US20100162927A1

US20100162927A1 - Rotary Transport Device with a Linear Actuator

Info

Publication number: US20100162927A1
Application number: US12/345,607
Authority: US
Inventors: Ming-Hung Hsieh
Original assignee: Hiwin Mikrosystem Corp
Current assignee: Hiwin Mikrosystem Corp
Priority date: 2008-12-29
Filing date: 2008-12-29
Publication date: 2010-07-01

Abstract

A rotary transport device with a linear actuator comprises: a base, a rotary table and at least one linear actuator. The base is provided for pivotally mounting the rotary table. The rotary table is pivotally mounted on the base and is allowed to be pivoted relative to the base to a horizontal position or to titled positions. The linear actuator is pivotally disposed between the base and the rotary table and located at at least one side of the rotary table in a rotating direction thereof, the linear actuator comprises a motor for controlling extension and extraction of a screw, the motor has one end pivotally connected to the base, and one end of the screw is pivotally connected to the rotary table.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary transport device with linear actuator, which is ratable within a certain angle, and more particularly to a rotary transport device, when it is provided plural actuators, the actuators can be controlled to move synchronously and the turning angle of the rotary transport device can be controlled precisely.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Positioning platforms are widely used in various machining and processing activities in industrial or electronic field, and these positioning platforms are always very heavy and bulky and cannot be manually moved. Further, even if mechanical transportation means is used, it is still difficult to move the bulky positioning platform a long distance through urban roads because the roads are limited in width, an overly wide is unable to move on a general road. Therefore, the transportation of such positioning platform requires the assistance of a rotary transport device. On the other hand, in a factory where there is no gantry crane, such as a clean room, the movement of the positioning platform must also rely on a rotary transport device. As shown in FIG. 6, a conventional rotary transport device comprises a base 50 on which is disposed a rotary table 60 which is provided for positioning and carrying a positioning platform, and between the rotary table 60 and the base 50 is disposed a plurality of hydraulic cylinders 70, such as oil, pneumatic, or nitrogen cylinders, which are located at the same side. Each of the respective hydraulic cylinders 70 has one end pivotally connected to the base 50 and has the other end pivotally connected to the rotary table 60 via an extension rod 71 which is extendable and extractable. When the rotary table 60 needs to adjust its angle, a pressure pump which controls the hydraulic cylinders 70 can make the extendable and extractable rods 71 extend and extract, so that the rotary angle of the rotary table 60 can be changed.
Using the hydraulic cylinders 70 to control the extension and extraction of the extension rods 71 has such a problem that the extension rods 71 are unable to extend and extract simultaneously because the different distances and positions of the hydraulic cylinders 70 with respect to the pressure pump, plus their structural designs might also be different, which result in different values of pressure and speeds of pressure transmission. Hence, the service life of the hydraulic cylinders 70 will also be affected.
On the other hand, the hydraulic cylinders 70 can only make the extension rods 71 fully extended or fully extracted, which only provides one choice of angle adjustment but is unable to freely control the rotary angle of the rotary table 60 to better serve the requirements of different to-be-transported positioning platforms which have different weights and centers of gravity. If the rotary angle is freely adjustable, for example, a light positioning platform can be adjusted to a relatively large tilted angle for facilitating transport, while a heavy positioning platform can be adjusted to a relatively small tilted angle for safety transport.
Furthermore, since the hydraulic cylinders 70 need to cooperate with a pressure pump, it requires the use of pipelines, which is not only troublesome but also occupies a lot space. On top of that, there is possibility of oil leakage if the hydraulic cylinders 70 are of oil type.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Using the hydraulic cylinders to control the tilted angle of the rotary transport device has such a problem that the extension rods are unable to extend and extract simultaneously, on the other hand, the hydraulic cylinders can only make the extension rods fully extended or fully extracted, which only provides one choice of angle adjustment but is unable to freely control the rotary angle of the rotary table.
Problems to be Solved:
The present invention provides a rotary transport device with a linear actuator, which comprises: a base, a rotary table and at least one linear actuator. The base is provided for pivotally mounting the rotary table. The rotary table is pivotally mounted on the base and is allowed to be pivoted relative to the base to a horizontal position or to titled positions. The linear actuator is pivotally disposed between the base and the rotary table and located at at least one side of the rotary table in a rotating direction thereof, the linear actuator comprises a motor for controlling extension and extraction of a screw, the motor has one end pivotally connected to the base, and one end of the screw is pivotally connected to the rotary table.
The functions and advantages of the present invention over the prior art:
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a rotary transport device, wherein the arrangement of the linear actuator between the base and the rotary table can enable a plurality of screws to move synchronously at the same speed when plural linear actuators are used, so that the pushing forces applied to the rotary table can be evenly distributed, thus extending the service life of the structure.
The secondary object of the present invention is to provide a rotary transport device, wherein the use of the actuator can control the extension length of the screw so as to freely control the rotary angle of the rotary table to better serve the requirements of different to-be-transported positioning platforms which have different weights and centers of gravity. If the rotary angle is freely adjustable, for example, a light positioning platform can be adjusted to a relatively large tilted angle for facilitating transport, while a heavy positioning platform can be adjusted to a relatively small tilted angle for safety transport.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a rotary transport device, wherein the linear actuator employs a motor to control the extension and extraction of the screw, it is simple in structure without complicated installation work and other additional assistant equipments. Once it is electrified, the linear actuator can directly push the rotary table to rotate without the worry of oil leakage. Furthermore, the linear actuator is easy to assemble and disassemble, which facilitates the clean and maintenance work.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view in accordance with the present invention, showing the horizontal state of a rotary transport device with a linear actuator;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view in accordance with the present invention, showing a tilted state of the rotary transport device with a linear actuator;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing that the rotary transport device in accordance with the present invention is in a horizontal position;

