Floating Flap Gate Upper Beam Tension Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wide-span floating flap gates requiring counterweights experience bending issues due to rope tension, leading to potential hazards for safe travel during tsunamis or high tides, and increasing door body thickness to mitigate this increases overall equipment weight and cost.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a door body suspension member within an upper beam connected to a counterweight via a rope, with an adjusting member that applies a uniform opposing force to the rope tension, preventing bending without increasing the door body's thickness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the thickness and rigidity of the door body are increased to reduce bending of the forward end portion during ordinary use, then the bending is reduced, but the weight of the door body and overall equipment increases
Solution Approach 1:
An upper beam is introduced as an intermediary component between the door body and the rope tension system. The upper beam absorbs and distributes the rope tension forces, preventing these forces from directly bending the door body's forward end portion. This mediator structure allows the door body to maintain its original thickness and weight while still preventing bending during ordinary use.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution moves the structural reinforcement from the vertical dimension (increasing door body thickness) to the horizontal dimension (adding an upper beam structure). By distributing forces across a wider horizontal area through the upper beam, the door body itself doesn't need to be thicker, thus maintaining its original weight while achieving the bending prevention goal.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the door body is made thicker to prevent bending, then structural stability is improved, but the cost of equipment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The upper beam acts as a mediator that distributes rope tension forces, preventing the need to increase door body thickness. This approach maintains manufacturing simplicity and cost-effectiveness by adding a separate structural element rather than modifying the door body itself, avoiding the increased material and manufacturing costs associated with thicker door bodies.
Solution Approach 2:
The structural reinforcement function is segmented from the door body and assigned to a separate upper beam component. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the door body maintains its original design for cost-effectiveness, while the upper beam provides the necessary structural support to prevent bending during ordinary use.
3Area of stationary object
If a wide-span installation is implemented, then the coverage area is increased, but the bending of the forward end portion due to rope tension increases
Solution Approach 1:
The upper beam serves as a mediator that distributes rope tension forces across the wide span. By providing this intermediate structure, the system can accommodate wider spans and larger coverage areas without the rope tension causing excessive bending at the forward end portion of the door body.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution addresses the wide-span challenge by adding a horizontal dimension (the upper beam structure) rather than relying solely on vertical door body strength. This dimensional addition allows the system to span wider areas while maintaining stability and preventing bending through the distributed support of the upper beam.
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 the upper beam remains horizontal, reducing bending of the door body's forward end portion, enabling safe passage for people and vehicles while maintaining a wide-span installation without increased weight or cost.
Implementation Method 1
a door body (2) having a forward end portion (2c) and a base end portion (2b), wherein the forward end portion (2c) is configured to rotate around the base end portion (2b) to float upwards in a direction of influx of a seawater during a tsunami or a high tide
Implementation Method 2
an adjusting member (6b) configured to apply an opposing force to a tension force of the rope due to the pulling device operating on the door body suspension member (3) during ordinary use, the opposing force being applied uniformly to the upper beam (2d)
Data Source
AI summary
To provide a floating flap gate that requires an auxiliary force of a counterweight or the like, and in which bending does not occur in a forward end portion of a door body, even in cases in which an installation site has a wide span. A floating flap gate 1 having a forward end portion 2c of a door body 2 that is configured to rotate around a base end portion serving as a fulcrum at a time of a rising water, so as to float upwards, and provided with an upper beam 2d attached to the forward end portion 2c of the door body 2 and a door body suspension member 3 contained within the upper beam 2d, and having two ends each being connected to one end of a wire rope 4. A counterweight 5 is connected to the other end side of the wire rope 4 as a pulling device. Bolts 6b are used as adjusting members interposed between the upper beam 2d and the door suspension member 3, and are inserted into bolt holes 6a provided on an upper surface of the upper beam 2d, so as to exert an opposing force to the tension of the wire rope 4 resulting from the weight of the counterweight 5 acting on the door body suspension member 3, the opposing force being applied uniformly to the upper beam 2d during ordinary use.