A drag chain cable structure and a crane
By constraining the cable structure and guiding the cable movement, the problems of cable bending and tangling caused by the narrow space of the outriggers are solved, thus achieving the reliability and safety of the electric cylinder power supply.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- XUZHOU HEAVY MASCH CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-06-19
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-16
AI Technical Summary
Existing technology makes it difficult to power a mobile electric cylinder within a confined leg space. High-voltage cables are prone to bending during the extension and retraction of the legs, leading to insulation layer rupture and internal copper wire breakage. Furthermore, multiple cables are prone to tangling when laid out.
The cable drag chain structure includes a horizontal electric cylinder, a vertical electric cylinder, fixed legs, and movable nested legs. The cable movement is constrained by the drag chain to ensure that the cable does not bend and remains orderly during the extension and retraction of the legs. The cable movement is guided by drag chain guards and constraint brackets.
It enables the orderly winding and unwinding of high-voltage cables, avoids cable wear and tangling, improves the reliability and safety of electric cylinder power supply, and meets the power supply requirements of electric cylinder-driven outriggers.
Smart Images
Figure CN224362428U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model relates to a drag chain cable structure and a crane, belonging to the field of engineering machinery technology. Background Technology
[0002] Wheeled cranes are mobile lifting equipment that primarily rely on hydraulic systems to drive the working devices, enabling actions such as outrigger extension and retraction, winch hoisting, and boom luffing. With the increasing maturity of electrification technology, replacing hydraulic systems with electric direct drive has become the future development trend of the construction machinery industry.
[0003] Before operation, wheeled cranes require outriggers for vehicle support. Currently, the outriggers are mainly driven by hydraulic cylinders for extension and retraction. To improve support efficiency and extension accuracy, the industry has gradually begun to develop electric cylinder-driven outrigger extension and retraction mechanisms. An electric cylinder is a linear motion mechanism directly driven by an electric motor, offering advantages such as fast extension and retraction speed, high efficiency, and high positional accuracy. However, the mobile electric cylinder requires power during outrigger extension and retraction. Since high-voltage cables cannot be bent at large radii or frequently wound and unwound, otherwise, it can easily cause cable insulation layer rupture, internal copper wire breakage, and other faults, resulting in high-voltage leakage and endangering personal safety.
[0004] Chinese patent CN220906786U discloses a cable reel device for engineering machinery. It uses a cable reel connected to the movable end of a telescopic mechanism. During cable reel winding, the cable must be sequentially fed into the reel. However, this method is only suitable for single cables; when the number of cables exceeds one, cable tangling easily occurs. Chinese patent CN204161324U discloses an engineering machine and outriggers using a double drag chain arrangement for the movement of the telescopic hydraulic cylinder hose inside the movable outriggers. However, the internal space of the outriggers is small, and the high-voltage wiring harness has a large bending radius, making it impossible to meet the bending requirements of the high-voltage wiring harness. How to supply power to the moving electric cylinder within the confined space of the outriggers remains a common industry problem restricting the large-scale application of electric cylinder-driven outrigger technology. Summary of the Invention
[0005] The purpose of this utility model is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a drag chain cable structure and crane to realize the retraction and extension control of high-voltage cables, reduce the bending of high-voltage lines, and at the same time meet the power supply requirements of the electric cylinder driven outriggers.
[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by this utility model is as follows:
[0007] In a first aspect, this application provides a drag chain cable structure, including: a horizontal electric cylinder, a vertical electric cylinder, a fixed support leg, and a movable support leg nested inside the fixed support leg, for limiting and constraining the drag chain of the cable;
[0008] The fixed outrigger is also equipped with a horizontal electric cylinder, with the cylinder end fixed to the tail of the fixed outrigger and the push rod end connected to one end of the movable outrigger.
[0009] The other end of the movable outrigger is equipped with a vertical electric cylinder, and the end of the push rod of the vertical electric cylinder is mechanically connected to the outrigger plate in contact with the ground.
[0010] One end of the cable chain is connected to the horizontal electric cylinder, and the other end is connected to the end of the movable outrigger near the tail.
[0011] The movable outriggers are equipped with constraint brackets that extend along the extension and retraction direction of the outriggers, which are used to limit and guide the movement of the cable chain.
[0012] In conjunction with the first aspect, the tail of the movable support leg is further provided with a drag chain guard plate, the height of which matches the thickness of the drag chain links to ensure that the links can slide against the surface of the guard plate when they are raised.
[0013] Furthermore, the drag chain guard plate is located immediately adjacent to the end of the constraint bracket.
[0014] Furthermore, the cable chain has a hollow interior, and the cable passes through the interior of the cable chain and is fixed at the inlet and outlet of the cable chain, respectively.
[0015] Furthermore, the length of the cable chain is greater than the maximum stroke of the movable outrigger.
[0016] Furthermore, the fixed support leg is a box-shaped or frame-type structure.
