This paper presents a single-degree-of-freedom (single-DoF) gravity balancer that can deal with variable payloads. The proposed design is made of a standard spring-based statically-balanced mechanism and a spring adjusting mechanism. The installation points of the balancing spring are controlled by two cables. When the payload is applied, the spring adjusting mechanism will drive the two cables to regulate the spring installation points to suitable locations for balancing purpose. The significant novelty of the proposed design is that the balancer can sense the change of the payload and then automatically regular its spring attachment, which are all done by pure mechanical solution, i.e., with no electrical sensor or actuator. A prototype is built up to test the proposed design.

This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.