The invention relates to a transmission gear for converting movement from a driving movement to an output movement, in particular in a swing device (e.g. swing clamp for clamping components or hydraulic swing motor).
A conventional swing clamp is known from EP 1 264 659 B1 and DE 102 52 549 A1, which is used, for example, for clamping workpieces on machine tables. In this case, a clamping bar is pivotable and axially displaceable, the movement of the clamping bar being driven by a piston which is axially displaceable in a working cylinder of the swing clamp under pressure medium actuation. A transmission gear is arranged between the displaceable piston and the displaceable and swing clamp, which converts the purely axial movement of the piston into the combined swiveling and axial movement of the clamping bar. In the case of the known swing clamp, this movement conversion takes place with a slotted guide system. In addition, the known swing clamp has seals that prevent the penetration of media (e.g. hydraulic oil) in the axial direction along the link guide. These seals are arranged axially above and below the slotted guide system, which increases the axial overall height of the conventional swing clamp, since the seals require installation space above and below the slotted guide system. The disadvantage of the known swing clamp is therefore the fact that the seals require additional installation space and thus increase the axial height of the swing clamp.
Furthermore, a transmission gear for a parking brake of a motor vehicle is known from DE 10 2012 012 423 A1. However, this known transmission gear is not suitable for a swing clamp or a hydraulic swing motor.
Furthermore, the general technical background of the invention also includes the publications DE 10 2012 000 392 A1, DE 10 2017 221 512 A1, DE 27 57 507 A1 and DE 41 14 295 A1.
The invention is therefore based on the task of creating a possibility of reducing the axial overall height of a swing clamp.
This task is solved by a transmission gear according to the invention and the main claim.
The transmission gear according to the invention is generally used for converting movement from a driving movement to an output movement. The invention is therefore not limited to the use of the transmission gear according to the invention in a swing clamp. Rather, the transmission gear according to the invention can also be used in other ways.
In accordance with the prior art, the transmission gear according to the invention has a movable drive member which executes the driving movement during operation. In the preferred embodiment of a swing clamp, the drive member is preferably a piston which is axially displaceable under pressure medium actuation, the piston being driven, for example, pneumatically or hydraulically.
Furthermore, in accordance with the prior art, the transmission gear according to the invention has a movable output member which performs the output movement during operation. In the preferred embodiment of a swing clamp, it is preferably a rod that supports the clamp bar, the rod being both axially displaceable and swiveling.
Furthermore, as in the prior art, the transmission gear according to the invention also has a cam gear which converts the driving movement of the drive member (e.g. piston) into the output movement of the output member (e.g. rod) in accordance with a predetermined transmission curve.
It should be mentioned here that of the driving movement and the output movement, one of these movements is an axial movement along a predetermined axis of movement or contains at least one translational movement component along the axis of movement, while the respective other movement is a rotational movement about the axis of movement or contains at least one rotational movement component. In the preferred embodiment of the swing clamp, the driving movement is a pure axial movement without a rotational movement component, while the output movement is a combined rotational and axial movement.
The invention is now distinguished by the fact that the cam gear does not have a slotted guide system, as is the case with EP 1 264 659 B1. Instead, in the transmission gear according to the invention, the cam gear has two contact surfaces that slide on each other over an area and thus effect the conversion of movement. The contact surfaces sliding on each other are therefore preferably free-form surfaces, which preferably run along a helix. It should be mentioned here that the free-form surfaces are preferably non-circular in a cross-section perpendicular to the axis of movement. For example, the contact surfaces can be elliptical in a cross-section perpendicular to the axis of movement. An axial displacement of the contact surfaces sliding on each other relative to each other along the axis of movement thus inevitably leads to a rotational movement of the two contact surfaces relative to each other. Conversely, a rotation of the two contact surfaces relative to each other inevitably also leads to an axial movement of the contact surfaces relative to each other. Suitable shaping of the free-form surfaces allows virtually any transmission curves to be realized, with the transmission curves reflecting the relationship between the driving movement and the output movement.
It should also be mentioned that the cam gear is not self-locking. This is important so that a displacement or rotation of the contact surfaces relative to each other does not lead to a blocking of the cam gear. The contact surfaces are therefore preferably smooth, offset-free and positively or negatively curved.
