SI24932A - A system for the moving of the platform and the useful cargo around the room with the use of robes and drums installed on the platform itself - Google Patents

Abstract

The object of the invention is the system and method for moving the platform (1) together with a useful load, for example, a recording camera or camera (22), using a rope (7), or rope pairs (15), and at least one position drum (4) and at least one winding drum (5) mounted on the platform itself (1), and assembly pulleys (3) mounted on a fixed support structure (2). Such a technical solution to move the platform in a space with the so-called endless rope allows the system to be more compact, lighter, cheaper and easier to install. The presented technical solution further includes the possibility of using a differential drum (40) for the winding drum (5), which enables the same speed of movement of the platform (1) in all directions to be achieved without the use of a stronger motor for the position drum (35) otherwise necessary in the case of the transverse movement of the platform along the X-axis (12). In addition, the system enables an automatic assessment of the position of the platform (1) in the space through an evaluation of the position of the platform fixing points.

Description

PLATFORM AND USEFUL LOAD MOVEMENT SYSTEM WITH THE USE OF ROPES AND DRUMS PLACED ON THE PLATFORM ONLY

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of conveyor and carrier systems suspended on ropes or cables, or more specifically, to the field of devices and systems suspended over ropes or cables that can move equipment, such as a recording camera or a camera, through space.

Overview of the state of the art

Platform displacement systems, including any payload, be it recording / photographic equipment or measuring / control instruments or control systems, using one or more ropes or cables, are well known and are becoming increasingly common. Many technical implementations of such systems are known. Some of them are described below.

Patents US4625938A, US4710819A, WO8402199Al, and IT1197748B describe a device and system for moving equipment, such as a camera, across the room, with all drive components (motors, drums) mounted on or at fixed support points through which the pulleys are supported individual cable ropes from the device to the winding drums.

Patents US2004124803A1, US2004206715A1, US2005024004A1, US2007152141A1 and W02005013195A2 have similar technical solutions. These innovations solve the problem of positioning and moving equipment, such as cameras, across a space in three dimensions. In doing so, the equipment is suspended above the space via ropes and pulleys mounted on fixed staircases. The control and drive of the system is done via drums and drives mounted at the foot of the fixed support points. These innovations offer a technical solution that utilizes one or more so-called endless ropes that, through a large number of pulleys and drums mounted on fixed support points, allow cargo to be moved around the space with less power required. The characteristic of all existing systems where the principle of endless rope is used is that both ends of the rope are attached to the same element, in this case mounted on a winding drum at or at a fixed support point, which makes the drum bear the full weight of the load.

The following patents also provide technical solutions for moving equipment suspended on ropes or cables: US6873355B1, US2011204196A1, US2011204197A1, US2013050652A1, US2013051805A1,

W00177571A1 and CN103873848A. The common point of these solutions is that the winding drums and their actuators are on or near fixed support elements, and the ropes are then routed over pulleys, • · · ·

mounted on fixed supports to the platform on which the equipment is installed. In this way, each of the ropes carries a portion of the weight of the equipment. This makes the drums and their drives relatively large, more expensive, and the installation of the whole system more difficult.

US5224426A, US2007056463A1, US2005087089A1, and W02005042385A2 discloses a system which, through differently spaced pulleys and one or more drive devices mounted at or at fixed points, allows the movement of payloads across two or three dimensions. The aforementioned patents also utilize one of the variants of the endless rope system, with all of the proposed solutions having systems for propelling and controlling the suspended payload installed at fixed support points.

In addition to the technical solutions mentioned, there are also the inventions described in US2190093A and W02004074064A1, which solve the problem of moving loads or equipment in space via a platform that travels on two rails and on which the load or equipment is suspended by pulleys. The drive for winding or unwinding ropes to control the load, suspended from the platform, may be mounted either on a movable rail platform or at fixed points.

Other areas of application of reel drums and pulley systems are technical solutions for double reel reels which can achieve faster rope / cable winding or higher load capacity. Such systems are exemplified, for example, in EP0420721A1, DE10006486A1, GB432342A, and

W02006105701A1.

Description of the technical solution

The present invention provides a technical solution for moving the platform through space, whereby the presented solution is more compact, lighter and simpler and, above all, enables faster preparation and installation of the entire system at the site of use.

