Retractable Supporting Wheels for Energy Chain Friction Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Energy chains with protruding rollers or wheels experience increased friction, wear, and irregular operation due to high acceleration and speed, leading to increased resistance and malfunctions, especially when arranged vertically.
Innovation Solution
The energy chain incorporates retractable supporting wheels that protrude only when necessary, retracting within the chain link to avoid contact and jumping, and are arranged with irregular or staggered pitch to minimize simultaneous contact and reduce friction and wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If protruding rollers or wheels are arranged on chain links to support the sliding chain portion, then rolling friction reduces resistance and wear, but the rollers jump over each other at high acceleration causing irregular operation and waving
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting wheels are designed to dynamically change their position relative to the chain link - protruding when needed for support and retracting to avoid interference. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to adapt to different operational states (sliding vs. accelerated motion) and eliminates the jumping problem while maintaining the wear-reduction benefits of rolling contact during normal operation
Solution Approach 2:
The chain is segmented into supporting chain links (with retractable wheels) and ordinary chain links. This segmentation allows the supporting links to provide rolling support where needed while ordinary links maintain the continuous chain structure, enabling the system to achieve regular operation through coordinated action of different link types
2Reliability
If irregular or staggered pitch is used for supporting chain links, then simultaneous wheel contact is minimized reducing friction and wear, but the chain structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting chain links are arranged with irregular or staggered pitch rather than uniform spacing. This asymmetric arrangement ensures that wheels on adjacent supporting links do not contact the chain surface simultaneously, distributing the rolling contact events in time and reducing cumulative wear and friction while maintaining structural integrity
3Length of moving object
If the energy chain is arranged in a folded configuration with long travel, then the device can cover extended distance, but friction resistance and wear increase due to sliding between chain portions
Solution Approach 1:
The retractable supporting wheels act as an intermediary element between the sliding chain portions. During normal sliding operation, these wheels protrude to convert the sliding friction between chain portions into rolling friction, significantly reducing resistance and wear. The wheels mediate the interaction between chain links, enabling long travel distances to be covered with reduced frictional losses
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 design significantly reduces resistance and wear on the device, ensures regular motion, and minimizes noise and vibrations, even in folded configurations, by preventing wheel contact and maintaining a stable chain path.
Implementation Method 1
the sliding friction between still portion and dragged portion can be converted in rolling friction between the provided rollers or wheels of each chain portions and the above/bottom portion chain links
Data Source
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AI summary
An energy chain (100) for carrying hoses and cables within a plurality of opening (230) formed by opposite energy chain links connected by upper and lower crossing members (110). Multiple chain links are arranged within the energy chain (100) as supporting chain links (200) provided with supporting wheels (250) able to move from a retracted position inside the chain link body to a protruding position in which a portion thereof protrude from the chain link body. In the protruding position the supporting wheel (250) is configured for rotatably supporting an energy chain portion sliding above while dragged by the device served by the energy chain. In the retracted position the wheel (250) is configured for avoid contact with the supporting wheel of the bottom chain portion it is sliding on while dragged by the said served device.