Integrated Drive Unit for Robotic Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mechanical components in robotic joints, such as motors, speed reducers, and bearings, face challenges in achieving high accuracy and reproducibility due to misalignment, leading to increased size and weight, which affects the robot's performance and precision.
Innovation Solution
The integration of motors, speed reducers, and bearings into a unitized drive unit, which is axially aligned and mounted on a support structure, eliminating the need for separate axial alignment during assembly, thus reducing the size and weight of the link while maintaining necessary stiffness and improving the alignment of these components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If motors, speed reducers, and bearings are assembled as separate mechanical components in robotic joints, then the apparatus can be manufactured with conventional methods, but the alignment accuracy between components deteriorates leading to increased size and weight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges motors, speed reducers, and bearings into a single integrated drive unit with a unified housing. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate axial alignment of individual components, directly resolving the alignment accuracy issue while reducing the overall weight of the robotic joint by eliminating redundant structural elements.
2Manufacturing precision
If motors, speed reducers, and bearings are assembled as separate mechanical components in robotic joints, then the apparatus can be manufactured with conventional methods, but the alignment accuracy between components deteriorates leading to increased size
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges motors, speed reducers, and bearings into a single integrated drive unit with a unified housing. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate axial alignment of individual components, directly resolving the alignment accuracy issue while reducing the overall size of the robotic joint by eliminating redundant structural elements.
3Manufacturing precision
If motors, speed reducers, and bearings are integrally assembled into a unit, then the alignment accuracy and reproducibility are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges motors, speed reducers, and bearings into a single integrated drive unit with a unified housing. This consolidation simplifies the overall assembly process by reducing the number of separate components that need to be aligned and assembled, thereby decreasing device complexity despite the integrated nature of the unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the robotic joint into modular components including the integrated drive unit, link, and other functional modules. This modular segmentation allows each module to be manufactured and assembled independently, reducing the complexity of the overall assembly process while maintaining high alignment accuracy within each module.
4Ease of manufacture
If separate axial alignment is performed during assembly of motors, speed reducers, and bearings, then the components can be manufactured independently, but the alignment accuracy deteriorates and frictional resistance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges motors, speed reducers, and bearings into a single integrated drive unit with a unified housing. This integration eliminates the need for separate axial alignment operations during assembly, as all components are pre-aligned within the integrated structure. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining manufacturing independence through modular design while achieving high alignment accuracy through integration.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a support having two portions, and a unit including a speed reducer, a motor provided on the speed reducer, and a bearing provided on the speed reducer, the speed reducer, the motor, and the bearing being integrally assembled with each other and mounted on the two portions.