FIG. 4 shows that the rotary transport device in accordance with the present invention is pushed into a tilted position by the linear actuators;

FIG. 5 shows that the rotary transport device in accordance with the present invention is pushed into another tilted position by the linear actuators; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional rotary transport device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a rotary transport device with a linear actuator comprises: a base 10, a rotary table 20 and at least one linear actuator 30.
The base 10 is provided for pivotally mounting the rotary table 20 and increasing the height of the rotary table 20.
The rotary table 20 is pivotally mounted on the base 10 and can be pivoted relative to the base 10 to a horizontal position or to titled positions.
The linear actuator 30 is pivotally disposed between the base 10 and the rotary table 20 and located at at least one side of the rotary table 20 in the rotating direction thereof, namely, the linear actuator 30 can be disposed at one or both sides of the rotary table 20 in the rotating direction thereof. The linear actuator 30 comprises a motor 31 for controlling the extension and extraction of a screw 32. The motor 31 has one end pivotally connected to the base 10, and the end of the screw 32 is pivotally connected to the rotary table 20.
The linear actuator 30 is electrically driven and capable of precisely controlling the timing of starting and stopping the motor 31 and its rotation speed, so as to make plural such screws 32 to move simultaneously. The extending motion of the screw 32 of the linear actuator 30 can make the rotary table 20 rotate to change its tilt angle, and the extracting motion of the screw 32 of the linear actuator 30 can pull the rotary table 20 back to its horizontal position for carrying and positioning a positioning platform or mold, as shown in FIG. 3. The positioning platform can directly be moved by the rotary transport device when it needs to moved. Furthermore, if the horizontal width of the positioning platform is too large while the space for allowing the positioning platform to get through is too narrow, the screw 32 of the linear actuator 30 can extend out to rotate the rotary table 20 into a tilted state, as shown in FIG. 4, so that the horizontal width of the positioning platform is substantially reduced for facilitating transport through narrow space.
Besides synchronous movement, the linear actuator 30 can also control the extension length of the screw 32, as shown in FIG. 5, so that the rotary table 20 can be adjusted freely to different desired tilted angles.
It is apparent from the above description that the present invention has the following advantages:
1. the arrangement of the linear actuator 30 between the base 10 and the rotary table 20 can enable a plurality of screws 32 to move synchronously at the same speed when plural linear actuators 30 are used, so that the pushing forces applied to the rotary table 20 can be evenly distributed, thus extending the service life of the structure.
2. the use of the actuator 30 can control the extension length of the screw 32 so as to freely control the rotary angle of the rotary table to better serve the requirements of different to-be-transported positioning platforms which have different weights and centers of gravity. If the rotary angle is freely adjustable, for example, a light positioning platform can be adjusted to a relatively large tilted angle for facilitating transport, while a heavy positioning platform can be adjusted to a relatively small tilted angle for safety transport.
3. the linear actuator 30 employs a motor 31 to control the extension and extraction of the screw 32, it is simple in structure without complicated installation work and other additional assistant equipments. Once it is electrified, the linear actuator 30 can directly push the rotary table 20 to rotate without the worry of oil leakage. Furthermore, the linear actuator 30 is easy to assemble and disassemble, which facilitates the clean and maintenance work.
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A rotary transport device with a linear actuator, comprising: a base, a rotary table and at least one linear actuator; wherein:

the base is provided for pivotally mounting the rotary table;

the rotary table is pivotally mounted on the base and is allowed to be pivoted relative to the base to a horizontal position or to titled positions;

the linear actuator is pivotally disposed between the base and the rotary table and located at at least one side of the rotary table in a rotating direction thereof,

the linear actuator comprises a motor for controlling extension and extraction of a screw, the motor has one end pivotally connected to the base, and one end of the screw is pivotally connected to the rotary table.

2. The rotary transport device with a linear actuator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the linear actuator is disposed at both sides of the rotary table in the rotating direction thereof.