WO2020084195A1

WO2020084195A1 - An arrangement for feeding various energies in connection with a motor unit

Info

Publication number: WO2020084195A1
Application number: PCT/FI2019/050754
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vesa Hirvonen
Original assignee: Masinova Oy
Priority date: 2018-10-23
Filing date: 2019-10-23
Publication date: 2020-04-30
Also published as: FI20185889A; FI20185889A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangement (100) for feeding various energies in connection with a motor unit (102), the motor unit (102) comprising a casing (104), and one or more motors (106) arranged in the same axis (107) inside the casing (104), wherein the arrangement (100) further comprises a channel (112) for various energies. The energy feeds (114a, 114b, 114c) abled to be led through the motor unit (102) can be electrics, pneumatics, liquids, cooling hoses and laser beam, for example.

Description

AN ARRANGEMENT FOR FEEDING VARIOUS ENERGIES IN CONNEC TION WITH A MOTOR UNIT

Technical field Generally, the invention relates to a motor arrangement and its energy feeding, and more particularly, the invention relates to an arrangement for feeding various energies in connection with a motor unit.

Background technology Different types of energies are typically needed in connection with motor and robotic systems. Energies, such as pneumatics, electrics and laser bean are typically used when arranging motor and/or robotic systems to perform operations, such as for as- sembling, packing, dispensing, tapping, vision picking and/or screw inserting, a laser arm unit for laser cutting, laser marking, laser PCB-routing and/or for aesthetic laser treatments, CNC machinery arm unit for drilling tapping, milling and/or grilling, and/or an arm unit for e-vehicle purposes, such as e-cars, e-boats, e-motor bikes and/or e-bicycles.

In known solutions, such as describe in US 2015/0321361 , energy feeding is arranged separately, which can increase the size of motor and/or robotic systems, possibly making them heavier, too.

Summary of the invention

It is an objective of the present invention to implement such a solution, that the pre- viously mentioned drawbacks of the prior art could be diminished. In particular, the invention is implied to solve how to provide an energy feeding for various energies in connection with a motor system.

The objective of the invention is met by the features disclosed in the independent patent claims. An arrangement for feeding various energies in connection with a motor unit accord- ing to the present invention is characterized by the features of the independent claim

1.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an arrangement for feeding various energies in connection with a motor unit comprises a motor unit comprising a casing, and one or more motors arranged in the same axis inside the casing, wherein the arrangement further comprises a channel for various energies. The energy feeds abled to be led through the motor unit can be electrics, pneumatics, liquids, cooling hoses and laser beam, for example.

In an embodiment, at least a part of the energy feeds is simultaneously led in the channel. This feature may enable efficient energy feeding for various kinds of ener- gies without a need to arrange separate feeding channels to every energy feed. By using the channel for various energies according to the present invention, may enable to diminish the size of the arrangement and still have efficient and reliable feeds for various energies.

In an embodiment, the arrangement comprises an arm unit to be connected in the motor unit, and in another embodiment, the arrangement further comprises quick change means for locking the arm unit in the motor unit. These embodiments may enable fast change of a purpose of use for the arrangement according to the present invention. According to this, the motor unit of the present invention may be very versatile to be used in different kind of purposes by selecting a suitable arm unit in a group of arm units, comprising a gripper, a tool, a robot arm unit for assembling, packing, dispensing, tapping, vision picking and/or screw inserting, a laser arm unit for laser cutting, laser marking, laser PCB-routing and/or for aesthetic laser treat- ments, CNC machinery arm unit for drilling tapping, milling and/or grilling, and/or an arm unit for e-vehicle purposes, such as e-cars, e-boats, e-motor bikes and/or e- bicycles. The person skilled in the art will appreciate that the group is not limited to the mentioned purposes, but the arrangement comprising various arm units can be used in all kinds of suitable purposes.

In an embodiment, the channel for energies is directed through the motor unit and/or arm unit, and in another embodiment, the channel for feeds of various energies corn- prises leading means, such as fittings, wires, bushings and/or mirrors, for leading the feeds through joints in the motor unit and/or the arm unit. By means of these embod- iments, it might be possible to arrange the energy feeding without any external and/or additional energy feeding parts, which could make the motor system more complex and heavier.

