Motor-Driven Carriage with Ballast for Cable Railway Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for storing and managing transportation equipment in cable car systems are inefficient due to limited storage rail length and high technical complexity, leading to increased maintenance and operational costs.
Innovation Solution
A motor-driven carriage system that moves along the storage rail, utilizing a ballast body for static friction and an electric motor for propulsion, allowing for efficient storage and retrieval of equipment without additional technical effort, and enabling longer storage rails with a single vehicle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If pivotable storage rails are used to enable gravity-based movement of equipment, then equipment can be moved automatically along the rail, but the storage rail length is limited and more rails are required increasing technical outlay
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system is divided into multiple storage rails (first storage rail, second storage rail) that can be independently operated. Each rail can be pivoted separately to control equipment movement, allowing the system to manage equipment in segments rather than requiring a single long complex rail.
Solution Approach 2:
The storage rails are designed to be pivotable about a horizontal axis, allowing dynamic adjustment between inclined and horizontal positions. This enables the rails to adapt their configuration based on operational needs, facilitating equipment movement without requiring fixed rigid structures.
2Productivity
If chain conveyors or roller conveyors extending along the entire storage rail are used, then equipment can be transported throughout the storage area, but the structural complexity and installation/maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The complex conveyor system is extracted and replaced by utilizing the existing conveyor device at the entrance of the storage area. Equipment is transferred to storage rails and moved within storage primarily through gravity and manual intervention, removing the need for extensive conveyor infrastructure along the entire storage rail length.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses gravity-based movement where equipment naturally rolls or slides along the inclined storage rails without requiring powered conveyors. The horizontal positioning and retrieval operations are performed manually or with simple mechanical assistance, allowing the system to serve itself without complex automated conveyor mechanisms.
3Device complexity
If a single vehicle pushes all equipment back to the conveyor device, then fewer vehicles are needed, but sufficient driving force must be generated for long storage rails
Solution Approach 1:
A ballast body is added to the vehicle to increase its weight and consequently the static friction between the drive wheels and the storage rail. This counteracts the reduced driving force issue by creating sufficient friction grip to push equipment along long storage rails without requiring multiple vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
The vehicle's weight parameter is changed by adding a ballast body, which directly affects the friction coefficient between the drive wheels and rail. This parameter modification enables the single vehicle to generate sufficient driving force for extended storage rail configurations.
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
Enables the storage of a larger number of transportation equipment units on a single rail with reduced technical complexity and maintenance costs, improving operational efficiency and flexibility.
Implementation Method 1
a sufficiently high level of static friction can be produced between the drive wheel or wheels of the carriage and the storage rail in order to ensure a sufficiently high driving force
Implementation Method 2
an electric motor that can be moved along the storage rail
Implementation Method 3
In the first inclined position of the storage rail, the moving equipment supplied by the conveyor rail can be moved away from the conveyor rail by gravity along the storage rail
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~5
AI summary
The device has a garage (2) for the continuous cable railway system (3), which is uncoupled in a peripheral area (4,5) at a loading cable and winding cable. The garage has a garage rail (9) with a conveying device (7), in order to guide the continuous cable railway system from the peripheral areas into the garage and back. The garage has a device for moving the continuous cable railway system. A car (13) is power conveyed, is movable to and fro along the garage rail. The vehicle (12) has ballast body (14), which is arranged below the car.