cover and the rotational part; the cover is attached to the fixed part, the cover being adapted to cover the exterior of the fixed part by the fixing member, so as to prevent the fixed part from being exposed to an exterior; and the cover and the sealing member are configured to jointly cover the sealing part to prevent the sealing part from being exposed to an exterior. The present invention also provides an end effector and a robot.