In an embodiment, at least one of the motors in the motor unit is a hollow shaft motor. The hollow shaft motors are also known to have many advantages themselves, such as a direct drive, high torque and high accuracy. Due to the hollow shaft motor, the motor unit of the present invention may be small in size and light weight, and further it may enable using of different sizes and stator kit combinations. In addition, it may be able to achieve very high accuracy by using the hollow shaft motors.

Yet, in another embodiment, the channel for energy feeds is arranged in the hollow shaft formed by the hollow shaft motor. This feature may enable a simpler construc- tion for the motor unit and by this way making it lighter and smaller.

In an embodiment, the casing and/or the arm unit is/are arranged to be waterproof. This embodiment may enable to use the motor system according to the present inven- tion in various purposes and in different kind of environments and circumstances, having different requirements, such as a clean room. In addition, the energy feeds directed through the motor unit and/or arm unit can be performed in airproof and waterproof manner, which on its part, may enable the versatile usage of the arrange- ment.

Some preferable embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

Significant advantages can be achieved with the present invention when compared to prior art solutions.

The arrangement according to the present invention is very versatile. It can be ar- ranged to be small, light, watertight and efficient. It can be used in e-vehicle motor unit, such as e-cars, e-boats, e-motor bikes and bicycles, machinery unit, such as drill- ing, tapping, milling and grinding, robot unit, such as assembly, packing, dispensing, tapping and screw inserting and laser unit, such as laser cutting, laser marking, laser PCB-routing and aesthetics laser treatments, for example.

Using the hollow shaft motors in the motor system may also enable using unlimited amount of motors and spindles, which enables assembling arrangements for various kinds of purposes. All the drive shafts in the present invention may be able to be arranged within each other in the same axis. The motor system can be made of lightweight materials, which may enable its usage in different places and may enable to easily move it. The motors in the present system can be direct drive motors, which means that they are working without gears, which can be heavy and exposed to failures.

The motor system according to the present invention further enables a waterproof cabling and integrated cooling system for motors, which may lengthen the operating life and reduce a need for maintenance.

In this document the expression“feeds for various energies” refers herein widely for energies, such as but no limited to, laser beam, electronics and/or pneumatic, but it can be understood in wider context referring also feeds for one or more other sub- stances, such as, but no limited to, liquid, air, gas, suction of gases, machine vision and/or cooling.

As used herein, "plurality" means two or more. As used herein, a "set" of items may include one or more of such items. As used herein, whether in the written description or the claims, the terms "comprising", "including", "carrying", "having", "contain- ing", "involving", and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases "consisting of and "con- sisting essentially of', respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases with respect to claims. Use of ordinal terms such as "first", "second", "third", etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, prece- dence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements. As used herein, "and/or" means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items.

The expression“a number of’ refers herein to any positive integer starting from one (1), e.g. to one, two, or three.

The terms“a” and“an”, as used herein, are defined as one or more than one.

Short description of the drawings Next, the invention is described in more detail with reference to the appended draw- ings, in which

Fig. la depicts a perspective view of an arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention illustrating a motor unit and some exemplary arm units,

Fig. lb depicts a cross section side view of the arrangement in Fig. la,

Fig. 2 depicts a perspective view of a hollow shaft motor according to the em bodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 3 depicts a cross section side view of a motor unit and a channel according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 4 depicts a cross section side view of an exemplary embodiment of an arm unit connected in a motor unit and a channel.

Figs. 5a and 5b depict areas A and B in Fig. 4, respectively,

Fig. 6 depicts an exemplary view of an arrangement for directing various elec- trics simultaneously in the channel.

Detailed description of the embodiments

In the Figures herein, unique features receive unique reference numerals, while fea- tures that are the same in more than one drawing receive the same reference numerals throughout. Further, certain terms of orientation may be used, such as "upper," "lower," "top," "bottom," "left," "right," "inside," "outside," "interior," "exterior," "in- ner," and "outer." These terms are generally for convenience of reference, and should be so understood unless a particular embodiment requires otherwise.

