Tow Truck Sliding Platform Layout for Stable Vehicle Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current transport vehicles for carrying motor vehicles or motorcycles have complex designs, require significant maintenance, and suffer from reduced load capacity and stability due to complex pivoting arms and cantilever elements, which increase costs and operational risks.
Innovation Solution
A transport vehicle with a simplified design featuring a longitudinally extending and rotatable platform, an extendable portion, and a hinged ramp, along with a motorized winch system and fork support, to facilitate loading and towing without complex cantilever elements, enhancing stability and load capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If complex pivoting arms and cantilever elements are used to enable platform mobility and vehicle loading, then the platform can be extended and rotated to approach the road surface, but the device complexity increases and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the complex pivoting arm mechanism from the system entirely. Instead, it uses a simplified platform supported by hydraulic cylinders that can extend and retract to control the platform's position and inclination angle, achieving the same loading function without the complex mechanical arms
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical pivoting arm system with a hydraulic control system. Hydraulic cylinders provide the necessary force to extend and retract the platform support, controlling the platform's inclination and position through fluid pressure rather than complex mechanical linkages
2Adaptability or versatility
If complex pivoting arms and cantilever elements are used for platform extension and rotation, then the platform can load vehicles, but the load capacity is reduced due to platform imbalance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a counterweight mechanism that balances the platform when it is in the extended loading position. This counterweight compensates for the moment created by the extended platform, maintaining platform balance and preventing the reduction of load capacity that would otherwise occur with cantilever extension
3Productivity
If conventional winch systems are used for towing, then vehicles can be towed, but the ropes or chains may cause vehicles to slip or slide downward without sufficient vertical towing force
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the direction of the towing force from horizontal to vertical by routing the winch rope or chain through a pulley system. This allows the towing force to have a vertical component that acts against gravity, preventing the towed vehicle from slipping or sliding downward while being towed
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 greater stability, increased load capacity, and reduced maintenance costs by eliminating complex pivoting arms and using a vertically oriented towing force to prevent slipping, while allowing for efficient loading of vehicles with low ground clearance and locked wheels.
Implementation Method 1
the extendable portion (7) is actuated, e.g., by hydraulic actuators, to extend out of the housing
Implementation Method 2
the platform (3) is configured to be longitudinally mobile for translation relative to the chassis (1) so that it can be partially extended in a cantilever fashion out of the chassis, e.g., by means of motorized guides
Implementation Method 3
mobile for rotation around an axis transverse to the direction of advancement of the transport vehicle so that it can be inclined towards the road surface, e.g., by means of a hinge mechanism
Implementation Method 4
there are widely used solutions that include devices with ropes or retractable chains on board, e.g., a winch, to attach one end of these ropes or chains to the vehicle to be rescued and tow it by retracting the rope or chain through the winch's operation
Data Source
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AI summary
Transport vehicle, preferably a tow truck, comprising a chassis, a cockpit, and a platform on which at least one vehicle or motorcycle can be loaded, with the cockpit and the platform being connected to the chassis and arranged so that the platform extends longitudinally over the chassis from the cockpit to an end of the chassis longitudinally opposite to the cockpit, and the platform is configured to be both longitudinally movable for translation relative to the chassis, so that it can extend at least partially cantilevered out from the chassis, and rotatable about an axis transverse to the direction of travel of the transport vehicle so that it can be inclined towards the road surface; and the platform further comprises an extendable portion actuated from the longitudinally opposite end of the platform relative to the cockpit, and a ramp hinged to the extendable portion.