Skate Guide With Central Upstand For Trailer Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional skate loading systems face challenges with alignment and de-tracking issues as trailers and docks grow in length, leading to inefficiencies and potential derailment due to lack of precise alignment in X-Y-Z planes, especially with changes in slope, and conventional systems have gaps that can trap wheeled vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A wheeled skate loading system with a central upstand and side guidance upstands in the skate guide helps in tracking and alignment assistance, allowing the skate to self-correct and align with the guide, and a lifting unit to raise and lower the skate guide, reducing the gap and enabling smooth operation of wheeled vehicles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional channel-based skate loading systems are used, then the structure is simple, but alignment precision and tracking stability deteriorate as trailers and docks grow in length
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a central upstand element that extends vertically into the skate's wheel slot, adding a Z-dimension constraint to the existing X-Y channel guidance. This third dimensional constraint prevents lateral deviation and de-tracking issues that occur in long trailers, transforming a 2D planar guidance problem into a 3D constrained system that maintains alignment precision over extended lengths.
2Reliability
If conventional channel-based systems are used, then device complexity is low, but tracking stability and alignment reliability worsen due to de-tracking in X-Y-Z planes
Solution Approach 1:
The skate guide structure is segmented into distinct functional elements: side channels for lateral guidance and a central upstand for vertical slot engagement. This segmentation allows each element to address specific alignment dimensions independently, with the side channels handling X-Y plane guidance and the central upstand providing Z-plane constraint, thereby improving tracking stability without creating a monolithic complex structure.
Solution Approach 2:
By adding the central upstand that projects into the wheel slot, the system gains a third dimensional constraint that prevents de-tracking. This vertical engagement element works in conjunction with the horizontal channel walls to create a three-dimensional guidance envelope that maintains skate alignment reliability over long distances and varying slopes.
3Productivity
If conventional channel-based systems are used, then manufacturing cost is low, but operational efficiency deteriorates due to gaps that trap wheeled vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The central upstand merges with the side channel walls to form a continuous guidance structure that eliminates gaps between separate components. This unified structure prevents wheeled vehicles from becoming trapped in gaps while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through the use of standardized profiled sections that can be efficiently fabricated and assembled.
Data Source
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AI summary
A skate loading system is disclosed. The skate loading system includes a channel (10) for receiving a skate (20) having a pair of wheels (25). The channel (10) includes a skate guide (30) having a pair of tracks (31) each for receiving a respective wheel (25) of the skate (20) and an upstand (32) running in between and in parallel to the tracks (31). The skate loading system further comprises a lifting unit (40) controllable to raise and lower the skate guide (30) in the channel (10).