Isolator System With External Robot Glove Interface
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Maintenance of robots within isolators is challenging due to their placement inside germ-free workspaces, making repairs difficult and time-consuming, and exposing them to corrosive sterilization gases.
Innovation Solution
An isolator system with a partitioned workspace and a glove mechanism that allows the robot to operate externally, keeping the robot outside the sterile environment, preventing corrosion and facilitating maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the robot is disposed inside the workspace to perform work, then the robot can directly operate in the germfree environment, but maintenance becomes difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the workspace into two distinct zones: a germfree internal space for sensitive operations and an external space for robot housing. The glove acts as a boundary that segments these zones, allowing the robot to operate in the external zone while still performing work through the glove interface in the internal zone.
Solution Approach 2:
The glove serves as an intermediary element that transmits the robot's arm movements from the external space into the internal workspace. It allows mechanical coupling while maintaining the sterile barrier, enabling the robot to perform operations without being physically present in the germfree environment.
2Productivity
If the robot is disposed inside the workspace, then it can perform work directly, but it becomes exposed to corrosive sterilization gases and acid gases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot is extracted from the internal workspace and relocated to the external space. This removes the robot from exposure to harmful sterilization gases and acid gases that are introduced into the internal workspace, while the glove allows the robot to continue performing work through the barrier.
Solution Approach 2:
The glove acts as a flexible barrier that separates the robot from corrosive gases. It allows mechanical transmission of arm movements while providing chemical protection, enabling the robot to operate without direct contact with harmful sterilization environments.
3Ease of repair
If the robot is disposed outside the workspace with arm insertion through glove, then maintenance is easier, but the glove structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The robot's arm is inserted into the glove, with the arm nested within the glove structure. This allows the complex mechanical components to be housed outside while maintaining a relatively simple glove interface that accommodates the arm's movement and shape.
Data Source
AI summary
A workspace isolated from an exterior space by a partition, a glove provided to the partition so that an external surface thereof is exposed to the workspace and an internal surface thereof communicates with the exterior space, and a robot configured to insert an arm into the glove and perform a work in the workspace. The glove includes, at a tip-end part thereof, an operating part provided inside the glove, and a hand part provided so as to be exposed to the workspace.