The system according to the invention uses at least one positional and at least one winding drum to move the platform along the space together with the payload (eg, a recording camera) of the rope. All drums and their drives are mounted on the platform themselves. Of the known solutions using an endless rope, said solution differs in that the endless rope starts and ends on the same winding drum mounted on the platform itself. The position drums only take care of shortening or extending the individual pairs of ropes.

The system will be described in more detail below and in the pictures representing:

1 shows a system for moving a platform according to the invention.

Figure 2 presents a side view of some possible platform positions in space.

Figure 3 represents the positional drum.

Figure 4 represents the winding drum.

5 and 6 illustrate an example of the use of the system of the invention.

Figure 7 represents the differential drum.

Figures 8 and 9 are examples of how to determine the positions of anchorage points.

Figure 10 is a side view of a possible embodiment of a platform moving system according to the invention.

Figure 11 is an example of how the platform is controlled via the control panel.

Figure 12 is an example of a technical solution with two positional drums and two winding drums.

The system for moving the platform 1 together with the payload, for example, the recording camera 22, through the space by means of a rope 7, consists of at least one position drum 4 with the position motor 9 and at least one winding drum 5 with a winding motor 8. All the drums 4, 5 with associated engines 8, 9 mounted on platform 1 itself.

The variant shown in Figure 1 represents a configuration in which the system hangs on four fixed supports 2, which are led by four pairs of ropes 15, which are guided through three positional 4 and one winding drum 5. The platform 1 is connected to the mounting pulleys 3 by means of ropes 7 guided through the guides 6, which are fixed to the fixed supports 2 of the supporting structures. In this way, the movement of platform 1 is achieved by means of positional 4 and winding 5 drums and their drives: winding motor 8 and positional motors 9, which are mounted on platform 1. The so-called endless rope is driven through the positional drums, which is a key difference from any known solutions to date that have drums and their actuators mounted on fixed supports, and at least one rope per drum. Said technical solution also differs from known solutions using endless rope in that, in the proposed technical solution, the endless rope starts and ends on the same winding 5 drum mounted on the platform itself 1. The winding 5 drum takes care of extending and shortening the joint the length of the rope and the position 4 drums only take care of shortening or lengthening the individual pairs of the rope 7. The winding drum 5 performs only the function of transferring the force of the load, while the positional function, ie the function of moving the load around the space, is performed by the positional drums 4.

This configuration of the system is very useful in the case where the movement distances of platform 1 in the transverse and longitudinal directions, ie in the X and Y directions, are much longer than the movement of the platform 1 in height, ie in the Z direction. A typical example is athletic stadiums. In such cases, the angles α2, β2 between the horizontal plane and the inclination of the individual rope 7 in most cases of platform 1 movement during normal operation are relatively small and, at the same time, smaller than the angles αΐ, βΐ that occur when the platform moves near the ground. The small angle α2, β2 between the individual rope 7 and the horizontal plane consequently implies that a small change in the total length of the rope 7, which is taken care of by the winding motor 8 or by the winding drum 5, will be required when moving platform 1. smaller than the winding motors of other comparable systems, where the winding motor, which has the function of transmitting the force of gravity of the load, also performs a positional function. It should be further emphasized that in this configuration the positional motors 9 do not transmit load forces (or only minimally), but only overcome the difference in force between the individual pairs of rope 7. In this way, all engines used for the class may be less than comparable systems known in the market today.

Platform 1 is controlled by an electronic control unit 16 that captures data from one or more sensors 17 and controls electric motors, i.e. winding motors 8 and position motor 9, based on the control algorithms. These are powered by one or more batteries 19. On the platform 1 are installed: electronic control unit 16, sensors 17, electric motors 8, 9 and batteries 19. It is also possible to install additional sensors 20 around the room, which can improve or adjust the way the platform 1 is controlled.

The entire system is wirelessly controlled by a control panel 43 through which the operator sends commands about the desired speed of movement of platform 1 in all three directions: back and forth, left-right, and up-down. The commands via wireless 44 are sent to the electronic control unit 16 mounted on platform 1, which autonomously controls the individual electric motors according to the received input data about the desired platform movement (speed in all three directions), and according to the data from sensors 17 on platform 1 or external sensors 20.

