Flexible Cover for Vehicle Conveyor Track Gaps
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle conveyors in the wash industry face safety challenges due to gaps in the track that can allow objects or body parts to fall into openings, posing risks of injury or equipment damage, especially when the safety door opens unexpectedly during operation.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle conveyor system incorporating a flexible cover that rides up and onto a moving part, such as a safety door, to cover gaps in the track, ensuring continuous coverage regardless of the door's position, and a notch at one end of the flexible cover to align with the track's slot, facilitating its upward movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid cover is used to cover the gap in the track, then safety coverage is improved, but the cover may interfere with the movement of the roller and safety door, causing operational issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible cover made of elastomeric material to cover the gap in the track. This flexible cover can deform and ride up onto the roller as it moves through the opening, and can accommodate the safety door when it pivots to the open position. The flexibility allows the cover to maintain safety coverage while not interfering with the normal operation of the roller and safety door mechanisms.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the safety door is made pivotable to allow roller passage, then operational flexibility is improved, but the gap becomes exposed allowing objects to fall in, reducing safety
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible cover is positioned to cover the gap in the track where the safety door pivots. When the safety door pivots to the open position to allow the roller to pass through, the flexible cover can deform and ride up onto the door, maintaining coverage of the gap. This ensures that even when the door is open for operation, the gap remains covered to prevent objects from falling in.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible cover is designed to be dynamic rather than static. It can deform and move with the operation of the safety door and roller, adapting its position to maintain coverage of the gap while allowing necessary movements. The cover transitions from a covering position to a deformed position riding up on the door, and back again, providing continuous safety coverage throughout the operational cycle.
3Reliability
If the flexible cover is designed to ride up onto the moving part, then continuous coverage is maintained, but the cover structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible cover is made from an elastomeric material that inherently allows it to deform and ride up onto moving parts like the roller and safety door. This material property simplifies the structure compared to a rigid mechanical system with multiple moving components. The cover's ability to elastically deform provides the necessary movement and adaptation without requiring complex mechanical linkages, hinges, or actuators, thus maintaining continuous coverage while keeping the structure relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle conveyor for conveying a wheeled vehicle along a track using a roller may include a track with an opening for passage of a roller from a surface to an underside of the track. The conveyor may also include a door that is pivotable, about a pivot that is below track level, between a closed position and an open position. In the closed position, the door may cover the opening. In the open position, the door may uncover the opening. The conveyor may further include a gap in the track, adjacent to the opening, for accommodating the door when pivoted to the open position. A flexible cover may cover the gap and may be free to ride up and onto at least a portion of the door that extends above a surface of the track as the door pivots from the closed position to the open position.