Transfer Car With Diagonal Guide Posts and Turn Table
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional transfer cars with lifting and lowering functions and turning capabilities in automobile assembly lines increase installation and construction costs, limit flexibility, and require complex and costly overhead conveyor systems, while also interfering with part mounting operations and reducing operator efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A transfer car design featuring guide posts on diagonal corners, lifting and lowering support bodies coupled to ball screws, a turn table for vertical axis rotation, and a hanger system that eliminates the need for overhead conveyors and external power sources, allowing for flexible vehicle body positioning and operation without interfering with part mounting, and utilizing automated guided vehicles or friction roller drives for transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If an overhead conveyor is used to transfer vehicle bodies in the chassis process, then vehicle body transfer is achieved, but installation cost and construction cost increase due to requiring high-elevation operations and heavy equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the vehicle body transfer function from the overhead conveyor system and relocates it to a transfer car that operates on the ground level. The transfer car uses a lifting mechanism to raise the vehicle body to the required height for chassis process operations, eliminating the need for expensive overhead conveyor infrastructure and high-elevation construction work.
Solution Approach 2:
The transfer car acts as an intermediary device between the ground level and the work area. It provides a movable platform that can be positioned at the required location and height, serving as a mediator that eliminates the need for direct overhead conveyor installation while maintaining the vehicle body transfer capability.
2Ease of operation
If guide posts are erected on the base of the transfer car for lifting and lowering function, then vehicle body height adjustment is achieved, but the guide posts interfere with the operation of mounting parts on the under floor of the vehicle body
Solution Approach 1:
The patent repositions the guide posts from a location that interferes with under-floor operations to a location on the side of the base. This spatial reconfiguration in another dimension allows the guide posts to perform their height adjustment function while avoiding interference with the mounting operations on the vehicle body's under floor.
3Ease of operation
If a steering mechanism with air cylinders is used to steer the wheels of the transfer car, then the transfer car can be steered and rolled on the travel road, but the air cylinders need to be supplied with air from the outside of the transfer car
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a steering mechanism where the transfer car itself provides the necessary air supply for the air cylinders, rather than requiring external air supply. This self-service approach eliminates the need for external air supply infrastructure and simplifies the overall system configuration.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the transfer car is constructed with wheels that can be steered by air cylinders, then the transfer car can change orientation, but the vehicle body cannot be turned when front and rear transfer cars are not separated by a specified distance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic turning mechanism where the transfer car can change its orientation dynamically based on the operational requirements. The steering mechanism allows the transfer car to turn at any position along the transfer path, providing flexible adaptation to different operational scenarios without requiring a minimum separation distance between transfer cars.
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
Reduces installation and construction costs, enhances workability and flexibility in assembly lines, simplifies the transfer car design, and decreases the number of necessary transfer units, thereby improving availability and reducing the number of vehicles in process.
Implementation Method 1
a pair of lifting and lowering support bodies (5, 6) supported by these guide posts (3, 4) and lifted and lowered
Data Source
AI summary
The transfer car 1 includes: a pair of guide posts 3, 4 erected on diagonal corner portions of a base 2 formed nearly in a rectangular shape when viewed in a plan; a pair of lifting and lowering support bodies 5, 6 supported by these guide posts 3, 4 and lifted and lowered; a lateral bridging member 7 laterally bridging the pair of lifting and lowering support bodies 5, 6; a turn table 8 mounted on a lower side in a center in a longitudinal direction of the lateral bridging member 7 and having a turning part 8B turned around a vertical axis 8C with respect to a fixed portion 8A; and a hanger 9 having a top end portion coupled to the turning part 8B of the turn table 8 and hanging a vehicle body A placed on receiving parts 9B, 9B mounted on a bottom end portion.