JP5930116B2 - Elevating mechanism, in particular a safety device with a winch, and an assembly comprising a system for operating the device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lifting mechanism, in particular a safety device with a winch, and an assembly comprising a system for operating the device.

  The winch has a gear that bites the shaft of the winch, a worm that meshes with the gear, a housing that slidably accommodates the worm, and allows the worm to rotate to follow the rotation of the gear during normal operation of the winch. It is known to be equipped with a safety device comprising a motor called a “tracking motor” and means for dampening the sliding of the worm in the housing in the event of an exceptional failure condition of the winch. This safety device, known under the trade name “Motiviveur”, is described in US Pat.

  In the normal operating situation of the winch, the worm is in its normal position against the damping means, the follower motor rotates the worm at a speed adapted to the speed of the gear, and the gear is further rotated by the winch; The device is in this case not activated or “transparent”, ie does not interfere with the operation of the winch.

  If the winch fails, its shaft is subjected to immediate acceleration caused by the weight of the load, the load is transmitted to the gears of the safety device, and the worm cannot follow it; From the above-mentioned normal position, the slider slides toward an exceptional position where stress is applied to the damping means, and then slides to a stop position when the damping capacity of the damping means is reached.

  In one embodiment, these damping means are a piston against which the worm abuts, a nozzle with a reduced cross-section, the piston pushing oil through which the worm is immersed, between the nozzle and the end of the worm. It includes an elastic washer positioned and a stop formed by the housing. Such a damping means is described in US Pat.

  The safety device described above makes it possible to monitor the exceptional failure situation by preventing the load from dropping.

  At the end of the blockage, the load must be controlled again to release the winch, which is not strong enough for the follower motor to rotate the worm (this is not the role of the follower motor), so the worm With access to the safety device to manually rotate.

  However, in some situations, such access is not possible or limited, for example when winches are used in the nuclear industry. Furthermore, manually actuating the worm is a tedious operation, the worm pitch is relatively small and the gear diameter is relatively large.

European Patent No. 1253102 US Patent No. 7,331,252

  The present invention aims to overcome these significant practical drawbacks.

  In the case of a power loss, for example, there is another exceptional situation where the winch operation stops, i.e. the brake contained in the winch tightens until it locks the winch shaft. In this case, it is no longer possible to control the load easily and quickly, i.e. without manual intervention in the safety device or winch.

  The present invention also aims to solve this gap.

  The assembly encompassed by the present invention is as described above, i.e., a gear that bites the shaft of the lifting mechanism, a worm that meshes with the gear, a housing that slidably accommodates the worm, and during normal operation of the lifting mechanism. A motor called a “following motor” that allows the worm to rotate to follow the rotation of the gear and the sliding of the worm in the housing in the event of an exceptional failure of the lifting mechanism A “Motiviveur” safety device comprising means for damping to the stop position of the worm in the housing.

According to the present invention, the assembly is:
A spline shaft fixed to one end of the worm and extending axially through the worm;
A pocketed wheel having an inner spline and an outer spline slidably engaged with the spline shaft and rotationally engaged with the spline shaft;
An elastic member having one end connected to a stop piece fixed to the spline shaft and the other end connected to a pocket gear;
A drive gear having a spline hub, wherein the drive gear is rotationally engageable with the pocket gear by an outer spline included in the pocket gear;
-Also equipped with a motor called "backup motor" that can rotate the drive gear,
The pocket gear occupies outside the failure state of the lifting mechanism, occupies the normal disengagement position where it does not engage with the drive gear, and in the failure state of the lifting mechanism, and rotationally engages with the drive gear to make the drive gear into the spline shaft, Therefore, it can move together with the spline shaft between an exceptional engagement position that is rotationally connected to the worm.

  During normal operation of the safety device, the pocketed gear is in the disengaged position and the actuation system formed by the backup motor and the drive gear is therefore not actuated.

  In a lifting mechanism failure situation, the worm moves towards its exceptional stopping position, which in addition to preventing the load from dropping, compresses the elastic member, thus Press against the drive gear. Next, by slowly rotating the backup motor, it is possible to rotate the drive gear so that the spline of the drive gear is aligned with the spline of the pocket gear, allowing the splines to engage each other To do. A rotational connection of the drive gear and the worm thus occurs, allowing the worm to be operated using a backup motor and thus allowing the load to be activated and moved up and down. When the load stops and the lifting mechanism cable is heavy, the worm returns to its normal position and the pocketed gear returns to the disengaged position.

  The present invention thus has a driving force sufficient to operate the worm in such exceptional failure situations of the winch, thus eliminating the need to access the worm and manually operate the worm. Provide a system that operates.

