Modular Shaft Coupling Structure for Long Stiff Cleaning Shafts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Long shafts used for cleaning solar panels tend to bend and deform, making them insufficiently stiff for effective cleaning, and coupling multiple shafts is a challenging task.
Innovation Solution
A shaft with an elongated core segment and radially extending U-shaped slots and rib segments for mounting ancillary members, along with a coupling member featuring specific holes for easy alignment and fastening of additional shafts, ensuring stiffness and ease of assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If a sufficiently long single shaft is used to clean large solar panels, then the brush assembly can cover the required area, but the shaft bends and deforms losing stiffness
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft is divided into multiple modular segments that can be coupled together. Each segment maintains sufficient stiffness individually, while the modular design allows achievement of the required total length by connecting multiple segments, thus resolving the contradiction between length and stiffness.
2Length of moving object
If two or more shafts are coupled together to achieve required length, then the brush assembly can cover large solar panels, but the coupling process becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft segments are designed with universal coupling interfaces featuring standardized holes and alignment features. These interfaces can accommodate various shaft configurations and allow straightforward coupling using standard fasteners, significantly easing the manufacturing and assembly process while enabling achievement of required lengths.
Data Source
AI summary
A coupling member to couple a first shaft with a second shaft. The coupling member may include a flat member having a set of holes positioned along its circumference. The set of holes may include a first sub-set of holes coinciding with holes associated with the first shaft and a second sub-set of holes coinciding with holes associated with the second shaft. Each of the first shaft and the second shaft may include a plurality of rib segments, each rib segment having a hole. The coupling member may be configured to couple with the first shaft via the first sub-set of holes and the plurality of holes associated with the first shaft. The coupling member may be further configured to couple with the second shaft via the second sub-set of holes and the plurality of holes associated with the second shaft.