John
Harvey
John
Harvey
| 1. | 6 C AIMS An electromagnetic vibration generator having an armature (1) suspended from a stator (2) in which the armature (1) for transmitting the vibrations generated to an article to be vibrated is suspended at its periphery by a plurality of circumferentially spaced flexure members (7) each connected at their outer end to the stator (1) by means of an anchoring bracket (8) comprising a floating part (13) connected to the outer end of the flexure member (7), a stationary part (11) connected to the stator (2) and a resilient member (14) disposed between and located with respect to said parts (11, 13) A vibration generator as claimed in claim 1, in which the resilience of each bracket (8) is such that it can withstand any foreshortening of the flexure member (7) as it flexes during movement of the armature (1) along its axis of vibration whilst providing stiffness in the direc¬ tion of torsional movement of the armature (1) about the said axis. |
| 2. | A vibration generator as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which each bracket (8) comprises a central rigid float¬ ing part (13) disposed between two outer rigid stationary parts (11) and at least one resilient member (14) is ar¬ ranged between either side of the floating part (13) and the adjacent stationary part (11). |
| 3. | A vibration generator as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the parts (11, 13) of the bracket (8) are provided with recesses or slots (15) for locating the resilient member or members (14) disposed between them. |
| 4. | A vibration generator as claimed in claim 4, in which the resilient members (14) are of elongate form and the recesses or slots (15) are blind, that is to say have closed ends so as to reduce the tendency of the material of the resilient members (14) to migrate during operation of the vibration generator as well as to provide rotational stiffness for the complete armature suspension assembly. |
| 5. | A vibration generator as claimed in claim 3, in which each bracket comprises four elongate resilient mem¬ bers (14) arranged two on either side of the central float¬ ing part (13), each resilient member (14) being located by a blind recess or slot (15) in the floating part (13) and a blind recess or slot (15) in the adjacent rigid part (11). |
| 6. | A vibration generator as claimed in any preceding claim, in which each bracket (8) is connected to the flex¬ ure member (7) such that the lengths of the resilient members (14) extend in the peripheral direction of the stator ( 2), that is to say generally along the direction of torsional movement of the armature (1). |
| 7. | A vibration generator as claimed in claim 5 or 6 , in which the resilient members (14) are cylindrical or sausageshaped, and the blind recesses or slots (15) have a substantially semicircular crosssection. |
| 8. | A vibration generator as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the resilient members (14) are made of natural rubber of 60/80 shore strength. |
| 9. | A vibration generator as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the flexure members (7) connected between the armature (1) and each bracket (8) consist of a plurali¬ ty of superposed leaves (7a) of a suitable tough material which is capable of withstanding repeated flexing, such as polypropylene. |
| 10. | A vibration generator as claimed in claim 10, in which the superposed leaves (7a) are separated by spacers (9) so as to leave a gap between the leaves (7a). |
| 11. | A vibration generator as claimed in any preceding claim, in which four flexure members (7) and associated brackets (8) are disposed equiangularly around the periph¬ ery of the stator (2). |
| 12. | A vibration generator as claimed in claim 1, in which each bracket comprises a floating part and a single stationary part and one or more resilient members disposed between said parts and bonded to them. |
In one known vibration generator the peripheral suspension members each consist of a flexure member in the form of one or more leaves of polypropylene which are rigidly connected at one end to the arma-
ture and anchored at the other end to the stator via a U- shaped bracket. Although such a flexible suspension struc¬ ture has been found to be adequate when the vibrational stroke of the armature is within certain limits which have hitherto been accepted by users; there is now a requirement for a longer vibrational stroke of the armature. As a result, premature failure of the bracket can occur due to fatigue since it cannot sustain the increased flexing load imposed upon it by the larger vibrational stroke of the armature.
According to the present invention, there is pro¬ vided an electromagnetic vibration generator having an armature suspended from a stator, in which the armature for transmitting the vibrations generated to an article to be vibrated is suspended at its periphery by a plurality of circumferentially spaced flexure members each connected at their outer end to the stator by means of an anchoring bracket comprising a floating part connected to the outer end of the flexure member, a stationary part connected to the stator and a resilient member disposed between and located with respect to said parts . The resilience of the bracket is such that it can withstand any foreshortening of the flexure member as it flexes during movement of the armature along its axis of vibration whilst providing stiffness in the direction of torsional movement of the armature about the said axis .
Preferably each bracket comprises a central rigid floating part disposed between two outer rigid stationary parts and at least one resilient member is arranged between either side of the floating part and the adjacent station¬ ary part.
The parts of the bracket are preferably provided
with recesses or slots for locating the resilient member or members disposed between them. Advantageously the resilient members are of elongate form and the recesses or slots are blind, i.e. have closed ends, so as to reduce the tendency of the material of the resilient members to migrate during operation of the vibration generator as well as to provide rotational stiffness for the complete arma¬ ture suspension assembly.
