A METHOD AND A DEVICE FOR MEASURING OF BACKLASH IN A DRIVE MECHANISM COMPRISING A SCREW AND A NUT

Abstract: A method of measuring of backlash arising in a drive mechanism comprising a screw and a nut device co-operating with the screw, the nut device being connected to a movable unit which is displaceable in opposite directions along the screw. The drive mechanism comprises a pulse generating means, of which the number of pulses emitted for each displacement corresponds to the distance run. In accordance with the method the movable unit is operated to move away from an end position adjacent one end of the screw, and when a predetermined position has been reached the pulse counting means is reset while the movement continues. The movement is maintained a distance beyond the position in which the pulse counting means was reset, the said distance being greater than the possible maximum backlash. The drive mechanism is then stopped and operated to move the movable unit back to the end position, during which movement the pulse counting means is counting backwards. Upon arrival of the movable unit in the position in which the pulse counting means was reset, the counting is stopped and the absolute value remaining in the pulse counting means will be a measure of the backlash. The invention also comprises a device for performing the method, the device including a control device, preferably a microprocessor, for operating the various means, such as drive mechanism, pulse emitting means, pulse counting means etc., in carrying out the different method steps.

Description: A method and a device for measuring of backlash in a drive mechanism comprising a screw and a nut The present invention refers to a method and a device, respectively, for measuring of backlash arising in a drive mechanism comprising a screw and a nut device, the latter being connected to a unit which is movable in opposite directions along the screw. Preferably, the movable unit is a printing unit being part of a printer or a typewriter. The drive mechanism comprises pulse generating means in which the number of emitted pulses for each displacement corresponds to the distance covered. A pulse counting means is provided for counting of pulses emitted by the pulse generating means. In a drive mechanism of the kind referred to, an axial backlash must exist between the screw and the nut in order for the latter to be moved along the screw. In matrix printers, wherein the characters are formed by printing of dots and wherein the printing unit is moved in opposite directions along the screw, the backlash will cause the printing unit to take a first position when moving in one direction and to take a second position, different from the first position, when moving in the opposite direction. In order to eliminate or reduce the influence of the inaccuracy connected with screw drive mechanisms, various nut means have been constructed which are spring-biassed so as always to bear on the same side of a groove joining two adjacent threads of the screw. However, it is not possible to completely eliminate the backlash because in such a case the nut would hardly be movable at all along the screw or at a speed which would be considerably reduced. The invention represents a different way of thinking and its main object is to provide a measurement value, the magnitude of which represents the backlash, and to present this measurement value in a shape that can be easily treated by a backlash correcting equipment working digitally. The object is achieved by a method characterized by the steps indicated in Claim 1 and in a device having the characterizing features stated in Claim 4. Preferred embodiments are represented by the methods of Claims 2 and 3 and by the devices stated in Claims 5 - 8. Other objects and advantages related to the invention will appear from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a drive mechanism including a screw and a nut as well as electric and electronic functional elements. Fig. 2, which comprises four partial representations a - d, shows the principle of in what way the backlash between screw and nut influences the positioning of a movable OMP unit. In Fig. 3 partial views a - e show the principle αf measuring the backlash according to the invention. Fig. 4 illustrates the hysteresis of a phototransistor used as a light detector. Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the relation between light detected by the phototransistor of a photo-electric assembly as a function of the position of a screen member co-operating with the photo-electric assembly and supported by the movable unit. Like Fig. 5, Fig. 6 is a diagram related to the variation of light intensity, however in this Figure related to the position of the movable unit and indicating the error in measurement due to the hysteresis of the phototransistor. Figs. 7 and 8 show diagrams like that shown in Fig. 6 and additionally show the technique of the invention in eliminating the error of measurement caused by the hysteresis of the phototransistor. With reference to Fig. 1 a drive mechanism 10 comprises an elongate screw 11 and a nut device, not shown, which co-operates with the screw and is unturnably connected to a movable unit 12, e.g. a printing unit which is movable in opposite directions along a platen, not shown. The movable unit 12 is guided by a rod 13 which runs parallel to the screw and is secured to end walls 14, 15 of a machine frame, not shown in detail. The screw 11 is mounted for rotation in bearings, not shown, in the end walls 14, 15 and is reversibly driven by a motor 16, the rotatable shaft 18 of which being connected via a cog belt 17 to a driving wheel 19 secured to the screw. For determining the instant position ' of the movable unit 12 along the screw 11 the latter is fixedly connected to a code disc 20 with holes 21, each of which corresponds to a predetermined position of each group of positions passed during one complete revolution of the code disc. The code disc co-operates with a photo-electric device 22 comprising a light-emitting diode and a phototransistor. The photo-electric device is electrically connected to a pulse generator 25 via conductors 23, 24 to activate the pulse generator to emit pulses. Each of the said pulses corresponds to a predetermined position, and by transferring the pulses via conductors 26, 27 to a pulse counter 28 it is- possible to determine the position of the movable unit from the instant count in the pulse counter. — - As will be described in detail below, the object of the invention is to determine the magnitude of the backlash between the screw 11 and the nut device, not shown, mounted in the movable unit 12. To this end the movable unit is provided with a disc-shaped screen 29 which co-operates with an additional photo-electric device 30 of the same kind as