Retractable Support Plate for Mobile Pressure Vessel Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile analyzer instruments, such as those using optical emission spectroscopy, face challenges in maneuverability due to the need to carry non-integral components like pressure vessels, which vary in size and are only required for specific modes of operation, necessitating a mounting assembly that allows for flexible and agile mounting of pressurized gas vessels.
Innovation Solution
A mobile instrument assembly with a moveable support plate that can retract and extend to accommodate pressure vessels of different sizes, featuring a pair of protrusions to define a circular area for mounting, allowing for secure and space-efficient transportation of the instrument.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the analyzer instrument is designed as small as possible to ensure maximal maneuverability, then mobility is improved, but the ability to accommodate non-integral components of different shapes and sizes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The support plate is made movable relative to the housing, capable of extending outward to provide mounting surfaces and retracting into the housing when not in use. This dynamic configuration allows the compact instrument to accommodate pressure vessels of different sizes without permanently increasing its footprint, thus maintaining maneuverability while gaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The support plate is stored within the housing when not needed, and extends outward only when a pressure vessel needs to be mounted. This nesting approach allows the instrument to maintain a compact form factor for mobility while providing extended functionality when required, resolving the contradiction between size and adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the support plate is always extended to accommodate pressure vessels, then adaptability is improved, but the maneuverability and compactness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The support plate transitions from a static always-extended configuration to a dynamic movable configuration that can be retracted into the housing. This allows the instrument to maintain compactness for maneuverability while providing mounting capability only when needed, eliminating the trade-off between adaptability and mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting function is extracted as a separate movable support plate that can be deployed only when required, rather than being a permanent part of the instrument structure. This allows the main housing to remain compact for maneuverability while the extracted support plate provides adaptability when needed.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple extracted positions are provided for different pressure vessel sizes, then versatility is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The single movable support plate serves multiple functions by being positionable at different extracted locations, each suitable for different pressure vessel sizes. Rather than providing separate mounting structures for each vessel size, one multi-functional support plate accomplishes the same goal, reducing complexity while maintaining versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a mobile instrument assembly comprising: a housing for accommodating one or more components of an instrument; one or more wheels for mobility of the instrument assembly; and a mounting assembly comprising: a support plate that is moveable with respect to the housing between retracted position and one or more extracted positions and that comprises, in its distal end, a pair of protrusions projecting from a surface of the support plate, wherein in the retracted position the support plate is substantially unexposed from the housing, and in each of the one or more extracted positions the support plate extends from the housing to respective extent such that perimeter of the housing and the pair of protrusions define a circular area of respective predefined diameter to allow for mounting a pressure vessel of corresponding size on the support plate between the perimeter of the housing and the pair of protrusions.