A tilting mechanism with tension compensation function

Abstract

A tipping mechanism with tension compensation function includes a winch, a transport trolley, a fuel basket and a weight assembly, wherein the fuel basket is rotatably arranged on the transport trolley through a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is eccentrically fixed to the fuel basket, a steel wire rope is wound according to a winding path capable of pulling the fuel basket to tip, one end of the steel wire rope is fixed to the winch, and the other end is connected to the weight assembly, an elastic element is arranged on the rotating shaft, one end of the elastic element is fixed to the transport trolley, and the other end is fixed to the rotating shaft or the fuel basket, so that the elastic force of the elastic element can change with the change of the tipping angle of the fuel basket. The present invention can effectively compensate for the reduced tension of the steel wire rope during the tipping of the fuel basket, keep the tension of the steel wire rope basically unchanged, reduce the deflection of the steel wire rope, improve the ability of the steel wire rope to resist external interference, and thus improve the operation stability and efficiency of the tipping mechanism.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of fuel transportation equipment in the nuclear industry, and in particular to a tipping mechanism with a tension compensation function. Background Art

[0002] The main function of the fuel transportation equipment is to transfer fuel assemblies between the auxiliary building and the reactor building of the nuclear power unit, including transporting new fuel assemblies from the auxiliary building to the reactor building, and transporting spent fuel assemblies from the reactor building to the auxiliary building. The tipping mechanism is one of the key mechanisms of the fuel transportation equipment and plays an important role in the operational reliability and efficiency of the equipment. When loading and unloading fuel, the fuel basket of the tipping mechanism of the fuel transportation equipment needs to be tipped from a horizontal state to a vertical state, or from a vertical state to a horizontal state.

[0003] At present, the tipping mechanism of the fuel transportation equipment is composed of a winch, a transport trolley, a fuel basket, a wire rope, a weight group, a proximity switch, etc. The tipping mechanism drives the wire rope through the winch to drive the fuel basket to rotate from 0 to 90 degrees around the rotating axis. The wire rope is wound in the pulley group of the transport trolley through a certain winding path. One end is fixedly connected to the drum of the winch, and the other end is connected to the weight group. The weight group is generally composed of two weights, large and small, and the small weight is movably arranged in the cavity of the large weight. The large weight and the small weight are respectively connected to the vertical proximity switch and the horizontal proximity switch of the fuel transportation equipment. The structure of the above-mentioned tipping mechanism can be found in patent CN102097140B. The schematic diagram of the tipping mechanism and the force principle diagram of the fuel basket in this patent are shown as follows: Figures 1-2 shown.

[0004] When the fuel basket is in a horizontal state (0°), the large weight is in contact with the ground, the small weight is suspended in the air, and the preload force of the wire rope 6 is provided by the small weight, that is, the tension of the wire rope 6 is equal to the gravity of the small weight. At this time, the vertical proximity switch and the horizontal proximity switch are both disconnected; when the winch 1 drives the fuel basket 4 to tip from a horizontal state to a vertical state through the wire rope 6, the tension of the wire rope 6 is greater than the gravity of the small weight and less than the gravity of the weight group. At this time, the small weight is lifted, the horizontal proximity switch is unblocked, the large weight is still in contact with the ground, and the vertical proximity switch is disconnected; when the fuel basket 4 is tilted to a vertical state (90°), it stops rotating due to the obstruction of the limit block, the winch 1 continues to move through the wire rope 6 and drives the large weight to move upward until the vertical proximity switch is unblocked, the winch 1 stops working, and the horizontal proximity switch and the vertical proximity switch are both unblocked.

