Scissor Gripper Damping Device for Vibration Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Scissor grippers with stepping mechanisms experience unintended unlocking and falling due to large vibrations when attached to long extension arms, leading to high forces and potential damage, especially when handling building materials on uneven surfaces under time pressure.
Innovation Solution
A damping device is integrated into the stepping mechanism to slow down the movement of the pawl, preventing premature release and ensuring reliable locking, using a rotary damper to control the pivoting movement of the pawl and prevent unwanted unlocking during vibrations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the scissor gripper is attached to a long extension arm for handling building materials, then the productivity and reach are improved, but large vibrations and oscillating movements occur during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a damping device with a damper element that provides beforehand cushioning for the pawl's unlocking movement. The damper element is pre-configured to absorb and dissipate energy from vibrations, preventing the pawl from prematurely disengaging from the control groove during oscillating movements of the extension arm.
Solution Approach 2:
The damping device acts as an intermediary between the pawl and the control groove. The damper element mediates the interaction by providing a controlled resistance to the pawl's movement, allowing the gripper to maintain engagement despite external vibrations and oscillations.
2Speed
If the control pin engages in the recess of the driver during rapid movements, then the gripper responds quickly, but the pawl can be moved out of the recess due to oscillations, causing unintended unlocking
Solution Approach 1:
The damper element provides beforehand cushioning by being pre-loaded or pre-positioned to resist the pawl's movement. When vibrations occur during rapid movements, the damper element absorbs the energy that would otherwise cause the pawl to disengage from the control groove, maintaining locking reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The damping device changes the mechanical parameters of the pawl's movement by introducing damping force. This modifies the pawl's dynamic characteristics, allowing it to maintain engagement with the control groove even during high-speed operations and oscillations.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If limiting elements are equipped with damping or suspension to prevent abrupt stopping, then the falling movement is softened, but the device complexity increases and different designs are needed for different gripper types
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the damping function from the limiting elements and places it in a separate, dedicated damping device. This allows the limiting elements to remain simple while the damping device handles the energy absorption, reducing overall system complexity and enabling standardization.
Solution Approach 2:
The damping device with the damper element serves multiple functions: it dampens vibrations during operation, prevents premature unlocking of the pawl, and softens the impact during falling movements. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for different damping solutions for different gripper types.
4Reliability
If the recess for the control pin is deepened to prevent premature release, then the locking reliability is improved, but the overall height of the scissor gripper increases
Solution Approach 1:
The damping device acts as an intermediary that maintains locking reliability without requiring increased recess depth. The damper element provides the necessary resistance to vibrations and oscillations, allowing the use of shallower recesses while maintaining secure engagement between the pawl and control groove.
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
The damping device effectively prevents the scissor gripper from falling undesirably, protecting the steel construction and ensuring operator safety by slowing down the unlocking movement, and can be easily adapted for different types of gripper devices.
Implementation Method 1
a device which slows down the movement of the pawl out of the area of the stop element
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The gripper device has opening and closing gripper elements (2,3) to grip a gripping material. An indexing system (40) detects the relative movement between two sections of the gripper device. A locking device of the indexing system is moved between a release position and a locking position. The gripper elements carry out a closing movement in release position. The gripper elements are held in opened position, where the slowing down of the adjustment of the indexing system is prevented during fluctuation of the opened gripper device. The opened gripper device hangs on an extension arm.