Movable Rail Gap Bridging in Ship Payload Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing payload handling systems on military ships face challenges in transferring payloads between the Pallet Handling System (PHS) and the Lift, requiring separate mechanisms for moving the payload support platform and the rail, which complicates the process and limits flexibility in bridging gaps between fixed rail sections.
Innovation Solution
A payload handling system where the driving means for the payload support platform along a rail is also used to move the rail relative to the support rail, allowing the rail to be repositioned and bridging gaps between fixed rail sections, eliminating the need for a separate mechanism to move the rail.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If separate mechanisms are used to move the payload support platform and the rail, then the payload transfer can be achieved, but the structure becomes complicated and flexibility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the function of moving the payload support platform along the rail with the function of moving the rail itself relative to the support rail into a single driving means. This merging eliminates the need for separate mechanisms, simplifying the overall structure while maintaining full operational capability for payload transfer between PHS and Lift.
Solution Approach 2:
The driving means is designed to perform multiple functions: it can drive the payload support platform along the movable rail, and it can also move the movable rail relative to the slider support rail. This multi-functionality allows a single mechanism to handle both platform positioning and rail repositioning, reducing system complexity.
2Stability of the object's composition
If fixed rail sections are used, then the structure is stable, but the ability to bridge gaps between sections is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a movable rail section that can be repositioned relative to fixed support rails. This dynamic element allows the system to adapt to varying gap conditions between fixed rail sections while maintaining structural stability through the slider mechanism and locking means. The movable rail transitions between fixed and movable states as needed.
3Device complexity
If the same drive means is used for both platform movement and rail repositioning, then the structure is simplified, but the force requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The slider acts as an intermediary mechanism that facilitates the movement of the movable rail relative to the support rail. By using the slider and slider rail interface, the driving force is distributed and managed more efficiently, reducing the peak force requirements on the driving means while still enabling rail repositioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking means automatically engages to secure the movable rail to the support rail during platform movement, and the driving means automatically switches between driving the platform and moving the rail based on operational needs. This self-service capability reduces the need for complex control systems and minimizes force requirements through intelligent operation.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention has been developed to improve the way a payload support platform, such as a mole, is driven between one site and another, particularly when the second site is the interior of a Lift which interfaces with a Pallet Handling System (PHS) of a ship. In a first aspect the invention proposes that the driving means which drives the payload support platform along a rail (10) is also used to move that rail (10) relative to the payload support platform and a support rail (22) so that the position of the rail can be changed during the movement of the payload support platform between one site and another. The payload support platform is lockable to the support rail (22), such that the force which drives the payload support platform along the rail (10) changes to driving the rail (10) relative to the support rail (22). In a second independent aspect of the invention the movable rail (10) is mounted in the gap between ends of fixed rails (62, 82) and is movable along a support rail (22) on which it is mounted between a position in which one end of the movable rail (10) is adjacent an end of one of the fixed rails (62, 82) to another position in which the other end of the movable rail (10) is adjacent the end of the other fixed rail (62,82).