Robot-Mounted Screwing Unit Without Separate Drive Motors
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated screwdriving systems face limitations due to restricted angle of rotation of the robot's output element and require additional motorized drives, leading to increased weight and operational costs, as well as reduced flexibility and automation efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Integrate a screwing unit with a housing and mouthpiece onto the output element of an articulated arm robot, allowing the screwing tool to rotate with the robot's output element, eliminating the need for separate drives, and incorporate a rotary feedthrough for compressed air and electrical signals to facilitate automated screw feeding and torque transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a separate motorized drive is integrated into the screwing tool, then the screwing process can be automated, but the device weight and operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the drive function from the screwing tool itself and transfers it to the robot's output element. The robot's existing motor drives the screwing tool through direct mechanical coupling, eliminating the need for a separate motorized drive in the screwing tool. This reduces the weight of the moving screwing device while maintaining full automation capability.
2Device complexity
If the robot's output element is used to drive the screwing tool, then device complexity is reduced, but the angle of rotation is severely limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a dynamically adjustable transmission mechanism between the robot's output element and the screwing tool. This mechanism can adapt its gear ratio or transmission path based on the required angle of rotation, allowing the system to maintain both simplicity and versatility. The transmission can switch between different modes to accommodate varying rotational requirements.
3Measurement precision
If additional motorized drives are integrated into the screwing tool, then precise control is achieved, but operational costs and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback control system where sensors monitor the screwing process parameters (torque, position, speed) and feed this information back to the robot's control unit. The control unit processes this feedback and adjusts the robot's output element accordingly, achieving precise control without requiring additional motorized drives in the screwing tool. This maintains simplicity while ensuring measurement precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for automatically producing screw connections, having an articulated arm robot and a screwing unit which can be rotated about an effector axis by an output element of an end element of the articulated arm robot. The screwing unit has a housing, wherein a screwing tool is movably received in the housing along the effector axis between a feed position and at least one screwing position, and wherein a mouthpiece for providing a screw is arranged on the housing.