A full-automatic cableway flow measuring and deviation rectifying device adaptive to high-sand-content and variable flow

Abstract

This invention discloses a fully automatic cableway flow measurement and correction device adapted to high sediment content and variable flow. It includes a rotating shaft vertically mounted at the front of a lead weight for mounting a flow meter, and also includes a flow-facing component, an elastic reset component, and a reverse transmission mechanism. The rotating shaft is vertically rotatably mounted at the front of the lead weight. The tail end of the flow-facing component is rotatably fitted onto the rotating shaft below the flow meter and is engaged with the rotating shaft via the reverse transmission mechanism. Initially, the front end of the flow-facing component and the impeller of the flow meter both face the front of the lead weight. This invention has a unique structure and ingenious design, effectively solving the problem that traditional lead weights cannot accurately orient the flow meter in high sediment content and variable flow due to tail fin adjustment lag or failure, achieving instantaneous active alignment and significantly improving flow measurement accuracy.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the technical field of river flow measurement equipment, specifically relating to a fully automatic cableway flow measurement and correction device adapted to high sediment content and variable flow. Background Technology

[0002] The lead weight cableway current measurement device is a widely used flow velocity measurement device in river hydrological surveys. Its core components include a streamlined lead weight body, a cableway suspension and travel system, and a flow velocity measuring instrument installed at the head or middle of the lead weight. The device is suspended from a single cableway across the river, sinking into the water under its own weight. The flow velocity at the measurement point is calculated by measuring the rotational speed of the propeller driven by the water flow. In this type of device, ensuring that the axis of the propeller of the current meter is always directly aligned with the direction of the water flow is a key technical prerequisite for ensuring that the measurement data accurately reflects the average flow velocity of the cross-section rather than some non-orthogonal component.

[0003] In existing technologies, the common method for aligning a current meter with the direction of the water flow is to install a large vertical tail fin at the tail of the lead weight. The unbalanced torque generated by the water flow acting on both sides of the tail fin drives the entire lead weight to rotate, causing the current meter to passively follow the direction of the water flow. However, this passive following adjustment mechanism has fundamental structural flaws in river measurements with high sediment content and large hydrological variability: First, the passive following adjustment mechanism has a long path and relies on the overall rotation of the large-inertia lead weight. Under conditions of sudden changes in flow velocity caused by flood waves, the lateral water flow must first pass through the head of the lead weight before acting on the tail. This time difference between the impacts, combined with the lead weight's own rotational inertia, causes the current meter's orientation adjustment to lag significantly behind the instantaneous changes in the water flow. The collected flow velocity data is a non-orthogonal component before the attitude adjustment is completed, resulting in a dynamic deviation from the actual flow value. Even more critically... Yes, in high-sediment-laden water environments, water carrying a large amount of sediment particles first impacts the head of the lead weight. Its kinetic energy is largely dissipated in this area, forming a highly turbulent low-energy wake zone behind the lead weight. When the water reaches the tail fin, the effective impact force acting on the tail fin surface has been greatly weakened. In addition, the disturbance of the flow field on the tail fin surface by sediment particles makes it difficult to form a continuous and effective pressure difference on both sides of the tail fin. Its ability to generate a corrective torque is significantly reduced or even completely disappeared, causing the propeller impeller of the current meter to be unable to effectively face the direction of the water flow. The reliability of the data from the current meter under such critical hydrological conditions is completely lost. Furthermore, tail fin adjustment is essentially a nonlinear and fuzzy adjustment process that relies on hydrodynamics. It is affected by multiple factors such as the incoming flow velocity, turbulence intensity, and the lead weight's posture. Even within the normal operating range, it is difficult to achieve precise and forced alignment of the water flow direction. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the shortcomings and problems of existing cableway flow measurement devices, this invention provides a fully automatic cableway flow measurement and correction device adapted to high sediment content and variable flow. This device has a unique structure and ingenious design, which can effectively solve the problem that traditional lead weights cannot accurately orient the flow meter in high sediment content and variable flow due to the lag or failure of tail fin adjustment. It achieves instantaneous active alignment and significantly improves flow measurement accuracy.

