2022 December the Fifth Week KYOCM Technical Knowledge: Application of slewing bearing in robot field

With the development of national high-tech level, robots will be used in industry, manufacturing and other industries to replace traditional manpower, so that their work efficiency will be greatly improved, especially in some dust-free workshops, radiation laboratories, high-precision workplaces, etc., robots will be used. As one of the important parts of robot equipment, slewing ring plays a vital role, so it is widely known as "machine joint". Today we will talk about the application of slewing bearing in the robot field.

1.Understand slewing ring

The slewing ring, also known as the rotary table bearing, is a large bearing with a special structure that can simultaneously bear large axial load, radial load, overturning torque and other comprehensive loads, and integrates multiple functions such as support, rotation, transmission and fixation. In general, the slewing ring itself is equipped with mounting holes, lubricating oil and sealing devices, which can meet the different needs of various robots working under different working conditions.

2.Which type of robot uses slewing ring

The slewing ring itself has the characteristics of compact structure, convenient guide rotation, simple installation and easy maintenance, and is widely used in the components of industrial robots such as mobile robots, spot welding robots, welding robots, stacking robots, laser processing robots, assembly robots, handling robots, etc.

3.Technical requirements for application of slewing bearing in robot

The development of robots tends to be lightweight. To install the rotary bearing in a limited space, it must be small in size and light in weight, that is, lightweight. But at the same time, the robot's high load, high rotary accuracy, high running stability, high positioning speed, high repetitive positioning accuracy, long service life and high reliability require that the supporting robot bearing must have the performance of high bearing capacity, high precision, high stiffness, low friction torque, long service life and high reliability.

4.Benefits of slewing bearings for robots

The slewing bearing used by the robot can bear axial, radial, overturning and other comprehensive loads; Good rigidity, high rotation accuracy, simple installation, space saving, weight reduction, significant friction reduction, and good rotation accuracy. It is possible to make the host light and small. The slewing bearing is installed at the joint of the robot, and this structure can realize the incredible high close rotation movement.

5.Common slewing bearing structures for industrial robots

At present, industrial robots are widely used in manufacturing workshops. From the relationship between slewing ring and transmission reducer, the common slewing ring structures of modern industrial robots are roughly the following three types: split slewing ring structure, integrated slewing ring structure, and hybrid slewing ring structure.

(1) Split slewing bearing structure

In structure, the cross roller slewing ring is mainly used to bear the overturning torque, axial force and radial force of the industrial robot, including dynamic and static working conditions. The transmission reducer only bears the rotating torque of the rotary shaft. Therefore, under this working condition, the precision of the cross roller slewing ring bearing is required to be high, so as to ensure the rotary precision of the robot.

(2) Integrated slewing bearing structure

In structure, it adopts the main bearing reducer with sufficient bearing capacity. The main bearing of the reducer bears all the overturning torque and axial force of the industrial robot. In this way, the cross roller slewing bearing is not required, and high precision is provided through the main bearing of the reducer, but the cost of this reducer is relatively expensive.

(3) Hybrid slewing bearing structure

Its structural feature is that at the same time, the hollow main bearing reducer with a certain bearing capacity and the cross roller bearing with a certain accuracy are used to jointly complete the functions of support and rotation. The turntable of the industrial robot is fixedly connected with the output shaft panel of the rotary transmission reducer and the inner ring of the cross roller bearing at the same time. The stiffness of the cross roller slewing ring bearing is far greater than the bending stiffness of the reducer output panel. Therefore, under dynamic conditions, the bending moment and axial moment are mainly carried by the cross roller slewing ring bearing. In this way, the static bearing accuracy is guaranteed by the main bearing of the reducer, so the accuracy of the cross roller bearing does not need to be as high as that of the split structure. Due to the affordable price, this hybrid structure is likely to achieve a high cost performance ratio. It is widely used in high-speed, high-precision, heavy load loading and unloading handling robots, assembly robots, stacking robots, etc.

6.Application of slewing bearing in stacking robot

The palletizing robot, which is the product of the organic combination of machinery and computer programs, provides higher productivity for modern production and is widely used in the palletizing industry. The palletizing robot greatly saves labor and space. The use of slewing ring for palletizing robot can make the robot operate flexibly, quickly, stably and qualitatively, with high operation rate. In recent years, light and high-precision small slewing bearings are widely used in similar products, such as robots, spot welding robots, canning machines, automatic production lines, etc. Such products require flexible operation, point position, portability and rapidity, so light and precision slewing bearings are generally used.

The above is a detailed introduction to the application of slewing bearing in the robot field.

More about ITS Thrust Ball Bearing:

ITS thrust ball bearing top quality brand has guaranteed production and highly active management.

A ball thrust bearing is a particular type of rotary ball bearing. Like other ball bearings, they permit rotation between parts, but they are designed to support a high axial load while doing this (parallel to the shaft). Higher speed applications require oil lubrication.

The ITS team has been engaged in Manufacturing bearings and international trade for more than 20 years. We always focus on the top quality bearing markets all over the world. The guaranteed production and highly active management has brought us competitive advantage in price and service.