Balance Windshield Door Control by Slight Manual Movement
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing windshield mechanisms for balances often experience erroneous activation with non-contact switches and are cumbersome for manual operation, especially when holding a specimen, and require manual positioning of the door, which is inconvenient.
Innovation Solution
A windshield with a door that includes an opening and closing mechanism, a sensor to detect door movement, and a control unit to automate the door's operation based on slight movements, allowing for assisted opening and closing without the need for a non-contact switch, enabling convenient use even when holding a specimen.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a conventional windshield made of plexiglas or glass is used, then the structural integrity and transparency are maintained, but the windshield cracks under mechanical load due to the small scale of the model aircraft
Solution Approach 1:
The windshield is constructed from a composite material consisting of a plastic base material (such as polypropylene, polyethylene, or polyamide) reinforced with fibrous reinforcement material (such as glass fibers, carbon fibers, or aramid fibers). This composite structure provides both the necessary strength to withstand mechanical loads and the reliability required for scale model aircraft, overcoming the limitations of conventional plexiglas or glass windshields that crack under similar conditions.
2Weight of moving object
If the windshield is made thinner to reduce weight, then the weight is reduced, but the windshield becomes more prone to cracking under mechanical load
Solution Approach 1:
The composite material construction allows the windshield to be made thinner and lighter while maintaining or even improving strength characteristics. The fibrous reinforcement embedded in the plastic base material provides high strength-to-weight ratio, enabling weight reduction without sacrificing structural integrity or resistance to mechanical loads.
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement material is distributed throughout the plastic base material to provide localized strength where needed. This allows different regions of the windshield to have optimized properties, with higher reinforcement concentration in areas subject to greater stress, enabling weight reduction in less critical areas while maintaining strength where required.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a convenient and reliable method for opening and closing the windshield door, reducing erroneous activations and simplifying the process by using the door's movement as a switch, allowing for seamless specimen placement without manual door positioning.
Implementation Method 1
the sensor is a pressure sensor configured to measure an air pressure of the air cylinder, so that the movement of the door is detected based on a change in the air pressure measured by the pressure sensor
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Provided is a windshield for a balance, having a door opening and closing mode that is convenient for use. A windshield (10) for a balance is provided, and the windshield (10) to be attached to a balance (30) to define a weighing chamber (S), includes openable and closable doors (11) constituting portions of the weighing chamber (S), opening and closing mechanisms (60) configured to open and close the doors (11), sensors (64A, 64B) configured to detect movement of the doors (11), and a control unit (34) configured to command the opening and closing mechanism (60) to open and close the door (11) when a movement of the door (11) from a stationary state is detected by the sensors (64A, 64B). When an operator slightly moves the door (11) from a stationary state to open or close the door (11), the sensor (64) detects this, and the door (11) is automatically opened or closed.