Skate Unit for Cable Guide Friction Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cable guides face issues with frictional contact and wear when folded, leading to damage and reduced lifespan, and existing skates either require high removal forces or excessive vertical space for maintenance, complicating smooth operation and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A compact skate design with offset, overlapping flanged rollers on both sides of the cable guide, allowing rolling contact without sliding friction, facilitating smooth movement and easy removal, and a turning member with circumferentially spaced rollers or a drum to maintain guide alignment and stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If a skate is interposed between facing parts of a folded cable guide to prevent frictional contact, then the durability and service life of the cable guide is extended, but the skate requires significant vertical space and high removal forces for maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a conventional skate design requiring vertical space to a compact skate design where rollers are arranged in the longitudinal dimension of the cable guide. The rollers are positioned at offset locations along the length of the skate frame, allowing the skate to function in a folded cable guide configuration without requiring excessive vertical clearance, thereby facilitating easier maintenance and removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs flanged rollers that can freely rotate along the longitudinal direction of the cable guide, enabling dynamic adaptation to the movement and folding of the cable guide. This dynamic roller configuration allows the skate to maintain contact with the cable guide during operation while enabling easy removal during maintenance by simply pulling the skate along the longitudinal axis.
2Reliability
If conventional skates with rollers are used to prevent direct contact between facing parts, then frictional wear is reduced, but the skate structure becomes complex and requires significant space for proper roller alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the functions of multiple rollers into a compact arrangement where flanged rollers are positioned at offset locations along the skate frame. This unified roller configuration simultaneously provides friction reduction, structural support, and alignment guidance, eliminating the need for separate complex alignment mechanisms and reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies flanged rollers with specific local characteristics at offset positions along the skate frame, where each roller is strategically positioned to contact specific portions of the cable guide. This localized quality approach ensures that each roller performs its specific function efficiently while maintaining overall system simplicity and reducing the need for extensive structural support.
3Volume of moving object
If the cable guide is folded on itself to achieve compact configuration, then space is saved, but frictional contact and collision between facing parts cause damage and obstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a skate with flanged rollers as an intermediary element between the facing parts of the folded cable guide. The rollers act as mediators that prevent direct frictional contact and collision between the cable guide portions, allowing the folded configuration to maintain its compact space efficiency while eliminating the harmful effects of direct contact through the rolling motion of the rollers.
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 solution reduces frictional forces, enhances durability and service life of the cable guide, simplifies maintenance by minimizing sliding resistance, and maintains guide alignment, while being compact and adaptable in length.
Implementation Method 1
allowing rolling contact without sliding friction
Implementation Method 2
a turning member with circumferentially spaced rollers or a drum to maintain guide alignment and stability
Data Source
AI summary
A skate disposed between facing portions of a folded, flexible, cable guide includes a first set of rollers which contact only one of the two facing portions, and a second set of rollers which contact only the other of the two facing portions. A turning member mounted at an end of the skate is in rolling contact with the bent portion of the guide.