Aircraft Boarding Bridge Stepless Passage Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing passenger boarding bridges (PBBs) suffer from a level difference at the joint between the inner and outer tunnels, posing safety and convenience issues for passengers and mobility aids.
Innovation Solution
A PBB design featuring a movable passage with coupled plate floor members and a tension application system ensures a seamless, level surface by adjusting the height of the outer tunnel's passage floor to match the inner tunnel's floor, eliminating the need for complex sprocket mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a continuous floor is fixed to the inner tunnel to eliminate level difference, then passenger safety and convenience are improved, but the structural complexity increases due to sprocket and rope retractor mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the complex sprocket and rope retractor mechanisms from the system. Instead of using these mechanical components to guide and wind the continuous floor, the invention allows the outer tunnel to move independently, carrying its floor surface directly to the required position, thereby eliminating the need for these complicating mechanisms while maintaining passenger safety through level floor alignment
Solution Approach 2:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by making the outer tunnel movable rather than fixing the continuous floor to the inner tunnel. The outer tunnel is moved by a drive column to the position where its passage floor surface overlaps with the inner tunnel's passage floor surface, achieving level alignment through the movement of the entire outer tunnel structure rather than through complex floor guidance mechanisms
2Reliability
If a continuous floor is fixed to the inner tunnel, then passage level difference is eliminated, but the ease of manufacture decreases due to additional guiding and winding mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the sprocket and rope retractor mechanisms that would be required to guide and wind a continuous floor. By making the outer tunnel movable instead, the system achieves passage continuity through a simpler structure that is easier to manufacture, as it eliminates the need for these additional guiding and winding components
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic movement of the outer tunnel via a drive column, replacing the static floor-fixing approach. This dynamic solution allows the outer tunnel to be positioned where its floor surface aligns with the inner tunnel's floor surface, achieving passage continuity through movement rather than through complex fixed guiding mechanisms, thereby improving ease of manufacture
3Productivity
If the outer tunnel is moved to overlap with the inner tunnel, then the PBB contracts, but a level difference is generated at the joint part between tunnels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic movement of the outer tunnel through a drive column mechanism. The outer tunnel is moved to a position where its passage floor surface overlaps with the inner tunnel's passage floor surface, maintaining level alignment throughout the contraction process. This dynamic positioning ensures both boarding efficiency through smooth tunnel contraction and passenger safety through elimination of level differences at joint parts
Solution Approach 2:
The patent achieves equipotentiality in terms of floor surface level between the inner and outer tunnels. By carefully controlling the movement of the outer tunnel via the drive column, the system positions the outer tunnel's passage floor surface at the same level as the inner tunnel's passage floor surface, eliminating level differences that would compromise passenger safety while maintaining efficient boarding operations
Data Source
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AI summary
The passenger boarding bridge includes a first tunnel including a first fixed passage on which a passenger walks; and a second tunnel including a second fixed passage on which the passenger walks, the first tunnel being inserted into the second tunnel from one end side of the second tunnel, the second tunnel having another end side connected to a cab, the second fixed passage being fixed to the another end side. The second tunnel includes a movable passage including multiple plate floor members in a chain manner, the movable passage having one end fixed to the second fixed passage of the second tunnel in a pivotable manner. Accordingly, a passenger boarding bridge in which a passage level difference is eliminated at a joint part between an inner tunnel and an outer tunnel can be realized.