Spindle Guide Assembly for Parasol Actuator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing parasol designs, particularly for large umbrellas, face high energy resistance due to complex and expensive spindle and nut mechanisms, making them difficult to open and close efficiently, and unsuitable for automation or use with inexpensive components.
Innovation Solution
A parasol actuator assembly featuring a spindle with a guide comprising a holder and multiple bodies of revolution that engage with the screw thread, allowing for low friction and stability, enabling the use of inexpensive components and electric motor-driven operation, including photovoltaic power sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a complex spindle and nut mechanism is used, then the parasol structure is stable, but the energy resistance increases and opening/closing requires large energy
Solution Approach 1:
The guide is divided into multiple guide sections, each containing guide elements that engage with corresponding screw thread parts. This segmentation allows the system to distribute the mechanical load across multiple interaction points, maintaining structural stability while reducing friction and energy resistance compared to a single complex nut mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the guiding function from a traditional complex nut and redistributes it across multiple simpler guide elements positioned along the spindle. Each guide element performs a portion of the guiding function, collectively achieving the same stability as a complex nut while significantly reducing friction and energy requirements.
2Device complexity
If a traditional spindle and nut design is used, then the mechanism is simple, but production becomes expensive due to precise adaptation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the guide into multiple independent guide sections with standard guide elements, the system eliminates the need for a single complex nut requiring precise adaptation to the spindle's screw thread. Each guide element can be manufactured independently using standard components, significantly reducing production costs while maintaining mechanism simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide elements are designed as universal components that can engage with standard screw thread forms. This universality allows the same guide element design to be used across different parasol sizes and configurations, eliminating the need for custom-adapted nuts and reducing manufacturing complexity and cost.
3Area of stationary object
If large parasols with cross section more than four meters are designed, then the parasol provides adequate coverage, but the existing mechanisms become inadequate and require expensive complex designs
Solution Approach 1:
For large parasols requiring significant structural strength, the invention uses multiple guide sections distributed along the spindle length. Each guide section handles a portion of the load, allowing the system to scale to large coverage areas (over four meters) without requiring a single overly complex mechanism. The segmented approach distributes mechanical stresses across multiple points.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a single-point engagement mechanism to a distributed multi-point engagement system along the spindle's longitudinal dimension. This dimensional distribution allows large parasols to achieve the necessary structural integrity and load-bearing capacity without concentrating complexity in a single mechanism, enabling scalable design for large coverage areas.
4Ease of operation
If existing guide mechanisms are used, then the parasol can be operated manually, but automation with electric motors becomes difficult due to high friction
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented guide structure with multiple guide elements creates multiple low-friction contact points distributed along the spindle. This segmentation reduces the total friction force compared to a single complex nut mechanism, making the system suitable for both manual operation and automation with lightweight electric motors or photovoltaic-driven actuators.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention converts the potential harm of high friction into a benefit by distributing the friction across multiple small guide elements. The total friction force becomes manageable, allowing the same mechanism to serve both manual operation (where some friction provides tactile feedback) and automated operation (where low friction enables efficient motor-driven movement).
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 actuator assembly provides a stable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective solution for opening and closing large parasols, suitable for automation, using a lightweight electric motor that can be powered by solar energy, reducing production costs and operational effort.
Implementation Method 1
bodies of revolution which are held in the holder body so as to be able to rotate about their axis of rotation and enter into contact with the spindle, where they engage with at least one screw thread part
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a parasol provided with an actuator assembly comprising a spindle having a spindle longitudinal axis and an external screw thread, and a guide for the spindle comprising a holder which extends along a portion of the spindle and which is provided with at least a first and second set of bodies of revolution which are held in the holder body so as to be able to rotate about their axis of rotation and enter into contact with the spindle, where they engage with at least one screw thread part, the second set of bodies of revolution being set apart from the first set of bodies of revolution along the spindle longitudinal axis.