Floating End Effector Module With Air Bearings for Precision Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current pick and place end effectors struggle with accurately handling and placing tiny, precision parts due to lack of adaptation for size, shape, and composition variability, often resulting in part damage or misalignment, and are costly and temperamental with excessive inertia and lash.
Innovation Solution
A floating end effector module utilizing air bearings for ultra-low mass and inertia positioning, allowing degrees of freedom in x, y, and theta axes, combined with vacuum locking and machine vision for precise placement and repositioning, enabling gentle handling and alignment of small parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional end effectors are used for grasping tiny precision parts, then the parts can be held and moved, but the parts are prone to torque, misalignment, or breakage due to lack of adaptability
Solution Approach 1:
The end effector employs a floating module design with air bearings that allow dynamic adjustment and movement in multiple degrees of freedom (x, y, z, and theta), enabling the system to adapt to variations in part size, shape, and composition while maintaining secure grasping without torque or misalignment
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical contact-based positioning with air bearing technology, eliminating physical friction and contact points that cause torque and damage to fragile parts, while still maintaining precise positioning capability through non-contact support
2Manufacturing precision
If degrees of freedom and high sensitivity are added to place and manipulate tiny parts, then placement precision is improved, but the end effector becomes expensive and temperamental with excessive inertia and lash
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complexity from the end effector structure itself by using a floating module design with air bearings, separating the precision positioning function from complex mechanical linkages. This reduces inertia and lash while maintaining placement precision through a simpler, more elegant mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The use of air bearings provides a pneumatic solution that eliminates the need for complex mechanical degrees of freedom. The air bearings support the floating module and allow smooth, low-friction movement in multiple axes, achieving high precision placement without the excessive inertia and temperamental behavior associated with traditional mechanical systems
3Weight of moving object
If miniaturized tooling is used to grasp tiny parts, then the end effector can hold small parts, but it becomes difficult to maintain awareness of part positions for precise placement
Solution Approach 1:
The floating end effector module serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides miniaturized grasping capability for tiny parts, maintains position awareness through its floating nature and multiple degrees of freedom, and enables precise placement. The air bearing system inherently provides position feedback through its operational characteristics, eliminating the need for separate sensing mechanisms
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 cost-effective, robust, and precise method for handling multiple small precision parts, reducing part damage and misalignment, and enabling efficient placement with minimal assembly-line length and maintenance, suitable for manufacturing settings.
Implementation Method 1
at least two air bearings associated with the second end, wherein the at least two air bearings in combination impart degrees of freedom to the tooling in at least x and y axes and in theta
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus, system and method for providing a floating end effector for grasping small precision parts. The end effector includes at least one end effector module having at least: tooling for grasping a part for pickup and placement; a module shaft connected on a first end to the tooling, and having a second end opposite the tooling; and at least two air bearing associated with the second end, wherein the at least two air bearings in combination impart degrees of freedom to the tooling in at least x and y axes and in theta.