Low Profile Roller Fairlead Horizontal Arrangement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cable pulling devices with fairleads have a tall profile due to the stacking arrangement of rollers, which increases friction and is undesirable for low-profile applications.
Innovation Solution
A low-profile roller fairlead design featuring a frame with horizontal rollers and curved side surfaces, where the rollers are rotatably supported by pins secured within semi-cylindrical recesses and clamped using C-clamps, minimizing the height while maintaining reduced friction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a stacking arrangement of rollers is used in conventional fairleads, then the cable can be guided with reduced friction, but the fairlead assembly achieves a tall profile which is undesirable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a vertical stacking arrangement of rollers to a horizontal arrangement where rollers are positioned side-by-side. This dimensional change allows the cable to be guided with reduced friction while maintaining a low profile height, as the rollers extend horizontally rather than vertically through the fairlead assembly
2Ease of operation
If multiple rollers are stacked vertically to guide the cable, then friction is reduced, but the device complexity and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple rollers into a single integrated roller assembly where the rollers are mounted side-by-side on common support structures. This merging approach reduces the number of separate mounting locations and support structures needed, simplifying the overall device complexity while maintaining the cable guidance functionality
Data Source
AI summary
A fairlead assembly includes a frame structure having an opening therein. A pair of rollers are disposed on opposite sides of the opening. The frame structure includes a pair of opposed curved surfaces disposed between the end portions of the pair of rollers and defining a bordering surface of the opening. The frame can be cast as a unitary structure with the pair of rollers each rotatably supported by a support pin having opposite ends received in a first set of corresponding semi-cylindrical recesses in a surface of the cast frame. A clamp structure having a second set of corresponding semi-cylindrical recesses secure the support pins to the cast frame.