Lift Basket Fall Protection with Occupant Count Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fall protection systems for lift systems fail to automatically validate the safety of all occupants and do not account for the number of individuals within the lift basket, potentially allowing unsecured occupants to operate the lift, as they rely on manual connection verification and lack real-time monitoring.
Innovation Solution
A fall protection system that uses sensors to determine the number of occupants within the lift basket and compares this to the number of safety keys operably coupled with safety anchors, controlling the lift's operation and gate locking system accordingly, ensuring that movement is only allowed when all occupants are securely anchored.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual connection verification is used, then the system is simple to operate, but it fails to automatically validate safety and may allow unsecured occupants to operate the lift
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically detects and validates safety key connections without requiring manual verification by operators. Sensors continuously monitor the connection status between safety keys and anchors, and the control system automatically determines whether operation is permitted based on this data, making the safety validation self-executing
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback by using sensors to detect the connection status of safety keys and providing real-time information to the control system. The control system processes this feedback and automatically adjusts the operation permission state, creating a closed-loop safety validation system
2Reliability
If real-time monitoring of all occupants is implemented, then safety validation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system performs multiple functions: it determines the number of occupants, validates safety key connections, controls lift operation permission, and manages the gate locking system. This multi-functional approach consolidates what could be separate complex systems into a single integrated controller
Solution Approach 2:
Sensors serve as intermediaries between the physical safety key connections and the control system. These sensors automatically detect connection status and transmit this information to the control system, which then makes automated decisions, reducing the need for direct human intervention and simplifying the overall system architecture
3Reliability
If the gate locking system is controlled automatically, then occupant security is improved, but the system requires more complex control logic
Solution Approach 1:
The gate locking system is controlled in advance based on the validation of safety key connections. Before the lift operation is permitted, the system ensures that all occupants are properly secured, and the gate locking state is adjusted accordingly. This preliminary action prevents unsafe operations before they can occur
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring manual verification and then manually locking the gate, the system inverts the approach by using automatic sensor detection to trigger automated control actions. The control system automatically determines the appropriate gate locking state based on safety validation, reversing the traditional manual operation sequence
Data Source
AI summary
A system and a method include a fall protection system having safety anchors coupled with a passenger basket of a lift system and a controller including one or more processors. Each of the safety anchors is configured to receive a safety key. The controller receives data from one or more sensors and determines a number of operators that are positioned within the passenger basket based on the data. The controller can determine a number of safety keys that are operably coupled with the safety anchors, and can compare the number of safety keys that are operably coupled with safety anchors with the number of operators positioned within the passenger basket. If the number of operators is different than the number of safety keys coupled with safety anchors, one or more operations of the passenger basket are prohibited.