Seal Fitting Jig for Automated Elastic Seal Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
It is difficult to automate the process of fitting a seal member into an annular groove due to the instability of the seal member made of elastic material, which hampers the use of robots for this task and results in a time-consuming and low success rate when attempting to fit the seal member using robotic or automated methods.
Innovation Solution
A cover with an annular groove and communicating portions, along with a jig having seal attaching portions, allows for easy fitting of the seal member by aligning and inserting the jig into the cover's container portion, ensuring the seal member is securely attached to the annular groove, with features like projections and guide portions enhancing the stability and retention of the seal member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a robot or automated method is used to fit the seal member to the annular groove, then productivity is improved, but the success rate deteriorates due to the instability of the seal member made of elastic material
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a positioning member as an intermediary tool that mediates between the automated robot and the elastic seal member. The positioning member has a positioning portion that fits into the annular groove and a holding portion that secures the seal member, allowing the robot to manipulate the positioning member rather than directly handling the unstable seal member. This intermediary structure enables automated fitting while maintaining high success rate by providing stable mechanical engagement points.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning member is designed to automatically position and secure the seal member through its specific structure. The positioning portion fits into the annular groove, and the holding portion automatically engages with the seal member's outer circumference, allowing the system to self-align and self-secure without requiring complex robotic control or manual intervention, thus enabling both automation and high success rate.
2Reliability
If manual fitting method is used to ensure high success rate, then reliability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to time-consuming process
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning member serves as an intermediary that captures the essence of manual positioning techniques while enabling automation. It provides the stable mechanical engagement and precise positioning that manual operators achieve, but allows a robot to perform the manipulation, thereby maintaining high success rate while dramatically improving productivity through automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning member effectively copies or replicates the function of a human operator's hand and positioning tools. It provides the same stabilizing and positioning functions that a skilled operator would use manually, but as a reusable, automated component that can be quickly manipulated by a robot, thus achieving manual-level reliability with automated-speed productivity.
3Reliability
If the seal member is made of elastic material to provide sealing function, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in automated handling
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into three distinct components: the elastic seal member (providing sealing function), the positioning member (providing handling interface), and the robot (providing automation). By separating the sealing function from the handling function, the elastic material can be used for reliability while the rigid positioning member handles the automation interface, thus resolving the contradiction between material elasticity and ease of automated operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning member acts as an intermediary that interfaces between the robot and the elastic seal member. It provides a rigid, easily manipulatable structure for automated handling while the elastic seal member maintains its sealing properties. The positioning member's holding portion engages with the seal member's outer circumference, allowing automated manipulation without requiring the seal member itself to be rigid or easy to handle.
Data Source
AI summary
A cover having a container portion whose one end is opened and whose other end is closed by a bottom surface, includes: an annular groove formed into an annular shape along an outer circumference of an opening of the container portion; a plurality of communicating portions that are formed in a side wall partitioning the annular groove and the container portion so as to connect the annular groove and the container portion in a radial direction; and an annular seal member fitted to the annular groove.