Rotor Blade Cleaning Frame With Tilting Contact Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for cleaning rotor blades are laborious, risky, and result-dependent, with manual cleaning leading to inconsistent outcomes and potential damage, while automated systems are complex and require extensive infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus with a frame and joint system that allows for safe, user-independent cleaning by tilting a cleaning element and support element against the rotor blade, using a holder to exert controlled compressive forces and optionally driven by a motor, ensuring thorough and consistent cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If manual cleaning is used, then the cleaning apparatus is simple, but the cleaning result varies significantly depending on the person and the work is laborious
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning apparatus is designed to clean the rotor blade autonomously without requiring manual operation. The self-service mechanism includes a cleaning element that automatically moves along the rotor blade surface and a support element that maintains consistent contact pressure, eliminating variations in cleaning quality depending on the operator's strength or experience.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual mechanical cleaning system is replaced with an automated mechanical system. The apparatus uses a motor-driven cleaning element instead of manual sponge or rag, substituting human mechanical action with an automated mechanical system that provides consistent cleaning results.
2Manufacturing precision
If automated cleaning apparatus is used, then the cleaning result is consistent and user-independent, but the apparatus design becomes complex and requires control system and power supply
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning apparatus is divided into distinct functional segments: a cleaning element for removing dirt, a support element for maintaining contact pressure, a holder for positioning, and a motor for driving. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, simplifying the overall design while achieving consistent cleaning results.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the cleaning apparatus complex and automated, the invention inverts the approach by using a simple manual apparatus where the user manually operates the cleaning element. The support element is designed to be tiltable and manually positionable, eliminating the need for complex automated control systems while maintaining consistent cleaning pressure.
3Ease of operation
If platform is used to reach rotor blade, then the cleaning person can access the rotor blade, but the construction is relatively complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential function of reaching the rotor blade from the complex platform structure. Instead of using a full platform, the holder is designed with a tiltable joint that allows the cleaning apparatus to be positioned at the required height and angle, extracting only the necessary positioning capability while eliminating the complexity of a complete platform.
4Ease of operation
If stepladder is used to reach rotor blade, then the cleaning person can access the rotor blade, but the rotor blade can only be cleaned over a relatively short section and the person must repeatedly climb up and down
Solution Approach 1:
The holder is designed with a tiltable joint that allows dynamic adjustment of the cleaning apparatus position. This dynamic capability enables the user to access different sections of the rotor blade by tilting the holder rather than climbing a stepladder, eliminating the need to repeatedly climb up and down while maintaining ease of access.
Data Source
AI summary
A device having an opening with an edge, whereby on at least one side region of this edge, at least one cleaning element is located, and a support element for limiting the rotation of the opening about a rotation axis and for absorbing compressive forces is arranged on an opposite further side region, and wherein the opening is arranged in a frame which is tiltably connected to a holder via a joint providing the axis of rotation, so that both the at least one cleaning element and the support element can be rested against the rotor blade.