  When the shaft of the lifting mechanism is locked, especially after automatic tightening of the brake included in the mechanism, the worm is rotated, and the gears in this case do not rotate so that the worm is thereby The follower motor can be operated to move to an exceptional position to stress the damping means and then to the stop position. As above, this movement causes the pocketed gear to be pressed against the drive gear, and then the pocketed gear is advanced to the engaged position by the slow rotation of the drive gear using a backup motor. The backup motor then allows the worm to rotate in the direction of rotation that maintains the above-mentioned exceptional position of the worm, thereby forcing the gears to overcome the frictional forces generated by the lifting mechanism brakes. It can be rotated automatically.

  Advantageously, the actuation system includes means for locking the pocketed gear in the engaged position.

  These locking means, when the worm is rotated by the backup motor in a rotational direction that leaves the worm in its exceptional position as described above and moves the worm toward the opposite stop position, Allowing the worm to remain in the engaged position despite its movement. Therefore, the possibility of operating the worm using the backup motor is retained.

According to one preferred embodiment of these locking means:
The female spline of the drive gear has a width greater than the width of the male spline of the pocket gear, so that the tooth surface of the male spline depends on the drive direction of the drive gear, Abuts the first tooth surface delimiting, or the two tooth surfaces delimiting these same female splines on the opposite side of the first tooth surface;
The male spline of the pocketed gear has a wider front part forming a lateral shoulder, which can be projected beyond the drive gear in the engaged position of the pocketed gear When the drive gear is driven in a rotational direction that starts the worm from its exceptional position and moves the worm toward the opposite stop position, it abuts the drive gear and thereby a pocket gear Is kept in the engagement position against the elastic force of the elastic member.

  When the drive gear is driven in the opposite direction, the wider front portion returns to face the female spline of the drive gear, thereby allowing the pocketed gear to return to the disengaged position.

  Advantageously, the wider front portion has a narrower front end, which is advantageous for its engagement in the female spline of the drive gear when the pocketed gear enters the engagement position.

  Preferably, the actuation system also comprises a contactor, wherein one of the contactors detects the arrival of the worm to the exceptional position and the other of the contactors has the pocketed gear in the engaged position Or whether it is in the above-mentioned separation position.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of non-limiting example, one possible embodiment of the associated safety device / actuation system assembly. I will.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the device with the housing and case assembly included in the device, as well as the contactor included in the device removed. FIG. 6 is an overall side view with the worm in the normal position and the pocketed gear in the disengaged position. FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with the worm in an exceptional position and the pocketed gear in the engaged position. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a pocket gear and a drive gear intended to rotationally engage the pocket gear. It is an enlarged view of the gear with a pocket similar to FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial view of the assembly, with a perspective view and a partial cross-sectional view with the pocketed gear in the disengaged position. FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 with the pocket gear in the engaged position. FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, in which the pocket gear is in the locked engagement position.

  1 to 3 show an assembly 1 comprising a safety device 2 with a lifting mechanism, in particular a winch, and a system 3 for operating the device 2.

  The safety device 2 is of the type known under the trade name “Motiviveur”, the principle of which is described by EP 1253102. The safety device 2 includes a gear 5 that bites a shaft of an elevating mechanism (not shown), a worm 6 that meshes with the gear 5, a housing 7 that slidably accommodates the worm 6, and the gear 5 during normal operation of the elevating mechanism. The worm 6 in the housing 7 in the case of an exceptional failure situation of the motor 8 called the “following motor” and the lifting mechanism that allows the worm 6 to rotate to follow the rotation of Means 9 to 13 for damping the sliding to the maximum stop position of the worm 6 are provided.

  The worm 6 extends axially over one side of the gear 5 by an integral spline shaft 15. The spline shaft 15 continuously includes a drive gear 20, a pocket gear 21 to be engaged / disengaged, a spring 22, and a stop part 23 to be described later, which are parts of the operation system 3.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 7 includes an upper central portion 7a that includes a bore that accommodates the gear 5 in an adjustable manner, a lower central portion 7b that includes a bore that accommodates the worm 6 in an adjustable manner, And two coaxial extensions 7c extending through the bore, one of which accommodates the means 9-13 for damping the worm 6.

  The follower motor 8 is positioned along the lower center portion 7 b and drives the worm 6 via the gear 24 and the belt 25.

  In the illustrated example, the weight of the load lifted by the lifting mechanism tends to rotate the gear 5 clockwise as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, thereby causing the lifting mechanism to fail. The worm 6 moves from right to left in FIGS. The damping means 9-13 are therefore located in the extension 7 c located on the left side of the safety device 2.

  These damping means are fixed to the housing 7 where the piston 9 against which the worm 6 abuts, the tube 10 including the nozzle 11 with a reduced cross section formed on the wall thereof, the elastic washer 12 and the washer 12 are located in abutment. The stop part 13 to be included is included.

