Driving mechanism having position encoder for two-dimensional positioning
AssigneeASM Assembly Automation Ltd.
InventorsWai Chuen Gan, Gary Peter Widdowson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A driving mechanism comprises a fixed housing, a movable housing on which an object to be driven is mounted and a driving motor which is operative to drive the movable housing to move linearly as well as to rotate relative to the fixed housing. An inductance-type encoder determines both linear and rotary displacement of the movable housing relative to the fixed housing, whereby to provide closed-loop control of the position of the object in both linear and rotary directions.
Claims20
A driving mechanism comprising:
- a fixed housing;
- a movable housing on which an object to be driven is mounted;
- a driving motor which is operative to drive the movable housing to move linearly as well as to rotate relative to the fixed housing;
- and
- an inductance-type encoder configured and operative to determine both linear and rotary displacement of the movable housing relative to the fixed housing, and to provide closed-loop control of the position of the object in both linear and rotary directions.
Method of driving a movable housing on which an object to be driven is mounted, comprising the steps of:
- driving the movable housing with a driving motor to move linearly as well as to rotate relative to a fixed housing;
- determining a linear displacement of the movable housing relative to the fixed housing with an inductance-type encoder;
- and
- determining a rotary displacement of the movable housing relative to the fixed housing with the inductance-type encoder, whereby to provide closed-loop control of the position of the object in both linear and rotary directions.
Method of driving a movable housing on which an object to be driven is mounted, comprising the steps of:
- driving the movable housing with a driving motor to move linearly as well as to rotate relative to a fixed housing;
- determining a linear displacement of the movable housing relative to the fixed housing with an inductance-type encoder, and determining a rotary displacement of the movable housing relative to the fixed housing with the inductance-type encoder, whereby to provide closed-loop control of the position of the object in both linear and rotary directions, wherein the driving motor comprises a coil attached to either of the fixed housing and movable housing, and a permanent magnet attached to the other of the fixed housing and movable housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.