Eddy Current Brake for Locking Handle Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional safety devices for locking systems fail to ensure secure operation at high rotational speeds and torques, as they can be mechanically overloaded and do not provide adequate braking or blocking effects at low speeds, leading to potential sabotage or incorrect operation.
Innovation Solution
An eddy current brake system is introduced, utilizing a magnetic element with multiple pole pairs and a counter-element that is ring-shaped and rotatably mounted, providing continuous braking torque and mechanical decoupling to prevent external forces from affecting the blocking mechanism, ensuring secure operation across various speed ranges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a centrifugal weight blocking device is used to prevent high-speed rotation, then sabotage is prevented at high speeds, but the device can be mechanically overloaded and destroyed at high torques and does not provide braking effect at low speeds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical centrifugal weight blocking system with an eddy current brake system that uses electromagnetic fields. The eddy current brake includes a magnetic element with multiple pole pairs and a conductive counter-element that interacts through electromagnetic induction to generate braking torque, eliminating mechanical wear and overload vulnerability while providing continuous braking effect across all speed ranges.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operating parameters of the braking system by using eddy current braking which provides speed-proportional braking torque. This allows the system to automatically adapt to different rotational speeds, providing sufficient braking at low speeds without requiring high mechanical strength to withstand overload, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliability and strength.
2Ease of operation
If the handle is freely rotatable with low play to ensure smooth operation, then ease of operation is improved, but the risk of unintentional coupling due to thermal expansion or friction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an eddy current brake as an intermediary between the freely rotatable handle and the locking mechanism. This intermediary provides continuous speed monitoring and braking control, preventing the handle from reaching speeds that could cause thermal expansion or friction-based unintentional coupling, while still allowing smooth free rotation at normal speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The eddy current brake system provides continuous feedback on the rotational speed of the handle through electromagnetic interaction. When the speed exceeds a safe threshold, the system automatically generates braking torque to reduce the speed, creating a closed-loop control system that prevents unintentional coupling while maintaining ease of operation within safe limits.
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 eddy current brake system effectively prevents sabotage by ensuring secure operation at high rotational speeds and torques, providing continuous braking and blocking effects, thus enhancing the security of locking systems by maintaining handle rotation within safe limits and preventing unintended coupling.
Implementation Method 1
An eddy current brake system is introduced, utilizing a magnetic element with multiple pole pairs and a counter-element that is ring-shaped and rotatably mounted, providing continuous braking torque
Implementation Method 2
The eddy current brake including an eddy current element and a magnetic element, in particular a permanent magnet element
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
In a safety device for locking devices with a handle (1) which is freely rotatable in the rest state and can be coupled to a locking element (7) of the locking device in the opening or closing state, a braking and, if necessary, blocking device is provided which brakes and, if necessary, blocks the rotational movement of the handle (1), wherein the braking device is designed as an eddy current brake.