  The piston 9 forms an inner chamber 26 that communicates with the tube 10. When the piston 9 is pressed by the worm 6 when the elevating mechanism fails, the oil existing between the piston 9 and the washer 12 is forced to pass through the nozzle 11, and the oil then passes into the chamber 26. (Refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 for comparison). The nozzle 11 is axially aligned on the tube 10 and is gradually covered by the piston 9 during the movement of the worm 6, so that the section through which the oil passes is gradually reduced during the movement of the piston 9, Increase the attenuation produced by. As the piston 9 continues to advance after passing through the last nozzle 11, it strikes against the washer 12 until its compression rate is limited, thereby defining a stop position for the worm 6 within the housing 7.

  In the opposite extension 7c (ie, the extension located on the right side in FIGS. 2 and 3), the device includes a series of washers 30 and stop parts 31 similar to the washer 12 and stop part 13 described above, described below. As such, in certain situations it is possible to attenuate the movement of the worm 6 from the left side to the right side.

  In addition to the drive gear 20, the pocket gear 21, the spring 22, and the stop component 23, the actuation system 3 includes a motor 35 referred to as a “backup motor” and a step-down gear 36 driven by the motor 35. .

  The drive gear 20 meshes with the pinion 37 at the output of the gear 36 (FIG. 6) and is therefore driven by the motor 35. As shown in more detail in FIG. 4, the drive gear 20 includes a spline hub that is engageable with an outer spline included in the pocketed gear 21.

  The pocket gear 21 visible in FIGS. 4 and 5 includes an inner spline that allows the pocket gear 21 to rotationally engage the spline shaft 15 so that the pocket gear 21 slides axially on the spline shaft 15. The outer spline described above allows the pocketed gear 21 to engage the drive gear 20. The pocket-equipped gear 21 occupies outside the failure state of the lifting mechanism and does not engage with the drive gear 20 (see FIGS. 2 and 6). Together with the spline shaft 15 between the exceptionally engaged positions (see FIGS. 3 and 7) which rotationally engages the drive gear 20 to the spline shaft 15 and thus to the worm 6 (see FIGS. 3 and 7). Therefore, it can move with the worm 6.

further,
The female spline 20f of the hub of the drive gear 20 has a width greater than the width of the male outer spline 21m of the pocketed gear 21, so that the tooth surface of the male outer spline 21m drives the shaft 15; The first tooth surface defining the lateral boundary of the female spline 20f according to the driving direction of the gear 20, or the lateral boundary of the same female spline 20f on the opposite side of the first tooth surface Abutting against a second tooth surface defining
Each male outer spline 21m has a wider front portion 21a and forms a lateral shoulder 21e projecting laterally with respect to one of the lateral teeth of the spline 21m.

  As shown in FIG. 5, each wider front portion 21a has transverse teeth that converge toward each other in the direction of the front end of the pocketed gear 21, thereby providing those portions in the female spline 20f. Convenient for 21a engagement.

  As can be seen with reference to FIGS. 6-8, these wider front portions 21a can project beyond the drive gear 20 in the engaged position; 3 and in the rotational direction in which the worm 6 is moved from left to right (in the counterclockwise direction of the gear 20 as seen in FIGS. 6 to 8), toward the stop position of the worm 6 with respect to the washer 30. The lateral shoulder 21e protrudes laterally beyond the female spline 20f and abuts against the drive gear 20, thereby keeping the pocket gear 21 in the engaged position (FIG. 8). checking). These lateral shoulders 21e, as a result, together with the drive gear 20, form a means for locking the pocket gear 21 in the engagement position.

  The spring 22 engages with the shaft 15 while being inserted between the pocket gear 21 and the stop component 23, one end is connected to the pocket gear 21, and the other end is connected to the stop component 23.

  The spring 22 loosens in the disengaged position of the pocket gear 21 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, thereby defining the disengaged position. As the worm 6 moves from right to left until it contacts the washer 12, the stop 23 moves with the shaft 15 so that the pocketed gear 21 abuts against the hub of the drive gear 20 and compresses the spring 22. To do.

In addition, as illustrated by FIGS. 2, 3 and 6-8, the actuation system 3 includes:
An assembly for detecting the normal position of the assembly of the worm 6-shaft 15-stop part 23 formed by a groove arranged in the stop part 23 and its contactor 40, the end of the detection member having An assembly that moves radially depending on whether it is engaged in the groove; and-a sleeve 41 that is provided with a shoulder, covering the spring 22 and connected to the pocketed gear 21, and its contact An assembly formed by the device 42 for detecting the engagement position of the pocket gear 21, wherein the detection member moves in a radial direction depending on whether or not its end is opposite to the shoulder. Includes assembly.

