Glide Bearing Cartridge Assembly for Quiet Direction Changes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing load-handling devices in storage structures experience harmful vibrations and noise due to conventional bearing arrangements, compromising their structural integrity and functionality over time.
Innovation Solution
A glide bearing assembly with removable cartridges and a sliding surface contact line is used to reduce noise and vibrations during direction-change maneuvers, allowing for easy maintenance and compensation for dimensional changes in the contact surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional rolling bearing assemblies are used in the direction-change assembly, then the bearing elements can support radial and axial loads effectively, but they generate noise and vibrations that compromise structural integrity over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the conventional rolling bearing system with a glide bearing system that uses sliding friction instead of rolling motion. The bearing element comprises a sliding surface that contacts the guide shaft directly, eliminating the periodic impacts and vibrations inherent in rolling bearings while providing continuous, smooth support during direction-change maneuvers.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing element is made from PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), a composite material known for its extremely low coefficient of friction and high wear resistance. This material choice enables the sliding surface to move smoothly along the guide shaft with minimal friction and vibration generation, while maintaining structural integrity over the desired service life.
2Ease of manufacture
If fixed-dimensional bearing elements are used, then the assembly is simpler to manufacture, but they cannot compensate for dimensional variations in contact surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing element incorporates adjustability features that allow its effective length to be modified to match the actual dimensional variations of the guide shaft or contact surface. This dynamic adaptation capability enables the same bearing design to work across different manufacturing tolerances and wear conditions without requiring custom-made components for each variation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent allows for changing the dimensional parameters of the bearing element, specifically its length, to compensate for variations in the guide shaft diameter or contact surface dimensions. By providing adjustable or interchangeable bearing elements with different dimensions, the system can adapt to parameter variations while maintaining proper fit and function.
3Strength
If bearing elements are permanently fixed in the assembly, then the structure is more rigid, but maintenance requires disassembly of other bot parts
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing element is designed as a separate, modular component that can be independently removed from the direction-change assembly. This segmentation allows the bearing element to be accessed, removed, and replaced without disassembling other critical bot components, while the modular design maintains structural rigidity when properly installed and secured in its bearing mount.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing element is extracted as a standalone replaceable component within the assembly, held in position by a bearing mount but designed for easy removal. This extraction principle enables maintenance personnel to access and replace the bearing element independently, improving ease of repair while the bearing mount structure maintains the necessary rigidity during operation.
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 glide bearing assembly provides smooth, reliable, and repeatable movements with reduced noise and vibrations, ensuring the load-handling device's structural integrity and longevity.
Implementation Method 1
a bearing element comprising a sliding surface defining a contact line along which the direction-change assembly moves with respect to the body when raising or lowering the first and second sets of wheels. Using a sliding surface to provide an area of contact between the direction-change assembly and the body reduces noise and vibration when the direction-change assembly moves with respect to the body
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a load-handling device for lifting and moving storage containers stacked in a storage structure. The load-handling device includes a body mounted on a first set of wheels to engage a first set of parallel tracks and a second set of wheels to engage with a second set of parallel tracks. A direction-change assembly is configured to raise or lower the first and second sets of wheels with respect to the body to engage one of the first or second sets of wheels with the parallel tracks and disengage the other of the first or second sets of wheels from the parallel tracks. A glide bearing assembly includes a bearing element including a sliding surface defining a contact line along which the direction-change assembly moves with respect to the body when raising or lowering the first and second sets of wheels.