The invention relates to a method for force calibration, force computation and force limitation in iron core linear motors by detecting interfering influences during the driving of the sled of the linear motor. Hereinafter, force computation and force limitation are understood to be interchangeable terms.
There are applications in which the tools used for assembly or testing are clamped to the movable part of a linear motor. When tools of this type are used, the value of the force with which the parts can be joined together, tested or sensitive parts may be brought into position only with limited force is critical.
In principle, the electrical current measured in the linear motor can be used as a value for force. However, the fact that iron core linear motors have ineliminable residual magnetic forces (cogging) even when idle falsifies force measurement values. These residual forces are a result of the interaction between the permanent magnets and the iron poles of the iron core linear motors. They are not linearly, reciprocally positive/negative and are additionally still dependent on the mechanical tolerances of the particular linear motor. For these reasons, non-iron core linear motors operating without cogging force (for example, linear motors from SAMC, wwwsmac-mca.de operating on the moving coil principle) are used for force measurements.
The disadvantage of these non-iron core linear motors is that they are more voluminous than iron core linear motors of identical propelling force. Additional force sensors can be installed or arranged externally with which force can be measured and limited. This involves additional expenses, however.
Today's linear motors must be made more compactly and economically. In this context, some thought has been given on the possibility of computing force directly with compact, iron core linear motors.
The invention therefore seeks to propose a method for computing force specifically on compact, iron core linear motors.
This problem is solved according to the technical teaching of the independent claims.
While direct force measurement without the undesired forces is not possible, the undesired forces can be accurately recorded and saved with the aid of single calibration performed in advance. This data can then be used to compute force indirectly.
The method according to the invention offers for the first time precise force measurement (by eliminating undesired forces) of an operating iron core linear motor. The method consists of a single calibration of the iron core linear motor involving the detection of undesired forces in the form of recording electrical current. This recorded electrical current data is then available when movements occur in the application, thus allowing propelling forces to be precisely computed and limited.
Force measurement (force limitation) is typically desired with the linear motor arranged vertically. This means that the weight force of the sled and the customer's tool add-ons thereof act downward. It is thus advantageous to factor this weight force into the force computation. If this weight force is compensated by a spring, compressed air or magnetic preloading elements (MagSpring), this compensation force should likewise be recorded and incorporated into the force computation. This compensation force is likewise typically not constant over the path of travel. Additionally, frictional forces of the guidance also come into play which likewise need to be taken into consideration.
There are thus various undesired (parasitic) forces which compromise the accuracy of force measurement with an iron core linear motor.
In the method for calibrating iron core linear motors according to the invention, all of these parasitic forces are accurately recorded and saved in the calibration method.
With the linear motor arranged vertically, these consist of:
The following terms used for the various electrical currents help illustrate the method: Itotal, current measured during operation in the application; Iparas, current recorded using the calibration method; and Iforce, current proportional to force measured during operation in the application.
With this method the same is always true in relation to the data at the same position point:
I
force
=I
total
−I
paras.
When calibration is performed, it is imperative that no application forces appear. Only the parasitic forces may act on the linear motor sled.
According to the method, the linear motor sled, including the customer's add-ons, is slowly moved along the desired travel area during calibration and the appearing electrical current (Iparas) and the corresponding position are recorded in a tight travel grid (with the utmost precision) by using precise current and position sensors and saved. The value of these currents then represents the sum of all parasitic forces precisely at each position point.
Following the calibration procedure, the calibration data can be verified using a simple test.
In this test, the saved data record of current (Iparas) and corresponding position values are interpolated and impressed in the linear motor axle according to position. When energized in this way, the linear motor sled behaves fully balanced in practice (remains “floating” at every position) when moved manually. This shows that the method has worked and that the saved electrical current-position values represent the undesired parasitic forces precisely.