[0005] When the fuel basket 4 of the fuel transportation equipment is tilted from 0° to 90°, the force arm of the steel wire 6 pulling the fuel basket 4 gradually increases, and the pulling force gradually decreases, until the fuel basket 4 is in a vertical state at 90° and the pulling force of the steel wire 6 is the smallest. In order to ensure that the horizontal proximity switch remains unobstructed during the tilting process, the gravity of the small weight shall not be greater than the pulling force of the steel wire when the fuel basket 4 is in a vertical state, that is, the maximum weight of the small weight is limited. Therefore, when the fuel basket 4 is in a horizontal state, since the tension of the steel wire 6 is provided by the small weight, when the distance between the two supporting points of the steel wire 6 is long, the gravity of the small weight is not enough to tension the steel wire 6 due to the influence of the weight of the steel wire 6 itself, resulting in a large deflection of the steel wire 6, which makes the operation stability and operation efficiency of the tilting mechanism low.

[0006] The tipping mechanism is one of the key mechanisms of the fuel transportation equipment, and plays an important role in the operating reliability and efficiency of the equipment. Since the existing equipment has a large wire rope deflection when the fuel basket is in a horizontal state, the equipment is susceptible to external interference during horizontal operation and tipping operation, resulting in failure of the proximity switch signal and parking. At the same time, the equipment needs to tension the wire rope at a low speed during tipping operation to reduce the up and down swing of the fuel basket during the tipping process. The tensioning of the wire rope takes a certain amount of time, so increasing the tension of the wire rope can greatly improve the operating efficiency of the equipment and has extremely high application value. Summary of the invention

[0007] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a tilting mechanism with a tension compensation function to solve the problem of low operating stability and operating efficiency caused by insufficient tension of the steel wire rope of the current fuel basket tilting mechanism.

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical scheme adopted by the present invention is: a tilting mechanism with tension compensation function, comprising a winch, a transport trolley, a fuel basket and a weight assembly, the fuel basket is rotatably arranged on the transport trolley through a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is eccentrically fixed to the fuel basket, the wire rope is wound according to a winding path that can pull the fuel basket to tilt, one end of the wire rope is fixed to the winch, and the other end is connected to the weight assembly; it also includes an elastic element arranged on the rotating shaft, one end of the elastic element is fixed to the transport trolley, and the other end is fixed to the rotating shaft or the fuel basket, so that the elastic force of the elastic element can change with the change of the tilting angle of the fuel basket, the elastic element keeps the tension of the wire rope unchanged, and the elastic element keeps the tension of the wire rope unchanged; the elastic element is a torsion spring;

[0009] The torsion spring is designed as follows: When the fuel basket is in a vertical state, the torsion of the torsion spring is calculated as: 2×F N ×S=2×ΔF×L, that is, F N=ΔF×L / S;

[0010] Among them, F N ——The torque at the maximum torsional deformation angle of 90° is actually 2 torsion springs;

[0011] S——torsion arm length;

[0012] ΔF——compensation tension of a single steel wire rope, actually two steel wire ropes;

[0013] L is the distance between the wire rope and the center of the rotating shaft.

[0014] The torsion spring is sleeved on the rotating shaft, one end of the torsion spring is fixedly connected to the transport trolley, and the other end of the torsion spring is fixedly connected to the fuel basket.

[0015] The weight assembly includes a large weight and a small weight. The small weight is movably placed in the inner space of the large weight. The top opening of the inner space of the large weight is smaller than the size of the small weight shoulder to prevent the small weight from detaching from the inner space of the large weight.

[0016] The steel wire rope is connected to the top of the small weight.

[0017] The large weight is connected to a vertical proximity switch via a first connector, and the small weight is connected to a horizontal proximity switch via a second connector. The first connector and the second connector are provided with metal sliders that can be detected by the corresponding proximity switches.

[0018] The transport trolley is installed on a track and can move horizontally along the track.

[0019] The transport trolley is provided with a limit block for limiting the maximum tipping angle of the fuel basket.

