Sealed Actuator Design for Robot Arm Dust Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic substrate transfer robots face challenges in maintaining precise positioning and sealing within confined spaces, leading to potential dust intrusion and reduced maintainability due to complex mechanical designs and limited accessibility.
Innovation Solution
The robot employs an articulated arm with direct drive motors and seal members to drive joints around vertical axes, ensuring precise positioning and sealing between links and output shafts, while maintaining a compact design and improving maintainability through detachable seal members and a flange structure that reduces the chamber size and enhances accessibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If complex mechanical designs are used to achieve precise positioning, then positioning precision is improved, but device complexity increases and maintainability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The robot arm is divided into multiple links (base link, intermediate links, hand link) connected by joints, with each joint driven by an independent actuator. This segmentation allows precise positioning through coordinated movement of simple modular units rather than a single complex mechanism, improving maintainability while preserving positioning precision.
Solution Approach 2:
Traditional mechanical linkages and gears are replaced with direct-drive actuators that electrically drive the joints. This substitution eliminates complex mechanical transmission components, reducing device complexity and improving maintainability while maintaining or enhancing positioning precision through direct electrical control.
2Reliability
If sealed chambers are used to prevent dust intrusion, then reliability is improved, but accessibility for maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sealed chamber is segmented into modular sections corresponding to each link and joint. Seal members are individually attachable to each link, allowing maintenance personnel to access and replace seal members without disassembling the entire robot arm structure. This maintains the sealed environment for reliability while providing easy accessibility for maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal members are designed with detachable connections that allow dynamic assembly and disassembly. The seal members can be easily attached and detached from the links, transforming the sealed chamber from a static enclosed structure to a dynamically configurable system that maintains sealing while enabling easy maintenance access.
3Volume of moving object
If compact design is implemented to reduce chamber size, then volume is reduced, but accessibility for maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The compact robot arm structure is segmented into modular links and joints with standardized connection interfaces. This segmentation allows the overall structure to be compact while providing standardized access points and detachable components for maintenance, eliminating the trade-off between compactness and maintainability.
Solution Approach 2:
Components are nested within each other to achieve compact packaging - for example, actuators are integrated within link structures, and seal members are nested within the link geometry. This nesting maintains compact chamber size while preserving accessibility, as components can be accessed through designated interfaces without requiring disassembly of the entire nested structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A robot includes: an articulated arm and a plurality of actuators. The articulated arm includes a plurality of links connected by a plurality of joints. The plurality of links include: a hand; a base; and one or more arm links. The plurality of actuators are configured to drive the plurality of joints respectively around rotational axes. Each of the plurality of actuators includes: a main body fixed to one link at a corresponding joint; and an output shaft protruding from the main body along a rotational axis of the rotational axes, fixed to another link, and configured to rotate around the rotational axis. The articulated arm further includes, for each of the plurality of actuators, a seal member detachably attached to the one link separately from the main body, to seal between the one link and the output shaft.