Block Tackle Cover Element Design for Cable Wear Reduction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing cable blocks for cable pulls lack effective accident protection and have a short service life due to increased friction and wear of the load cable, as well as a complex structure that can lead to jamming issues.

Innovation Solution

A cable block design with a cover element arranged in a strip form below the hood opening, allowing for free movement in the circumferential direction with low frictional forces, and a structurally simple configuration that ensures effective protection against accidents and reduces wear on the load cable.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the cover element is designed as a channel extending through the covering hood, then accident protection is improved, but friction increases and cable wear accelerates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaccident protectionVSAvoidcable wear
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of guiding the cable through a channel that penetrates the covering hood (as in prior art), the invention inverts the approach by providing a cover element that covers the opening from the outside without extending through to the inside. The cable opening in the cover element is smaller than the hood opening, allowing the cable to be guided into the covering hood through the cover element without creating a channel that increases friction and wear.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

2Reliability

If the cover element reaches through the covering hood, then protection is improved, but the structure becomes complex and jamming risk increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaccident protectionVSAvoidstructure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts the problematic portion of the cover element that reaches through or behind the covering hood. By removing this portion, the structure is simplified and the risk of jamming is eliminated, while the essential accident protection function is maintained through the cover element that covers the opening from the outside.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention segments the protective function into two separate components: the covering hood that provides the main enclosure, and the cover element that provides the cable opening coverage. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the cover element being simpler in structure and not requiring to reach through the covering hood.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Reliability

If the cable opening in the cover element is smaller than the hood opening, then accident protection is improved, but the cover element structure becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaccident protectionVSAvoidcover element structure
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention applies local quality by making the cover element with a cable opening that is smaller than the hood opening at the specific location where cable guidance is needed. This localized reduction in opening size provides accident protection where necessary (at the cable entry point) while maintaining the larger hood opening for proper cable routing, without requiring complex overall structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP2192075B1Block tackle
Publication Date: 2011.07.06 ABUS KRANSYSTEME GMBH
  • EP2192075B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2192075B1 patent drawingFigure 2~4
  • EP2192075B1 patent drawingFigure 5~7

AI summary

The pulley i.e. lower pulley (1), has a cable roller (2) surrounded by a cover plate (5) with a plate opening for a load cable (3). A covering unit (9) is movable relative to the plate opening and has a cable opening for the load cable. The unit (9) is designed in a laminar manner and arranged below the plate opening, where the unit (9) is made from an elastic material e.g. plastic. The unit (9) is covered by an edge (8) of the plate during the maximum movement of the unit (9) in a circumferential direction of the roller in an area of transverse edges of the unit (9).