When the application is run, the force-proportional current (Iforce) can now be computed at any desired position by measuring the total current (ILtotal) and subtracting the parasitic current (Iparas). Scaling this Iforce with the force constant of the iron core linear motor (Newton per ampere) yields the force currently appearing in the application. If desired, this can then be expressed as a graphic course over the entire path of travel.
On the other hand, it is possible to limit computed force-proportional current (Iforce), force, scaled with the force constant of the iron core linear motor (Newton per ampere), to the exact force.
The achievable computational accuracy of 2-5% is sufficient for most applications. This means that the servo controller, in addition to precisely positioning the iron core linear motor axle, can also be used to compute force or record complete force/travel diagrams. This means that in many cases, additional or external force sensors, monitoring cameras or part-presence sensors are not necessary.
According to a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, it is initially provided that when calibration is performed beforehand, the winding current in the iron core linear motor including the weight of the customer's add-on on the sled is detected without any assembly, joining or press-in force (without application forces). (see
The following steps are provided for one-time calibration.
Gathering Iparas (
1. Preparing the sled including activated weight compensation (if present) and the weight of the customer's add-on so that the sled can move over the desired travel distance freely and without touching parts or workpieces.
2. Moving the sled at low speed over the desired travel distance (to and from or up and down) while recording position and corresponding current Iparas in small intervals (e.g. every 25 μm).
3. Saving the recording pair current Iparas and position in a calibration database.
4. Optional, simple test for verifying calibration data. Interpolating the current values Iparas from the calibration databank and impressing as winding current on the linear motor, corresponding to the current sled position. The sled can now be moved by hand very easily and remains “floating” stationary at each desired position within the calibrated travel distance.
5. The iron core linear motor is now individually calibrated, with assembly tolerances, uneven field strengths of the permanent magnets and the copper wire tolerances of the winding being taken into consideration.
This calibration is stored in the calibration database in the form of parameter pairs current Iparas/position and is now available for computing force in application operation.
If, for example, something changes on the customer's add-on on the sled or on the weight compensation, a new calibration can be easily performed to readjust the data accordingly.
The following steps are used for operation in the application:
Computing/recording computed current Iforce (
1. The calibration, according to the method above, is performed and the calibration database is available and valid.
2. Activating force measurement in the servo controller.
3. Putting the linear motor into operation according to the application and simultaneously recording the parameter pair current Itotal with corresponding position.
4. Computing force-proportional Iforce at all desired positions by subtracting the parasitic current Iparas interpolated at this position from current Itotal. Computation is always in relation to the same position of ILast and Iparas.
I
force
=I
Ltotal
−I
paras.
The current Iforce is proportional to force.
5. The current Iforce computed in step 4, scaled with the force constant, corresponds exactly to the force which must be used to press the press-in termination 6 into the workpiece 7. The scaling factor corresponds to the force constant N/A (Newton per Ampere) of the linear motor.
It is thus possible for the first time to perform force computation through a one-time, prior force calibration of an iron core linear motor, which was previously unknown and not possible.
Until now, performing force measurement required using exclusively iron-free linear motors, which have no residual magnetic force, since this residual magnetic force (cogging) falsifies the force measurement, thus rendering the gathered measurement results unusable. For iron-free linear motors, however, the weight force of the movable part (sled) of customer's add-ons, force effect of weight compensation and frictional forces must be allowed for to determine the effect force in the application.
This shows that the present method involving prior force calibration can in principle also be used with iron-free linear motors. The advantage of this is that the parasitic forces are measured directly on the object (specifically the non-linear forces in the case of a weight compensation) and are not based on technical data affected by tolerances.
The invention thus concerns a calibration method which allows for the first time not only the residual magnetic forces but also all other undesired parasitic forces to be taken into account.
These forces are recorded during calibration and are illustrated by the current Iparas. What all this Iparas represents is reflected in the force equation 1 in
The current Iparas is stored together with the corresponding position in the calibration database of the memory in the linear motor. The calibration database contains all values over the distance traveled in the calibration procedure.
