A workpiece conveying system for a transfer press machine includes: a beam provided to extend in a feed direction of a workpiece; and a plurality of workpiece conveying apparatus supported by the beam. The workpiece conveying apparatus each include: a feed device including a first carrier that is movable relative to the beam in the feed direction; a raising and lowering device including a second carrier that is movable relative to the first carrier in a raising and lowering direction; a clamp device including a third carrier that is movable relative to the second carrier in a clamp direction of the workpiece; and a workpiece holding tool, which is supported at a distal end of the third carrier, and is configured to hold and release the workpiece.

A robotic actuator may include a series elastic actuator (SEA) that includes an elastic element made of a viscoelastic material. The viscoelastic material may have hardness, stiffness, hysteresis, or damping properties suitable for a particular robotic application. The elastic element may include two portions of the viscoelastic material in compression with each other in the SEA. The SEA may include a motor to generate mechanical power, a speed reduction element to amplify motor torque, an encoder to measure deflection of the viscoelastic elastomer due to an applied force, and a transmission mechanism. The transmission mechanism may be connected to the motor using a pulley and may route mechanical power to an output joint. The SEA may be a prismatic SEA or another type of linear actuator. The motor may include a 3D printed liquid cooling jacket that includes removable fluid seals and that is assembled and disassembled using removable screws.

A motive power transmission mechanism includes a motor, a drive pulley, a driven pulley, a belt, a housing, and a cap. The motor includes an output shaft and a motor main body. The drive pulley is configured to rotate together with the output shaft. The belt is wound across the drive pulley and the driven pulley to transmit torque from the drive pulley to the driven pulley. The housing accommodates the drive pulley, the belt, and the driven pulley. The housing includes a work window which faces the belt and through which the belt undergoes work from outside of the housing. The cap is configured to close the work window when the work is not performed. The cap includes a porous portion having air-permeability and water-impermeability.

A ball screw in a steering system has a groove between the inner peripheral surface of a cylindrical ball nut through which a steered shaft extends and the outer peripheral surface of the steered shaft, and balls are accommodated in the groove. The balls rolling and flowing in the groove are returned from downstream to upstream via deflectors and a return passage member disposed in the ball nut. The return passage member has a first connection portion curved to connect one end of a linear portion of the return passage member to the first deflector, and a second connection portion curved to connect the other end of the linear portion to the second deflector. Each connection portion has an opening that opens in the return passage member longitudinal end face and an opening that opens in the return passage member outer periphery of toward the centerline of the ball nut.

A steering system includes a motor, a rack shaft, and a nut that is screw-thread on the rack shaft via a plurality of balls. The steering system further includes a reduction mechanism having a driving pulley, a driven pulley, a belt, and an idler pulley that applies tension to the belt. The steering system further includes a housing that houses the motor, the rack shaft, the nut, and the reduction mechanism. Compressive rigidity in an axial direction is set to vary between a near-end area and a far-end area of the housing. The idler pulley is provided so as to contact a portion of the belt which is loosened when end contact occurs at an axial end of the housing where the compressive rigidity is set to a larger value.

Actuator having a spindle drive (1) for a rear wheel steering system, including a spindle (2) with a spindle thread (2a) and a spindle nut (3) with a nut thread (3a). The spindle thread (2a) and the nut thread (3a) are designed as displacement threads and the spindle nut (3) threadedly engages with the axially displaceable spindle (2) by way of the displacement thread. The spindle thread (2a) and the nut thread (3a) are braced against one another, in the longitudinal direction of the spindle (2), by a bracing element (4). The bracing element (4) is in the form of a threaded ring having an internal thread (4a) which engages with the spindle thread (2a). The threaded ring (4) is supported relative to the spindle nut (3) by at least one spring element (5, 6), and the at least one spring element (5, 6) is made of an elastomer.

A steering system includes a rack housing in which a rack shaft is housed, rack ends fitted to respective end portions of the rack shaft and coupled to respective steered wheels, and shock-absorbing members provided between the rack housing and the respective rack ends. When the rack shaft moves in a direction in which an end face of the rack end approaches a restricting surface of the rack housing and thus the rack shaft reaches a position after the shock-absorbing member is compressed by a compression amount, a control unit creates a normal input end through electronic stopper control of reducing an assisting force to be generated by a motor. This restricts movement of the rack shaft in a direction in which the end face approaches the restricting surface.

A motor is contained in a motor container space. A controller is contained in a controller container space. The motor container space and the controller container space are arranged in series in a direction of a rotation axis of a motor shaft, while interposing a partition wall therebetween. The motor shaft is inserted in a motor shaft through-hole of the partition wall. A magnet is disposed at an end of the motor shaft, in the controller container space. A rotation sensor is disposed in the controller container space oppositely to the magnet, for monitoring a rotational position of the motor shaft on the basis of variation in magnetic field due to rotation of the magnet. A cover made of nonmagnetic metal is disposed between the magnet and the rotation sensor so as to cover the motor shaft through-hole.

A steering apparatus includes a steering shaft; a steered shaft; a ball screw mechanism; and a motor. A plurality of rolling elements includes large-diameter rolling elements and small-diameter rolling elements. A prescribed diameter difference is set such that when a magnitude of power transmitted between a first screw groove and a second screw groove is a prescribed value or less, only the large-diameter rolling elements transmit the power between the first screw groove and the second screw groove, and when the magnitude of the power transmitted between the first screw groove and the second screw groove exceeds the prescribed value, both the large-diameter rolling elements and the small-diameter rolling elements transmit the power.

A linear drive system having an actuator (10), which can be moved in a translatory manner by means of an electric drive (12) and which is coupled to a mechanical energy storage (16) in the form of a spring (32) such that in the event of a loss of energy at the electric drive (12) or in an emergency operation the actuator (10) travels to a predeterminable position and in so doing exerts an actuating force, characterized in that one free end of the spring (32) is supported at the free end of the spindle housing (20) and the other free end of the spring (32) is supported at a closing part (36) of the actuator (10) or at the actuator (10) itself and is tensioned in every travel position of the actuator (10).