[0020] The beneficial effects of the present invention are: 1) Compared with the tipping device of the existing fuel transportation equipment, the present invention adds an elastic element to the fuel basket and the transport workshop, and the elastic element can effectively compensate for the reduced tension of the wire rope during the tipping process of the fuel basket, so that the tension of the wire rope remains basically unchanged. In this way, the weight of the small weight can be increased as needed to reduce the deflection of the wire rope, improve the ability of the wire rope to resist external interference, and thus improve the operation stability of the tipping mechanism; 2) After the deflection of the wire rope is reduced, the fuel basket can effectively reduce the time used for tensioning the wire rope during the tipping operation, which greatly improves the operation efficiency of the fuel transportation equipment; 3) When the fuel basket is in a horizontal state, the transport trolley drives the fuel basket to run horizontally on the track, and there is static friction between the wire rope and the pulley block at the moment of starting. After the weight of the small weight is increased, the influence of the static friction on the wire rope can be effectively reduced, so that the weight assembly and the wire rope are in a stable state, avoiding the parking caused by the false triggering signal of the proximity switch, and improving the operation reliability of the fuel transportation equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a tilting mechanism in the prior art;

[0022] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the force principle of the fuel basket in the prior art;

[0023] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the tilting mechanism of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 for Figure 3 The partial enlarged view of point Ⅰ in the middle;

[0025] Figure 5 for Figure 3 The partial enlarged picture of the middle II;

[0026] Figure 6 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the installation of the elastic element;

[0027] Figure 7 This is a simplified diagram of the force analysis when the fuel basket is in a horizontal state;

[0028] Figure 8 This is a simplified diagram of the force analysis when the fuel basket is tilted 45°;

[0029] Fig. 9 This is a simplified diagram of the force analysis when the fuel basket is in a vertical state;

[0030] Markings in the figure: 1- winch, 2- pulley block, 3- transport trolley, 4- fuel basket, 5- rotating shaft, 6- wire rope, 7- weight assembly, 8- elastic element, 9- horizontal proximity switch, 10- vertical proximity switch, 11- track, 12- fixed pulley, 301- wire rope guide pulley, 302- limit block, 401- tilting guide pulley, 701- large weight, 702- small weight. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments, but they are not intended to limit the invention in any way.

[0032] As shown in the accompanying drawings, a tipping mechanism with tension compensation function includes a winch 1, a transport trolley 3, a fuel basket 4, a rotating shaft 5, a wire rope 6, a weight assembly 7, an elastic element 8, a horizontal proximity switch 9, a vertical proximity switch 10 and a track 11.

[0033] The transport trolley 3 runs horizontally on the track 11. The operation of the transport trolley 3 is achieved by a traction mechanism. The setting of the traction mechanism and the connection with the transport trolley 3 belong to the prior art in this field and do not belong to the technical problem to be solved by the present invention. Therefore, the present invention does not elaborate on this part in detail.

[0034] The frame of the transport trolley 3 has a space for accommodating the fuel basket 4. A rotating shaft 5 is fixed on each side of the fuel basket 4. The rotating shaft 5 is rotatably connected to the transport trolley 3. The elastic element 8 is installed on the rotating shaft 5. The elastic element 8 is preferably a torsion spring. One end of the torsion spring is fixedly connected to the rotating shaft 5, and the other end is fixedly connected to the transport trolley 3. Therefore, when the fuel basket 4 rotates, the torsion spring will be squeezed to generate elastic force, and the magnitude of the elastic force changes with the change of the rotation angle of the fuel basket 4. The transport trolley 3 is also provided with a limit block 302 for limiting the maximum tipping angle of the fuel basket 4. When the fuel basket 4 tips over 90° to reach a vertical state, the limit block 302 can press against the fuel basket 4 to prevent it from further tipping over. At this time, the elastic force provided by the torsion spring is the largest.

[0035] The rotating shaft 5 is fixed on the fuel basket 4 in an eccentric manner, that is, the center of the rotating shaft is not at the center of gravity of the fuel basket 4, and the center of the rotating shaft maintains a certain distance from the center of gravity of the fuel basket in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The size of the distance needs to meet the following conditions: when the fuel basket 4 is in a vertical state, it can automatically tip over to a horizontal state along a tipping path by its own weight.