[0017] Furthermore, one end of the cable is connected to the electrical interface of the vertical electric cylinder, and the other end is connected to the electric cylinder controller;
[0018] The cables include high-voltage cables and low-voltage cables.
[0019] Furthermore, one end of the cable chain is fixedly connected to the side of the motor housing of the horizontal electric cylinder, and the other end is fixed to the bottom surface near the tail of the movable outrigger to constrain the direction of cable movement.
[0020] Secondly, this application provides a crane equipped with a frame for mounting fixed outriggers and any of the drag chain cable structures described in the first aspect.
[0021] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects achieved by this utility model are as follows:
[0022] This application achieves constraint and protection of the cable in reciprocating motion by following the telescopic movement of the movable outrigger with the moving end of the cable chain, avoiding cable wear and tangling, and effectively improving the reliability of power supply to the vertical electric cylinder. Attached Figure Description
[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the drag chain cable structure in the non-operating state provided by an embodiment of this utility model;
[0024] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the drag chain cable structure in the operating state provided by this utility model embodiment;
[0025] In the diagram: 1. Fixed outrigger; 2. Movable outrigger; 3. Horizontal electric cylinder; 4. Vertical electric cylinder; 5. Cable; 6. Cable chain; 7. Constraint bracket; 8. Cable chain guard plate; 9. Outrigger plate. Detailed Implementation
[0026] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and should not be used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.
[0027] Example 1:
[0028] This application provides a cable structure for a drag chain, wherein the cable 5 passes through the inside of the drag chain 6 and can move along with the extension and retraction of the movable support leg 2; by moving the drag chain 6 on the drag chain guard plate 8 fixed on the movable support leg 2, the high-voltage cable inside the fixed support leg 1 is laid out, which meets the electrical connection requirements of the vertical electric cylinder 4.
[0029] This application provides a drag chain cable structure, specifically a drag chain cable structure for a new energy crane, such as... Figure 1 , 2 The diagrams shown are schematics of the drag chain cable structure in non-operating and operating states, respectively.
[0030] The fixed outrigger 1 has a box-shaped or frame-like structure and is fixed to the crane frame, providing fixed support. A horizontal electric cylinder 3 is installed inside the fixed outrigger 1, with its cylinder end fixed to the rear end and its push rod end connected to the movable outrigger 2. During operation, the motor extends the push rod to push the movable outrigger 2 to the designated position, driving its extension and retraction. The movable outrigger 2 is located inside the fixed outrigger when the vehicle is moving; during operation, it extends from inside the fixed outrigger 1.
[0031] The vertical electric cylinder 4 consists of a motor and a push rod, which is fixed inside the front end of the movable outrigger 2. The end of the push rod is mechanically connected to the outrigger plate 9. Through the extension and retraction action, the outrigger plate 9 is pushed to contact the ground. During operation, after the movable outrigger 2 is extended, the vertical electric cylinder 4 is activated to extend the push rod and push the outrigger plate 9 to the designated position, thus completing the lifting of the vehicle.
[0032] Cable 5 includes a high-voltage cable for transmitting the power source to the electric cylinder and a low-voltage cable for controlling the electric cylinder. Both the high-voltage and low-voltage cables are connected at one end to the electrical interface of the vertical electric cylinder and at the other end to the electric cylinder controller. The links of the drag chain 6 have a hollow internal structure, forming a channel through which the cable 5 passes. This structure serves to fix the arrangement of the cable 5 and constrains the direction of movement of the cable 5 when the horizontal electric cylinder push rod pushes the movable outrigger 2 to extend or retract, preventing excessive bending of the cable 5 during the extension or retraction of the movable outrigger 2 and providing protection.
[0033] It is feasible to install a partition or independent compartment inside the cable chain 6 to physically isolate the high-voltage cable from the low-voltage cable.
[0034] Both ends of the cable chain 6 need to be fixed. The fixed end is fixed to the side of the horizontal electric cylinder motor housing to ensure that the cable chain 6 remains stable during the extension and retraction of the movable outriggers and to prevent deviation or shaking. The movable end is fixed to the bottom surface of the movable outrigger 2 near the tail. When the movable outrigger 2 extends and retracts, the movable end moves with the movable outrigger 2.
[0035] Furthermore, the length of the cable chain 6 is greater than the maximum stroke of the movable outrigger 2. The cable 5 passes through the interior of the cable chain 6 and is fixed at the inlet and outlet of the cable chain 6, respectively.
[0036] The movable outrigger 2 is equipped with a constraint bracket 7, which not only constrains the position of the drag chain 6 during movement, but also serves as a guide.
[0037] Furthermore, the constraint bracket 7 constrains the movement of the cable chain 6 and the cable 5 in the horizontal and vertical directions. At the exit of the cable chain 6, the cable 5 is fixed in a fixed manner, and the cable 5 is led out to the controller connection at the end of the vehicle.
