Adjustable Tower Platform for Monopole with Segmented Ring Mount
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current monopole platforms are heavy, cause damage to monopoles, and have large wind areas, making them dangerous and costly, while existing extendable hydraulic lifts provide limited height and require flat surfaces.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable tower platform design featuring exterior face pipes, corner platforms, side arm joists, and central connection plates that form a ring mount for even load distribution on the monopole, providing a lighter and safer alternative.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If current ring mount designs are used, then platform support is provided, but they cause damage to monopoles due to their shape and size
Solution Approach 1:
The ring mount is divided into multiple separate clamp assemblies that can be distributed around the monopole circumference. Each clamp independently contacts the monopole, distributing the contact stress and reducing damage to any single point on the monopole surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp assemblies use localized contact surfaces with optimized geometry and material properties to distribute loads evenly across the monopole surface. The clamps are designed with specific contact area characteristics that prevent stress concentration and monopole damage while maintaining secure attachment.
2Reliability
If current ring mount designs are used, then platform support is provided, but they are exceedingly heavy
Solution Approach 1:
The single heavy ring mount is segmented into multiple lighter clamp assemblies. Each clamp is individually lightweight but collectively they provide equivalent or superior support. This segmentation reduces the overall weight while maintaining structural integrity and load-bearing capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp assemblies utilize composite material construction combining high-strength, low-weight materials to achieve optimal strength-to-weight ratio. This allows the ring mount components to be significantly lighter than traditional designs while maintaining adequate mechanical strength for platform support.
3Reliability
If current ring mount designs are used, then platform support is provided, but they have large wind areas making them dangerous
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous ring mount structure is segmented into discrete clamp assemblies spaced around the monopole. This segmentation breaks up the continuous wind-catching surface into smaller, scattered areas, significantly reducing the total effective wind area and the dangerous wind loads experienced during storm conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The design extracts and removes the problematic large continuous ring structure that creates excessive wind area. By replacing it with spaced-apart clamps, the harmful wind-catching surface is eliminated while retaining the essential platform support function.
4Ease of operation
If extendable hydraulic lifts are used, then quick and easy platform deployment is achieved, but they are very expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The platform system is designed to be self-assembled and self-adjusted by users without requiring expensive hydraulic mechanisms. The modular clamp and platform design allows easy manual assembly and height adjustment, eliminating the need for costly hydraulic power systems while maintaining operational simplicity.
5Productivity
If extendable hydraulic lifts are used, then quick deployment is achieved, but they provide limited additional working height
Solution Approach 1:
The platform height is made dynamically adjustable by allowing the clamps to be positioned at multiple heights along the monopole and by enabling platform section extensions. This dynamic configurability provides virtually unlimited working height adjustment while maintaining quick assembly through modular design, overcoming the fixed height limitation of hydraulic lifts.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides an adjustable tower platform for attachment to a monopole. According to a preferred embodiment, the present invention includes a first, second and third exterior face pipes which are attached together at each end to support one or more corner platforms. According to further preferred embodiments, the present invention includes a first, second and third corner platforms which are attached between each pair of face pipes by angle brackets. According to a further preferred embodiment, each of the corner platforms are preferably undergirded by side arm joists which are further connected to central connection plates. According to a further preferred embodiment, the invention preferably further includes a first, second and third connection plates which are bolted together to form a ring mount which suspends the tower platform on a monopole at a given height.