[0036] The elastic element 8 may also be an element or component such as a torsion bar, the elastic force of which changes with the angle.

[0037] The track 11 of the present invention is provided with a pulley block 2 at one end, and the pulley block 2 is located below the winch 1. The transport trolley 3 is provided with wire rope guide pulleys 301 on both sides of the frame. The fuel basket 4 is also provided with a pulley seat that can rotate around its fulcrum, and a tipping guide pulley 401 is installed on the pulley seat. Based on the structure, the winding path of the wire rope 6 of the present invention is basically the same as the winding of the wire rope 6 of the patent described in the background technology above, and the winding of the wire rope 6 here also belongs to the prior art in this field, so it will not be elaborated here. The specific method can be referred to. Figure 2 ,but Figure 2 The reference numerals in the drawings are adjusted according to the present invention based on the original patent. Figure 2 The two fixed pulleys 12 are equivalent to the present invention. Figure 3 Pulley block 2 in. Figure 2 After winding in the above manner, one end of the wire rope 6 is fixed on the winch 1 , and the other end is connected to the small weight 702 in the weight assembly 7 .

[0038] The weight assembly 7 includes a large weight 701 and a small weight 702. The large weight 701 has an internal space for accommodating the small weight 702. The top of the internal space is open, so that the top of the small weight 702 can be fixedly connected to the steel wire 6. The top opening of the internal space is smaller than the shoulder size of the small weight 702 to prevent the small weight 702 from being separated from the large weight 701 during the process of being pulled by the steel wire 6, and the steel wire 6 can pull the large weight 701 through the small weight 702. The steel wire 6 pulls the small weight 702 so that the small weight 702 can move upward relative to the large weight 701. When the small weight 702 hits the top of the large weight 701, it continues to pull the steel wire 6, and the large weight 702 and the small weight 701 move upward at the same time. The top of the large weight 702 is connected to the vertical proximity switch 10 through a connector, and the top of the small weight 702 is connected to the horizontal proximity switch 9 through a connector. Each connector is provided with a slider that can be detected by the corresponding proximity switch. When the large weight 701 and the small weight 702 move up and down, the up and down position of the slider also changes accordingly, thereby triggering the corresponding proximity switch. The installation of the slider is a conventional technology in this field, and there are many ways to install it, such as placing the slider in a sliding sleeve, a spring is provided between the slider and the sliding sleeve, the sliding sleeve is fixed on the proximity switch, and the part of the slider exposed from the sliding sleeve is connected to the connector, and the slider can be pushed up by the elastic force of the spring.

[0039] In this embodiment, the horizontal proximity switch and the vertical proximity switch are both Pepperl+Fuchs proximity switches, model NBB5-18GM40-Z0.

[0040] Reference below Figures 7-9 , taking the torsion spring as an example, the compensation mechanism of the elastic element and the design of the elastic element are explained.

[0041] The compensation torque of the torsion spring is calculated as follows: The torque balance formula when the fuel basket tipped over is: G×H=2×F×L, that is, F=G×H / (2×L);

[0042] Where: G – fuel basket weight, expressed in gravity;

[0043] H – distance from the center of gravity of the fuel basket to the center of the rotating shaft;

[0044] F——tension of a single steel wire rope (actually 2 steel wire ropes);

[0045] L is the distance between the wire rope and the center of the rotating shaft.

[0046] At different tipping angles, the values ​​of G, H, F, and L are as shown in the following table.

[0047]

[0048] As can be seen from the table above, when the fuel basket is tilted from 0° to 90°, the wire rope tension is reduced from 450.3N to 90.2N, that is, the weight of the small weight is not greater than 90.2N, so the weight of the small weight should not be greater than 9.2kg. When the fuel basket is in a horizontal state, the tension of the wire rope is provided by the weight of the small weight, that is, 90.2N, and the maximum sag of the wire rope is 150mm, which is in a relaxed state.

