Magnetic Marker Installation Tool for Accurate Road Surface Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional magnetic marker installation systems face challenges in achieving both high installation accuracy and efficiency, particularly in ensuring the correct orientation and positioning of magnetic markers in road surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A supplemental tool comprising a columnar-shaped retaining member and a detaching member is used to insert and retract the magnetic marker into an accommodation hole, ensuring accurate placement without disturbing its attitude, utilizing the magnetic force of the marker for retention and a non-magnetic material for detachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If magnetic markers are installed manually one by one to ensure accurate placement and orientation, then installation accuracy is maintained, but installation time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The installation tool is segmented into multiple functional components: a retaining member with multiple retaining surfaces for holding multiple magnetic markers, a detaching member for simultaneous detachment, and a positioning mechanism. This segmentation allows operators to install multiple markers in sequence without removing the tool from the road surface, significantly improving efficiency while maintaining accuracy through each component's dedicated function.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining member preliminarily holds multiple magnetic markers in the correct orientation and position before installation. The markers are pre-positioned on the retaining surfaces with proper orientation, and the entire assembly is then inserted into accommodation holes simultaneously. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for individual marker handling and orientation adjustment during installation.
2Force
If the retaining member is made magnetic to easily retain the magnetic marker, then retention force increases, but the retaining member cannot be easily detached from the magnetic marker
Solution Approach 1:
The detaching member acts as an intermediary between the operator and the magnetic marker-retaining member assembly. It provides a mechanical interface to apply controlled force that overcomes the magnetic attraction, enabling easy detachment without directly handling the strongly magnetized retaining member. The detaching member translates rotational motion into the mechanical force needed to separate the components.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining member's magnetic property is dynamic rather than static - it exhibits strong magnetic attraction when needed for retention, but the system allows for controlled dynamic detachment through the detaching mechanism. The magnetic force can be overcome by applying sufficient mechanical force through the detaching member, transitioning from a retained state to a detached state as needed during operation.
3Productivity
If multiple retaining surfaces are provided on the retaining member to hold multiple magnetic markers, then installation efficiency improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining member serves multiple functions: it holds multiple magnetic markers simultaneously, maintains their correct orientation, positions them for insertion into accommodation holes, and provides a unified structure for detachment. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require separate tools or operations into a single device, improving efficiency without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple retaining surfaces are merged into a single integrated retaining member structure. Instead of using separate holders for each marker, the invention combines multiple retention zones on one component, all controlled by a single detaching member. This merging reduces the number of separate operations and simplifies the overall tool architecture while enabling batch installation.
4Ease of operation
If the detaching member is designed to abut on the magnetic marker directly, then detachment force is applied effectively, but the magnetic marker orientation may be disturbed during detachment
Solution Approach 1:
The detaching function is extracted from direct contact with the magnetic marker and instead applied to the retaining member. The detaching member abuts on the retaining member (which holds the marker) rather than directly on the marker itself, allowing the retention force to be released without applying disturbing forces to the marker's orientation. The marker is gently released as the retaining member is detached.
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
The tool enables efficient and accurate installation of magnetic markers, maintaining their orientation and reducing installation time, thereby enhancing overall work efficiency and accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
a retaining surface for the magnetic marker at an end portion in an axial direction of the retaining member
Data Source
AI summary
A supplemental tool for installation that can achieve both high magnetic-marker installation efficiency and high magnetic-marker installation accuracy is provided. A supplemental tool for arranging a magnetic marker in an accommodation hole provided by being drilled in a road surface includes a columnar-shaped retaining member including a retaining surface for the magnetic marker at an end portion in an axial direction and a detaching member combined with the retaining member so as to be able to move to the axial direction as opposed to the retaining member. A combination of the retaining member and the detaching member is such that detaching member can abut on the magnetic marker retained on the retaining surface, and it is configured so that the retaining member can retreat in the axial direction to a side away from the magnetic marker keeping a state in which the detaching member abuts on the magnetic marker.