Overlapping Guide and Motor Design for Substrate Handling

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing devices for equipping substrates with electrical components face challenges in maintaining parallelism and straightness of guide rails due to thermal influences and mass forces, leading to flexural stress and tilting issues, which require high rigidity and additional countermeasures.

Innovation Solution

A compact device design with overlapping guide and motor parts reduces the longitudinal extent, allowing for increased guide length and working range while minimizing bending moment, using a flat magnetic track and coil part with permanent magnets, and a two-point support system with support balls that absorb tilting moments without distortion.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If the guide arm is driven by linear motors with permanent magnets and coil parts, then the guide arm can be moved in the transverse direction, but the magnetic attraction force causes flexural stress and requires high rigidity

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetransverse movement capabilityVSAvoidguide arm rigidity
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The guide and drive elements are arranged in an overlapping configuration where the transverse guide is positioned within the longitudinal extent of the linear motor. This spatial arrangement in multiple dimensions allows the guide arm to be driven by magnetic forces while minimizing bending moments, reducing the rigidity requirements compared to conventional side-by-side arrangements

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Reliability

If additional countermeasures are taken to protect the linear guide from magnetic attraction force, then the guide is protected, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvelinear guide protectionVSAvoidcountermeasure components
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The harmful magnetic attraction force is extracted and utilized productively by positioning the transverse guide within the magnetic field zone of the linear motor. The guide arm is driven directly by the magnetic forces without requiring additional countermeasures such as permanent magnetic strips or counterweights, simplifying the device structure while maintaining reliability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Manufacturing precision

If the guide rails and bearing elements are made highly rigid, then parallelism and straightness are maintained, but the device becomes more complex and larger

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveparallelism and straightnessVSAvoidstructural complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

By arranging the transverse guide within the longitudinal extent of the linear motor, the guide arm operates in a optimized spatial configuration that minimizes bending moments. This dimensional arrangement allows standard rigid guide rails and bearing elements to maintain parallelism and straightness without requiring excessive structural complexity or additional support components

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

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 design achieves reduced bending stresses, precise parallelism of functional surfaces, and stable operation without the need for additional countermeasures, ensuring reliable and precise handling of substrates with reduced rigidity requirements.

Implementation Method 1

a magnetic attraction force acts between the coil part and the permanent magnet

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectMagnetic attraction force: Magnetism

Data Source

PatentEP2747537B1Device for populating substrates with electrical components
Publication Date: 2019.09.04 MIMOT
  • EP2747537B1 patent drawingFigure 1~5

AI summary

The device (1) has a magnetic path (7) provided with a permanent magnet (14), and a frame part (6) arranged in the magnetic path and extending along a transverse direction (y). A spool element (11) is secured at a guide arm (9) such that a magnetic attraction force acts between the spool element and the permanent magnet. The magnetic path and a raceway are arranged one above another along a direction of the attraction force, and largely overlap with each other in the direction when viewing from top.