Telescopic Auger Flight Sliding Mechanism for Expandable Material Movers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing material movers with extendable auger systems are complex and prone to failure due to the need for mechanisms to independently rotate auger flights during extension and retraction.
Innovation Solution
A material moving apparatus with telescopic auger shafts and flight sections that slide past each other without rotating, allowing for expansion and retraction without additional rotational mechanisms, and featuring counter-rotating augers to simplify the construction and operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If extendable auger systems are used to increase material moving width, then the amount of material that can be moved is increased, but the device complexity increases due to multiple possible failure points
Solution Approach 1:
The auger system is divided into multiple telescopic auger shafts that can extend and retract independently. Each auger shaft has flight sections attached that slide past one another without rotating, allowing the auger to be segmented into manageable sections that reduce overall complexity while maintaining extendability for increased material moving capacity.
2Device complexity
If telescopic auger shafts with sliding flight sections are used, then device complexity is reduced by eliminating rotational mechanisms, but the auger shafts must be designed to slide past each other without rotating
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of designing complex rotational mechanisms to allow auger flights to rotate during extension and retraction, the invention inverts the approach by designing the auger flights to slide past one another without rotating. The auger shafts are configured to telescope while maintaining a fixed rotational orientation, eliminating the need for independent rotation mechanisms and simplifying the overall device.
3Productivity
If multiple auger shafts are used to increase width, then the material moving capacity is increased, but the risk of jamming increases without counter-rotation
Solution Approach 1:
The auger shafts are configured to counter-rotate relative to each other during operation. This preliminary anti-action prevents the auger flights from jamming by creating opposing rotational forces that cancel out binding tendencies. The counter-rotation is built into the operational design, allowing multiple auger shafts to work together to increase material moving capacity without compromising reliability.
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 provides a less complex and more reliable expandable material mover that can be extended and retracted with reduced risk of jamming, eliminating the need for special mechanisms to manage auger rotation, thus enhancing operational efficiency and reducing potential failure points.
Implementation Method 1
at least one of the flight sections is configured to slide its first end past a second end of another flight section without rotating as its corresponding auger shaft telescopically moves
Implementation Method 2
Each flight section is rotated by a corresponding auger shaft
Data Source
AI summary
A material moving apparatus includes a housing assembly with a central section and at least one wing section positioned on a lateral end of the central section that is movable toward and away from the central section; and an auger arrangement carried by the housing assembly having at least one auger that includes a plurality of auger shafts which are telescopically movable relative to each other and a plurality of flight sections that each have a first end and a second end. Each flight sections is rotated by a corresponding auger shaft and at least one of the flight sections is configured to slide its first end past a second end of another flight section without rotating as its corresponding auger shaft telescopically moves.