Propulsion systems, ie the position drum 4 and the position motor 9 and the winding drum 5 and the winding motor 8, take care of the winding or unwinding of the rope according to the desired movement of the platform 1 in space. In this case, each position drum 4 takes care of shortening or extending the length of the rope 7 in individual pairs of 15 or "limb" ropes that are attached via a pulley 3 to the fixed supports 2. The winding drum 5 takes care of shortening or extending the total length of the rope 7 in the system with respect to to the current position of Platform 1.

Figure 2 is a side view of some of the possible positions of platform 1, namely the starting or calibration point 24, the selected midpoint 25, and two additional possible positions 26, 27 of platform 1 during operation. When moving platform 1, the total length of the rope 7 must be varied, which is a function of the winding drum 5. Due to the small angles α2, β2 mentioned above, formed by the ropes 7 of the platform 1 with the horizontal plane, the total length of the rope 7 changes as the platform 1 moves. relatively little oz. slow. This makes it possible to use a weaker, lighter and cheaper winding motor 8.

Figure 3 represents a position drum 4 consisting of two halves. In this case, one part of the positional drum 4 is always a winding 10 part and the other unscrewing 11 part, depending on the direction of movement of the platform 1. Due to the said construction of the positional drum 4, the amount of coiled rope 28 on the positional drums 4 does not change in principle. In other words, winding or unwinding of position drums 4 does not extend or shorten the total length of rope 7 in the system.

Figure 4 represents the winding drum 5, which also consists of two halves 5a and 5b, both halves of which may be winding or unscrewing, depending on the position and desired movement of platform 1. As the winding drum 5 rotates, the total length of rope 7 in the system and consequently, the amount of coiled rope 29 on the winding drum 5 varies accordingly. In the case of using a narrow position 4 and a winding 5 drum, where the ropes 28 and 29 are wound multilayered and the effective diameter of the winding or unwinding varies depending on the rotation of the drum 4 and 5, a minimal change in the total length of the rope may occur due to the rotation of the position 4 and winding ones. 5. These changes are automatically taken into account in the control algorithms of the platform and offset by the corresponding rotation corrections of the position 4 and the winding 5 drum.

This technical solution differs significantly from other solutions known in the market in which each winding drum, positioned on or with fixed supports, takes care of the winding or unwinding of the rope, with each drum also carrying a portion of its own platform weight. In the case of the proposed technical solution according to the invention, position motors 9 must only tolerate the differences in forces between the individual pairs of ropes 15 that result from the desired movement of the platform 1 through space. Together with the relatively slow rotating winding drum 5, the system of the invention therefore enables us to use motors 8, 9, which may also require less than a tenth of the required engine power in systems known to date. As a result, engines 8, 9 may be smaller, which in the first place allows for a lower mass of platform 1 and higher relative system performance relative to the available engine power.

Due to the centralized design of the system (on platform 1, positional 4 and winding 5 drums and associated motors 8, 9 are installed as well as an electronic control unit 16 that controls and synchronizes all motors 8, 9 at the same time), the whole system is extremely simple in design, manufacture, installation and use.

The main advantage and so the essence of the invention is in the design of the whole system in which an endless rope having both ends of the rope 7 is clamped on the same winding drum 5 positioned on the platform 1. It takes advantage of the small angles between the horizontal plane and the individual pair of ropes which, when moving the platform space (such as athletic stadiums) requires small changes to the total length of the rope in the system, and consequently allows the use of a less powerful electric motor to drive the winding 5 drum. At the same time, due to the design of the endless rope system, the positional motor 9 does not need to overcome the weight of the entire platform 1, but only to provide the necessary torque with respect to the difference in forces between adjacent pairs of ropes, e.g. 31 and 32, which consequently allows the use of smaller electric motors to drive the position drums 4.

In the embodiment, in Figures 5 and 6, an example of the use of the system according to the invention is presented, where the system consists of three positional 34, 35 and 36, and one winding 37 drums connected via four pairs 30, 31, 32, 33 of rope 7 to four fixed supports 2. In case platform 1 moves exactly beyond the center point 25, the winding drum 37 does not rotate at that moment (no reduction / extension of the total length of the rope 7 is required). In the case of a platform offset from the center point 25 towards the edge of the space, e.g. in the X 12 direction, the winding drum 37 only has to "adjust" the length of the rope 7 to the desired height 14 or the required total length of the rope 7.

