Hermetic Robot Manipulator Gas Channels for Joint Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial robots with hermetically closed manipulators face challenges in temperature control and cooling performance, leading to reduced speed and increased risk of corrosion and overheating, especially in hygienic environments.
Innovation Solution
A hermetically sealed manipulator with a gas conducting structure that includes channels for gas flow to control transmission temperatures, enabling efficient climate control, cooling, and heating, allowing the robot to operate at high speeds and maintain hygiene standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the manipulator is hermetically sealed to prevent contamination and corrosion, then hygiene and reliability are improved, but temperature control and cooling performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The hermetically sealed manipulator is divided into multiple temperature zones, with each joint having independent temperature control through dedicated channels. This allows different regions to be cooled independently, maintaining overall hygiene while providing targeted cooling where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
A gas cooling system is implemented with channels running through the manipulator structure. Gas flows through these channels to provide active cooling to the joints and transmissions while maintaining the hermetic seal, resolving the contradiction between sealed environment and thermal management.
2Reliability
If motors and transmissions are positioned inside the hermetically sealed manipulator, then corrosion resistance and hygiene are improved, but temperature control becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The transmission components are nested within the hermetically sealed manipulator structure, and cooling channels are integrated within the joints surrounding these components. This nested arrangement allows the transmissions to be protected from corrosion while being actively cooled through the surrounding channel structure.
Solution Approach 2:
Gas channels act as an intermediary medium between the external cooling system and the internal transmissions. The gas flows through channels that pass around the transmissions, providing thermal management without compromising the hermetic seal or requiring direct access to the protected components.
3Reliability
If the manipulator is hermetically sealed, then contamination is prevented, but cooling efficiency decreases requiring lower operating speeds
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling approach transitions from external convection to internal conduction through integrated channels. By embedding cooling channels within the manipulator structure itself, the system achieves efficient heat removal in three dimensions while maintaining the hermetic seal, thus preserving both contamination prevention and high operating speeds.
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 gas conducting structure effectively manages temperature and humidity, ensuring the robot's performance matches non-hygienic robots while maintaining a hermetically sealed environment, reducing corrosion and overheating risks.
Implementation Method 1
at least one channel for a gas flow associated with each joint and arranged to conduct the gas flow through the joint to control a temperature of a transmission of the joint
Data Source
AI summary
An industrial robot including a base; a manipulator movable relative to the base, the manipulator being hermetically closed and including a plurality of joints; a plurality of transmissions inside the manipulator, each transmission being associated with a unique joint; a plurality of motors inside the manipulator, each motor being arranged to drive a joint via the transmission associated with the joint; an outlet inside the manipulator distal of a distal transmission among the plurality of transmissions; a gas line passing between the base and the outlet; and a gas conducting structure configured to conduct a gas flow between the outlet and the base inside the manipulator, the gas conducting structure including, for each joint, at least one channel arranged to conduct the gas flow through the joint.