Boarding Bridge Walkway Height Adjustment Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Boarding bridges with telescopically fitted gangway units pose a risk of passengers stumbling or falling due to level differences between adjacent units, and wheelchair accessibility is compromised by these disparities.
Innovation Solution
The boarding bridge design allows the walkway portion of the outside gangway unit to move between a passage position and an outside-of-passage position, adjusting its length to match the inside gangway unit's height, ensuring a continuous and level passage by integrating a position-changing section that automatically adjusts the walkway length based on the relative movement of the gangway units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If gangway units are telescopically fitted to extend and contract the boarding bridge, then the boarding bridge can cover the gap between terminal building and airplane, but level differences occur between adjacent gangway units causing passengers to stumble and fall
Solution Approach 1:
The walkway portion is made dynamically adjustable in height, moving between a passage position at predetermined height and an outside-of-passage position at lower height. This dynamic adjustment allows the walkway to maintain continuity with the inside gangway unit while enabling telescopic extension and contraction of the boarding bridge.
Solution Approach 2:
The outside gangway unit is divided into separate functional portions: a fixed portion that provides structural support and a movable walkway portion that adjusts height independently. This segmentation allows the walkway to be positioned at the passage level while the outer surface of the gangway unit can be at a different height for telescopic movement.
2Reliability
If the walkway portion is positioned at passage height to eliminate level differences, then passenger safety is improved, but the gangway units cannot telescopically extend and contract
Solution Approach 1:
The walkway portion is designed to be dynamically repositionable between passage position and outside-of-passage position. When the gangway units extend or contract, the walkway portion moves accordingly to maintain both telescopic functionality and continuous passage at consistent height.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution separates the vertical height dimension from the longitudinal extension dimension. The walkway portion operates in the vertical dimension to maintain passage height, while the gangway units extend and contract in the longitudinal dimension, allowing both functions to coexist without interference.
3Shape
If a device is laid over the step to cover the level difference, then the appearance is improved, but passengers can still stumble and fall over the step portion
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of merely covering the step with a decorative device, the invention extracts and removes the problematic step portion entirely by positioning the walkway portion at passage height, creating a true level surface that eliminates the hazard while maintaining aesthetic appearance.
Data Source
AI summary
It is an object to provide a boarding bridge in which differences in level are eliminated between walkway portions of adjacent gangway units so that falling or the like of passengers can be prevented. A boarding bridge is provided in which a proximal-end tunnel and a distal-end tunnel are telescopically fitted and extend and contract by relative movement in a longitudinal direction, wherein, of the proximal-end tunnel and the distal-end tunnel, a variable-length walkway of the distal-end tunnel located on the outside is configured to move between a passage position set at a predetermined height and an outside-of-passage position located lower than the passage position; and the longitudinal length of the passage portion is changed in accordance with a moving distance along with the movement relative to the proximal-end tunnel.