the device 22. With the movable unit 12 in its left end position adjacent the left end αf the screw 11 the screen 29 prevents light transmission in the photo-electric device 30. However, such light transmission is allowed when the movable unit has moved a short distance away OM from its end position. The photo-electric device 30 emits control pulses via conductors 31, 32 to the pulse counter 28, the function of which will appear below. A logical device in the shape of a microprocessor is provided for the superior control of the drive mechanism as well as of the means required for measuring of the backlash. In Fig. 1 the superior control function is indicated only by an arrow 44. In Fig. 2 there is shown how the presence of backlash in the drive mechanism 10 makes it difficult to position the movable unit 12 correctly. In partial Figure a the movable unit has taken the position "100" after having moved from its left end position. This position has been determined by counting of the pulses emitted under the control of the code disc 20. In partial Figure b the movable unit has been further moved to the right to take the position "114". During the subsequent return movement to the position "100" problems will arise caused by the screw turning through a certain angle corresponding to the backlash before engaging the nut device for. movement. In partial Figure c the engagement between screw and nut is shown to take place in the position "112" and hence, when the code disc indicates that the position "100" has been reached, the actual position of the movable unit is the position "102". • Irr order to eliminate as far as possible the influence of the backlash, the invention proposes a backlash measurement procedure to take place, in which the first step is movement of the movable unit 12 from its left end position to the right, as illustrated in Fig. 3 partial view a. The screen 29, which moves with the movable unit, after a short distance leaves the light path in the photo-electric device 30 resulting in a signal to be emitted on conductors 31, 32 for resetting of the pulse counter 28. The resetting position will be referred to as measuring position "0". In Fig. 3, the photo-electric device is represented by an eye 34 and a light source 35. After resetting of the pulse counter the movement of the movable unit continues a distance which is greater than the maximum backlash in the embodiment up to the measuring position "15", as shown in partial Fig. 3c. In partial Fig. 3d the direction of rotation of the screw is reversed and the movable unit starts moving back towards the left end position. The nut device is assumed to be catched in measuring position "13". During the return movement the position will be passed in which the pulse counter was reset. In this position the light path in the photo-electric device 30 will be cut off by the screen 29, and the corresponding signal emitted on the conductors 31, 32 is used to stop the pulse counter 28. The position in which the pulse counter is stopped is not the measuring position "0" but position "-2", indicated b the pulse counter and, hence, the absolute value of the pulse counter will be a measure of the backlash in the drive mechanism expressed in number of positions according to the code disc 20. Fig. 1 shows an example of using the value in the pulse counter 28, which represents the backlash, for backlash-correcting purposes by transferring the said value via conductors 36, 37 to a backlash-correcting circuit 38. The correcting circuit is connected via conductors 39, 40 to a motor control device 41, which in turn via conductors 42, 43 is connected to the motor 16. When the movable unit 12 is to be moved to a predetermined position, the motor 16 is started and the drive mechanism is operating until the count in the pulse counter 28 coincides with a preset value corresponding to the predetermined position. In this position the motor 16 is stopped by the motor control device 41. According to one proposed method of correcting or compensating for the backlash, the backlash is first measured in the manner indicated above and the measured value, as represented by the number of positions indicated by the pulse counter 38, is stored in the backlash-correcting circuit 38. Then, during the normal operation of the drive mechanism the stored value is added to the instant value in the pulse counter 28 as a positive or negative addition. Such a correction must be made every time the direction of rotation of the screw is reversed. In measuring the backlash, various sensors may be used to initiate resetting of the pulse counter as well as stopping the same after the measuring has been completed. Independent of type, the sensors are constructed such that when the movable unit is in its end position they emit a signal of a first level and when the movable unit is positioned remote from the end position they emit a signal of a second level. It is desirable that the signal from the sensor when being at one level cannot change into the opposite level due to electric interference. This is achieved if sensors are used which have a certain degree of hysteresis, i.e. the point of change of the signal from the first to the second level is different from the point of change from the second to the first level. The photo-electric device used in the embodiment described has such a hysteresis characteristic, as illustrated in Fig. 4 wherein U represents the output voltage from the sensor as a function of the amount of light L sensed. The switch-on level T, i.e. the amount of light required for the photo-electric device to switch frαm the low to the high signal level, is clearly different from the switch-off level S at which the photo-electric device switches from the high to the low signal level. On one hand positive, the hysteresis of the sensor, however, also envolves the disadvantage of errors in measurement to occur due to the separated switching points of the sensor signal. Fig. 5 shows a diagram of the amount of light L as a function of the position P of the movable unit and with O designating the left end position along the screw 11. As shown in the diagram,. during the first part of the movement of the movable unit 12 the light detector in the photo¬ electric device 30 is completely screened from the light emitted from the light source. This first part of movement is followed by a distance along which the light increases linearly up to the maximum level at which the light source can un- impededly illuminate the light detector. Along the linear distance the switching points for the output signal of the photo-electric device have been indicated, the switching points being represented by switch-on level T and switch-off level S. In Fig. 6 as well as in Fig. 5 the variation in light has been shown as related to the position of the movable unit. Moreover the horizontal position axis P. , has been drawn up for the movement to the right and along this axis positions determined by the code disc 20 have been set off. A thick upward arrow P- j - points at the first position in which the switch-on level has been reached and the signal in the photo-electric device 30 has changed to the high level. Below the axis P. , a similar position axis P v has been drawn up for the movement to the left along the screw 11. A downward arrow P ς points at the first position in which the switch-off level has been reached and the. signal in the photo-electric device has changed into the low level. The distance between the arrows P τ and P ς represents the error in measurement.