Robot Arm Drive Module With Slip Clutch for Compact Overload Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional slip clutches in robotic arm drives are bulky, heavy, and complex, making them unsuitable for compact and lightweight designs required in remotely controlled ground robots, which need to prevent damage from mechanical overloads and allow for easy folding and stowing.
Innovation Solution
A compact and lightweight drive module incorporating a slip clutch with a machined input section featuring driven spiroid gear teeth, a clutch plate with an integrated spiroid face gear, and a combination of planetary and spiroidal gears, which provides smooth motion, mechanical overload protection, and back drivability for stowing the arm when unpowered.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional slip clutches are used in robotic arm drives, then mechanical overload protection is provided, but the drive module becomes bulky, heavy, and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the clutch plate and spiroid face gear into a single integrated component. The clutch plate has gear teeth formed on its outer surface that directly engage with the pinion, eliminating the need for a separate driven gear. This merging of functions reduces the number of parts, simplifies the drive module structure, and decreases complexity while maintaining both the slip clutch functionality for overload protection and the gear transmission function.
2Reliability
If conventional slip clutches are used in robotic arm drives, then mechanical overload protection is provided, but the drive module size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The clutch plate and driven gear are merged into one component, with the gear teeth formed directly on the outer surface of the clutch plate. This integration eliminates the need for additional space that would be required for separate gear components, thereby reducing the overall volume of the drive module while preserving the slip clutch's mechanical overload protection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The pinion is positioned to engage directly with the gear teeth on the clutch plate, creating a nested arrangement where the clutch plate contains the gear functionality within its structure. This nesting approach allows the drive module components to be more compactly arranged, reducing the overall volume required for the drive module.
3Reliability
If conventional slip clutches are used in robotic arm drives, then mechanical overload protection is provided, but the drive module weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating the driven gear teeth directly onto the clutch plate, the patent eliminates the need for a separate heavy gear component. The single integrated clutch plate assembly weighs less than the combination of separate clutch plate and driven gear components would, thereby reducing the overall weight of the drive module while maintaining mechanical overload protection.
4Reliability
If conventional slip clutches are used in robotic arm drives, then mechanical overload protection is provided, but the drive module requires sufficient space that reduces portability
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of the driven gear teeth on the clutch plate creates a more compact drive module with a smaller footprint. This merged design allows the drive module to occupy less space on the robot chassis, improving portability and allowing for more compact robot configurations while still providing mechanical overload protection.
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 solution enables the robotic arm to withstand mechanical shocks like falling without joint breakage, allows for rapid stowing, and maintains a compact, lightweight, and simplified drive module design, facilitating easy repair and portability.
Implementation Method 1
the clutch input section is machined to form a spiroid gear. Pinion teeth engage the spiroid gear
Implementation Method 2
The friction members are mounted on an interior face of the clutch output section and the spring member is seated on the clutch input section and biases the inner face of the clutch input section into engagement with the friction members
Implementation Method 3
the combination of planetary and spiroidal gears yield smooth motion and also provides a large gear ratio
Data Source
AI summary
A drive module for rotating a first robot arm member relative to a second robot arm member comprising a motor, a gear head driven by the motor, a pinion driven by the gear head and a slip clutch including an input section with integral gear teeth driven by the pinon, and an output section configured to be coupled to the second robot arm member. A housing is disposed at least about the pinion and slip clutch and configured to be coupled to the first robot arm member.