It was mentioned above with respect to the prior art as a disadvantage that the seals increase the axial overall height of the swing clamp, which is undesirable. In the design according to the invention, however, a seal can be integrated into the contact surfaces. It should be mentioned here that the seal can be arranged in the axial direction in the area of the contact surfaces sliding on each other, so that no additional axial installation space is required to accommodate the seal.
For example, an annular groove can be arranged in one of the contact surfaces sliding on each other, which serves to accommodate the seal. The annular groove can optionally be arranged in the drive-side contact surface or in the output-side contact surface.
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the two contact surfaces sliding on each other are preferably arranged on the drive member on the one hand and on the output member on the other hand. Alternatively, however, it is also possible for only the drive member or the output member to have a contact surface, while the corresponding further contact surface is arranged in a fixed position.
When the transmission gear according to the invention is used in a swing clamp, the driving movement of the drive member (e.g. piston) is preferably a pure axial movement without a rotational movement component. The drive member can therefore also be secured against rotation about the axis of movement. In the case of a piston as the drive member, this can be realized, for example, by the piston having an elliptical cross-section and being displaceable in a working cylinder with a correspondingly adapted elliptical cross-section.
The output movement of the output member, on the other hand, is preferably a pure rotational movement without a translational component in an initial phase of the output movement, as is known from swing clamps per se. Thus, in the initial phase, the axial driving movement of the piston leads only to a pivoting of the swing member without an axial movement.
In a final phase of the output movement, on the other hand, the output movement of the output member (e.g. swing bar) is preferably a pure axial movement without a rotational component. After the swing bar has been swiveled into the clamping position, the swing bar is then only moved axially in order to clamp a component.
In contrast, in a transition phase between the initial phase and the final phase, the output movement of the output member (e.g. swing bar) can be a combined rotational and axial movement.
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the transmission gear may comprise an axial lock, which prevents an axial movement of the output member (e.g. swing bar) along the movement axis in the initial phase of the movement and releases the axial movement of the output member in the final phase. For this purpose, for example, the axial lock can have an elliptical disc that is torsionally rigidly connected to the output member or integrally formed on the output member. The elliptical disc can then only be axially displaced in a specific rotational position in an elliptical bore, whereas the elliptical disc otherwise blocks axial displacement.
It has already been briefly mentioned above that the drive member may be a piston displaceable in a working cylinder along the axis of movement, the piston being displaceable in the working cylinder by a working fluid actuated by pressure medium, for example hydraulically or pneumatically. The output member, on the other hand, can be a rod, as is known per se from swing clamps. In this case, the working cylinder and the piston may have a cross-section that is not circular, which prevents rotation of the piston in the working cylinder. For example, the piston and the working cylinder can have a non-cylindrical cross-section (e.g. a polygon or an ellipse). The shape of the piston and working cylinder should prevent rotation and can be made using a non-circular cross-section (for example, elliptical or polygonal).
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the piston has a through axial bore, with a rod passing through the axial bore in the piston. The outer surface of the rod on the one hand and the inner surface of the axial bore in the piston on the other hand form the sliding contact surfaces for the movement conversion.
In general, it should be mentioned that the drive member is preferably mounted in a torsion-proof manner so that the drive member cannot rotate about the axis of movement. In contrast, the drive member is preferably axially displaceably mounted so that the drive member can move axially along the axis of movement.
In general, it should also be mentioned that the drive member preferably surrounds the output member in an annular manner. Alternatively, however, it is also possible for the output member to surround the drive member in an annular manner.
The above description parts preferably refer to the use of the transmission according to the invention in a swing clamp. However, it has already been mentioned above that other areas of application for the transmission according to the invention are also conceivable. The transmission gear according to the invention is therefore suitable for various movement conversions, which are described briefly below.
In one variant of the invention - see also
In another invention variant - see also
In another invention variant - see also
In a further variant of the invention - see also
A further variant of the invention - see also
Another variant of the invention - see also
Another variant of the invention - see also
In a further variant of the invention - see also
A further variant of the invention - see also
In yet another embodiment - see also
In the above-mentioned different variants of the invention, the contact surfaces (free-form surfaces) of the cam gear are located, on the one hand, in the outer circumferential surface of the rod and, on the other hand, in the inner surface of the piston.
