Electric motor torque transfer device and sensor

摘要

A force transfer apparatus includes a housing, a shaft, a plunger, a retention plate, and a force sensor. The housing defines a cavity and a sidewall with an aperture. The shaft is supported in the cavity for rotation about a first axis that is a longitudinal axis of the shaft. The plunger is disposed in the aperture and has a first and second ends. The first end is operably coupled to the shaft such that the plunger can slide along a second axis that is transverse to the first axis in response to rotation of the shaft. The retention plate is fixed to the sidewall outside of the cavity adjacent to the aperture. The force sensor is disposed between the second end of the plunger and the retention plate. As such, the force sensor can detect the amount of force applied to the plunger by the rotation of the shaft.

主权项

1. A force transfer apparatus, comprising:
a housing defining a cavity and including a sidewall defining an aperture in communication with the cavity; a shaft supported in the cavity of the housing for rotation about a first axis, the first axis being a longitudinal axis of the shaft; a plunger disposed within the aperture of the sidewall of the housing, the plunger having a first end and a second end, the first end of the plunger operably coupled to the shaft such that the plunger is adapted for sliding displacement along a second axis that is transverse to the first axis in response to rotation of the shaft; a retention plate disposed outside of the cavity and fixed to the sidewall of the housing adjacent to the aperture; a force sensor disposed outside of the cavity between the second end of the plunger and the retention plate, the force sensor for detecting the amount of force applied to the plunger by the rotation of the shaft; a gear set disposed between and operably coupling the shaft to the plunger, wherein the gear set comprises a planetary gear set including a sun gear fixed to the shaft, at least one planet gear meshing with the sun gear, and a ring gear meshing with the planet gear; and a bearing disposed within opposing first and second V-shaped recesses formed in a portion of the gear set and the first end of the plunger, respectively, wherein the first end of the plunger is operably connected to an outer surface of the ring gear such that a rotational force applied to the ring gear about the first axis results in a linear force being applied to the plunger along the second axis, and wherein the outer surface of the ring gear includes a flat portion in which the first V-shaped recess is defined.