Foldable Platform Widening for Safe Rock Plant Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rock processing plants face challenges in maintaining occupational safety and compact transport dimensions due to machine components protruding into the working area, where personnel must climb over projections, compromising safety and increasing external dimensions.
Innovation Solution
A swivel-mounted platform widening with a floor segment that can be folded for transport, incorporating a locking segment to block access to projections, ensuring safety when in the working position and reducing machine dimensions during transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a platform widening is provided to allow personnel to walk around the projection, then occupational safety is improved, but the external dimensions of the machine increase
Solution Approach 1:
The floor segment is designed to be movable between a folded-down working position that provides safe passage around the projection, and an upright transport position that minimizes external dimensions. This dynamic configuration allows the platform widening to adapt between operational and transport states, resolving the contradiction between safety and compactness.
Solution Approach 2:
The platform widening is divided into a movable floor segment that can be independently positioned. This segmentation allows the floor segment to be folded up during transport to reduce width, while being deployable during operation to create safe walking space around the projection.
2Ease of operation
If the floor segment is folded down to create working area, then access around projection is enabled, but the machine width increases for transport
Solution Approach 1:
The floor segment transitions between static (upright) and dynamic (folded-down) states. During transport, it remains upright to maintain compact width. During operation, it is folded down to create accessible walking space, enabling the structure to optimize for either dimension based on operational requirements.
3Length of stationary object
If machine components form projections to fit within transport dimensions, then compactness is achieved, but personnel must climb over projections compromising safety
Solution Approach 1:
The movable floor segment acts as an intermediary element between the projection and the working platform. When folded down, it creates an intermediate walking surface that allows personnel to bypass the projection entirely, eliminating the safety hazard of climbing over projections while maintaining the projection's presence for compactness.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a rock processing plant (10) having a process unit (20), to which a working platform (30) that can be walked on is assigned, wherein the process unit (20) has a projection (24.5), which protrudes into the working area formed by the working platform (30), wherein the working platform (30) has a fall arrester (35), in particular in the form of a guardrail, and wherein the working platform (30) has a platform widening (33) in the area of the projection (24.5) to create a working area adjacent to the projection (24.5). To improve occupational safety the invention provides that the platform widening (33) has a floor segment (33.1) as a working surface, which is swivel mounted such that it can be folded or swiveled between a folded-down working position, in which the floor segment (33.1) can be walked on, and an upright transport position, that the fall arrester (35) is guided in the area of the platform widening (33), that at least one locking segment (36.6) is directly or indirectly coupled to the floor segment (33.1) in such a way that when the floor segment (33.1) is moved, the locking segment (36.6) is moved, wherein in the transport position the locking segment (36.6) blocks the access to the projection (24.5) at least in some areas and in the working position the locking segment (36.6) is moved out of the access area.