Arranged in the computation circuit of the linear motor present according to the invention are preferably a controller, an interpolation filter and a measurement device for recording current Iparas.
This computation circuit could optionally allow the calibration data to be verified as an additional safety. For this purpose, Iparas is taken from the calibration database and impressed in the linear motor according to position. When then shifted manually, the sled will remain floating at each desired position.
In the application operation, the parasitic current Iparas gathered from calibration is used to compute the force-proportional current Iforce.
I
force
=I
total
−I
paras.
It is thereby now possible for the first time to limit the force by computing and limiting the current Iforce in the iron core linear motor calibrated according to the invention. If, for example, sensitive parts need to be joined, affixed or tested, the force of the sled feed can be restricted or limited so that exactly the desired force prevails on the part to be processed
In this connection, the presence of parts or jamming of parts can be detected and recorded in a very simple manner. Should parts in the tools or on the sled become jammed during operation/assembly, this will be detected in the form of greater forces. Additional monitoring of the parts in the manufacturing process is thus unnecessary, because this is accomplished simply through the force computation of the force-calibrated iron core linear motor.
This is increasingly demanded in practice as quality and traceability become ever more important. This “inspection function” integrated in the linear motor can replace expensive optical cameras or external sensor technology.
The force-calibrated iron core linear motor according to the invention can also forgo an external force sensor, since the exact force effect on the processing parts can be computed for each sled position in real time.
The subject matter of the present invention is derived not only from the subject matter of the individual patent claims, but also from the combination of individual patent claims with one another.
All statements and features, especially the spatial layout presented in the drawings, disclosed in the documents, including the abstract, are claimed as essential to the invention insofar as they are novel over the prior art individually or in combination.
The invention is described below in greater detail using only one embodiment in the representative drawings. Further essential features and advantages of the invention can hereby be derived from the drawings and their descriptions.
Shown are:
This hereby constitutes a vertical set-up of a linear motor with desired force measurement present in most applications.
For weight compensation of the sled weight 2 and an adapter mounted on the sled 2 by the customer, hereinafter identified as add-on 4, a weight compensation 5 is provided, which in the shown exemplary embodiment consists of a helical tension spring.
Any desired weight compensation 5 is possible. Instead of a helical tension spring other force accumulators can be used such as, for example, elastomer springs, spiral springs, disk springs, magnetic springs or pneumatic devices and similar items. It is simply a matter of the weight of the sled including the customer add-on, which, because of gravity, is oriented downward in the direction indicated by the arrow 12, being more or less compensated by the weight compensation 5.
If the motor winding in the stator housing 1 is free of current, the weight compensation 5 must be set such that the sled 2 travels to the desired position in the stator housing 1, e.g. in the middle position. Because these weight compensations are often of very rudimentary design and are accordingly imprecise, the load weight is often also overcompensated such that the sled moves upward to the limit stop in current-free state. It is now advantageous if all of these “imprecisions”, which are at best very difficult to define with technical data, are precisely recorded with force calibration.
For performing force calibration according to
The drawing shows plotted in the sliding range of the sled 2 the different parasitic forces, specifically
the force Fcogg,
the force Fgew,
the force Fgeko,
the force FRstat,
the force FRdyn.
These forces are explained in equation 1 shown in
When the force calibration method is performed, these parasitic forces are recorded by the corresponding servo controller 3 and saved to the calibration database.
For this purpose, a communication module 8 having a signal path 13 to the externally present servo controller 3 is arranged in the stator housing. The communication module 8 additionally features a memory 23 for storing the electrical current value Iparas in relation to the particular position value measured during the calibration method.
Likewise stored in the communication module is a so-called electronic datasheet 22 in which all parameters such as, for example, individuality, resistance and force constant of the iron core linear motor are stored. A temperature sensor 24 is also arranged in the communication module 8.
