Overhead Crane Lateral Guide with Elastic Release Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guide devices for overhead cranes lack effective anti-seismic protection and flexibility during seismic events, as they are not designed to accommodate large deflections and stress variations.
Innovation Solution
A lateral guide device with a movable assembly biased by elastic devices, allowing sliding on a first guide, which is itself mounted on a second guide, with a retaining device that releases when a predetermined force is applied, enabling flexible movement and enhanced anti-seismic protection by using conical spring washers and frangible pins for stress distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed guide device is used for overhead cranes, then guidance precision is maintained under normal conditions, but flexibility and anti-seismic performance deteriorate during seismic events
Solution Approach 1:
The guide device transitions from a fixed rigid structure to a dynamic system with multiple degrees of freedom. The movable assembly can slide along the guide rail, and the guide rail itself can slide within the guide structure, allowing the system to adapt its configuration in response to seismic forces while maintaining guidance functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide device is divided into separable components: a movable assembly, a guide rail, and a guide structure. These segments are connected through sliding interfaces that allow relative movement during earthquakes, enabling each component to move independently to absorb seismic energy while maintaining overall system functionality.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid guide structure is used, then structural stability is maintained, but ability to accommodate large deflections during earthquakes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The guide device incorporates flexible sliding interfaces between components. The movable assembly slides along the guide rail, and the guide rail slides within the guide structure, creating flexible connections that can accommodate large deflections during earthquakes while maintaining structural integrity through friction and normal forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed with predetermined sliding paths and clearance gaps that allow components to move relative to each other in anticipation of seismic forces. The movable assembly can slide along the guide rail, and the guide rail can slide within the guide structure, providing cushioning effect against earthquake-induced deflections before critical damage occurs.
3Adaptability or versatility
If elastic devices are added to provide flexibility, then anti-seismic performance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system utilizes changes in friction parameters and normal forces between sliding surfaces to provide anti-seismic flexibility. During earthquakes, increased forces cause the movable assembly to slide along the guide rail and the guide rail to slide within the guide structure, providing flexibility without requiring additional elastic components or complex mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide device uses the seismic forces themselves to activate the flexibility mechanism. The earthquake-induced forces automatically cause the movable assembly to slide along the guide rail and the guide rail to slide within the guide structure, eliminating the need for external control systems, sensors, or additional elastic devices to trigger the anti-seismic response.
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 solution ensures excellent guidance and flexibility, allowing large deflections of the crane relative to the guide surface, thereby providing enhanced anti-seismic protection and maintaining stability during seismic events.
Implementation Method 1
a first elastic device (18) which acts on the movable assembly (10) so as to urge it towards a rest position
Implementation Method 2
a second elastic device (26) which acts on the first guide (13) so as to urge it relative to the second guide (14) to a normal position of use
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The rolling bridge lateral guide has at least one roller (7) rotating in a mobile assembly (10) that is moved towards a rest position by an elastic component (18). The mobile assembly moves in a first guide (13) in a direction (R) perpendicular to the roller's axis of rotation (Z), and the first guide slides in a second guide (14), in which it is held by a retaining element (28). The retaining element is designed to release the first guide when a predetermined effort is applied to it, and a second elastic component (26) moves the first guide into its normal operating position.