Operating Table Carriage Pivoting Frame for Low-Friction Lifting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transport carriages for patient-bearing surfaces on operating tables experience high friction due to eccentric patient bearing, requiring powerful drives for vertical adjustment.
Innovation Solution
The supports are mounted on a pivoting frame that can pivot about a horizontal axis, connected via joints with roller guides parallel to the pivot axis, allowing vertical adjustment with low friction, using a hydraulic or electromechanical lifting device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If telescopic supports are used for vertical adjustment, then height adjustment is achieved, but high friction occurs due to eccentric patient bearing
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is divided into separate functional components: a pivoting frame for height adjustment, articulated supports for positioning, and rollers for guidance. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function with minimized interference, reducing overall friction during vertical adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
Rollers are introduced as intermediary elements between the supports and the chassis. These rollers mediate the guidance function, converting sliding friction into rolling friction, which significantly reduces energy loss during vertical adjustment operations.
2Ease of operation
If telescopic supports are used for vertical adjustment, then height adjustment is achieved, but powerful drives are required to overcome friction
Solution Approach 1:
Rollers serve as intermediary elements that reduce the power requirement by converting high-friction sliding contact into low-friction rolling contact. This mediation allows the lifting drive to operate with significantly reduced power while still achieving the required vertical adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic elements including a pivoting frame that can rotate, articulated supports that can pivot, and rollers that can rotate. These dynamic components adapt to loads and movements, maintaining efficient operation across the range of motion and reducing peak power requirements.
3Reliability
If lateral guidance forces are incorporated, then support guidance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guidance function is extracted from the main support structure and performed separately by rollers that move along the chassis. This separation allows the support mechanism to focus on height adjustment while the rollers independently provide guidance, reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The guidance mechanism uses dynamic rollers that can rotate freely to accommodate movement, rather than rigid lateral guidance structures. This dynamic approach provides reliable support guidance while maintaining simplicity in the overall device design.
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
This configuration reduces power loss and simplifies the lifting drive, enabling efficient and cost-effective vertical adjustment with minimal lateral guidance forces.
Implementation Method 1
the supports are each guided on the chassis, in each case set vertically apart from the joint by means of a roller having a roller axis parallel to the pivot axis
Data Source
AI summary
In a transport carriage for the patient-bearing surface of an operating table, comprising a chassis (10), two supports (58) which are arranged thereon and each have at their upper ends an interface (60) for connecting to a complementary interface on the patient-bearing surface, and a lifting device (48) for adjusting the height of the interfaces (60) relative to the chassis (10), the supports (58) are carried by a pivoting frame (34) which is mounted on the chassis (10) so as to be able to pivot about a horizontal pivot axis (42) and is adjustable by means of the lifting device (48), the supports (58) each being connected to the pivoting frame (34) by a joint (62) having a joint axis (64) parallel to the pivot axis (42) and each being guided on a guide path (70), which is secured to the chassis, in each case set vertically apart from the joint (62) by means of a roller (68) having a roller axis (69) parallel to the pivot axis, in such a way that a line (70), which runs through the joint axis (64) and the roller axis (68) perpendicularly to said supports, remains vertical on the adjustment of the pivoting frame (34).