[0005] The solution adopted by this invention to solve its technical problem is: a fully automatic cableway flow measurement and correction device adapted to high sediment content and variable flow, comprising a rotating shaft vertically mounted at the front end of a lead weight for mounting a flow meter, and further comprising a flow-facing component, an elastic reset component, and a reverse transmission mechanism. The rotating shaft is rotatably mounted at the front end of the lead weight; the tail end of the flow-facing component is rotatably fitted onto the rotating shaft below the flow meter and is meshed with the rotating shaft through the reverse transmission mechanism, and in the initial state, the front end of the flow-facing component and the impeller of the flow meter are both facing the front end of the lead weight; when the flow-facing component is impacted by lateral water flow and rotates around the rotating shaft in a first direction, it drives the rotating shaft to rotate around the same axis in a second direction opposite to the first direction; the elastic reset component is mounted on the flow-facing component and is used to apply an elastic force to the flow-facing component to maintain its initial posture, and to accumulate reset elastic force when the flow-facing component rotates.

[0006] The flow-receiving assembly includes a bushing and a flow-receiving plate mounted on one side of the bushing. The bushing is rotatably mounted on a rotating vertical shaft below the flow meter, and the far end of the flow-receiving plate is provided with a chamfer to reduce water flow resistance. The bottom end of the bushing is engaged with the rotating vertical shaft through a reverse transmission mechanism.

[0007] The reverse transmission mechanism includes an outer frame, an upper bevel gear, a lower bevel gear, and a middle bevel gear. The outer frame is fitted onto a rotating vertical shaft below the anti-current assembly and is fixedly connected to the lead weight. The bushing extends downward into the outer frame and is connected to the outer frame via an elastic reset assembly. The upper and lower bevel gears are arranged facing each other and are respectively fixedly fitted onto the bushing and rotating vertical shaft inside the outer frame. The middle bevel gear is rotatably mounted on the inner wall of the outer frame on one side of the rotating vertical shaft and directly meshes with the upper and lower bevel gears.

[0008] The elastic reset component is a torsion spring, which is sleeved on the bushing or rotating shaft and located inside the outer frame housing. One end of the torsion spring is fixed to the bushing or rotating shaft, and the other end is fixed to the outer frame housing.

[0009] The upper bevel gear and the lower bevel gear have the same number of teeth.

[0010] The outer wall of the outer frame is streamlined.

[0011] The area facing the flow of the flow-facing component is larger than the area facing the flow-facing component of the flow meter.

[0012] The front end of the flow-facing component extends in the forward direction to the front of the flow meter in the initial state, so that it is impacted by the water flow before the flow meter and the tail fin of the lead fish in the lateral water flow.

[0013] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: This invention provides a fully automatic cableway flow measurement and correction device adapted to high sediment content and variable flow. Through the coordinated operation of a front-mounted upstream component and a reverse transmission mechanism, an instantaneous correction mechanism of "active sensing and forced reverse alignment" is constructed. From a control principle perspective, it eliminates the delayed path of the traditional passive tail fin following, allowing the flow meter to be forcibly driven to face the oncoming flow the instant the lateral flow occurs. The correction response speed jumps from the second-level delay of the traditional scheme to near instantaneous, fundamentally solving the dynamic deviation of flow measurement data caused by sudden changes in flow direction in variable flow. Because the sensing and driving functions are decoupled and moved forward to the head of the lead weight, the flow meter's correction action is completely unaffected by the weakening of the flow field at the tail of the lead weight by the high sediment content flow. Even in... Even under extreme conditions where sediment particles completely disrupt the tail fin adjustment function, the device still maintains reliable convection orientation capabilities, ensuring the authenticity and continuity of test data under critical hydrological conditions. The 1:1 rigid angle correspondence established by the reverse transmission mechanism forces and precisely drives the propeller axis of the flow meter to a position parallel to the actual flow direction, eliminating the inherent nonlinear deviation in tail fin adjustment. This ensures the premise of orthogonal velocity measurement from the measurement principle perspective, significantly improving test accuracy. The elastic reset component endows the device with passive, autonomous bidirectional adaptive correction and smooth reset capabilities. The outer shell effectively prevents fine sediment particles from intruding into the transmission mechanism, ensuring the long-term operational reliability and maintenance-free performance of the entire mechanical logic under extreme sediment content environments. Attached Figure Description

[0014] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the airflow-facing component structure of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the reverse transmission mechanism of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the working state of the airflow-facing component of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 5 This is a block view of the controller active reset control connection of the present invention.

