Resilient Bumper Structure for Forklift Impact Dissipation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Structural supports in racking systems often suffer damage due to repeated impacts from fork lifts, and existing protective devices are inadequate in effectively dissipating impact forces and minimizing stress concentrations.
Innovation Solution
A protecting apparatus with a bumper member, a structure positioning member, and resiliently flexible joining portions that dissipate impact forces through flexure, featuring a tortuous path to minimize stress concentrations, and optional tongues and securing members for secure mounting, made from materials like thermoplastics or rubber, designed to be easily installed and replaced.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rigid protective devices are used to protect structural supports from impact, then the structure is protected from damage, but stress concentrations occur at connection points and the device cannot effectively dissipate impact forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a resilient bumper member that functions as a flexible protective shell. This bumper is designed to deform elastically under impact loads, distributing stress throughout its volume rather than concentrating it at rigid connection points. The flexible nature of the bumper allows it to absorb and dissipate impact energy through controlled deformation, thereby protecting the structural support while avoiding stress concentration problems associated with rigid protective devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the elastic properties of the bumper member, changing its physical state from rigid to flexible during impact events. The bumper transitions between deformed and recovered states, dynamically adjusting its mechanical properties to match the loading conditions. This parameter change allows the system to dissipate impact forces effectively while maintaining structural integrity.
2Loss of energy
If resiliently flexible joining portions with tortuous paths are used to dissipate impact forces, then impact force dissipation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the resilient bumper member and the joining portions into a single monolithic component formed by injection moulding. This merging of functions eliminates the need for separate resilient elements and complex assembly procedures. The tortuous path geometry is incorporated directly into the bumper's structure, allowing impact force dissipation through flexure while maintaining manufacturing simplicity and reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The injection moulding process enables the creation of complex three-dimensional tortuous paths within the bumper structure without significantly increasing manufacturing complexity. By changing the geometric parameters of the bumper design to include integrated flexure paths, the system achieves effective impact energy dissipation while maintaining a relatively simple monolithic structure that can be manufactured in one piece.
3Reliability
If the bumper member is designed to extend about a major portion of the structure, then the extent of protection is improved, but the weight and material usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the protective system into multiple separate bumper members, each designed to protect a specific portion of the structural support. This segmentation allows for optimized local protection where bumpers are only installed on the portions of the structure that require protection from impact. Each bumper is sized and shaped to cover the critical impact zones, reducing overall material usage and weight compared to a single continuous protective covering the entire structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The bumper members are designed with specific geometries that concentrate protective coverage on the critical impact zones of the structural support. Rather than uniformly protecting the entire structure, the bumpers are shaped and positioned to provide enhanced protection where impact forces are most likely to occur, such as at corners and edges, while using minimal material in less critical areas.
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
Effectively dissipates impact forces, minimizes damage to structural supports by distributing stress, and allows for easy replacement of damaged components, providing comprehensive and cost-effective protection for a variety of structures.
Implementation Method 1
at least one resiliently flexible joining portion extending between said bumper member and said structure positioning member so that when an outer surface of the bumper member is impacted the impact force is dissipated at least in part by flexure of said at least one joining portion
Implementation Method 2
The impact force may also be dissipated by flexure of said bumper member and/or the structure positioning member
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a protecting apparatus (10) for protecting a structure (100) from an impact. The protecting apparatus (10) is arranged to be mounted on the structure (100) and includes a bumper member (12), a structure positioning member (14) and at least one resiliently flexible joining portion (16). The structure positioning member (14) is arranged in use to be positioned in contact with or adjacent to a portion of the structure (100) being protected. The at least one resiliently flexible joining portion (16) extends between the bumper member (12) and the structure positioning member (14) so that when an outer surface (12a) of the bumper member (12) is impacted, the impact force is dissipated at least in part by flexure of the at least one joining portion (16).