Segmented Wear Pad Grooves for Telescoping Boom Conformance

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

The proliferation of complex boom designs in telescoping boom assemblies requires uniquely sized and shaped wear pads, leading to increased manufacturing costs and material waste, as well as the need for specific machining and adjustments, which complicates the manufacturing and installation processes.

Innovation Solution

A wear pad design featuring a common blank or standard shape with strategically placed grooves and varying bending stiffness portions, allowing for easier machining and adaptation to irregular contours, reducing material waste and simplifying installation across various boom section configurations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If wear pads are machined for specific boom designs with varying angles and radii of curvature, then the wear pads conform precisely to each section geometry, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewear pad conformance to section geometryVSAvoidwear pad design variety
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The wear pad is divided into multiple portions along its length, with each portion having a different bending stiffness. This segmentation allows a single standardized wear pad design to adapt to different section geometries by selectively engaging portions with appropriate stiffness characteristics, eliminating the need for completely different wear pad designs for each boom configuration.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different portions of the wear pad are赋予 different bending stiffness properties to match local geometric requirements of various boom sections. This local differentiation of mechanical properties allows the wear pad to conform to varying angles and radii of curvature without requiring entirely different designs, thus maintaining manufacturing simplicity while achieving precise conformance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Manufacturing precision

If uniquely sized and shaped blanks are used to manufacture wear pads for different boom designs, then the wear pads fit specific sections perfectly, but the raw material cost and waste increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewear pad fit to sectionVSAvoidraw material waste
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

A single standardized blank shape serves multiple functions across different boom designs. By incorporating portions with varying bending stiffness within the same blank, the wear pad can be used universally on different boom sections with varying geometries, eliminating the need to manufacture and store multiple unique blank shapes and reducing raw material inventory requirements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The bending stiffness parameter is varied within different portions of the same wear pad blank, allowing the blank to adapt to different section geometries without changing the overall blank shape. This parameter differentiation within a universal blank reduces material waste by maximizing the utilization of each blank while still achieving precise fit for various boom designs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Ease of manufacture

If standard shapes of blanks are used to manufacture wear pads, then the manufacturing cost and material waste are reduced, but the wear pads cannot easily conform to irregular contours of various sections

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewear pad manufacturing simplicityVSAvoidwear pad conformance to section geometry
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The wear pad blank is segmented into portions with different bending stiffness characteristics. This segmentation enables the standardized blank to conform to irregular contours by selectively activating portions with appropriate stiffness, thus maintaining both manufacturing simplicity and geometric conformance capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

By varying the bending stiffness parameter across different portions of the standardized blank, the wear pad gains the ability to conform to irregular boom section contours while still using a simple, standard blank shape for manufacturing. This parameter variation allows the blank to adapt its flexibility locally without requiring complex overall geometry.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

4Reliability

If multiple uniquely designed wear pads are maintained for different boom sections, then each wear pad is optimized for its specific section, but the inventory complexity and replacement difficulty increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewear pad performance for specific sectionVSAvoidwear pad installation simplicity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

A single standardized wear pad design with multiple portions of different bending stiffness serves multiple boom sections, eliminating the need to maintain separate inventory for each section type. The universal design maintains optimized performance for each specific section while dramatically simplifying installation procedures and inventory management.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

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 reduces manufacturing costs, minimizes material waste, and facilitates easier installation by using a common material shape that can conform to diverse boom section geometries, enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of wear pad production and deployment.

Implementation Method 1

A wear pad design featuring a common blank or standard shape with strategically placed grooves and varying bending stiffness portions, allowing for easier machining and adaptation to irregular contours

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectBending stiffness variation: Elasticity

Data Source

PatentEP3127854B1Segmented shape-compliant wear pad for telescoping boom assembly
Publication Date: 2020.09.09 MANITOWOC CRANE CO LLC
  • EP3127854B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3127854B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3127854B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A wear pad (230) for a telescoping boom assembly (15), whereby the wear pad is provided with grooves to aid in bending.