Fig. la depicts a perspective view and Fig. lb a cross section view of the arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention. An arrangement 100 for feeding various energies in connection with a motor unit comprises a motor unit 102 corn- prising a casing 104 and one or more motors 106, which at least a part of the motors arranged in the same axis 107 (depicted in dotted line in Fig. lb) inside the casing 104. In an embodiment, the casing 104 is arranged to be air and waterproof. A channel for feeds of various energies is arranged in connection with the motor unit and/or in an arm unit l08a, l08b, l08c. In addition, connectors 109, which are arranged in the casing 104, are arranged to be waterproof. The person skilled in the art will appreciate that different kinds of con- nectors can be arranged in the casing according to the present invention, such as, but not limited to, electric, pneumatic, sensors, liquids and cooling. As can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the connectors are advantageously arranged at the top of the casing 104.

In an embodiment, the arrangement further comprises a quick change means for con- necting various arm units l08a, l08b, l08c to the motor unit 102. According to a preferable embodiment, the motor unit 102 comprises one or more locking parts 1 10 of the quick change means for locking and releasing various kinds of arm units. For example, an arm unit being a tool a lower locking part can be used and an arm unit being a propeller, for example, a higher or more than one locking parts can be ar- ranged to use to connect the propeller to the motor unit. In an embodiment, the quick change means is utilized for every axis of the output of the motors.

In an embodiment, the arms parts l08a, l08b, l08c are formed so that the upper part of the arm part have a suitable form to be locked into the locking part.

The person skilled in the art will appreciate that the type and number of motor used in the present invention can vary. At least a part of the motors are arranged in the same axis. In an embodiment, the common axis 107 of motors is preferably the com- mon axis of the motor unit 102 as well. Different types and different size of motors is possible to use in the same motor unit. The motors comprise typical part for trans- ferring the power to the desired part of an arm unit.

Fig. 2 depicts a perspective view of a hollow shaft motor according to the embodi- ment of the present invention. In an embodiment, motors 106, or at least a part of motors in the motor unit 102 are hollow shaft motors. Arranging the hollow shaft motors one upon the other, an opening 1 1 1, i.e. the hollow shaft, in the middle of the motor is preferably arranged in the common axis.

In an embodiment, at least a part of the motors has its own output axis, which is able to rotate its own speed, power output and/or rotating direction.

Yet, in an embodiment, the hollow shaft of motors, when arranged in the same axis, forms at least a part of the channel.

Fig. 3 depicts a cross section view of a motor unit and a channel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The channel 1 12 for feeds of various energies 1 l4a, 1 l4b, 1 l4c is arranged in connection with the motor unit 102. In an embodi- ment, at least a part of the energies is simultaneously fed in the channel. In this em bodiment, energies, except liquids, are typically able to lead simultaneously in the channel.

In another embodiment, the channel 1 12 for feeds of various energies is directed through the motor unit 102, and, in an embodiment, wherein the motors are hollow shaft motors, the channel 1 12 is directed through the opening formed by the motors as described above. In the embodiment depicted in Fig. 3, the feed 1 l4a depicts laser beam and/or computer vision, when used backwards, the feed 1 14b pneumatic and the feed 1 l4c electronic energies. Feeds 1 l4a, 1 l4b and 1 l4c are drawn with contin- uous line, dashed line and dotted line, respectively.

In an embodiment, the channel 1 12 comprises one or more inlets and/or one or more outlets depending on types of energies fed in the channel 1 12. In another embodiment, the channel 1 12 comprises leading means, such as one or more fittings, wires, bush- ings, and/or mirrors, for leading the feeds 1 14 through joints in the motor unit 102. In an embodiment, the joints of the arrangement are swiveling freely and comprise an opening for the channel of the arrangement. Preferably, the joints are watertight, too.

The person skilled in the art will appreciate that leading means can also be used as inlets and outlets to lead one or more feeds into the channel and out of it, and to be further transferred to arm unit of the arrangement.

As an example in Fig. 3, mirrors 120 are used to lead laser beam feed. Mirrors l20a, l20b are arranged to serve as an inlet and outlet, respectively, for leading laser beam into the channel 1 12 and out of it. The person skilled in the art will appreciate that the number and the placing of the mirrors depend on a construction of the arrange- ment.

In an embodiment, the channel is arranged to be at least partly electrically conductive for leading electric feed in the channel. In addition, in another embodiment, one or more electronic feeds and pneumatic feeds are lead through joints in in the arrange- ment by using the leading means, such as fittings 122 and/or bushings 124 suitable for these purposes.

