Conductor Lifter Head With Stacked Insulators for Energized Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lifting and manipulating high-voltage conductors or sub-conductor bundles during energized maintenance poses challenges due to the need for maintaining electrical insulation and structural strength, especially when the insulators are angled or cantilevered, as traditional insulators lack sufficient bending strength to support heavy conductors.
Innovation Solution
A two-tier insulator stack with a lower tier of multiple insulators and an upper tier of fewer insulators, providing improved electrical insulation and compression strength, combined with a rotating head conductor lifter accessory that maintains the orientation of sub-conductors as they are moved between vertical and horizontal positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a single long insulator is used to support heavy high-voltage conductors, then electrical insulation is provided, but bending strength is insufficient when the insulator is angled or cantilevered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides a single long insulator into multiple shorter insulator segments arranged in a stacked configuration. This segmentation provides sufficient bending strength for each individual segment while collectively achieving the required electrical insulation length through vertical stacking, resolving the contradiction between insulator length and bending strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-dimensional long insulator to a multi-dimensional stacked arrangement of shorter insulators. By stacking insulators vertically, the solution achieves the required electrical insulation length in the vertical dimension while maintaining adequate bending strength in the horizontal dimension through the shorter individual segment lengths.
2Ease of operation
If multiple sub-conductors in a bundle are manipulated individually, then precise control is achieved, but the complexity of the manipulation system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a universal manipulator system with multiple actuators that can independently control each sub-conductor in a bundle. Each actuator is designed to perform the same manipulation functions on different sub-conductors, providing precise individual control while avoiding the need for complex specialized mechanisms for each sub-conductor.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses dynamically controllable actuators that can independently adjust the position and orientation of each sub-conductor in the bundle. This dynamic control capability allows precise manipulation of individual sub-conductors while the modular actuator design keeps the overall system complexity manageable through standardized components.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for lifting a sub-conductor bundle having a plurality of spaced-apart sub-conductors comprises a single point lifter base and an accessory mounted onto a free end of a support. The support is electrically insulated and comprises one or two tiers of elongate insulators extending away from the base. The base is for mounting the support onto a distal end of a boom. The accessory has at least one wire cage mounted on a cart, the cart mounted on an arcuate track and adapted for free translation along the inner side of the track between first and second ends of the track. The wire cage is in a first orientation when the cart is positioned at the first end of the track, and in a second orientation when the cart is positioned at the second end of the track, the first and second orientations perpendicular to one another.