Lifting Apparatus Coupling Detection via Limit Switch Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automatic lifting devices for highly-mounted lights lack accurate recognition of the coupling state between the main body and lifting body, leading to potential safety accidents during winding or unwinding operations.
Innovation Solution
A lifting apparatus with a coupling unit and limit switch system that ensures accurate coupling and decoupling of the main body and lifting body, using a driving motor and gear assembly to control the wire rope's winding and unwinding, and a control unit to monitor and correct any errors in the coupling process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional automatic lifting devices operate without accurate coupling state recognition, then the lifting operation can proceed without interruption, but safety accidents may occur due to improper coupling or decoupling states
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the control unit continuously receives signals from the limit switch about the coupling state between the main body and lifting body. This feedback allows the system to automatically adjust the drum's winding/unwinding operation to match the actual coupling state, ensuring safe operation while maintaining continuous productivity. The control unit modifies the winding/unwinding amount based on the limit switch signals, creating a closed-loop control system that prevents safety accidents.
2Ease of operation
If the drum is designed to rotate freely without control, then the wire rope can be wound and unwound easily, but it becomes impossible to accurately control the lifting position and coupling state
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces purely mechanical free rotation of the drum with an electrically controlled system. The drum is driven by a motor that receives control signals from the control unit, which in turn receives position information from the limit switch. This substitution of mechanical control with electrical control and feedback enables precise positioning of the lifting body while maintaining ease of operation through automated control.
3Device complexity
If no coupling detection mechanism is installed, then the device structure remains simple, but the system cannot recognize coupling errors between main body and lifting body
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a limit switch as an intermediary detection mechanism between the mechanical coupling system and the control system. This limit switch acts as a sensor that detects the coupling state by responding to the relative position between the main body and lifting body. The control unit then uses this information to adjust the drum operation. This intermediary component enables coupling state recognition without requiring complex direct sensing mechanisms.
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
Prevents safety accidents by ensuring precise control over the lifting process, allowing for safe and reliable operation of highly-mounted devices, reducing the risk of accidents and improving operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a drum, and a wire rope having one end fixed on an upper side of the lifting body and the other end wound on the drum in a state of being wound by a predetermined length
Implementation Method 2
a driving motor configured to automatically wind unwind the wire rope on the drum according to the selection of a user
Implementation Method 3
a limit switch that generates a signal in accordance with a contact state between an upper contact point provided on the lower side of the main body and a lower contact point provided on an upper side of the lifting body
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed is a control method of a lifting apparatus for a highly-mounted device, which includes a main body at which a hollow drum for winding a wire rope and a driving motor for giving a rotating force to the drum are installed, a lifting body suspended from the wire rope and having a device coupling portion provided at a lower end thereof, and an upper contact point and a lower contact point respectively provided at the main body and the lifting body to make contact with each other when the lifting body ascends and is coupled to the main body by winding the wire rope. The control method includes (a) outputting a descending signal in a state where the main body and the lifting body are coupled; (b) determining whether the lifting body is normally released downward from the main body according to the descending signal; and (c) stopping the driving motor or executing the step (a) again when the lifting body is not normally released downward, wherein in the step (b), it is determined whether the lifting body is normally released downward from the main body by checking whether a weight of the lifting body is applied to the wire rope.