Baggage Carousel Plate Gap Covering with Elastic Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional baggage conveyor carousels have a large footprint and safety concerns due to gaps forming between plates as they transition from straight to curved sections, posing a risk to users, especially children.
Innovation Solution
A conveyor carousel design with a fixed base structure, support members with wheels, a movement chain along the outer periphery, and elastic longitudinal elements that cover the outer ends of plates, ensuring continuous coverage and safety by allowing mutual distancing and approaching along curvilinear sections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional plates are used on the carousel, then the structure is simple, but gaps form between plates during curvature transition creating safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies flexible covering elements (elastomeric materials) that can deform and conform to the curved surfaces of the carousel plates. These flexible elements continuously cover the gaps between plates during curvature transitions, eliminating safety hazards while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible covering elements act as intermediary components between the rigid plates. These intermediaries fill the gaps and provide continuous coverage without requiring the plates themselves to be modified or complex interlocking mechanisms to be implemented.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the carousel uses a large footprint design, then the structure is stable, but it occupies excessive space in the baggage claim area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic flexible covering system that adapts to the movement and curvature of the carousel plates. This dynamic approach allows the covering to maintain effectiveness on compact, moving structures without requiring the large static footprint of conventional designs, thus reducing space occupation while preserving structural integrity.
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
The design achieves a smaller footprint, enhanced safety by ensuring the outer ends and gaps between plates are always covered, reducing the risk of injury and improving usability with modular installation and maintenance.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of elastic longitudinal elements is provided, arranged in sequence one after the other along the outer periphery, so as to cover the outer ends of the plates, and connected to one another so as to allow a mutual distancing and approaching along curvilinear sections of said closed route
Implementation Method 2
each support member being provided with at least one first wheel adapted to slide on said inner guide surface and with at least one second wheel adapted to slide on said outer guide surface
Data Source
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AI summary
A conveyor carousel (1) for transferring baggage defining a closed route, having an outer periphery (31) and an inner periphery (32), and comprising • - a fixed base structure (10) provided, along said closed route, with an inner guide surface (11) and an outer guide surface (12); • - a plurality of support members (2) transverse to the inner guide surface and to the outer guide surface, each support member being provided with a first wheel (3) sliding on the inner guide surface and with a second wheel (4) sliding on the outer guide surface; • - a plurality of plates (5), each plate (5) being coupled to a respective support member (2), and said plates (5) partially overlapping one another and defining together a resting surface for the baggage, movable along said closed route; a movement chain (6), each link (8) of said movement chain being integrally fixed to a respective support member (2); • - at least one motor (7) adapted to transmit a motion to said movement chain (6), and, therefore, to the plurality of support members (2) for moving the plates (5) together along said closed route;