Helicopter Dolly Safety Panels for Skid Entrapment

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Helicopter landing on a dolly is hazardous due to difficulty in precisely aligning the skids, leading to potential rollover and crashes as the skids may miss the dolly or get caught between the platform and the ground.

Innovation Solution

A helicopter dolly with a platform and rollers, featuring movable safety panels that can be raised and lowered to cover the vertical clearance between the platform and the ground, ensuring the skids land safely and preventing them from getting caught underneath.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the dolly platform is elevated on rollers to enable movement, then the dolly can be transported easily, but the vertical clearance creates a hazard where skids can get caught

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedolly mobilityVSAvoidskid entrapment hazard

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

Safety panels are positioned in advance to cover the vertical clearance between the platform and ground before helicopter landing, preventing the harmful effect of skid entrapment while maintaining platform mobility through rollers

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Stability of the object's composition

If the platform is kept close to the ground for stability, then rollover risk is reduced, but the dolly cannot be easily moved

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplatform stabilityVSAvoiddolly mobility

Core Design Contradiction:

Stability of the object's compositionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The dolly platform is mounted on rollers that enable easy movement when needed, while safety panels can be lowered to cover the vertical clearance during landing operations, dynamically adapting the structure to provide both mobility and stability as required

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Reliability

If safety panels are added to cover the vertical clearance, then landing safety is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelanding safetyVSAvoiddolly structure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The safety system is segmented into multiple movable panels that can be independently positioned along the edges of the platform, allowing the vertical clearance to be covered during landing while maintaining simplicity through modular construction

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS9555898B2Helicopter dolly

Publication Date: 2017.01.31 BOOST IDEAS LLC

AI summary

A helicopter dolly includes a platform defining a helicopter landing area, a plurality of rollers connected to the platform such that a vertical clearance is defined between the platform and the ground and a plurality of safety panels movably connected to edges of the platform so as to be movable relative thereto between raised and lowered positions. The safety panels cover the vertical clearance in the lowered position. A method of using a helicopter dolly includes arranging a helicopter dolly for a helicopter landing, moving a plurality of safety panels and a plurality of corner members to cover a vertical clearance defined between a platform and the ground and moving the plurality of safety panels and the plurality of corner members to uncover the vertical clearance after the helicopter landing.