Hydraulic transmission unit, particularly for deep-sea use

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a transmission unit having (i) a housing for the fluid-tight encapsulation of at least one part of the transmission unit, (ii) a rack and pinion transmission which is arranged in the housing and has at least one gear rack, (iii) a hydraulic drive system, which is arranged in the housing, has at least one displacer unit for increasing the energy of a pressurizable working fluid of the hydraulic drive system, and has at least one chamber in which a piston, operatively connected to a gear rack of the rack and pinion transmission, can be moved using the working fluid in order to effect a linear movement of the gear rack, and (iv) a rotatable mechanical actuator, which is operatively connected to the pinion of the rack and pinion transmission and is arranged outside the housing at least in portions.

Claims

1. A transmission unit comprising: a housing; a rack and pinion transmission arranged in the housing and including at least one gear rack; a hydraulic drive system arranged in the housing, the hydraulic drive system comprising: at least one displacer unit configured to increase energy of a pressurizable working fluid of the hydraulic drive system; and at least one chamber in which a piston, which is operatively connected to a gear rack of the rack and pinion transmission, is moved using the working fluid in order to effect a linear movement of the gear rack; and a rotatable mechanical actuator operatively connected to the pinion of the rack and pinion transmission and at least a portion of which is arranged outside the housing, a mechanical interface arranged at least partially outside the housing, the mechanical interface operably connected to the at least one displacer unit and configured to transfer mechanical work performed externally to the housing to the at least one displacer unit so as to increase the energy of the working fluid of the hydraulic drive system, wherein the mechanical interface comprises at least one connector for a control module that includes an electric motor configured to rotate the at least one connector to perform the mechanical work performed externally to the housing, and wherein the housing is configured to form a fluid-tight encapsulation of the at least one gear rack, the at least one displacer unit, and the at least one chamber of the hydraulic drive system.

2. The transmission unit according to claim 1, wherein the fluid-tight encapsulation is configured for an underwater use of the transmission unit.

3. The transmission unit according to claim 1, wherein: the at least one displacer unit comprises a hydraulic torque regulator configured to limit a drive torque of the displacer unit, and the hydraulic torque regulator includes a first hydraulic valve and a second hydraulic valve each operably connected to an axial piston pump of the at least one displacer unit.

4. The transmission unit according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical interface forms a manipulation element on which an external manipulator performs mechanical work.

5. A method comprising: operating an underwater armature using the at least one transmission unit according to claim 1.

6. The transmission unit according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical interface includes a connector for connecting to the control module.

7. The transmission unit according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical interface includes a positioning aid for an orientation of the control module relative to the mechanical interface.

8. An electrohydraulic modular system comprising: a transmission unit comprising: a housing; a rack and pinion transmission arranged in the housing and including at least one gear rack; a hydraulic drive system arranged in the housing, the hydraulic drive system comprising: at least one displacer unit configured to increase energy of a pressurizable working fluid of the hydraulic drive system; and at least one chamber in which a piston, which is operatively connected to a gear rack of the rack and pinion transmission, is moved using the working fluid in order to effect a linear movement of the gear rack; and a rotatable mechanical actuator operatively connected to the pinion of the rack and pinion transmission and at least a portion of which is arranged outside the housing; a mechanical interface arranged at least partially outside the housing, the mechanical interface operably connected to the at least one displacer unit and configured to transfer mechanical work performed externally to the housing to the at least one displacer unit so as to increase the energy of the working fluid of the hydraulic drive system, the mechanical interface including at least one connector; and an electronic control module configured to couple to the transmission unit using the at least one connector of the mechanical interface, the electronic control module including an electric motor configured to rotate the at least one connector to convert electrical energy into the mechanical work performed externally to the housing, wherein the housing is configured to form a fluid-tight encapsulation of the at least one gear rack, the at least one displacer unit, and the at least one chamber of the hydraulic drive system.

9. The system according to claim 8, further comprising: at least one adapter configured to be coupled to the actuator of the transmission unit.

10. The system according to claim 8, further comprising: at least one storage mechanism configured to connect to the transmission unit to store mechanical energy, the storage mechanism configured to be connected to the hydraulic drive system of the transmission unit upon demand.

11. The system according to claim 8, wherein the system is configured for underwater use.

12. The system according to claim 8, wherein the mechanical interface includes a connector for connecting to the control module.