In the case of the platform moving in the X 12 direction, the pair 30 and 31 ropes must be lengthened and the pair 32 and 33 ropes should be shortened. This means that the drums must rotate according to the following rule: Drum 34 must rotate in such a way that the rope from the pair 31 of the rope is turned and the rope is unwound on the pair of 30 rope; the drum 35 must rotate in such a way as to bend the rope from the pair of 32 ropes and unwind the rope to the pair of 31 ropes; the drum 36 must rotate so as to bend the rope from the pair of 33 ropes and unscrew the rope to the pair of 32 ropes.

In this case, the positional drum 35 should be approximately twice as fast in the longitudinal motion (along the X axis) as the other two positional drums 34 and 36. The problem can be solved in three ways: use a more powerful / faster motor for the positional drum 35, limit the speed of movement in longitudinal direction (in the X-axis direction), or use a differential winding drum which is similar in design to a car deferens instead of a winding drum. Since the first two options are technically not optimal, a third solution is proposed in the present invention, i.e. use of differential winding drum.

Figure 7 is an example of a differential winding drum 40, which replaces a winding drum 37. In the present case, both halves of the differential winding drum 40, ie the left half 38 and the right half 39, can rotate simultaneously in different directions. This also applies if one of the halves is stationary and the other is rotating in the desired direction. The left 38 and the right 39 of the drum are driven by the position motor 45 and the winding motor 46. In the above-described example, the system with four drums and four pairs of ropes allows simultaneous positioning of the winding drum 37 along an endless rope while controlling the total length of the rope by winding / unrolling ropes according to the required movement of the platform 1.

The rotational speeds of the left 38 and right halves 39 of the differential drum 40 depend on the ratio of the current rotational speed of the position 45 to the winding 46 of the motor, and the gear ratio of the gears 47 inside the differential winding drum 40. In this way, platform 1 can be moved at the same speed in both horizontal directions, X 12 and Y 13, using four equally powerful position motors (three position motors 9 that drive the position drums 34, 35 and 36, and one position motor 45 in the differential winding drum 40). By using the appropriate gear ratios in the differential winding drum 40, it can also be achieved that the winding motor 46 is equal to the position 45. This can further simplify and cheapen the overall implementation of the system.

Platform 1 can be moved at the same speed in both horizontal directions, X and Y, respectively, using a differential winding drum 40, because, because of its simultaneous positional and winding function, it can, on average, take half of the winding / unwinding load from the positioning drum 35. In the case of transverse movement in the X-axis direction, the drum 35 should, on average, be twice as fast (stronger) than the other two position drums 34 and 36.

Instead of the differential winding drum 40 described above, it is possible to use a technical solution in which two endless ropes 7 are used, each with one positional 4 and one winding drum 5 arranged crosswise as shown in Figure 12. In this case, both windings the drums 5 independently shorten or extend the total length of the individual rope 7, while the two position drums 4 only shorten or extend the individual pair of ropes according to the required movement of the platform 1.

Depending on the design of the technical solution proposed in the present invention, such a system makes it relatively easy to determine the starting positions of the mounting points or mounting pulleys 3 of platform 1 at system layout and calibration. 8 and 9 are an example of a method for determining the position of anchorage points and the position of platform 1.

The procedure for determining the positions of anchorage points can be automated, but for each pair of 30, 31, 32, 33 ropes, it is performed separately. Platform 1 is at the point of installation and calibration of the system at the starting point 24, which does not need to be located in the middle of the movement area. An example of determining the position of anchorage point for a pair of 30 ropes 7 is as follows. Mounting pulley 3 of pair 30 of rope 7, fixed to fixed support 2. At the beginning of determining the starting position of the fixing point on the corresponding fixed support 2, the appropriate and predetermined force is first provided in the tension pair 30 of rope 7. The length of the rope 7 in a pair of 30 ropes based on the position data of all four engines and drums. At the same time, the exit angles δ and γ of rope 7 are determined, which determines the orientation and position of the platform 1 against the fixed support 2 with respect to the positioned coordinate system of platform 1. At that, we correct the exit angles δ and γ and the length of the rope 7 due to the rope 7 From the obtained data, the relative position of the attachment point on the corresponding fixed support 2 with respect to platform 1 is calculated. The procedure described above is then repeated for all the attachment points on the corresponding fixed supports 2 of platform 1.