Fig. 4 depicts a cross section side view of an exemplary embodiment of an arm unit connected in a motor unit and a channel. In an embodiment, the arrangement further comprises an arm unit 108 to be connected in the motor unit 102. In an embodiment, the arm unit 104 is connected in the motor 102 unit by quick change means 1 10, as described above.

The person skilled in the art will appreciate that various kinds of arm unit for different purposes can be connected to the motor unit, such as gripper, a tool, a robot arm unit for assembling, packing, dispensing, tapping, vision picking and/or screw inserting, a laser arm unit.

In an embodiment, the channel 1 12 for feeds 1 14b, 1 14c of various energies is di- rected through both the motor unit 102 and the arm unit 108. Though only pneumatic 1 l4c (dashed line) and electric 1 l4b (continuous line) feeds are presented, the skilled person will appreciate that the arrangement in question can also comprise another feeds, such as laser beam, as described above. Depending on purposes, the number and types of energy feeds varies in different arm units. For example, using the ar- rangement as a motor in an e-vehicle, the arm unit in question does not need to have a feed for laser beam, though the motor unit has it.

Inlets 1 l6b, 1 16c of the feeds to the channel 1 12 through the casing 104 are preferably arranged by using one or more connectors 109 or some other means, such as arranging a suitable wire through the casing. In an embodiment, the connectors, the inlets and/or the outlets are arranged in a water and air proof manner in the casing 104. Outlets 1 18b, 1 18c, 1 18d represent outlet of pneumatics, electrics and a ground connection, respectively.

In an embodiment, leading means are used for leading feeds for various energies through the arm unit, and in an exemplary embodiment of Fig. 4, feeds 1 l4b, 1 l4c are led through all joints and/or by using e-rotary fittings and e-bushings. From joint to joint feeds 1 l4b, 1 l4c are led by integrated e-bushings and rotary e-wires.

Figs. 5a and 5b depict areas A and B in Fig. 4. Pneumatics feed 1 l4a is preferably led through the main axis by using the center hole of bushings 124.

The electric feed 1 l4c is preferably led by using electrically conductive or isolating leading means. Leading the feed 1 l4c through the main axis, the suitable part of the channel is arranged to be electrically conductive 128. In addition, conductive rotary wire 126 and/or isolating l24a or conductive l24b bushings are used for leading elec- tric feed. A hatched area in Figs. 5a and 5b is for illustrating the lead of the electric feed in the channel. Fig. 6 depicts an exemplary view of an arrangement for leading various electrics l30a, l30b, l30c simultaneously in the channel. Depending on embodiment, the leaded electrics can be negative and/or positive and have various voltage, for exam- ple. The skilled person will appreciate that the leading means can also have another pur- pose in the arrangement, in connection with the motor part, for example.

Throughout this description, the embodiments and examples shown should be con- sidered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and procedures dis- closed or claimed. Although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same ob- jectives. Acts, elements and features discussed only in connection with one embodi- ment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments.

Claims

1. An arrangement for feeding various energies in connection with a motor unit comprising: - a motor unit comprising o a casing, and o one or more motors, at least a part of the motors arranged in the same axis inside said casing, wherein said arrangement further comprises a channel for feeds of various ener- gies.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of said energy feeds are simultaneously led in said channel.

3. An arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein said arrangement further comprises an arm unit to be connected in said motor unit.

4. An arrangement according to claim 3, wherein said arrangement further corn- prises quick change means for locking said arm unit in said motor unit.

5. An arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein said channel for feeds of various energies is directed through said motor unit and/or said arm unit.

6. An arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein said channel for feeds of various energies comprises leading means, such as fittings, wires, bushings and/or mirrors, for leading said feeds through joints in said motor and/or arm unit.

7. An arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein said channel for feeds of various energies comprises one or more inlets and/or one or more outlets for feeds of various energies.

8. An arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one of said motors in said motor unit is a hollow shaft motor.

9. An arrangement according to claim 8, wherein said channel is arranged in an opening formed by said hollow shaft motor.

10. An arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein said casing and/or arm said unit is/are arranged to be waterproof.