Trailer Loading Floor Lowering Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial vehicles, particularly trailers, face challenges in efficiently lowering and raising loading floors for easy loading and unloading of heavy objects without the need for complex and expensive hydraulic systems, and ensuring safety and accessibility restrictions are met.
Innovation Solution
A trailer design where a single actuating element releases all locking devices, allowing the loading floor to be lowered or raised using hydraulic cylinders, with a locking mechanism to prevent unauthorized access and a ramp for height differences, utilizing a swing axle system and adjustable support wheels for stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single actuating element is used to release all locking devices, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability may worsen due to potential unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
A locking mechanism acts as an intermediary between the actuating element and the locking devices. The actuating element can only release the locking devices when the locking mechanism is in the unlocked state, which itself requires authorization. This intermediary layer maintains both ease of operation (single element actuation) and reliability (authorized access only).
Solution Approach 2:
The system is segmented into three functional parts: the locking mechanism (for security), the actuating element (for operation), and the locking devices (for position maintenance). This segmentation allows each component to fulfill its specific function while working together to resolve the contradiction between ease of operation and reliability.
2Productivity
If hydraulic cylinders are used to lower the loading floor, then the productivity is improved, but the device complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The hydraulic cylinders serve multiple functions: they act as both the lifting mechanism for the loading floor and the locking devices that maintain position. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity while maintaining high productivity, as the same components perform both power delivery and position maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The lifting function and locking function are merged into a single hydraulic system. The hydraulic cylinders provide both the force to lower the loading floor quickly (improving productivity) and the controlled positioning (simplifying device complexity by eliminating separate locking mechanisms).
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 simple, cost-effective, and safe method for loading and unloading heavy objects, ensuring the loading floor can be easily lowered or raised, and securely locked, while minimizing payload reduction and operational complexity.
Implementation Method 1
the lifting devices, in particular hydraulic cylinders (16), which can be supplied with pressure medium via a common pump (18)
Implementation Method 2
which is biased into the locking position by a spring element (9a, 9b)
Implementation Method 3
the wheels (5a, b) are not seated concentrically on the axle tube, but rather offset at the free end of a wheel swing arm (15), which is pivotably mounted in the axle tube (3)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a
AI summary
In order to be able to operate the lowering loading floor (2) of a commercial vehicle (1), in particular a trailer (1), quickly and safely, the locking devices (7) present in particular on each wheel (5a, b) are unlocked by means of a common actuating element (8).