Gyroscopic Stabilizer With Constant-Flow Damping for Vessel Roll
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gyroscopic stabilizers for marine vessels provide varying stabilizing torques based on vessel roll rates, which are insufficient at low roll rates, failing to effectively reduce sea sickness across different wave amplitudes.
Innovation Solution
A gyroscopic stabilizer with a rotary damper featuring a constant flow valve that maintains a consistent flow rate of damping fluid for different torques applied, ensuring a uniform precession rate and stabilizing torque across varying rolling torques.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional gyroscopic stabilizer uses a rotary damper with variable flow rate, then the damper can adapt to different rolling conditions, but the stabilizing torque varies with roll rate and is insufficient at low roll rates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the flow rate parameter of the damping fluid from variable to constant by introducing a constant flow valve. This ensures that the precession rate remains uniform across different rolling conditions, providing consistent stabilizing torque regardless of roll rate variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The constant flow valve acts as an intermediary device between the rotary damper and the damping fluid. It mediates the flow of damping fluid to maintain a constant flow rate, thereby ensuring uniform precession rate and consistent stabilizing torque output across varying rolling conditions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the gyroscopic stabilizer provides varying stabilizing torque based on roll rate, then it can respond to different wave amplitudes, but it fails to effectively reduce sea sickness at low roll rates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the precession rate parameter from variable (dependent on roll rate) to constant by using a constant flow valve. This ensures that the stabilizing torque remains effective across all wave amplitudes, particularly at low roll rates where conventional variable torque systems fail to provide sufficient stabilization.
3Force
If a constant flow valve is added to the rotary damper, then uniform precession rate and consistent stabilizing torque are achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The constant flow valve is introduced as a relatively simple intermediary component within the rotary damper. While it does increase device complexity, the valve's function is straightforward - to maintain constant fluid flow rate - and it can be integrated into the existing damper structure with minimal additional complexity.
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
This design provides a consistent stabilizing torque regardless of rolling torque magnitude, significantly reducing vessel roll and associated sea sickness incidents at both low and high wave amplitudes.
Implementation Method 1
a rotary damper for damping precession of the gyroscopic stabiliser, wherein the rotary damper includes a constant flow valve that provides a constant flow of damping fluid in the rotary damper for different torques applied to the vane of the rotary damper
Implementation Method 2
the flow passage comprises a flow valve configured to provide substantially the same flow rate of fluid through the flow passage for different torques applied to rotate the vane
Implementation Method 3
a gimbal rotatably supported by the support to be rotatable around a first axis relative to the support; a flywheel rotatably supported by the gimbal to be rotatable around a second axis relative to the gimbal
Data Source
AI summary
A gyroscopic stabiliser for stabilising motion of an object includes a support for attaching to the object, a gimbal rotatably supported by the support to be rotatable around a first axis, a flywheel rotatably supported by the gimbal to be rotatable around a second axis relative to the gimbal, orthogonal to the first axis, and a rotary damper. The rotary damper has a chamber containing a damping fluid a vane that is rotatable within the chamber and that is coupled to the gimbal and a flow passage allowing flow of the damping fluid from the chamber on one side of the vane to the chamber on the other side of the vane when the vane is rotated.