[0049] When designing the torsion spring, when the fuel basket is in a horizontal state, the torsion deformation angle of the torsion spring is 0°, and the torsion provided is 0. When the fuel basket is in a vertical state, the torsion deformation angle of the torsion spring is 90°, and a compensation force of 360.1N is required for the wire rope. In this way, after adding the torsion spring, when the fuel basket is tilted from 0° to 90°, the wire rope tension is basically maintained at 450.3N, that is, the weight of the small weight shall not be greater than 45.9kg (450.3 / 9.8). Considering the installation space of the small weight, the weight of the small weight is increased to 25kg. At this time, when the fuel basket is in a horizontal state, the tension provided by the small weight is 245N (25×9.8), and the maximum sag of the wire rope is about 3mm, which is in a taut state.

[0050] The torsion spring is designed as follows: When the fuel basket is in a vertical state, the torsion force of the torsion spring is calculated as: 2×F N ×S=2×ΔF×L, that is, F N =ΔF×L / S;

[0051] Among them, F N ——Torsion at the maximum torsional deformation angle (90°) (actually 2 torsion springs);

[0052] S——torsion arm length;

[0053] ΔF——compensation tension of a single steel wire rope (actually 2 steel wire ropes);

[0054] L——The distance between the wire rope and the center of the shaft

[0055] Therefore, the torsion force of the torsion spring at the maximum torsional deformation angle (90°) can be calculated. According to the torsion force provided by the torsion spring at the maximum deformation angle (90°), the material properties and dimensions of the spring, and the calculation method in the spring manual, the effective number of coils, spring wire diameter, spring center diameter and other parameters of the torsion spring can be calculated.

[0056] The tipping process of the fuel basket of the present invention is described in detail below.

[0057] The process of the fuel basket 4 tipping from the horizontal state (0°) to the vertical state (90°): the initial position of the fuel basket 4 is horizontal, at which time the large weight 701 is in contact with the ground, and the small weight 702 is suspended inside the large weight 701. Under the downward pulling force of the weight, the vertical proximity switch 9 and the horizontal proximity switch 10 are both in the disconnected state. When the winch 1 drives the wire rope 6 and drives the fuel basket 4 to tip upward from the horizontal state, the small weight 702 moves upward under the pulling force of the wire rope 6. When the small weight 702 contacts the inner wall surface at the top of the large weight 701, the horizontal proximity switch 9 is unblocked. During the tipping process, the elastic element 8 is squeezed by the fuel basket 4 and the transport trolley 3, and the torque gradually increases, compensating for the decrease in the tension of the wire rope 6 caused by the increase in the lever arm. Therefore, the tension of the wire rope 6 can be kept basically unchanged, and the relative positions of the large weight 701 and the small weight 702 remain unchanged, that is, the horizontal approach switch 9 remains unobstructed, and the vertical approach switch 10 is still disconnected; when the fuel basket 4 reaches the vertical state, it stops tipping due to the obstruction of the limit block 302. At this time, the winch 1 continues to rotate through the wire rope 6 to drive the small weight 702 and the large weight 701 to rise at the same time to trigger the vertical approach switch 10 to be unobstructed, so that the winch 1 stops rotating. At this time, the horizontal approach switch 9 and the vertical approach switch 10 are both in an unobstructed state.

[0058] The process of the fuel basket 4 tipping from the vertical state to the horizontal state: the initial position of the fuel basket 4 is the vertical state, at which time the large weight 701 and the small weight 702 are both suspended in the air, and the vertical proximity switch 9 and the horizontal proximity switch 10 are both in the open state. When the winch 1 drives the steel wire 6 and drives the fuel basket 4 to tip downward from the vertical state, the large weight 701 and the small weight 702 move downward at the same time until the large weight 701 contacts the ground, at which time the horizontal proximity switch 9 is open and the vertical proximity switch 10 is disconnected. Due to the torsion compensation effect of the elastic element 8, the small weight 702 still keeps in contact with the inner wall surface at the top of the large weight 701 under the tension of the steel wire 6, that is, the relative positions of the two remain unchanged, and the states of the horizontal proximity switch 9 and the vertical proximity switch 10 remain unchanged; when the fuel basket 4 reaches the horizontal state and stops, the winch 1 continues to rotate, driving the small weight 702 to descend through the steel wire 6 until the horizontal proximity switch 10 is disconnected, and the winch 1 stops rotating, at which time the horizontal proximity switch 9 and the vertical proximity switch 10 are both disconnected.

