DE-102024133095-A1 - Actuator device and method

DE102024133095A1DE 102024133095 A1DE102024133095 A1DE 102024133095A1DE-102024133095-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an actuator device (1), in particular a pneumatic rotary actuator or a pneumatic gripper, for industrial automation, comprising a magnetic field sensor device (2) and a drive arrangement for performing a drive movement (3), wherein the drive arrangement has a rotary motion part (4) comprising a first magnetic element (5) and which, during the drive movement (3), changes its rotational position relative to the magnetic field sensor device (2) over a rotational position angular range of more than one revolution, wherein the drive arrangement further comprises a linear motion part (6) coupled to the rotary motion part (4), which has a second magnetic element (7) and performs a linear movement relative to the magnetic field sensor device (2) during the drive movement, wherein the magnetic field sensor device (2) is configured to detect the magnetic fields of the first magnetic element (5) and the second magnetic element (7), and wherein the actuator device (1) further comprises an evaluation unit (14) configured to generate a value based on the detected magnetic fields relative to the The rotation position angle range is to determine the unambiguous rotation position of the rotary motion part (4).

Inventors

Holger Bohm
Gabriel Dämmer
Daniel Klassen

Assignees

FESTO SE & CO. KG

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20241112

Claims (12)

Actuator device (1), in particular a pneumatic rotary actuator or pneumatic gripper, for industrial automation, comprising a magnetic field sensor device (2) and a drive arrangement for performing a drive movement (3), wherein the drive arrangement has a rotary motion part (4) comprising a first magnetic element (5) and which, during the drive movement (3), changes its rotational position relative to the magnetic field sensor device (2) over a rotational position angular range of more than one revolution, wherein the drive arrangement further comprises a linear motion part (6) coupled to the rotary motion part (4), which has a second magnetic element (7) and performs a linear movement during the drive movement relative to the magnetic field sensor device (2), wherein the magnetic field sensor device (2) is configured to detect the magnetic fields of the first magnetic element (5) and the second magnetic element (7), and the actuator device (1) further comprises an evaluation unit (14) configured to determine, on the basis of the detected magnetic fields, a unique rotational position of the rotary motion part (4) with respect to the rotational position angle range.
Actuator device (1) according Claim 1 , wherein the evaluation unit (14) is configured to provide a first magnetic field value and a second magnetic field value using the magnetic field sensor device (2), wherein the first magnetic field value depends on a rotational orientation of the first magnetic element (5) and the second magnetic field value depends on a distance of the second magnetic element (7) to the magnetic field sensor device (2), and to determine the unique rotational position on the basis of the first magnetic field value and the second magnetic field value.
Actuator device (1) according Claim 2 , wherein the evaluation unit (14) is configured to provide the rotational orientation of the rotary motion part (4) based on the detected first magnetic field value and to determine a number of revolutions of the rotary motion part (4) based on the detected second magnetic field value, wherein the number of revolutions indicates within which revolution (U0, U1, U2) of the rotation position angle range the rotary motion part (4) is located, and the evaluation unit (14) is configured to determine the unique rotation position based on the rotational orientation and the number of revolutions.
Actuator device (1) according Claim 3 , wherein the evaluation unit (14) is configured to determine the number of revolutions taking into account the first magnetic field value.
Actuator device (1) according Claim 4 , wherein the evaluation unit (14) is configured to determine two consecutive number of revolution candidates on the basis of the detected second magnetic field value and to select one of the two number of revolution candidates as the number of revolution on the basis of the detected first magnetic field value.
Actuator device (1) according to one of the Claims 3 until 5 , wherein the second magnetic element (7) is movable past the magnetic field sensor device within a transition section (A) of the rotational position angle range during the drive movement (3), wherein within the transition section (A) a transition (18) from one revolution (U0) of the rotary motion part (4) to the next revolution (U1) is given, and the evaluation unit (14) is designed to determine the number of revolutions within the transition section (A) taking into account the first magnetic field value.
Actuator device (1) according to one of the Claims 2 until 6 , wherein the evaluation unit has a look-up table comprising a plurality of value pairs consisting of a respective first magnetic field value and a respective second magnetic field value, as well as a plurality of rotation position values, wherein each value pair is assigned to a respective rotation position value, and wherein the evaluation unit (14) is configured to determine the unique rotation position using the look-up table.
Actuator device (1) according to a preceding claim, wherein the first magnetic field value is based on a first magnetic field component and a second magnetic field component, and the second magnetic field value is based on a third magnetic field component, wherein the first magnetic field component, the second magnetic field component and the third magnetic field component are orthogonally aligned to each other.
Actuator device (1) according Claim 8 , wherein the first magnetic field component and the second magnetic field component are aligned orthogonally to an axis of rotation of the rotary motion part (4) and/or the third magnetic field component is aligned in the axial direction of the axis of rotation of the rotary motion part (4).
Actuator device (1) according to a preceding claim, wherein the magnetic field sensor device is designed as a magnetic field sensor element, in particular as a 3D Hall sensor.
Actuator device (1) according to a preceding claim, wherein the drive arrangement is designed as a rack and pinion drive, the rotary motion part (4) comprises a gear (17) and the linear motion part (6) comprises a rack (8) engaging with the gear (17).
Method for operating an actuator device according to one of the preceding claims, comprising the steps: - Performing the drive movement, - Detecting the magnetic fields of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element with the magnetic field sensor device, and - Determining the unique rotational position based on the detected magnetic fields with the evaluation unit.

