Modular Conveyor Cover with Tensioning and Counterweights
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing protective covers for conveyor belts, especially at ski resorts, are permanent, poorly watertight, vulnerable to strong winds, and require complex assembly, leading to visual impact, functionality issues, and high costs.
Innovation Solution
A self-supporting, modular, and removable walkway cover made of corrugated metal arches and transparent polycarbonate sheets with tensioning and counterweight systems, allowing easy assembly and disassembly, enhanced watertightness, and adaptability to terrain, along with emergency exit mechanisms and aesthetic features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If permanent covers are installed year round, then the conveyor belt is continuously protected, but the visual impact on the mountain landscape increases and assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is designed to be removable and reconfigurable rather than permanently fixed. The modular structure with interlocking elements allows the cover to be assembled, disassembled, and repositioned easily, transforming from a static permanent installation to a dynamic temporary structure that can be adapted to different seasons and conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover is divided into multiple modular sections that can be independently assembled and connected. This segmentation allows for simplified assembly processes, easy maintenance, and the ability to configure the cover system to match different terrain and conveyor belt arrangements without requiring complex permanent installation.
2Ease of operation
If inspection openings are cut in the covers, then inspection and repair access is improved, but the structural strength of the covers is reduced and safety hazards increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cover transitions from a static structure with permanent cut openings to a dynamic system with removable panels. This allows inspection access to be provided only when needed, maintaining full structural integrity during normal operation while enabling easy access for maintenance through designed removable sections rather than permanent weaknesses.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover panels designed for inspection access can be removed, used, and replaced. This allows the same panel to serve multiple purposes: maintaining structural integrity when installed, providing access when removed for inspection, and being reused after maintenance, thus avoiding the need for permanent structural compromises.
3Reliability
If complicated assembly systems are used, then the cover provides better protection and functionality, but the manufacturing cost and installation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cover system is divided into standardized modular components that can be manufactured independently using simple processes and then assembled through straightforward interlocking mechanisms. This segmentation allows each component to be produced efficiently with basic manufacturing techniques while the overall system provides comprehensive protection through the coordinated assembly of these simple parts.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple functions are integrated into single components to reduce overall system complexity. For example, support elements simultaneously provide structural support, positioning, and connection functions, eliminating the need for separate components for each function and simplifying both manufacturing and assembly processes while maintaining reliable protection.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the cover is designed to be removable and foldable, then visual impact is reduced and storage is improved, but the structural stability and wind resistance decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The cover employs dynamic stabilization mechanisms that allow it to be securely fixed during operation to resist wind forces, yet easily removable when not in use. The structure transitions from a static permanent installation to a dynamic temporary structure with adjustable stability, using features like ground anchors, weighted bases, or tensioning systems that provide wind resistance only when deployed.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover design incorporates counterweight elements such as ground anchors, weighted foundations, or tensioning systems that provide resistance to wind forces. These counterweight mechanisms ensure the removable cover remains stable and secure during operation while allowing easy removal and folding for storage when not in use, balancing adaptability with wind resistance.
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 solution provides a durable, easy-to-assemble, and visually unobtrusive cover that maintains conveyor belt functionality, reduces visual impact, and offers enhanced safety and comfort while being usable as an advertising medium.
Implementation Method 1
corrugated profile arches, preferably made of metal sheet
Implementation Method 2
tensing means that embrace and fasten the sheets to the arches
Implementation Method 3
support means that constitute the support or base of the cover on the ground or pavement, stabilising and fastening the cover thereto
Data Source
AI summary
Dimensionally adequate for the transit of persons in its interior, the main characteristic of which lies in the fact that it consists of a self-supporting, modular and removable cover, which allows simple and fast assembly, independent of said conveyor belt, in addition to subsequent folding in a horizontal position for those times of year when said cover is not used, giving it a high degree of watertightness and resistance to strong winds, with ensuing benefits in terms of visual impact and respect for the natural landscape, in addition to the possibility of using the entire outer surface of the cover as an advertising medium.