Cable-Driven Telescopic Boom With Pulleys for Tight Nesting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional deployable booms are complex, prone to failure, and require complex deployment mechanisms, making them difficult to deploy and maintain.
Innovation Solution
A cable-driven telescopic boom with nested segments that are deployed using continuous tension cables, eliminating the need for significant pretensioning and allowing for easy deployment and maintenance, with each segment having novel cross-sections for tight nesting and using pulleys for cable engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional deployable booms use lead screw or hydraulic mechanisms, then deployment capability is achieved, but device complexity increases and reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes complex lead screw or hydraulic deployment mechanisms and replaces them with a simplified cable-driven system. The core deployment function is extracted and achieved through continuous cables that engage boom segments at multiple locations, eliminating unnecessary mechanical complexity while maintaining deployment capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the deployment mechanism from discrete mechanical actuators (lead screws, hydraulics) to a continuous cable tensioning system. This parameter change in the deployment approach reduces component count and simplifies the overall system while achieving the same functional outcome of boom extension.
2Volume of moving object
If boom segments are tightly nested to reduce stowed volume, then volume efficiency improves, but cable engagement and deployment difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs nested boom segments where smaller segments are positioned inside larger ones to achieve compact stowed volume. The nesting is optimized so that continuous cables can still engage each segment at multiple locations, allowing deployment despite the tight nesting configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The continuous cables act as intermediaries that bridge the nested boom segments, enabling force transmission and controlled deployment. The cables engage each segment at multiple locations, mediating between the nested configuration and the deployment action, thus resolving the conflict between tight nesting and deployment ease.
3Stability of the object's composition
If cable-driven system uses significant pretensioning to prevent self-deployment, then deployment control improves, but cable tension requirements and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of applying significant pretensioning to all cables, the system uses minimal or no pretensioning and relies on the cable engagement geometry and segment weighting to maintain stowed position stability. This partial action approach avoids the complexity of pretensioning mechanisms while achieving the desired stability.
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 cable-driven telescopic boom provides a simple, reliable, and efficient deployment mechanism that reduces the risk of failure and maintains tight nesting between segments, enhancing ease of use and durability.
Implementation Method 1
the drive mechanism including a cable and a motor that can apply tension to the cable
Implementation Method 2
the drive mechanism can be actuated to apply tension to the cable to move the telescopic boom from its stowed configuration to its deployed configuration
Implementation Method 3
the first boom segment has a first pulley at the first location and a second pulley at the second location, the second boom segment has a third pulley at the third location and a fourth pulley at the fourth location, and the cable engages each of the first pulley, the second pulley, the third pulley, and the fourth pulley
Data Source
AI summary
A cable-driven telescopic boom with several boom segments repositionable between stowed positions and deployed positions. The boom includes multiple spaced apart and separate cables that engage pulleys connected to each boom segment. A drive system can be used to apply tension to the cables to reconfigure the boom from a stowed configuration to a deployed configuration.