Opening Aid for Energy Guide Chain with Movable Extension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing opening aids for energy guide chains are cumbersome to handle, complex to manufacture, and require manual disassembly for storage and transport, leading to potential loss of components.
Innovation Solution
A movable lateral extension that can pivotally or linearly displace between a working position and a rest position, allowing for compact storage and easy handling, integrated into a simple plate-shaped body with an inclined sliding deflection surface for guiding transverse legs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the lateral extension is fixed to the body, then the structure is stable during operation, but the device becomes cumbersome to handle and complex to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The lateral extension is made movable relative to the body through a pivot connection, allowing it to transition between extended and retracted positions. This dynamic configuration enables the device to adapt its shape for different operational phases: extended during chain opening and retracted for compact storage and transport, thereby improving ease of handling without requiring manual disassembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The opening aid is divided into separable functional components: a body and a laterally movable extension. This segmentation allows the extension to be independently positioned relative to the body, enabling compact folding for storage while maintaining structural integrity during operation. The pivot connection between segments facilitates both stability during use and compactness during storage.
2Volume of moving object
If the lateral extension is manually released from the body, then the device can be stored compactly, but the assembly procedure becomes complicated and components may be lost
Solution Approach 1:
The pivot connection enables the lateral extension to be dynamically repositioned between extended and retracted states without requiring manual disassembly. This eliminates the need for complicated assembly procedures and reduces the risk of component loss, while achieving compact storage volume when the extension is folded against the body.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable extension design allows the device to self-adjust its configuration for storage without requiring external manual intervention for disassembly. The pivot connection inherently provides the mechanism for the extension to be repositioned, eliminating the need for separate assembly/disassembly procedures and reducing the risk of losing components.
3Ease of operation
If the extension projects laterally from the body, then it can guide transverse legs effectively, but the external contour increases and takes up more space
Solution Approach 1:
The lateral extension can be dynamically extended when guiding transverse legs during chain opening operations, providing effective guiding capability. When not in use, the extension is retracted parallel to the body, minimizing the external contour and reducing space requirements for storage and transport. This dynamic configuration resolves the contradiction between operational effectiveness and compactness.
Solution Approach 2:
The extension moves between two distinct spatial configurations: laterally extended for guiding operations and retracted parallel to the body for compact storage. This dimensional transition allows the device to achieve both effective transverse leg guidance during operation and minimized external contour during storage, by utilizing the lateral dimension selectively.
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 simplifies the structure, reduces external contours, and enables efficient opening of energy guide chains with reduced manual effort, allowing for space-saving storage and transport without the need for manual disassembly, while maintaining operational effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
the opening aid with body and extension is broken down into two loose components which can be lost and has to be properly assembled again for use, in a complicated procedure
Implementation Method 2
it levers the upper legs upwardly and pivots them outwardly radially out of the internal space at the inclined sliding deflection surface
Data Source
AI summary
An opening aid for an energy guide chain with chain links. At least some of the chain links at their top side have a respective transverse leg which is arranged pivotably on a side plate and which can be fixed to the other side plate. The opening aid for guidance of the transverse legs upon opening thereof has a body extending in a working direction and a lateral extension having an inclined sliding deflection surface for the transverse legs. To simplify handling and structure of the opening aid it is proposed that the extension is mounted to the body movably relative thereto and is reciprocatingly movable between a working position in which the extension is arranged extending laterally from the body in operative guiding relationship for the transverse legs and a rest position in which the extension is arranged in inoperative guiding relationship of being moved away from the working position.