Arranged next to the communication module 8 is another position sensor 9 which can run on the basis of a desired position detection method. It can run on the basis of an optical, magnetic, inductive or capacitive scanning method.
It is essential that a certain position value is generated or can be computed per travel interval of the sled feed 2 (incremental measurement).
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a digital position value is recorded every 25 μm travel interval or less and is assigned the electrical current value Iparas. This Iparas is measured by a current sensor 10 likewise arranged in the stator housing 1. The current sensor can operate by exploiting the Hall effect.
Additionally, one or even multiple windings 11 are of course arranged in the stator housing 1 which, together with the permanent magnets in the sled 2, form the drive unit.
Running current through the winding 11 can thus move the sled 2 up and down in the stator housing in the direction indicated by the arrow 12.
Additionally, the digital travel measurement data recorded by the position sensor 9 are fed via a line 14 to a computation circuit 19 which in turn contains a controller, filter and current recording.
At this point it is important that the current sensor measures the current in the one or more windings 11 while the sled 2 is moved over the desired travel distance during the calibration method and processes this current Iparas in the computation circuit 19 and stored in the memory of the communication module 18.
There is accordingly an additional memory in the communication module 18 which is connected to the memory 23 in the stator housing 1 via the interface 13.
The processing proceeds in the form of the following method steps 1 through 5 when performing calibration in which the parasitic current Iparas is measured and saved:
Computing/recording computed current Iforce (
1. The calibration, according to the method above, is performed and the calibration database is available and valid.
2. Activating force measurement in the servo controller.
3. Putting the linear motor into operation according to the application and simultaneously recording the parameter pair current Itotal with corresponding position.
4. Computing force-proportional Iforce at all desired positions by subtracting the parasitic current Iparas interpolated at this position from current Itotal. Computation is always in relation to the same position of ILast and Iparas. Iforce=ILtotal−Iparas. The current Iforce is proportional to force.
5. The current Iforce computed in step 4, scaled with the force constant, corresponds exactly to the force which must be used to press the press-in termination 6 into the workpiece 7. The scaling factor corresponds to the force constant N/A (Newton per Ampere) of the linear motor.
Later in the application operation, this Iparas is subtracted from total winding current Itotal, by means of which calibrated current Iforce is computed. Iforce can only be computed and not measured directly. Iparas is recorded during calibration and first temporarily saved together with the position in the communication module 18 memory and then stored as a calibration database in the stator housing 1 memory 23. Iforce can be directly computed in real time in application operation.
To verify whether the parasitic current Iparas is correctly recorded and the internal computation runs correctly, this current Iparas of the winding 11 can be pilot-controlled for testing. In this state the sled 2 floats powerlessly at each desired position in the stator housing when moved manually.
The calibration method presented above is illustrated once again using the block diagram shown in
The current Iparas necessary for overcoming the parasitic forces is recorded by current sensor 10. At the same time, the position sensor 9 records the position and assigns it to the current value Iparas. This assignment of Iparas to position physically occurs in the computing unit 19.
In the computing unit 19 desired Iparas values for each intermediate position are computed for the positions between the parameter pairs Iparas/position via interpolation filters.
Upon close examination, it is clear that in the measurement intervals from left to right the influence of the residual magnetic force shown in
Also interesting is the value of the current Iforce illustrated in
It is important to realize that this profile of the parasitic current corresponds to a proportional value of the total of the parasitic forces as calculated according to the force equation 1 in
The current Iforce can be computed from the total current in the winding Itotal 11 minus Iparas from the calibration. This means that the computed Iforce value precisely equals the current which must be used for joining the part.
Generating the Itotal or also the Iparas for the calibration is executed in the starting step 20.
It is thus possible to calibrate in advance an iron core linear motor for computing force such that the application force F on the joining part 6 in a workpiece 7 can be precisely calculated and limited. All interfering forces of the iron core linear motor are “calibrated out”.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
10 2014 003 842.4 | Mar 2014 | DE | national |