Tool Engagement Coupler for Robotic Self-Aligning Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle manufacturing requires precise tool positioning in restricted, un-ergonomic areas, leading to increased likelihood of quality defects and variance in process completion time due to human error and hard-to-quantify process variables, with existing solutions failing to adequately automate and ensure accurate tool placement.
Innovation Solution
A tool engagement coupler system comprising a robotic arm and a locator with complementary shapes, allowing the coupler to move within decreasing spatial tolerance as it engages with the locator, providing compliance and restraint in multiple axes to ensure precise tool placement, reducing reliance on operator skill and precision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a robotic arm is used to automate tool positioning, then operator skill dependency is reduced, but achieving precise placement accuracy becomes more difficult due to robotic positioning tolerance
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement member with complementary shapes acts as an intermediary between the robotic arm and the workpiece. The robotic arm positions the engagement member within a tolerance zone, and the complementary shape engagement (e.g., tapered cylinder with matching recess, or sphere with socket) automatically guides and constrains the tool to the precise working position, eliminating the need for the robotic arm to achieve sub-millimeter positioning accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The complementary shape engagement mechanism enables self-alignment and self-positioning. As the robotic arm moves the engagement member toward the workpiece, the geometric constraints of the complementary shapes automatically guide the tool to the correct position and orientation without requiring complex active control systems or high-precision robotic positioning
2Manufacturing precision
If compliant movement is allowed in multiple axes during approach, then spatial tolerance is reduced during engagement, but control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a compliant state during approach to a constrained state during engagement. The robotic arm is allowed compliant movement in multiple axes as it approaches the workpiece within a tolerance zone, but the complementary shape engagement mechanisms (such as tapered surfaces, spherical interfaces, or interlocking geometries) automatically restrain movement in critical axes when engagement occurs, providing precision without requiring complex active control throughout the entire motion range
3Productivity
If restricted access areas are used for tool operations, then vehicle manufacturing is enabled, but operator ergonomics and accessibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the human operator's manual manipulation of tools with an automated robotic system. The robotic arm, controlled by a computer or controller, performs the tool positioning and engagement operations in restricted access areas that would be difficult or impossible for human operators to reach comfortably, thereby improving ergonomics while maintaining manufacturing capability
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A tool engagement coupler configured to deliver a tool at a working position on a workpiece, the tool engagement coupler further being moveable by a robotic arm to engage with a locator at the working position. The tool engagement coupler includes an engagement member having a first predetermined shape adapted to engage with the locator having a second predetermined shape. The tool engagement coupler is adapted to be moved by the robotic arm based on a decreasing level of spatial tolerance as the engagement member approaches the locator based at least in part on the first predetermined shape and the second predetermined shape.