Ballasted Wheel Shield for Cable Protection
Solution Overview
Problem
Heavy medical equipment movement in hospitals often damages cables and impedes motion due to wheel-related issues, leading to costly equipment downtime and workflow interruptions.
Innovation Solution
A wheel shield apparatus comprising elongated and short parallel tube members with ballast material and a low-friction coating, designed to surround wheels and protect cables by ensuring contact with the floor, preventing damage and facilitating smooth movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If heavy medical equipment is moved on wheels, then mobility and repositioning speed are improved, but cables are damaged and motion is impeded
Solution Approach 1:
A wheel shield apparatus is introduced as an intermediary component between the equipment wheel and the floor environment. The shield includes a main body portion with a wheel-receiving chamber that allows the wheel to pass through, and a bottom surface that contacts the floor to protect cables from being run over or snagged while maintaining equipment mobility
Solution Approach 2:
The wheel shield apparatus is divided into multiple components: a main body portion with a wheel-receiving chamber, a removable side for easy installation, and ballast material contained within cavities. This segmentation allows the shield to be easily installed and removed while performing its protective function
2Object-affected harmful factors
If wheel shield apparatus contacts the floor to protect cables, then cable protection is improved, but floor scratches and increased friction occur
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom surface of the wheel shield apparatus is treated with a low-friction coating specifically at the area that contacts the floor. This localized treatment reduces friction and prevents floor scratches while maintaining the protective function of the shield against cables
3Reliability
If ballast material is added to ensure floor contact, then stability and cable protection are improved, but weight of the apparatus increases
Solution Approach 1:
Ballast material is contained within cavities in the wheel shield apparatus to provide downward force that ensures stable contact with the floor. This counterweights the potential instability from the shield structure itself, ensuring reliable cable protection while minimizing unnecessary weight addition
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
Effectively prevents cable damage and ensures free movement of heavy medical equipment, reducing downtime and workflow disruptions while protecting floors from scratches.
Implementation Method 1
a low-friction coating, designed to surround wheels and protect cables by ensuring contact with the floor
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a wheel shield apparatus that includes a pair of elongated parallel tube members in perpendicular engagement with a pair of short parallel tube members, at least one removable side of the wheel shield apparatus is operable to be temporarily opened or removed such that the wheel shield apparatus may be placed around a wheel of a neurosurgical microscope or some other type of heavy wheeled machinery and the removable side may be placed in a closed position such that the wheel shield surrounds the wheel. Each of the pair of elongated parallel tube members and/or each of the pair of short parallel tube members comprises a cavity configured to receive a ballast material to provide sufficient weight to ensure that the wheel shield apparatus contacts the floor such that cables along the floor are pushed out of the way by the wheel shield apparatus and prevented from being run over while the machinery is being transported.