Interchangeable Tool Head Plate Interface for Fast Machine Upgrades
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a lack of solutions that allow open-sourced manufacturing machines to easily and quickly interchange tool heads, limiting the ability of users to modify and upgrade their machines to accept various tool heads.
Innovation Solution
A universal interchangeable plate system comprising a fixed plate assembly and a mobile plate assembly that can be mounted to manufacturing machines, allowing for quick attachment and detachment of tool heads through electrical and mechanical connections, enabling easy interchangeability and maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If proprietary machines are used, then tool head interchangeability is limited, but machine reliability and support are ensured
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the tool mounting interface into separate, modular components: a fixed plate assembly attached to the machine and a mobile plate assembly that moves with the tool head. This segmentation allows different tool heads to be interchangeably mounted while maintaining a standardized interface, resolving the contradiction between versatility and complexity by creating a universal mounting standard.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixed plate assembly serves as a universal interface that can accommodate multiple different tool head types through the mobile plate assembly. This universal design enables one machine to support various tool heads (additive, subtractive, hybrid) without requiring machine modifications, thus improving adaptability while keeping the machine itself simple.
2Adaptability or versatility
If tool heads are permanently mounted, then machine structure is simple, but tool head interchangeability and maintenance are difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile plate assembly is designed to be dynamically movable relative to the fixed plate assembly, allowing tool heads to be easily attached and detached. The mobile plate can slide into position and lock securely, providing both ease of interchangeability and stable operation during use. This dynamic design resolves the contradiction between permanent mounting simplicity and interchangeability needs.
3Ease of repair
If electrical connections are made directly to tool heads, then connection simplicity is maintained, but tool head maintenance and replacement become complex
Solution Approach 1:
The electrical connection system is extracted from the tool head itself and relocated to the plate assemblies. The fixed plate assembly contains the electrical connections to the machine, while the mobile plate assembly provides connections to the tool head. When a tool head is replaced, only the mobile plate assembly needs to be swapped, not the entire tool head with its wired connections, thus easing maintenance while managing electrical connection complexity through standardized interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A universal plate system for mounting tool heads and/or components on manufacturing machines includes a fixed plate assembly on the x-carriage of the manufacturing machine. A mobile plate assembly is configured to removably attach to the fixed plate assembly, to provide mechanical support and electrical connectivity to a tool head assembly mounted to the mobile plate assembly. The mobile plate assembly can be easily detached from the fixed plate assembly and replaced with a different mobile plate assembly having a different tool head assembly mounted thereon. Mating of the mobile plate assembly to the fixed plate assembly provides the mechanical and electrical connection between the manufacturing machine and the newly mounted tool head assembly, thus permitting quick changes of the tool head assembly to be made.