The above description refers generally to a transmission according to the invention, irrespective of the field of application. However, the invention also claims protection for a swing clamp with such a transmission gear, wherein the clamping bar of the swing clamp is moved by the output member of the transmission gear, while the drive member is a piston which is displaceable in a working cylinder actuated by pressure medium. Furthermore, the invention also claims protection for a hydraulic swing motor with the transmission gear according to the invention. Thus, the transmission gear according to the invention is generally suitable for use in a swing device (e.g., swing motor, swing clamp).
Other advantageous further embodiments of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims or are explained in more detail below together with the description of the preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the figures.
In the following, the preferred embodiment of a swing clamp 1 according to the invention is described, as shown in
Thus, the swing clamp 1 firstly has a housing 2 which is closed off by a housing cover 3 on its upper side.
A swing piston 4 extends through a bore in the housing cover 3, which supports a swing arm 5 with a swing bar 6 mounted thereon. The swing piston 4 is vertically displaceable with the swing arm 5 and the clamping bar 6 and can be swiveled about a vertical swing axis, as is known per se from the prior art and will still be described in detail. At this point it is only to be mentioned that the swing piston 4 together with the clamping bar 6 and the swing arm 5 form an output member in the sense of the invention.
In the housing 2, an adjusting bush 7 is arranged at the bottom, which has an elliptical internal cross-section and forms a working cylinder 8 with an elliptical cross-section.
A piston 9 is axially displaceable in the working cylinder 8, the piston 9 also having an elliptical cross-section. The piston 9 can thus be axially displaced in the working cylinder 8, i.e. in the vertical direction, whereas rotation of the piston 9 in the working cylinder 8 is not possible. The piston here forms a drive member in the sense of the invention.
The piston 9 has a central bore through which an elliptical body 10 is passed, which is integrally formed at the lower end of the swing piston 4, the elliptical body 10 having on its outer lateral surface a curved free-form surface F2 which follows a helical line. The through-bore in the piston 9 has a correspondingly adapted curved free-form surface F1 on the inside, which also follows a helix. An axial displacement of the piston 9 relative to the elliptical body 10 thus leads to a conversion of movement corresponding to a largely freely predeterminable transmission curve.
It should also be mentioned that a stop 11 and a lock nut 12 are screwed tightly to the lower end of the swing piston 4.
An elliptical disc 13 is formed on the swing piston 4 to form an axial lock. Thus, in the relaxed swing position according to
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the piston 9 in the working cylinder 8 can be displaced in axial direction by pressure medium. For this purpose, the swing clamp 1 has hydraulic connections 14, 15.
In the following, the transition from the relaxed position according to
Here, the piston 9 is moved axially downward in the working cylinder 8, whereby the piston 9 is secured against rotation due to the elliptical cross-sections of the working cylinder 8 and the piston 9.
During this downward movement of the piston 9, the free-form surfaces F1, F2 in the outer lateral surface of the elliptical body 10 on the one hand and in the through bore of the piston 9 on the other hand slide on each other, resulting in a conversion of movement. The pure axial movement of the piston 9 is initially converted into a pure rotary movement of the swing piston 4.
In this case, the elliptical disc 13 of the swing piston 4 rests on the upper side of the adjusting bushing 7 and thus prevents axial displacement of the swing piston 4.
In the swing position according to
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that an annular groove is let into the free-form surface F1 in the through-bore of the piston 9, in which a seal 16 is arranged. The seal 16 here prevents axial media passage through the gap between the free-form surfaces F1, F2 which slide on one another. It is advantageous here that the seal 16 can be arranged directly in the free-form surface F1, so that no additional axial installation space is required.
From the illustrations and from the table according to
The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments described above. Rather, a large number of variants and variations are possible which also make use of the inventive concept and therefore fall within the scope of protection. In particular, the invention also claims protection for the subject matter and the features of the dependent claims independently of the claims referred to in each case and in particular also without the features of the main claim. The invention thus comprises different aspects of the invention which enjoy protection independently of each other.
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Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2020 115 803.3 | Jun 2020 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2021/066171 | 6/16/2021 | WO |