[0038] The cable chain guard plate 8 is fixed to the rear tail plate at the end of the movable outrigger 2. During the movement of the cable chain 6, the links may tilt upwards. If there is any obstruction in the direction of movement, it will affect the movement of the cable chain 6. Due to space constraints, the rear tail plate at the end of the movable outrigger 2 will interfere with the movement of the cable chain 6. The cable chain guard plate 8 plays a guiding and transitioning role for the tilted part of the cable chain 6.
[0039] like Figure 1 As shown, when the movable outrigger is in the retracted state, the cable 5 is in the retracted position, at which time the horizontal electric cylinder push rod is completely retracted inside the electric cylinder, and the drag chain 6 is completely retracted inside the constraint bracket 7.
[0040] Figure 1On the right is the vertical electric cylinder 4. Due to the limited internal space of the fixed support leg 1, the internal distance between the movable support leg 2 and the horizontal electric cylinder push rod is less than the bending diameter of the cable 5. The cable 5 cannot be bent and routed in one go. It needs to be routed along one side of the lower inner surface of the movable support leg 2 first, and then bent 180° near the rear tail plate of the movable support leg 2 to the cable chain inlet on the other side of the lower inner surface of the movable support leg before being fixed again, and then enters the cable chain 6.
[0041] During the extension and retraction of the movable outrigger 2, the cable 5 from the vertical electric cylinder 4 to the inlet of the cable chain 6 is stationary relative to the vertical electric cylinder 4. This section of cable 5 is fixed to the lower inner surface of the movable outrigger 2. During the extension and retraction of the movable outrigger, the cable chain moves back and forth with the push rod of the horizontal electric cylinder. Therefore, this part uses a highly flexible and torsion-resistant cable 5, which is fixed in the cable chain.
[0042] During vehicle operation, the motor of the horizontal electric cylinder 3 drives the push rod to extend outward, causing the movable outrigger 2 to extend from inside the fixed outrigger 1. For example... Figure 2 The diagram shows the movable outrigger fully extended, with cable 5 in its maximum tension position. During extension, the lower cable chain 6 inside the movable outrigger 2 moves horizontally away from the lower constraint bracket 7, while the upper cable chain 6 inside the movable outrigger 2 moves horizontally into the upper constraint bracket 7. Cable 5 inside the cable chain 6 moves with the cable chain 6.
[0043] The retraction process is the reverse of the extension process, which will not be elaborated on here.
[0044] Example 2:
[0045] This application also provides a crane, which is equipped with a frame for mounting and fixing outriggers 1, and the drag chain cable structure described in Embodiment 1.
[0046] In the description of this utility model, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", and "outer" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this utility model and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this utility model.
[0047] In the description of this utility model, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "joining" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model based on the specific circumstances.
[0048] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present utility model. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present utility model, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the protection scope of the present utility model.
Claims
1. A drag chain cable structure, characterized in that, include: A horizontal electric cylinder (3), a vertical electric cylinder (4), a fixed support leg (1), and a movable support leg (2) nested inside the fixed support leg (1), and a drag chain (6) used to limit and constrain the cable (5). The fixed support leg (1) is also equipped with a horizontal electric cylinder (3), the end of which is fixed to the tail of the fixed support leg (1), and the push rod end is connected to one end of the movable support leg (2). The other end of the movable support leg (2) is equipped with a vertical electric cylinder (4), and the end of the push rod of the vertical electric cylinder (4) is mechanically connected to the support plate (9) in contact with the ground. One end of the drag chain (6) is connected to the horizontal electric cylinder (3), and the other end is connected to the end of the movable support leg 2 near the tail. The movable outrigger (2) is equipped with a constraint bracket (7) extending along the extension direction of the outrigger, which is used to limit and guide the movement of the drag chain (6).
2. The drag chain cable structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tail of the movable support leg (2) is also provided with a drag chain guard plate (8). The height of the drag chain guard plate (8) matches the thickness of the drag chain (6) link, so as to ensure that the link can slide against the guard plate surface when it is raised.
3. The drag chain cable structure according to claim 2, characterized in that, The drag chain guard plate (8) is located close to the end of the constraint bracket (7).
4. The drag chain cable structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inside of the cable chain (6) is a hollow structure. The cable (5) passes through the inside of the cable chain (6) and is fixed at the entrance and exit of the cable chain (6) respectively.
5. The drag chain cable structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The length of the drag chain (6) is greater than the maximum stroke of the movable outrigger (2).
6. The drag chain cable structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fixed support leg (1) is a box-type or frame-type structure.
7. The drag chain cable structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, One end of the cable (5) is connected to the electrical interface of the vertical electric cylinder (4), and the other end is connected to the electric cylinder controller; The cable (5) includes high-voltage cables and low-voltage cables.
8. The drag chain cable structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, One end of the drag chain (6) is fixedly connected to the side of the motor housing of the horizontal electric cylinder (3), and the other end is fixed to the bottom surface of the movable support leg (2) near the tail, which is used to constrain the movement direction of the cable (5).
9. A crane, characterized in that, The vehicle frame is provided with a mounting bracket (1) and a drag chain cable structure as described in any one of claims 1-8.