[0019] The numbers in the diagram are as follows: 1 is the flow meter, 2 is the rotating vertical shaft, 3 is the flow-facing assembly, 31 is the bushing, 32 is the flow-facing plate, 4 is the reverse transmission mechanism, 41 is the outer frame, 42 is the upper bevel gear, 43 is the lower bevel gear, 44 is the middle bevel gear, and 5 is the lead weight. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Example

[0021] This embodiment provides a fully automatic cableway current measurement and correction device adapted to high sediment content and variable flow. This device, as an independent module, is fixedly installed on the head of the lead weight 5 for mounting the current meter 1. Figure 1-4 As shown, it includes a rotating vertical shaft 2, a flow-facing assembly 3, an elastic reset assembly, and a reverse transmission mechanism 4. The rotating vertical shaft 1 is vertically rotatable and installed at the front end of the lead weight (i.e., the head of the lead weight). It is used to install the flow meter. There are several ways to install the rotating vertical shaft. For example, the head of the lead weight is provided with a mounting platform. The mounting platform has a shaft hole along the vertical direction. The bottom of the rotating vertical shaft is installed in the shaft hole through a bearing. The upper section of the rotating vertical shaft has a locking hole that passes through the shaft body in the radial direction to fix the flow meter. In the initial installation state, after the flow meter is fixedly installed on the rotating vertical shaft, the axis direction of the impeller used to measure the flow velocity is consistent with the forward direction of the central axis of the lead weight under normal water flow.

[0022] The flow-adaptive assembly 3 is mounted on the rotating vertical shaft below the flow meter. The flow-adaptive assembly 3 includes a bushing 31 and a flow-adaptive plate 32 mounted on one side of the bushing. The bushing is rotatably mounted on the rotating vertical shaft below the flow meter. The far end of the flow-adaptive plate is designed with a streamlined chamfer to reduce interference with the flow field in normal straight water flow. The bushing of the flow-adaptive assembly is meshed with the rotating vertical shaft through a reverse transmission mechanism. In the initial state, the front end of the flow-adaptive assembly and the impeller of the flow meter are both set towards the front end of the lead weight. In the natural state, constrained by the elastic reset component, the front end of the flow-adaptive plate is completely aligned with the axis of the flow meter's propeller, both facing the forward direction of the lead weight.

[0023] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the flow-facing area of ​​the flow-facing plate is larger than that of the flow meter itself, and the front end of the flow-facing plate extends to the front of the flow meter's propeller impeller in a physical position. When any lateral water flow from a non-front direction occurs, the sand-carrying water flow will first impact and act on the flow-facing plate, rather than the tail of the lead fish or the main body of the flow meter.

[0024] The reverse transmission mechanism includes an outer frame 41, an upper bevel gear 42, a lower bevel gear 43, and a middle bevel gear 44. The outer wall of the outer frame is streamlined. The outer frame is fitted onto a rotating vertical shaft below the flow-facing component and is fixedly connected to the lead weight by bolts. The interior of the outer frame forms an independent transmission cavity, effectively isolating the transmission mechanism from the intrusion of high-sediment-content water flow. The bushing of the flow-facing component extends downward and into the outer frame. The upper bevel gear is fixedly fitted onto the bushing inside the outer frame, and the lower bevel gear is fixedly fitted onto the rotating vertical shaft below the upper bevel gear. The upper and lower bevel gears are arranged facing each other inside the outer frame, and the middle bevel gear is positioned between the upper and lower bevel gears. The middle bevel gear is rotatably mounted on the inner wall of the outer frame and meshes with both the upper and lower bevel gears simultaneously, thus achieving the reversal of motion.

