Robot Gravity Balancer with Through-Hole Rod for Position Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robot gravity balancers face challenges in easily adapting between floor-mounted and ceiling-hung positions, as the load moment from gravity changes direction, requiring complex adjustments to the spring's position and assembly/disassembly of components.
Innovation Solution
A robot gravity balancer design featuring a tubular housing with end plates having through-holes, a movable member, and an elongated rod that can be passed through both end plates, allowing the rod's end to be detachably mounted on the movable member and protrude outside, enabling easy switching of the force direction by changing the rod's position without disassembling the compression spring or movable member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the gravity balancer is adapted to switch between floor-mounted and ceiling-hung positions, then the adaptability is improved, but the device complexity increases due to requiring positional relation changes of spring and rod
Solution Approach 1:
The gravity balancer is divided into separable components: the rod can be detached from the movable member, and the end plates are separate from the housing. This segmentation allows the rod to be removed and reinserted through different end plates to switch between floor-mounted and ceiling-hung configurations without disassembling the entire device or the spring assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The rod is designed with universal functionality to serve both floor-mounted and ceiling-hung positions. By making the rod detachable and providing through-holes in both end plates, the same rod can be configured to work in either position, eliminating the need for position-specific rod designs and reducing overall device complexity.
2Ease of operation
If the rod is made detachably mounted on the movable member, then the ease of operation is improved, but the loss of time increases due to assembly and disassembly operations
Solution Approach 1:
The rod is pre-configured with mounting features that align with the movable member's attachment points. The through-holes in the end plates are positioned to facilitate straightforward insertion and attachment. This preliminary arrangement of components reduces the complexity and time required for assembly and disassembly operations when switching between positions.
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
This design allows for seamless adaptation between floor-mounted and ceiling-hung positions by simply changing the rod's position, reducing the need for complex assembly/disassembly and facilitating smooth force direction changes, thus optimizing the robot's operational flexibility.
Implementation Method 1
a compression spring disposed between the movable member and one of the end plates
Implementation Method 2
reduces a load moment resulting from gravity by using the force of a spring
Data Source
AI summary
A robot gravity balancer includes: a tubular housing whose both ends in the direction of a longitudinal axis are closed by end plates having through-holes; a movable member housed inside the housing so as to be movable in the direction of the longitudinal axis; a compression spring disposed between the movable member and the end plate; and an elongated rod that is capable of being passed through the through-holes of both the end plates, and that is disposed in a state of having one end detachably mounted on the movable member and the other end protruding to the outside of the housing, regardless of which of the through-holes the rod is passed through. The robot gravity balancer is disposed between a first member and a second member of a robot, the second member being provided so as to be swingable around a predetermined swing axis relative to the first member.