Service Loop Line Guide Structure for Compact Drilling Rigs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional service loops for drilling rigs face challenges such as complex structures, entanglement of supply lines, difficulty in maintenance and repair, and a large minimum radius of the loop, which increases downtime and operational complexity.
Innovation Solution
A line routing apparatus with a flexible high-tensile strength carrying strand and pivotable guide bodies that can deflect spatially relative to each other, allowing for a compact, lightweight structure that avoids entanglement and facilitates maintenance by allowing lateral access to the lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a reinforced rubber hose with casting material is used to support supply lines, then the lines are protected and supported, but maintenance and repair become considerably more difficult and downtime increases
Solution Approach 1:
The service loop is divided into separate modular components: individual supply lines are independent of each other and can be accessed through lateral openings in the hose. This segmentation allows repair of single lines without replacing the entire hose assembly, directly resolving the contradiction between line protection and ease of repair.
2Reliability
If a large diameter reinforced rubber hose is used, then supply lines are well supported, but the minimum radius of the loop increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible hose with a more streamlined, thinner profile compared to traditional reinforced rubber hoses. This flexible shell design provides adequate line support while significantly reducing the outer diameter, thereby decreasing the minimum loop radius and resolving the contradiction between line support and loop size.
3Strength
If a chain-like line routing apparatus with flexible load strands is used, then very high tensile forces and long lengths are achieved, but structural space requirements increase and it is less suitable for service loops
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the strengths of different approaches by integrating a flexible hose structure with internal support elements and lateral access features. This merged design achieves the necessary tensile strength and line protection while maintaining a compact form factor suitable for service loop applications, resolving the contradiction between strength and space efficiency.
4Reliability
If a structurally complicated device is used to prevent supply lines from becoming entangled, then line entanglement is prevented, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the entanglement prevention function from a complex mechanical device and implements it through the simple geometric configuration of the service loop itself. The natural hanging loop geometry and lateral line access design inherently prevent entanglement without requiring additional complicated mechanisms, resolving the contradiction between entanglement prevention and device simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
A line routing device for guiding a plurality of lines, such as cables, hoses, or the like, particularly for hanging applications, such as supplying a vertically traveling power head of a drill. The line routing device has a flexible carrying strand and a plurality of guide bodies arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the carrying strand. According to the invention, adjacent guide bodies can be deflected spatially toward each other and each guide body has a central part having a center axis, which extends coaxially to the carrying strand, and an outer part having at least one circumferential element. The outer part delimits a receiving region, which is open in the axial direction, for the lines, radially to the outside.