[0025] In use, when a sudden lateral water flow impacts the side of the flow-facing plate, the resulting hydrodynamic torque drives the entire flow-facing component to rotate around the axis of the rotating vertical shaft. The direction of rotation is opposite to the direction of the lateral water flow. This rotation is directly transmitted to the upper bevel gear through the bushing. After being reversed by the middle bevel gear, it drives the lower bevel gear to drive the rotating vertical shaft to rotate synchronously in a direction completely opposite to the direction of rotation of the flow-facing component but with the same angle. Since the flow meter is fixed at the upper end of the rotating vertical shaft, it is forcibly driven to turn towards the direction of the lateral water flow and face the water flow. This process is instantaneous and synchronous, completely breaking the physical inertia limitation of the traditional solution that requires waiting for the entire lead weight to deflect. In a more preferred embodiment, the number of teeth of the upper bevel gear and the lower bevel gear is designed to be precisely 1:1 to ensure that the angle of the reverse rotation is absolutely synchronized, ensuring that the propeller of the flow meter can immediately face the new water flow direction.

[0026] In this embodiment, the elastic reset component is a torsion spring housed within the outer frame. One end is fixed to the bushing of the flow-facing component, and the other end is fixed to the outer frame. This torsion spring is used to constrain and control the flow-facing component to maintain its initial state during normal water flow impact, ensuring it faces the front end of the lead weight so that the far end of the flow-facing plate receives the water flow. When the flow direction changes and the flow-facing plate rotates due to lateral flow impact, the torsion spring is twisted and accumulates elastic force. When the lateral flow disturbance ends and the water pressure acting on the flow-facing plate rebalances, the accumulated elastic force of the torsion spring is released, driving the flow-facing component and the flow meter connected to it via a reverse transmission mechanism to synchronously return to their original position. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the torsion spring is a bidirectional torsion spring, so that regardless of whether the flow-facing component rotates clockwise or counterclockwise due to flow from the left or right, the torsion spring can be effectively twisted and accumulate reset elastic force, ensuring the device's ability to correct and reset lateral flow in any direction. Example

[0027] The difference between Example 2 and Example 1 is that in this example, the flow meter used is an existing flow velocity and direction meter that can simultaneously output flow velocity and flow direction information. An additional motor is added inside the outer casing. This motor is equipped with a controller, and its shaft is connected to any one of the following via a gear pair or worm gear pair: a rotating vertical shaft, a bushing, or a central bevel gear. When the motor is off, its shaft is in a free state. In natural flow measurement, the motor is in a de-energized and released state, and its shaft can rotate freely without generating any additional resistance to the meshing transmission components.

[0028] An angle sensor is installed on the rotating vertical shaft. This sensor is electrically connected to the controller and is used to monitor the current azimuth angle of the flow-facing component and the flow meter in real time. The controller obtains the real-time flow direction information of the water flow through the flow velocity and direction meter, and simultaneously reads the device attitude angle fed back by the angle sensor. If the water flow has returned to a straight and positive direction, but the flow-facing plate and the flow meter have failed to return to the initial neutral position due to residual torque or mechanical friction, i.e., there is a non-zero residual deflection angle, the controller determines that the elastic reset component can no longer complete the reset on its own, and then starts the motor to actively reset the device. According to the controller's instructions, the motor drives the rotating vertical shaft, bushing, or central bevel gear to rotate a certain angle in the direction of eliminating the residual deflection angle, forcibly driving the flow-facing plate and the flow meter to return to the initial zero position synchronously. After the reset action is completed, the controller immediately cuts off the motor power, the rotating shaft returns to a free state, and the entire device continues to be constrained by the elastic reset component. This electromechanical complementary design retains the advantages of a purely mechanical correction system, such as zero delay and high reliability, while also ensuring complete reset capability under extreme water flow conditions through electronic control assistance, thus avoiding the introduction of cumulative measurement errors in the next flow measurement cycle due to incomplete reset.

