Specimen Clearing Apparatus for Automated Materials Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In materials testing environments, high-elongation specimens with long tails often interfere with automated systems due to their length, causing unreliability in traditional scrap shoot designs and requiring excessive reach from robot manipulators, which can be costly and inefficient, especially in space-constrained labs.
Innovation Solution
A specimen clearing device with spring-loaded rollers and a motor-driven mechanism that actively guides broken specimens with curved tails into a waste bin, reducing the reach requirement for robot manipulators and optimizing space usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a traditional scrap shoot design uses gravity to slide the tested specimen down into a waste bin, then the structure is simple, but the reliability deteriorates when specimens have long curved tails causing hang-ups
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the passive gravity-based scrap shoot mechanism with an active motor-driven roller system. The motorized rollers provide controlled mechanical force to actively pull specimens into the waste bin, eliminating reliance on gravity alone and preventing hang-ups caused by long curved tails.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring-loaded rollers act as an intermediary mechanism between the robot manipulator and the waste bin. These rollers receive the specimen from the robot, provide controlled guidance through the curved path, and reliably deposit the specimen into the bin, mediating the transfer process to prevent hang-ups.
2Ease of operation
If the robot manipulator is designed to reach long curved tails of broken specimens, then the specimen clearing capability is improved, but the robot cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The specimen clearing device performs the service of guiding and depositing long-tailed specimens itself, without requiring the robot manipulator to have extended reach capabilities. The spring-loaded rollers and motor-driven mechanism handle the long specimens locally at the clearing station, making the system self-sufficient for this task.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the approach from extending robot reach in linear distance to creating a localized clearing environment where specimens are guided through a controlled three-dimensional path using spring-loaded rollers and motorized mechanisms, effectively solving the reach problem through spatial reconfiguration.
3Ease of operation
If the robot manipulator reach is extended to handle long specimen tails, then the specimen removal capability is improved, but the lab space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The specimen clearing device handles long-tailed specimens locally at a compact clearing station, eliminating the need for extended robot manipulator reach. The spring-loaded rollers and motor-driven mechanism process specimens in-place, reducing the overall automation system footprint and conserving lab space.
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
Ensures reliable and consistent removal of tested specimens, reduces robot manipulator reach requirements, and conserves lab space by efficiently guiding specimens into a waste bin, even with long tails, thereby enhancing the operational efficiency and space utilization of automated testing systems.
Implementation Method 1
spring-loaded rollers
Implementation Method 2
motor-driven mechanism
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a device which automatically clears high elongation test samples with long tails after breakage from a materials testing device after the testing has been performed. A robotic arm engages the tested specimen and brings it to a specimen clearing device which includes a slot leading to a nip between an opposed drive wheel and driven wheel. A motor drives the drive wheel to move the tested specimen through the specimen clearing device into a scrap bin or similar repository.