Double-Pivot Outrigger for Electric Fence Impact Absorption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric fence outriggers can become misshapen or misaligned when hit by animals or farm vehicles, leading to reduced effectiveness of the electrified fence due to potential short circuits and increased maintenance needs for farmers.
Innovation Solution
A double-pivot outrigger design that includes a first and second elongate limb with a rotatable connection system, allowing the outrigger to absorb impacts and return to its original position, maintaining the electrified conductor's offset from the fence while preventing rotation beyond a certain limit, thus ensuring continuous fence effectiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed outrigger design is used to support the electrified conductor, then the conductor is maintained at a stable offset distance from the fence, but the outrigger becomes vulnerable to permanent misalignment and short circuits when struck by animals or vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The outrigger employs a dynamic articulated structure with two rotational degrees of freedom instead of a fixed rigid design. The first rotation allows the limb to pivot away from impacts, while the second rotation enables the conductor to move independently. This dynamic configuration allows the outrigger to absorb impacts without permanent misalignment, resolving the contradiction between maintaining stable conductor offset and preventing damage from strikes by animals or vehicles.
2Manufacturing precision
If the outrigger is made rigid to maintain precise conductor positioning, then the conductor remains at the correct offset distance, but the outrigger cannot absorb impacts and becomes misshapen when struck
Solution Approach 1:
The outrigger uses two rotational joints that allow controlled movement while maintaining functional positioning. The first rotation joint enables the limb to pivot away from impacts, and the second rotation joint allows the conductor to move independently. This dynamic design maintains manufacturing precision during normal operation while providing strength and flexibility during impact events, resolving the contradiction between precise positioning and impact resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The articulated structure with rotational joints acts as a pre-designed cushioning mechanism. Instead of rigidly resisting impacts, the outrigger is configured to rotate and absorb impact energy through controlled movement at the joints. This beforehand cushioning allows the outrigger to withstand strikes from animals or vehicles without becoming misshapen, while maintaining conductor offset precision through the mechanical constraints of the rotational joints.
3Ease of manufacture
If a simple fixed outrigger design is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the outrigger requires frequent monitoring and re-alignment when misaligned
Solution Approach 1:
The articulated outrigger with two rotational joints, while more complex than a fixed design, automatically corrects misalignment through its mechanical degrees of freedom. When struck, the outrigger rotates to absorb impact and naturally returns to or maintains its functional position, eliminating the need for frequent manual re-alignment. This dynamic self-correcting mechanism reduces maintenance time despite the slightly increased manufacturing complexity.
4Strength
If the outrigger allows free rotation to absorb impacts, then the outrigger can withstand strikes without damage, but the conductor may rotate beyond safe limits and short circuit to the fence
Solution Approach 1:
The outrigger employs two rotational joints with inherent mechanical constraints. The first rotation allows the limb to pivot away from impacts, while the second rotation enables the conductor to move independently within safe limits. The mechanical geometry of the articulated structure naturally prevents excessive rotation that would cause short circuits, while still allowing sufficient movement to absorb impacts from animals or vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
The second rotational joint acts as an intermediary between the impacting force and the electrified conductor. It allows the limb to rotate and absorb impact energy while constraining the conductor's movement through the mechanical geometry of the joint. This intermediary rotation protects the conductor from direct impact forces while preventing rotation beyond safe limits, resolving the contradiction between impact absorption and short circuit prevention.
Data Source
AI summary
An outrigger for supporting an elongate electrical conductor from a support. The outrigger has a first elongate limb 11 and a second elongate limb 12. An elongate electric conductor 13 is suspended from a first support device 14 located at a distal end 15 of the first limb 11. In use, the second limb 12 is attached by a first connector 16 to a length portion of an elongate element 18 so that the second limb 12 is rotatable about an axis that is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the elongate element 18. The first limb 11 is connected to the second limb 12 by a second connector 24. The first limb 11 is rotatable relative to the second limb 12 about a pivot axis of the second connector 24. A restrictor 36 limits rotation of the first limb with respect to the second limb about the pivot axis.