Claims (8)

Claims 1) A system for moving the platform together with payload across the space by means of a rope, characterized in that the system consists of at least one position drum (4) with a position motor (9) and at least one winding drum (5) with a winding motor ( 8) and control components including an electronic control unit (16), sensors (17) and batteries (19), all drums (4, 5) with associated motors (8, 9) and control components mounted on the platform itself (1) and the platform (1) is connected to the mounting pulleys (3) by means of an endless rope (7) guided through at least one positional (4) and one winding drum (5) through guides (6). on fixed supports (2) of supporting structures. The system of claim 1, characterized in that the endless rope (7) is routed from individual pairs (15) of rope (7) attached via a single mounting pulley (3) to fixed supports (2) and both end of endless rope (7) fastened on same winding drum (5) mounted on platform itself (1). The system according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the system consists of three positional (4) and one winding (5) drums, which are connected via guides (6) via four arms (15) of one endless rope (7). with mounting pulleys (3) attached to fixed supports (2) of supporting structures. System according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the position drum (4) and the position motor (9) and the winding drum (5) and the winding motor (8) bend or unwind the ropes (7) according to the desired movement of the platform (1 ) in a space, each position drum (4) having shorter or longer lengths of rope (7) in individual pairs (15) of rope (7) that are fixed via a single pulley (3) to fixed supports (2) and winding drum (2). 5) shorter or longer total length of rope (7) in the system relative to the current location of the platform (1). System according to the preceding claims, characterized in that a differential winding drum (40) consisting of left (38) and right (39) halves is used for the winding drum (5), both halves (38, 39) ) the drums simultaneously perform the positional and winding function through the proper control of the positional (45) and winding (46) motors, and the two halves of the drum (38) and (39) can be rotated simultaneously in different directions. The system according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the system consists of two positional (4) and two winding (5) drums arranged crosswise, using two ropes (7) instead of one endless rope (7). split between one positional drum (4) and one winding drum (5), both winding drums (5) independently shortening or extending the total length of the individual rope (7) while two positioning drums (4) only shortening or extending the individual pair of ropes (7) Depending on the required movement of Platform 1. 7) A method for moving a platform, together with payload, through a rope, comprising: determination of the starting relative position of fixing points or mounting pulleys (3) with respect to the platform (1) on the basis of data on the positions of all motors (8, 9) or drums (4, 5) and the exit angles (δ) and (γ) of individual ropes ( 7) from platform (1); sending commands about the desired speed of movement of the platform (1) in all three directions via the wireless connection (44) to the electronic control unit (16); control of motors (8, 9) via an electronic control unit (16) according to commands about the desired platform speed and system status information obtained through sensors (17) mounted on the platform itself (1) or external sensors (20) ; shortening or extending the length of the rope (7) in individual pairs (15) of the rope (7) according to the desired movement of the platform (1) in the space via position drums (4) mounted on the platform (1); shortening or extending the total length of the rope (7) in the system according to the current location of the platform (1) via the winding drum (5) mounted on the platform (1). The method of claim 7, characterized in that the starting position of the attachment points of the platform (1) is determined for each pair (15, 30) of the rope (7) separately and when the platform (1) is positioned at the starting point (24), whereby an adequate and predetermined force is provided in the algorithm in the tension pair (30) of the rope (7); the length of the rope (7) in one pair (30) of the rope is then read on the basis of the position data of all the motors or drums; at the same time, determine the exit angles (δ) and (γ) of the rope (7), which determine the orientation and position of the platform (1) relative to the fixed support (2) and set the coordinate system of the platform (1), and at the same time make correction due to ropes (7); from the obtained data, the relative position of the attachment point on the corresponding fixed support (2) with respect to the platform (1) is calculated; the described procedure is then repeated for all fixing points on the corresponding fixed supports (2) of the platform (1).