Synchronized Belt Drive for Flat Material Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing insertion grippers are inadequate for gently handling and isolating sensitive, flat materials from a stack without causing damage, as they rely on passive belt drives that fail to synchronize with the movement of the robot arm, leading to relative movement and potential damage during the insertion process.
Innovation Solution
The insertion gripper is designed to synchronize its belt drive with the movement of the robot arm, ensuring that the belts move in tandem with the forks, preventing relative movement between the forks and the flat material, and utilizing a 6-axis robot for precise and gentle handling, allowing for curved movements that distribute the load evenly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If passive belt drives are used on the forks, then the structure is simple, but relative movement occurs between the forks and the flat material causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static passive belt drive into a dynamic active belt drive system. The belts are now driven by drive units (motors) that can actively control the belt speed and synchronization with the robot arm movement, eliminating relative movement between the forks and the material while maintaining structural feasibility through modular drive unit integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the belt drive system from passive friction-based movement to active synchronized movement. By controlling the belt speed to match the robot arm's feed speed, the system prevents relative movement and material damage while maintaining a manageable structural complexity through parameter control rather than mechanical complexity.
2Device complexity
If the belts are passively driven by friction, then the drive mechanism is simple, but synchronization with robot arm movement cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback control system where the drive units monitoring the robot arm's movement and adjusting the belt speed accordingly. This feedback mechanism ensures precise synchronization between the belt drive and robot arm feed movement, achieving the required manufacturing precision while managing device complexity through electronic control rather than mechanical complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the passive mechanical friction-based drive with an active electronically-controlled belt drive system. This substitution allows for precise speed control and synchronization with the robot arm through electronic signals and feedback loops, achieving high precision without the complexity of mechanical synchronization mechanisms.
3Device complexity
If the forks move independently without belt synchronization, then the system is simpler, but relative movement causes damage to sensitive materials
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the movement control of the forks and the belts into a synchronized system. The drive units on the forks are controlled to match the robot arm's feed speed, ensuring that the belts and forks move as a unified system rather than independently, thereby eliminating relative movement and material damage while maintaining reasonable system complexity through integrated control.
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
This solution enables the gentle and damage-free handling of sensitive flat materials by synchronizing the belt drive with the robot arm's movement, preventing relative movement and ensuring precise control, thus protecting the materials during insertion and separation processes.
Implementation Method 1
the belts are driven synchronously with the feed movement of these forks... a relative movement between the lower and upper sides of the forks and the sensitive, flat material is prevented
Data Source
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AI summary
The assembly to take flat cartons from a stack (36), to be transferred to a processing machine, has a gripper with two parallel forks (3) and a belt (11) on the upper or lower side. The belt is fixed to a moving carrier slide (5) at both ends. The assembly is mounted at a robot arm, where the movement speed of the arm and the belt speed are synchronized. The gripper has at least one separator to lift a part-stack (42) at its under side (52) from the main stack.