Seat Console Assembly With Auto-Retracting Safety Lever
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seat console assemblies in working machines, such as excavators, pose safety hazards and operational inefficiencies due to the potential for accidental actuation of control input members during egress, and existing safety mechanisms either inhibit egress or require multiple operations to retract the console.
Innovation Solution
A seat console assembly with a movable safety lever and positioning mechanism that automatically transitions from a blocking to a non-blocking position when the console is retracted, allowing easy egress and independent movement of the safety lever relative to the console body, combined with an isolation system to prevent inadvertent control input operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the seat console is located between the seat and an exit to the cab, then the operator can access control input members, but the operator may accidentally actuate a control input member during egress causing unwanted control of the working machine
Solution Approach 1:
The control input members are isolated from the machine control system when the safety lever is in the non-blocking position. This extraction of control functionality prevents accidental actuation during egress while maintaining accessibility during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety lever acts as an intermediary mechanism between the operator and the control input members. It provides a safety state (blocking position) that prevents accidental control during egress while allowing normal operation when in the non-blocking position.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a safety lever is provided to block the exit passage, then accidental control during egress is prevented, but the exit passage is narrowed inhibiting egress
Solution Approach 1:
The safety lever is made dynamically positionable between a blocking position (preventing accidental control) and a non-blocking position (allowing easy egress). The lever can be moved by the operator to switch between safety and egress modes as needed.
3Ease of operation
If the seat console is made retractable to widen the exit passage, then egress is facilitated, but multiple operations are required consuming significant time
Solution Approach 1:
The safety lever mechanism is merged with the seat console structure so that a single operation of the safety lever simultaneously achieves both the widening of the exit passage and the disengagement of the control input members. This combines multiple functions into one action.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the safety lever is made independently movable with respect to the seat console body, then operator flexibility for configuring the seat console assembly is increased, but the mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The safety lever is segmented from the seat console body, allowing independent movement. This segmentation enables the safety lever to be positioned independently relative to the console body, providing operational flexibility while using a relatively simple linkage mechanism to connect them.
Data Source
AI summary
A seat console assembly for a working machine includes a seat console support; a seat console body movably mounted to the seat console support and movable relative thereto between an operating position and a retracted position; a safety lever movably mounted to the seat console body and movable relative thereto between a blocking position and a non-blocking position for respectively blocking and unblocking an exit passage of the working machine when the seat console body is in the operating position; and a positioning mechanism configured to move the safety lever from the blocking to the non-blocking position in response to the seat console body being moved from the operating to the retracted position. The positioning mechanism is configured such that the safety lever is independently movable with respect to the seat console body from the blocking to the non-blocking position and/or from the non-blocking to the blocking position.