Flexible Sling Delineation Markings for Load Centering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current flexible slings for hoisting loads in construction lack effective visual markings to ensure proper centering, making it time-intensive and inexact to balance loads before hoisting, which can lead to unbalanced loads breaking free.
Innovation Solution
A flexible sling with visually distinct markings on its top and bottom sides, including center lines and symmetrically disposed lines, allowing for easy alignment of a load's center of gravity with the sling's center line, facilitating proper load centering before hoisting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional minimal markings (tag, stamp) are used on slings, then the sling structure remains simple, but load centering becomes inexact and time-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies visual markings with different colors to the sling body, including a center line marking and symmetrically disposed pairs of lines. These color-coded visual indicators enable riggers to quickly and accurately identify the sling's center and achieve proper load centering, directly improving measurement precision without adding mechanical complexity to the sling structure itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The marking system is segmented into multiple distinct visual elements: a center line marking and multiple symmetrically disposed pairs of lines at different positions along the sling. This segmentation provides granular visual references that guide precise load placement, transforming the single function of marking into a multi-level guidance system that improves centering accuracy.
2Productivity
If detailed visual markings are added to slings, then load centering accuracy improves, but the marking process and sling manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By using color-coded visual markings, the patent enables rapid load centering identification during operation, significantly improving productivity. The color differentiation allows riggers to instantly recognize the center line and symmetric reference points, eliminating time-consuming measurement and alignment procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The markings are applied during the sling manufacturing process itself, serving as preliminary action that prepares the sling for its intended use. By incorporating the visual marking system into the manufacturing stage, the patent ensures that the markings are permanently integrated into the sling structure, eliminating the need for separate field application and simplifying the overall process.
3Reliability
If only basic sling information is marked, then the sling remains simple to manufacture, but safety risk from unbalanced loads increases
Solution Approach 1:
The color-coded visual marking system provides immediate and unambiguous visual feedback to riggers, enabling rapid and accurate load centering. This directly improves hoisting safety by ensuring proper load balance, while simultaneously reducing the time required for load preparation compared to traditional methods that require measurement and calculation.
Solution Approach 2:
The visual markings enable the sling to essentially guide its own proper usage by providing self-evident visual references for load centering. The symmetrically disposed lines and center line marking allow riggers to self-correct their load placement without external guidance or complex procedures, improving both safety and efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible sling includes two oppositely disposed attachment points defining a first end and a second end of the sling, and an elongate flexible body extending in a lateral dimension from the first end to the second end, the body having a top side and a bottom side. Each of the top side and the bottom side includes a center line marking a center of the body, a first pair of lines symmetrically disposed about the center line, a second pair of lines symmetrically disposed about the center line between the first end and the second end, and the first pair of lines, and a third pair of lines symmetrically disposed about the center line between the first end and the second end, and the second pair of lines.