Concrete Lifting Clutch With Radial Bearing Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing clutches for lifting concrete components face issues such as unintentional disconnection, wear due to point or line contact with castellated anchors, and lack of tamper evidence, which compromise safety and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A clutch design featuring a toroidal connector with radial bearing surfaces for improved contact with castellated anchors, an articulated coupler with dissimilar loops for enhanced maneuverability, and a tamper evident mechanism to ensure integrity, preventing unintentional disconnection and wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a conventional clutch design with point or line contact is used with castellated anchors, then the structure is simple, but wear on the clutch components increases due to concentrated contact stresses
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is designed with a toroidal (doughnut-shaped) geometry that features a curved bearing surface. This curved surface contacts the castellated anchor in a distributed manner along the curve, transforming point or line contact into surface contact. The curvature allows the load to be spread across multiple points of the anchor castellations simultaneously, significantly reducing contact stress and wear on both the connector and anchor components.
2Ease of manufacture
If a fixed coupler design is used, then the structure is simple, but lifting maneuverability is reduced when handling concrete components of varying sizes and orientations
Solution Approach 1:
The coupler is designed as an articulated mechanism with a pivot joint connecting two arms. This allows the coupler to dynamically adjust its configuration during lifting operations. The first arm connects to the toroidal connector while the second arm provides the lifting point, and the pivot between them enables the coupler to articulate and adapt to different loading positions, component orientations, and lifting angles, greatly enhancing maneuverability without requiring complex multi-component assemblies.
3Device complexity
If a clutch without tamper evidence is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but safety is compromised due to inability to detect unauthorized modifications
Solution Approach 1:
A tamper-evident indicator is incorporated into the clutch assembly that utilizes visual color changes to signal the operational status of the latch. The indicator displays one color (e.g., green) when the latch is properly engaged and locked, and changes to a different color (e.g., red) if the latch is disengaged, improperly positioned, or if tampering has occurred. This provides immediate visual verification of clutch integrity and safety without requiring complex electronic sensors or additional mechanical indication mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A clutch for lifting a concrete component, including a toroidal connector, a latch movable relative to the toroidal connector between a disengaged condition and an engaged condition, and a coupler for coupling the toroidal connector to a lifting apparatus, wherein the toroidal connector has a circular seat for sitting upon a circular upper surface of a head of and anchor coupled to the toroidal connector, wherein the circular seat terminates in a radial bearing surface for abutment with a castellation of the anchor.