Passenger boarding bridge backward travel determiner
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing passenger boarding bridges often require manual operation by skilled operators to dock and undock, leading to risks of incorrect docking or undocking due to operator error, especially when the direction of travel wheels is not clearly communicated, potentially hindering the process.
Innovation Solution
A passenger boarding bridge system that includes a determiner to assess the possibility of backward travel causing incorrect docking by monitoring the position of the cab relative to the aircraft using an orthogonal coordinate system and distance sensors, providing warnings or restricting backward travel to prevent such occurrences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If manual operation by operator is used to control docking and undocking, then the system can be operated with simple control mechanisms, but the reliability of docking operation deteriorates due to operator error and lack of awareness of current state
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates a determiner that automatically determines whether the cab is approaching the aircraft by monitoring the relationship between the cab position and aircraft position. This feedback mechanism provides real-time information about the docking state, enabling the system to automatically prevent incorrect operations (forward travel when docked, backward travel when approaching) without requiring complex manual control procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The travel control device performs self-service by automatically controlling the travel wheels based on the determined docking state. The system monitors its own state and autonomously prevents incorrect operations, eliminating the need for operator judgment and manual intervention in determining docking status.
2Reliability
If the system prohibits forward travel when limit switch detects docking, then docking safety is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates when operator needs to undock by backward travel but system prevents forward travel
Solution Approach 1:
The determiner continuously monitors the cab-aircraft relationship and provides accurate feedback about whether the cab is approaching or has docked. This eliminates the ambiguity that arises with simple limit switches, as the system can distinguish between different docking states and provide appropriate travel control instructions, maintaining both safety and operational clarity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical limit switch system with an automated determination system that uses sensors and control logic to monitor docking state. This substitution provides more precise and reliable state detection, eliminating the confusion that occurs when operators rely on limit switch signals that may not accurately reflect the true docking status.
3Device complexity
If operator skill determines docking accuracy, then the system can use simple control mechanisms, but the adaptability deteriorates when different operators with varying skills operate the same system
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-determination of docking state through the determiner, which automatically monitors and assesses whether the cab is approaching the aircraft. This eliminates the need for operator skill in judging docking status, allowing any operator to safely and accurately perform docking and undocking operations regardless of their experience level.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated feedback mechanism provides consistent and accurate information about docking state to all operators, ensuring uniform operation quality across different skill levels. The system compensates for operator variability by providing objective real-time information about cab-aircraft relationship.
Data Source
AI summary
A passenger boarding bridge is capable of avoiding docking by backward travel of travel wheels. The passenger boarding bridge includes: a rotunda connected to an entrance of a terminal building and supported to be rotatable horizontally; an extendable and retractable tunnel unit whose proximal end is connected to the rotunda; a cab provided at a distal end of the tunnel unit; travel wheels configured to travel forward and backward in changeable directions; an operating device that is operated to input an operation command to the travel wheels; and a determiner configured to, during a period from when the cab starts being moved from a predetermined position, until the cab is docked with an aircraft, while the travel wheels are traveling backward, perform determination whether or not there is a possibility that the cab will come closer to the aircraft to get docked with the aircraft.