Extended Stop Arm Assembly With Slip Drivetrain and Shock Absorption
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle extended stop arm designs often suffer from a whipping action during impacts, causing damage to vehicles, and safety hazards due to break-away designs that create projectiles.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle extended stop arm assembly with a low moment of inertia, high stiffness, and toughness, featuring a slip drivetrain and shock absorber to absorb impacts without whipping and eliminate projectile hazards, allowing the arm to pivot and automatically resume operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the arm is made flexible to allow impact absorption, then impact resistance is improved, but the arm experiences whipping action that damages the vehicle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the arm by optimizing its moment of inertia and stiffness values. The arm is designed with specific dimensional parameters that allow it to absorb impact energy through controlled deformation rather than whipping motion, resolving the contradiction between flexibility for impact absorption and rigidity to prevent vehicle damage
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a slip drivetrain mechanism that allows the arm to dynamically adjust its motion characteristics during impact. The slip clutch enables controlled slippage between drive components, allowing the arm to pivot and absorb impact energy without transmitting damaging forces to the vehicle, thus maintaining both impact resistance and vehicle protection
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the arm is made rigid to prevent whipping, then vehicle damage is reduced, but the arm cannot absorb impact energy effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the arm's stiffness parameter to a specific range that balances rigidity for preventing whip-induced vehicle damage with sufficient flexibility for impact energy absorption. The moment of inertia is also carefully selected to control the arm's dynamic response during impact, ensuring effective energy absorption without excessive whipping
3Object-affected harmful factors
If break-away design is used to eliminate whipping, then vehicle damage is reduced, but safety hazards are created due to projectile formation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a controlled dynamic response through the slip drivetrain that allows the arm to pivot and yield during impact without breaking away. The slip clutch mechanism enables controlled slippage that dissipates impact energy while maintaining the structural integrity of the arm, eliminating both whipping and projectile formation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potential harm of rigid arm impact into a beneficial controlled pivoting motion. The slip drivetrain transforms the harmful impact force into useful rotational motion that allows the arm to yield safely, protecting both the vehicle and eliminating projectile hazards associated with break-away designs
4Strength
If the arm is designed with low moment of inertia for easy pivoting, then impact absorption is improved, but the arm may whip into the vehicle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent carefully selects and optimizes the moment of inertia parameter to a specific value that allows easy pivoting for impact absorption while being compensated by sufficient stiffness to prevent whipping. The combination of optimized moment of inertia and appropriate stiffness creates a balanced dynamic response that absorbs impact energy without causing vehicle damage
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 design significantly reduces vehicle damage, eliminates safety hazards, and enables the arm to automatically return to its original position, ensuring operational resilience and safety.
Implementation Method 1
shock absorber to absorb impacts without whipping
Implementation Method 2
slip drivetrain disposed between the arm, and, for example, a motor driving the arm
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus (100), including: a framework (104) configured to be secured to a vehicle; an arm base (106) configured to pivot relative to the framework between a retracted position and an extended position; an arm (110) removably secured to and extending from the arm base; and a shock absorber (142) configured to absorb shock and to prevent relative movement between the arm base and the arm.