Pivoting Gap Cover for Particle Beam Treatment Floors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional particle beam treatment apparatuses face safety issues due to gaps between the irradiator and moving floor, which are inadequately covered by soft, winding-type covers that cannot support the weight of individuals, compromising safety during use.
Innovation Solution
A particle beam treatment apparatus with a movable cover supported pivotably and adjusted by an adjusting mechanism to ensure continuous coverage of gaps between the irradiator and moving floor, using a hard, non-flexible member that can support weight and maintain safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a winding-type cover is used to cover the gap between the moving floor and irradiator, then the gap can be covered, but the cover cannot sufficiently support the weight of a person ensuring safety
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the cover from soft and flexible to hard and rigid. The cover is made of a hard material that can support human weight, fundamentally altering its mechanical properties while maintaining the gap-covering function, thus resolving the contradiction between gap coverage and weight support capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a movable cover that can dynamically adjust its position and orientation relative to the moving floor and irradiator. The cover is supported by a support mechanism that allows it to move and rotate, enabling it to maintain proper positioning and coverage while providing the structural strength needed for safety
2Ease of operation
If a winding-type cover is used to cover the gap, then the gap is covered, but the cover cannot ensure safe passage for patients and staff
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the cover from a soft, flexible material to a hard, rigid structure. This parameter change enables the cover to bear human weight and provide a safe, stable surface for patients and staff to pass through, directly improving both ease of operation and reliability of safe passage
3Adaptability or versatility
If the moving floor moves on a non-circular annular trajectory while the irradiator rotates on a circular trajectory, then the trajectories can be configured, but a gap is generated between the moving floor and irradiator that changes with rotation position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a movable cover supported by a mechanism that allows it to dynamically adjust its position and orientation. The cover can move and rotate relative to the moving floor and irradiator, enabling it to maintain consistent gap coverage despite the changing trajectories and rotation positions
Solution Approach 2:
The support mechanism for the movable cover incorporates feedback control that monitors the relative positions of the moving floor and irradiator. Based on this feedback, the cover automatically adjusts its position to maintain optimal coverage of the gap throughout the rotation cycle
Data Source
AI summary
A particle beam treatment apparatus includes an irradiator that has an irradiation nozzle which irradiates an irradiation target with a particle beam and that is capable of moving rotationally in a vicinity of the irradiation target, a moving floor that extends on an annular trajectory surrounding the irradiation target along a rotation circumferential direction of the irradiator and that is movable on the annular trajectory depending on a position of the irradiator, a movable cover that is supported pivotably with respect to the irradiator or the moving floor and that covers a gap between the irradiator and the moving floor, and an adjusting mechanism that adjusts a pivoting position of the movable cover depending on the position of the irradiator such that a gap between the movable cover and the moving floor is covered.