Movable Route Guide Switching for High-Speed Carrier Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guide systems in production facilities face challenges in achieving flexible and high-speed material flow management, as rigid mechanical guides restrict process speed and limit the handling of products with flexible materials, while separate linear motor systems for transfer impose size and composition constraints.
Innovation Solution
A guide system that allows for the activation and cancellation of the guide function along a path, using movable vehicle guide elements and a route guide interactively controlled by electromagnetic, pneumatic, or hydraulic actuators, enabling efficient and precise handling of materials and workpieces, including those with flexible materials, by allowing translational movement along a path and enabling transfer between different linear motor routes through a switch mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If rigid mechanical guides are used throughout the complete linear motor system, then high repeat accuracies and rigid guidance are achieved, but process speed must be considerably decreased to enable separating and bringing together of material flows
Solution Approach 1:
The guide system employs movable guide elements that can dynamically change position between a guiding position (for precision) and a non-guiding position (for speed). This allows the system to adapt its rigidity dynamically - rigid when precision is needed, flexible when speed is prioritized, thereby resolving the contradiction between maintaining high repeat accuracy and achieving high process speed for separating and combining material flows.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide system is divided into multiple independent guide elements distributed along the path rather than one continuous rigid guide. This segmentation allows individual guide elements to be moved independently to guiding or non-guiding positions, enabling localized flexibility while maintaining overall system precision where needed, thus allowing high-speed material flow separation without sacrificing repeat accuracy.
2Adaptability or versatility
If classic forwarding via handling units such as pickers is used, then product streams can be separated and brought together, but process speed is low
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces traditional mechanical handling units like pickers with a linear motor-driven guide system. The linear motors provide contactless propulsion and the movable guide elements enable automatic steering, eliminating the need for mechanical picking and placing operations. This substitution dramatically increases process speed while maintaining the capability to separate and combine material flows through controlled guide element positioning.
3Speed
If transfer is done by clamping product between carrier vehicles in separate linear motor systems, then high speed transfer is achieved, but product size and composition are limited (cannot handle flexible materials like foam)
Solution Approach 1:
The movable guide elements act as intermediaries between the linear motor system and the product. Instead of directly clamping the product between carrier vehicles, the guide elements provide indirect guidance and positioning. This intermediary mechanism allows high-speed transfer while accommodating diverse product types including flexible materials like foam, as the guide elements can adapt to different product geometries without requiring rigid clamping.
4Manufacturing precision
If the guide function is activated along the complete path, then precise guidance is maintained, but flexibility in routing and adaptability to different products is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The guide system uses dynamically controllable guide elements that can be activated or deactivated at different positions along the path. This allows the system to provide precise guidance only where needed for specific operations while leaving other sections flexible for routing variations. The dynamic activation/deactivation of guide functions enables both high precision where required and routing flexibility where not needed, resolving the contradiction between guidance precision and routing adaptability.
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 solution enables efficient, rapid, and precise handling of materials and workpieces, even in small batch sizes, by allowing flexible routing and transfer between paths, maintaining high process speed and accommodating a variety of product sizes and materials, including those made of flexible materials.
Implementation Method 1
a linear motor route, which interacts magnetically with magnets that are attached to the carrier vehicle, with the result that the carrier vehicle may be driven along the path
Implementation Method 2
The activation or cancellation of the guide function may take place by a movability of the path guide. To this end, it is that the path guide is removed from the respective vehicle guide element (for example in portions of the route) for cancelation and is moved closer to it for activation. This movement may be driven by way of an electromagnetic actuator.
Data Source
AI summary
An arrangement including a guide system and a carrier vehicle. The guide system includes a route guide extending along a path for the carrier vehicle. To provide a flexible and rapid material flow in a production, the guide system has vehicle guide elements on the carrier vehicle. The guide system further includes vehicle guide elements on the carrier vehicle. The guide system is configured in such a way that a guide function of the guide system limits the degree of freedom of the translational movability of the carrier vehicle during the interaction of the route guide with the vehicle guide elements apart from a limited movement play to a translational movability along the path. The guide function may be cancelled at least in portions along the path by a movability of the route guide out of a guide position and may be activated by a movability of the route guide into the guide position.