[0029] It should be noted that the above embodiments and accompanying drawings are merely illustrative examples of the core principles and key structures of the present invention, "A Fully Automatic Cableway Flow Measurement and Correction Device Adapted to High Sediment Content and Variable Flow." The accompanying drawings are simplified schematic diagrams, intended to clearly illustrate the structural, process, or data flow relationships related to the innovative points of the technical solution, and are not intended to limit the complete form of the actual product. This specification focuses on the innovative technical means necessary to achieve the invention's objectives and solve the technical problems. While auxiliary or common-sense details such as "dustproof design," "heat dissipation layout," "interface protocol," "conventional filtering," and "standard component selection," which can be implemented without creative effort by those skilled in the art, are not elaborated upon, they should be understood as naturally included in the specific implementation of this invention and fall within the protection and implementation scope of this technical solution.

Claims

1. A fully automatic cableway current measurement and correction device adapted to high sediment content and variable flow, comprising a rotating shaft vertically mounted at the front end of a lead weight for mounting a current meter, characterized in that, It also includes a flow-facing component, an elastic reset component, and a reverse transmission mechanism. The rotating vertical shaft is vertically rotatably mounted on the front end of the lead weight. The tail end of the flow-facing component is rotatably mounted on the rotating vertical shaft below the flow meter and is connected to the rotating vertical shaft through the reverse transmission mechanism. In the initial state, the front end of the flow-facing component and the impeller of the flow meter are both facing the front end of the lead weight. When the flow-facing component is impacted by lateral water flow and rotates around the rotating vertical shaft in a first direction, it drives the rotating vertical shaft to rotate around the same axis in a second direction opposite to the first direction. The elastic reset component is mounted on the flow-facing component and is used to apply an elastic force to the flow-facing component to maintain its initial posture and to accumulate reset elastic force when the flow-facing component rotates.

2. The full-automatic cableway flow measuring and deviation correcting device adaptive to high sediment concentration and variable rate water flow according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flow-receiving assembly includes a bushing and a flow-receiving plate mounted on one side of the bushing. The bushing is rotatably mounted on a rotating vertical shaft below the flow meter, and the far end of the flow-receiving plate is provided with a chamfer to reduce water flow resistance. The bottom end of the bushing is engaged with the rotating vertical shaft through a reverse transmission mechanism.

3. The fully automatic cableway flow measurement and correction device adapted to high sediment content and variable flow as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The reverse transmission mechanism includes an outer frame, an upper bevel gear, a lower bevel gear, and a middle bevel gear. The outer frame is fitted onto a rotating vertical shaft below the anti-current assembly and is fixedly connected to the lead weight. The bushing extends downward into the outer frame and is connected to the outer frame via an elastic reset assembly. The upper and lower bevel gears are arranged facing each other and are respectively fixedly fitted onto the bushing and rotating vertical shaft inside the outer frame. The middle bevel gear is rotatably mounted on the inner wall of the outer frame on one side of the rotating vertical shaft and directly meshes with the upper and lower bevel gears.

4. The full-automatic cableway flow measuring and deviation rectifying device adaptive to high sediment concentration and variable flow according to claim 3, characterized in that, The elastic reset component is a torsion spring, which is sleeved on the bushing or rotating shaft and located inside the outer frame housing. One end of the torsion spring is fixed to the bushing or rotating shaft, and the other end is fixed to the outer frame housing.

5. The full-automatic cableway flow measuring and deviation rectifying device adaptive to high sediment concentration and variable flow according to claim 3, characterized in that, The upper bevel gear and the lower bevel gear have the same number of teeth.

6. The full-automatic cableway flow measuring and deviation rectifying device adaptive to high sediment concentration and variable flow according to claim 3, characterized in that, The outer wall of the outer frame is streamlined.

7. The full-automatic cableway flow measuring and deviation rectifying device adaptive to high sediment concentration and variable flow according to claim 1, characterized in that, The area facing the flow of the flow-facing component is larger than the area facing the flow-facing component of the flow meter.

8. The full-automatic cableway flow measuring and deviation rectifying device adaptive to high sediment concentration and variable flow according to claim 1, characterized in that, The front end of the flow-facing component extends in the forward direction to the front of the flow meter in the initial state, so that it is impacted by the water flow before the flow meter and the tail fin of the lead fish in the lateral water flow.

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