Description

The invention relates to an actuator device for industrial automation, in particular a pneumatic rotary actuator or a pneumatic gripper, comprising a magnetic field sensor device and a drive arrangement for carrying out a drive movement, wherein the drive arrangement has a rotary motion part comprising a first magnetic element and, within the scope of the drive movement, changes its rotational position relative to the magnetic field sensor device over a rotational position angular range of more than one revolution, wherein the drive arrangement further comprises a linear motion part coupled to the rotary motion part. For example, the linear motion component is a pneumatically actuated piston assembly which, together with the rotary motion component, forms a rack and pinion drive, in particular a pinion drive. An actuator device with a rotary position angle range of more than one revolution can also be referred to as a multi-turn actuator device. One object of the invention is to determine a unique rotational position of the rotary motion part with respect to the rotational position angle range - i.e., with respect to an angular range that includes more than one revolution, i.e., more than 360 degrees. The problem is solved by an actuator device according to claim 1. The actuator device has a second magnetic element which performs a linear movement relative to the magnetic field sensor device during the drive movement, wherein the magnetic field sensor device is configured to detect the magnetic fields of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element, and the actuator device further comprises an evaluation unit configured to determine a unique rotational position of the rotary motion part with respect to the rotational position angle range based on the detected magnetic fields. The statement that the magnetic field sensor device detects the magnetic fields of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element means in particular that the magnetic field of the first magnetic element and the magnetic field of the second magnetic element are incorporated into the magnetic field detection carried out by the magnetic field sensor device, i.e., for example, that the magnetic field sensor device detects a total magnetic field that results from a superposition of the magnetic field of the first magnetic element and the magnetic field of the second magnetic element. The linear movement of the second magnetic element relative to the magnetic field sensor causes a change in the magnetic field of the second magnetic element detected at the location of the magnetic field sensor. Since the rotary and linear motion components are coupled, and the linear movement of the linear motion component is therefore related to the rotary motion of the rotary motion component, the rotational position of the rotary motion component can be determined based on the detected magnetic field of the second magnetic element. Consequently, a unique rotational position of the rotary motion component can be determined with respect to its angular range. Preferably, the first magnetic element rotates and the second magnetic element moves linearly with it, whereby the magnetic fields of the two magnetic elements superimpose and are detected in particular by a single sensor element, so that a unique assignment between a sensor signal of the sensor element and a system state of the drive arrangement is enabled over the entire range of motion - i.e. in particular the entire rotational position angle range. In the manner described above, the evaluation unit can preferably determine the unique rotational position directly when the actuator device is switched on - thus enabling a true power-on for a multi-turn actuator device. Advantageous further training is the subject of the sub-claims. The invention further relates to a method for operating the actuator device, comprising the steps: - Performing the drive movement, - Detecting the magnetic fields of the first magnetic element and the second magnetic element with the magnetic field sensor device, and - Determining the unique rotational position based on the detected magnetic fields using the evaluation unit. Further exemplary details and embodiments are explained below with reference to the figures. 1 a schematic representation of an actuator device, 2 a graph showing the curves of a first magnetic field value and a second magnetic field value, 3 another diagram showing the curves of a first magnetic field value and a second magnetic field value, and 4 Another diagram showing the curves of a first magnetic field value and a second magnetic field value. The 1 Figure 1 shows an exemplary design of an actuator device 1 for industrial automation. For illustrative purposes, actuator device 1 is designed as a pneumatic actuator device. The actuator device 1 comprises a drive arrangement for performing a drive movement 3. The drive arrangement includes a rotary motion element 4 and at lea