Dry Cleaning Robot for Live-Line Insulators
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional live-line insulator cleaning robots require significant amounts of water, making them unsuitable for mountainous areas and difficult to manage, and are restricted in use due to weight and complexity, especially for high voltage and long insulator strings.
Innovation Solution
A dry cleaning robot mechanism using a rotational brush and circular motion guide that moves along insulator strings, eliminating the need for water and weighty water tanks, and includes a lift unit and inspection unit for efficient and safe operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a washing method is used to clean insulators, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but water consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the water consumption element from the cleaning system by replacing the water-based washing method with a dry cleaning method using compressed air and brushes, thereby eliminating the need for water tanks and water supply devices while maintaining cleaning effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses compressed air (pneumatics) as the cleaning medium instead of water, employing air nozzles to blow contaminants off insulator surfaces, which resolves the contradiction by providing effective cleaning without water consumption
2Quantity of substance
If a manual cleaning apparatus with insulating rod is used, then water consumption is reduced, but操纵 difficulty increases for long insulator strings
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning robot is capable of self-propulsion along the insulator string using climbing mechanisms that grip the insulator surface, eliminating the need for manual handling and making it suitable for long insulator strings while maintaining low water consumption through dry cleaning methods
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the manual mechanical system with an automated robotic system that uses electric motors and controlled mechanisms for propulsion and cleaning operations, improving ease of operation while maintaining the water-efficient dry cleaning approach
3Reliability
If a robot with water tank and spray device is used, then cleaning capability is improved, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the water tank and spray device from the robot system, replacing them with compressed air storage and delivery mechanisms, thereby significantly reducing robot weight while maintaining cleaning capability through alternative dry cleaning methods
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses compressed air systems instead of water-based spray systems, which requires lighter storage and delivery components, thus reducing overall robot weight while preserving effective cleaning capability through pneumatic air blasting
4Reliability
If conventional washing apparatus is used in mountainous areas, then cleaning is performed, but water management becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes all water-related components and management systems from the cleaning apparatus, replacing them with a dry cleaning system that uses compressed air and brushes, thereby eliminating water management complexity entirely while maintaining reliable cleaning operation in mountainous areas
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 dry cleaning method improves efficiency, safety, and weight reduction, enabling effective cleaning and inspection of high voltage insulators in challenging environments while preventing power interruptions by detecting defective insulators.
Implementation Method 1
a cleaning unit directly cleans the surface of each insulator with rotational brush
Implementation Method 2
a lift unit including a clamp and a ball-bearing screw to move the main unit up or down
Implementation Method 3
a lift unit including a clamp and a ball-bearing screw
Data Source
AI summary
A robot mechanism adopts a dry cleaning method to clean the surface of live-line insulators without using water and can perform cleaning and inspection of the surface of the live-line insulators while automatically moving along an insulator string. The robot mechanism includes a main unit having upper and lower wing frames connected with each other by a connecting bracket to surround the insulator string, a cleaning unit disposed between the upper and lower wing frames and including a base frame to perform dry cleaning with a rotational brush and a CM guide, a lift unit including a clamp and a ball-bearing screw to move the main unit up or down, and an inspection unit to electrically inspect the insulators; and a coupling unit to couple a pair of the main units to allow the pair of main units to move along a tension insulator string or a suspension insulator string.