13. The system according to claim 8, wherein the mechanical interface includes a positioning aid for an orientation of the control module relative to the mechanical interface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The solution presented here and the technical environment thereof are explained in greater detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the disclosure is not intended to be limited by the embodiment examples disclosed. In particular, unless explicitly stated otherwise, it is also possible to extract partial aspects of the factual subject matter explained in the drawings and to combine them with other components and/or insights based on other drawings and/or the present description. Shown by way of example and schematically are:

(2) FIG. 1: a cross-sectional view of one embodiment variant of a transmission unit described here,

(3) FIG. 2: a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment variant of a transmission unit described here,

(4) FIG. 3: a cross-sectional view of a displacer unit for a transmission unit described here,

(5) FIG. 4: a perspective view of an embodiment variant of a system described here,

(6) FIG. 5: an overhead view of the embodiment variant of the system shown in FIG. 4,

(7) FIG. 6: a perspective view of a further embodiment variant of a system described here,

(8) FIG. 7: a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment variant of a system described here, and

(9) FIG. 8: an advantageous use of transmission units and systems described here.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(10) FIGS. 1 and 2 each show a transmission unit 1 comprising a housing 2 for the fluid-tight encapsulation of at least one part of the transmission unit 1, and comprising a rack and pinion transmission 3 which is arranged in the housing 2 and has at least one gear rack 4 (in this case having two gear racks, by way of example). The transmission unit 1 also comprises a hydraulic drive system 5 arranged in the housing 2 and having at least one displacer unit 6 for increasing the energy of a pressurizable working fluid of the hydraulic drive system 5 and having at least one chamber 7 in which a piston 8 operatively connected to a gear rack 4 of the rack and pinion transmission 3 is operatively connected to the working fluid in order to effect a linear movement of the gear rack 4.

(11) In this context, FIG. 1 shows an embodiment variant comprising two chambers 7 and two pistons 8 per gear rack 4, and FIG. 2 shows an embodiment variant comprising one chamber 7 and one piston 8, as well as one biasing element 22 for each gear rack 4. The transmission unit 1 further comprises a rotatable mechanical actuator 9, which is operatively connected to the pinion 10 of the rack and pinion transmission 3 and is arranged outside of the housing 2 at least in portions.

(12) A drive torque 23 can be provided to the displacer unit 6 via a mechanical interface 12. An output torque 24 can be provided on the mechanical actuator 9.

(13) The fluid-tight encapsulation is preferably suitable for underwater use of the transmission unit 1 or for deep-sea applications.

(14) FIG. 3 shows a displacer unit 6, which is usable as shown by way of example in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2. The displacer unit 6 comprises, e.g., an axial piston pump 25 for pressurizing the working fluid. The axial piston pump 25 is driven via the drive torque 23. The displacer unit 6 further comprises a hydraulic torque regulator 11 for limiting the drive torque 23 of the displacer unit 6. In order to achieve a constant drive torque 23 as a function of the operating pressure of the working fluid, the displacement angle 26 of the axial piston pump 25 can, e.g., be changed to keep the drive torque 23 constant.

(15) FIG. 4 illustrates by way of example the fact that, and optionally how, the transmission unit 1 can further comprise a mechanical interface 12, at least in sections of which are arranged outside of the housing 2 and is suitable for transferring mechanical work performed externally at the interface 12 in order to increase the energy of the working fluid of the hydraulic drive system 5.

(16) In FIG. 5, the interface 12 is shown in an overhead view. It can be seen that the mechanical interface can comprise at least one connector 13 for a control module 14 and can, e.g., additionally form an element 15, on which an external manipulator 16 can perform mechanical work. Also shown in FIG. 5 is, e.g., a positioning aid 27, such as an optical marker for the orientation of, e.g., a deep-sea robot 29.

(17) FIG. 6 shows by way of example an electrohydraulic modular system 17, in particular for underwater use, comprising a transmission unit 1 described here, as well as an electronic control module 14 that can be coupled to the transmission unit 1 in order to convert electrical energy into work to be performed on the transmission unit 1. For example, the control module 14 can comprise at least one electric motor 18 for this purpose. The control module 14 is, e.g., connected to the mechanical interface 12 of the transmission unit 1.

(18) The system 17 shown in FIG. 6 comprises, e.g., an adapter 19 coupled to the actuator 9 of the transmission unit 1. The adapter 19 is in particular used to transfer mechanical energy from the actuator 9 to a consumer, such as a valve.

(19) FIG. 7 illustrates that the system 17 can further comprise at least one storage means 20 connectable to the storage means 1 for storing mechanical energy, which can upon demand be operatively connected to the hydraulic drive system 5 of the transmission unit 1. For example, two storage means 20 are provided in this case. A spring 28 is provided in each of the storage means 20.

(20) FIG. 8 illustrates, by way of example, a use of the transmission unit 1 described here or the systems 17 described here for operating an underwater armature 21. The underwater armature 21 comprises, e.g., three deep-sea valves 30, each of which can be operated by means of a system 17 described here. Two of the transmission units 1 are operated by a control module 14 of the relevant system 17. For example, the transmission unit 1 shown on the right can be operated by a manipulator 16 of a deep-sea robot 29.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

(21) 1 Transmission unit 2 Housing 3 Rack and pinion transmission 4 Gear rack 5 Drive system 6 Displacer unit 7 Chamber 8 Piston 9 Actuator 10 Pinion 11 Torque regulator 12 Interface 13 Connector 14 Control module 15 Element 16 Manipulator 17 System 18 Electric motor 19 Adapter 20 Storage means 21 Underwater armature 22 Biasing element 23 Drive torque 24 Output torque 25 Axial piston pump 26 Adjustment angle 27 Positioning aid 28 Spring 29 Marine robot 30 Deep-sea valve