In one embodiment, each bracket comprises four elongate resilient members arranged two on either side of the central floating part, each resilient member being located by a blind recess or slot in the floating part and a blind recess or slot in the adjacent rigid part. Each bracket is connected to the flexure member such that the lengths of the resilient members extend in the peripheral direction of the stator, that is to say generally along the direction of torsional movement of the armature.
In a preferred embodiment, the resilient members are cylindrical or sausage-shaped, and the blind recesses or slots have a semi-circular cross-section. The resilient members may advantageously be made of natural rubber of 60/80 shore strength, although other resilient rubber-like materials may be used.
The flexure members connected between the armature and each bracket advantageously consist of a plurality of superposed leaves of a suitable tough material which is capable of withstanding repeated flexing, such as polypropylene. The bracket parts are preferably made of a metal such as steel or an aluminium alloy.
The invention will now be further described, by
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way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of one embodiment of electromagnetic vibration gener¬ ator according to the invention,
Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly in section and to a larger scale, of one of the flexible suspen¬ sion structures for the armature of the vibration generator of Figure 1, and
Figure 3 is a plan view of the structure shown in Figure 2.
Referring to the drawings , the electromagnetic vibration generator illustrated cor rises an armature 1 mounted for vibratory movement relative to a rigid stator or body 2. The latter is provided with trun¬ nions (not shown) by which may be supported in a rigid frame so that the vibration generator can be oriented either for vibration along a vertical axis or along a horizontal axis. As seen in Figure 1, the body is provided with an annular air gap 3 across which is produced a D.C. magnetic field generated by electromagnets and within which is located a coil 4 attached to the lower end la , of the armature struc¬ ture. As is well known in the art, energisation of the armature coil 4 by an alternating current causes the armature 1 to vibrate relative to the body 2, along its longitudinal axis at the frequency of the alternating current applied to the coil 4. The armature 1 is mounted on an axially lr ated bearing 5, for example a hydrostatic bearing or re¬ circulating ball bushing, which allows free movement of the armature along its vibratory axis but which restrains lateral movement of the armature. In this
embodiment the armature is also supported by an air bag 6.
The periphery of the armature 1 is suspended from the body 2 by flexure members 7 each of which has an outer end connected to anchoring brackets 8 mounted on the body 2. This arrangement serves to centre the armature coil 4 in the air gap 3 and also allows free movement of the armature along its axis of vibration but imparts a high stiffness to any lateral movement of the armature. In this embodiment four such flexure members are disposed equiangularly about the periphery of the armature.
As best seen in Figures 2 and 3, each flexure member 7 comprises a pair of superposed leaves 7a. of polypropylene which are of generally rectangular shape and spaced apart by spacers 9 so as to leave a small gap between the leaves. The inner and outer ends of the leaves are respectively secured to the armature 1 and the associated bracket 8 by means of bolts 10a,, 10b.
Each of the anchoring brackets consists of two spaced rigid outer support blocks 11 connected to the body 2 by bolts 12 and a floating intermediate part 13 connected to the outer end of the flexure member 7 by the bolts 10b_. Four elongate cylindrical resil¬ ient members 14 are arranged parallel to each other, two on each side of the floating intermediate blocks 13 and one above the other, and they are retained within blind recesses 15 of part-circular cross- section formed in the facing surfaces of the three support blocks 11,11,13. The two outer support blocks 11 are each separated from the central support block 13 by a gap 17, such that the resilience of the
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members 14 allows the central block 13 to float between the outer blocks as the armature vibrates and thus to permit adequate flexing of the flexure mem¬ bers 7 over the whole range of the armatures vibra¬ tional stroke without the risk of fatigue fractures occurring. Curved metal plates 18 located on either side of the flexure member 7 serve to restrain the overall flexing movement adjacent each end of the flexure member 7. As can be seen, the structures are so arranged that the lengths of the resilient members 14 are disposed substantially in the peripheral direction of the stator and since they are restrained by the closed ends 15a. of the recesses 15, they tend to provide torsional stiffness restraining movement of the armature about its axis of vibration.
During vibrational movement of the armature, the flexure members assume an oscillating generally "S" shape which foreshortens the flexure member by an amount depending on the amplitude of the vibrational stroke. This foreshortening of the flexure member causes compressive forces to be applied to the resil¬ ient members which are thus able to absorb this load without causing undue fatigue of the bracket.
By means of the structure described it has been possible to increase the working stroke of the arma¬ ture of one embodiment of vibration generator from 1 inch (2.5cm) to 2 inch (5 cm) without any fatigue failure of the bracket.
Whilst a particular embodiment of the present invention has been described, various modifications will be envisaged without departure from the scope of the invention. For example, although the vibration generator has been described with four flexure mem-
bers and associated anchoring brackets arranged equiangularly around the periphery of the stator, any other practical number of such flexure members and anchoring brackets may in fact be provided. More¬ over, the precise construction of the flexure members and the number and material of the leaves may be different from that shown. The structure of the bracket assembly may also be varied considerably within the scope of the invention. For example the number and shape of the resilient members may be other than described. Also each bracket may comprise only a floating part and one stationary part if the resilient member or members disposed between them are bonded to the parts.
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