- Another object of the invention is to provide a method of eliminating the error in measurement indicated above. The method proposes the use of the switch-on level to initiate the change in signal level also during the movement to the left along the screw 11. As will appear from Fig. 7 the movement to the right goes on in the same way as already described with reference to Fig. 6. The change of level in the signal from the photo-electric device occurs at the • upward arrow P-.. During this movement the light source in the photo-electric device 30 operates continuously. In Fig. 8 the left-going movement is shown and in accordance with the teachings of the invention the light source is operated to emit light pulses, the period of which being related to the angular distance between two adjacent holes 21 in the code disc 20 representing the distance between adjacent positions along the screw 11. According to the method the light source is lit in each position and information as to the switch-on level being reached or not is taken from the light detector, whereafter the light source is immediately switched off. As appears from the Figure a change will take place in the first position P ς in which the switch-on level is not reached. From a comparison with Fig. 7 it is clear that the distance between P τ and P ς is equal to the distance between " two adjacent positions and accordingly, the error in measurement has been reduced to a negligible level.

Claims: C l a i m s 1. A method for measuring of backlash arising in a drive mechanism comprisin a screw (11) and a nut device co-operating with the screw, the nut device being connected to a movable unit (12) displaceable in opposite directions along th screw, preferably a printing unit of a printer or a typewriter, the drive mechanism comprising a pulse generating means (20,22,25), the number of emitted pulses o which for each displacement corresponding to the distance run, and a pulse counting means (28) being provided for counting of the pulses emitted by the pulse generating means, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by moving of the movable unit (12) away from an end position adjacent one end of the screw, resetting of the puls counting means (28) during the continued movement of the movable unit, maintaining the movement a distance beyond the position in which the pulse counting means was reset that is greater than the greatest possible value of the backlash, stopping of the drive mechanism, moving of the movable unit (12) in the reversed direction towards the end position during which movement the pulse counting means (28) counts backwards, and stopping of the pulse counting means in a position in which the .pulse counting means was reset, wherein the absolute value remaining in the pulse counting means (28) will be a measure of the backlash. 2. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the resetting of the pulse counting means (28) is initiated by a photo-electric device (30) comprising a light source and a light detector, the photo-electric device co-operating with a screening member (29), c h a r a c t e r i z e d by operating the light source to emit steady light during the movement away from the end position, while operating the light source to emit light pulses during the return movement. 3. A method according to Claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by choosing the period αf the light pulses so as to equal the period of the pulses emitted by the pulse generating means (20,22,25). 4. A device for measuring of backlash arising in a drive mechanism (10) comprising a screw (11) and a nut device co-operating with the screw, the nut device being connected to a movable unit (12) which is displaceable in opposite directions along the screw, preferably a printing unit in a printer or a typewriter, a pulse generating means (20,22,25) being provided for emitting pulses, the number of which for each displacement of the movable unit (12) corresponding to the distance run, and a pulse counting means (28) being provided for counting of the pulses emitted, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a control device (33) is provided to activate a drive mechanism (10) to move the movable unit (12) a predetermined distance away from an end position adjacent one end of the screw, the control device (33) operating the drive mechanism (10) to stop the movable unit (12) when the predetermined distance has been passed and to move the movable unit (12) back to the end position, a signal emitting means (30) being provided to be operated by the movable unit (12) to emit a signal for resetting of the pulse counting means (28) upon arrival of the movable unit at a predetermined position during the movement of the unit away from its end position, the signal emitting means (30) being operated by the movable unit (12) to emit a signal to stop the pulse counting means (28) upon arrival of the movable unit at the said predetermined position during the return movement. 5. A device according to Claim 4, characterized in that the signal emitting means (30) comprises a light source and a light detector placed in the predetermined position and co-operating with a screening member (29) secured to or integral with the movable unit (12). 6. A device according to Claim 5, characterized in that the screening member (29) operates to prevent light from reaching the light detector when the movable unit (12) is in the end posϊton, the light path being opened when the movable unit during the movement from the end position passes the pre¬ determined position. 7. A device according to Claim 6, char, acterized in that the light source is operated to emit steady light during the movement of the movable unit (12) away from the end position and to emit light pulses during the return movement. 8. A device according to Claim 7, charac terized in that the period of the light pulses equals the period of the pulses emitted by the pulse generating means (20,22,25). OMP

Inventors: ROZSA KALMAN
Applicants: FACIT AB, ROZSA KALMAN
Application year: 1982
Main classification: G01B21
IPC codes: G01B11, G01B21