Variable Interval Control for Overhead Cable Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing overhead cable transport installations face limitations in user throughput and diversity of vehicle combinations due to fixed time intervals that compromise between the physical distance needed to avoid collisions and maintaining high flow rates.
Innovation Solution
The timer section is equipped with a timer means capable of varying travel times for cabins and seats, allowing for differential scrolling rates to optimize time intervals between vehicles based on their type, enabling closer spacing of seats and farther spacing of cabins without reducing user flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed time interval is used between vehicles to avoid collisions in the contour section, then safety is improved, but user throughput is reduced due to excessive spacing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the time interval between vehicles variable rather than fixed. The control system adjusts the time interval dynamically based on the specific combination of vehicles (seat or cabin) and their positions in the sequence. This allows the system to optimize spacing for each vehicle pair, maintaining safety while minimizing unnecessary gaps that would reduce throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of time interval from a constant value to a variable value that depends on vehicle type and sequence position. By calculating optimal time intervals based on vehicle characteristics (seats requiring smaller intervals than cabins), the system adapts the spacing parameter to achieve both safety and maximum throughput.
2Reliability
If larger time intervals are used to accommodate all vehicle combinations, then collision avoidance is ensured, but the flow rate of users is considerably reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different time interval characteristics to different vehicle types and positions in the sequence. Instead of using a uniform conservative interval for all vehicles, the control system applies locally optimized intervals based on whether the vehicle is a seat or cabin and its position relative to preceding vehicles. This allows tighter spacing for seat-seat and seat-cabin combinations while maintaining adequate spacing for cabin-cabin combinations.
3Reliability
If the minimum time interval is based on the largest vehicle (cabin) spacing requirement, then safety is maintained, but diversity of vehicle combinations is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables dynamic adjustment of time intervals based on the specific vehicle combination sequence. The control system can accommodate diverse combinations (multiple consecutive cabins, mixed seat-cabin sequences, multiple consecutive seats) by calculating appropriate intervals for each case, thereby increasing adaptability while maintaining safety through the minimum interval constraints.
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
This solution enhances user throughput by optimizing time intervals between vehicles, allowing for customized vehicle combinations and increased efficiency without compromising safety, thereby improving the overall operational flow of the system.
Implementation Method 1
the vehicles entering an embarkation/disembarkation station, whether they are of the seat type or of the cabin type, are braked along the slowing section thanks to the retarder device
Implementation Method 2
On leaving the contour section, the vehicles are supported in the acceleration section by a launcher device in order to reach a speed corresponding to the running speed of the cable
Implementation Method 3
The vehicles then travel along the circulation contour section at reduced speed thanks to a drive device generally equipped with pneumatic tires
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
The installation has a transfer circuit (18) connecting an up-line (16) and a down-line (17) of an overhead cable (10) with slowdown and acceleration sections (A, B) connected by a contour section (C). A spacer section (S2) is arranged in the circuit for separating cabins (14) and seats (15). The spacer section has a spacer unit constituted of a presence sensor, variable speed motor and a controller receiving a clock signal from a detector. The unit varies travel time of the spacer section by the cable and the seats for providing preset running spaces of the cabins and the seats.