[0059] In the above process, because the elastic element 8 can provide torque to compensate for the tension of the wire rope 6, the weight of the small weight 702 can be increased to reduce the deflection of the wire rope 6, improve the ability of the wire rope 6 to resist external interference, and thus improve the operating stability of the tipping mechanism. After the deflection of the wire rope 6 is reduced, the fuel basket 4 can effectively reduce the time used to tighten the wire rope 6 during the tipping operation, thereby greatly improving the operating efficiency of the fuel transportation equipment.

[0060] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention rather than to limit the same. Those skilled in the art should understand that the specific implementation modes of the present invention may be modified or replaced by equivalents with reference to the above embodiments. Any modifications or equivalent replacements that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention are within the scope of protection of the pending claims.

Claims

1. A tilting mechanism with tension compensation function, comprising a winch, a transport trolley, a fuel basket and a weight assembly, wherein the fuel basket is rotatably arranged on the transport trolley via a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is eccentrically fixed to the fuel basket, a steel wire rope is wound according to a winding path capable of pulling the fuel basket to tilt, one end of the steel wire rope is fixed to the winch, and the other end is connected to the weight assembly, characterized in that: The center of the rotating shaft maintains a certain distance from the center of gravity of the fuel basket in both the horizontal and vertical directions, and the size of the distance needs to meet the following conditions: when the fuel basket is in a vertical state, it can automatically tip over to a horizontal state along a tipping path by its own weight, and also includes an elastic element arranged on the rotating shaft, one end of the elastic element is fixed to the transport trolley, and the other end is fixed to the rotating shaft or the fuel basket, so that the elastic force of the elastic element can change with the change of the tipping angle of the fuel basket, and the elastic element keeps the tension of the steel wire rope unchanged; the elastic element is a torsion spring; The torsion spring is designed as follows: When the fuel basket is in a vertical state, the torsion of the torsion spring is calculated as: 2×F N ×S=2×ΔF×L, that is, F N =ΔF×L / S; Among them, F N ——The torque at the maximum torsional deformation angle of 90° is actually 2 torsion springs; S——torsion arm length; ΔF——compensation tension of a single steel wire rope, actually two steel wire ropes; L is the distance between the wire rope and the center of the rotating shaft.

2. The tilting mechanism with tension compensation function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The torsion spring is sleeved on the rotating shaft, one end of the torsion spring is fixedly connected to the transport trolley, and the other end of the torsion spring is fixedly connected to the fuel basket.

3. The tilting mechanism with tension compensation function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The weight assembly includes a large weight and a small weight, wherein the small weight is movably placed in the inner space of the large weight, and the top opening of the inner space of the large weight is smaller than the size of the small weight shoulder to prevent the small weight from detaching from the inner space of the large weight.

4. The tilting mechanism with tension compensation function according to claim 3, characterized in that: The steel wire rope is connected to the top of the small weight.

5. The tilting mechanism with tension compensation function according to claim 3, characterized in that: The large weight is connected to a vertical proximity switch via a first connector, and the small weight is connected to a horizontal proximity switch via a second connector. The first connector and the second connector are provided with metal sliders that can be detected by the corresponding proximity switches.

6. The tilting mechanism with tension compensation function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transport trolley is installed on a track and can move horizontally along the track.

7. The tilting mechanism with tension compensation function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transport trolley is provided with a limit block for limiting the maximum tipping angle of the fuel basket.

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