  During normal operation of the safety device 2, the pocketed gear 21 is in the disengaged position and the actuation system 3 is therefore not actuated (see FIGS. 2 and 6).

  In a lifting mechanism failure situation, the worm 6 moves towards its exceptional position and abuts against the washer 12, thereby preventing the load from dropping, and in addition to Abutting against the hub of the drive gear 20 and compressing the spring 22 thereby applying pressure to the pocketed gear 21. Next, by slowly rotating the backup motor 35, it is possible to rotate the drive gear 20 so that the spline 20f of the drive gear 20 coincides with the portion 21a of the spline 21m, thereby reciprocally connecting the splines to each other. Allows engagement. A rotational connection of the drive gear 20 and the worm 6 thus occurs, allowing the worm to be actuated by the backup motor 35 and thus allowing the load to move up and down.

  When the gear 5 stops moving, the load is lowered and stops, and when the safety device is not heavy, the worm 6 returns to its normal position by its rotation. When the worm 6 is actuated in the screwing direction with respect to the gear 5 (clockwise driving of the drive gear 20), the front end 21a of the spline 21m faces the female spline 20f, and thus the pocketed gear 21 is detached. Direct return to position is possible due to the elastic return effect of the spring 22; when the worm 6 is actuated in its unscrewing direction with respect to the gear 5 (counterclockwise driving of the drive gear 20) The front end 21a of the spline 21m is offset at an angle with respect to the female spline 20f, the shoulder 21e abuts against the drive gear 20, and then the spring 22 extends; clockwise using the backup motor 35 Slow rotation of the drive gear 20 toward the female causes the female spline 20f to oppose the front end 21a of the spline 21m, thus causing the shoulder 21e to move to the drive gear. It possible to free from their abutment against 0, whereby the elastic return effect of the spring 22, pocket wheel 21 it is possible to return to the disengaged position.

  In the locked state of the shaft of the lifting mechanism, the follow-up motor is operated so that the worm 6 rotates in the screwing direction with respect to the gear 5, particularly following the automatic tightening of the brake included in the mechanism. Since the gear 5 does not rotate in this case, the drive moves the worm 6 toward the washer 12 to the stop position of the worm with respect to the washer 12. As described above, this movement causes the pocket gear 21 to be pressed against the drive gear 20, and then the pocket gear 21 is advanced to the engagement position by the slow rotation of the drive gear by the backup motor 35. . The backup motor 35 then enables the worm 6 to rotate in the screwing direction with respect to the gear 5 (drive the gear 20 in the clockwise direction), whereby the frictional force generated by the brake of the lifting mechanism. The gear 5 is forcibly rotated so as to overcome the load, thereby allowing the load to move downward.

  If it is desired to move the load upward, the worm 6 is then rotated by the backup motor 35 in its unscrewing direction with respect to the gear 5 (driving the gear 20 counterclockwise), thereby The worm 6 comes to a stop position with respect to the washer 30; after the movement of the worm 6 starts, the shoulder 21e abuts against the drive gear 20, thereby keeping the pocket gear 21 in the engaged position. Make it possible. When the load is under control, the drive gear 20 is then driven clockwise to return the female spline 20f to face the wide front end 21a of the male spline 21m, thereby freeing the pocketed gear 21. Return to the withdrawal position.

As is apparent from the above, the present invention provides an assembly comprising a safety device 2, referred to as “Motiviveur®”, and a system 3 for operating the device, with the following obvious advantages:
The actuation system 3 has sufficient driving force to actuate the worm 6 in a lifting mechanism failure situation, thus eliminating the need to access the worm 6 and manually actuate it;
-In a stopped situation of the operation of the lifting mechanism, especially when the brakes included in the mechanism are tightened until they block the shaft of the mechanism, the assembly 1 can easily and quickly load the load, i.e. manually to the safety device or lifting mechanism. Allows control again without intervention and allows the load to move both upward and downward.

  The invention has been described above with reference to one preferred embodiment. Of course, the invention is not limited to that embodiment, but rather extends to all other embodiments encompassed by the appended claims.

Claims (5)

An assembly (1) comprising a lifting device, in particular a safety device (2) with a winch, and a system (3) for operating the device; the safety device (2) bites the shaft of the lifting mechanism A gear (5), a worm (6) meshing with the gear, a housing (7) for slidably housing the worm (6), and following the rotation of the gear (5) during normal operation of the elevating mechanism The worm (6) in the housing (7) in the case of an exceptional failure condition of the motor (8) and the lifting mechanism, which allows the worm (6) to rotate Means (9-13) for dampening the sliding of the worm (6) to the stop position of the worm (6) in the housing (7),
The assembly (1) is:
A spline shaft (15) fixed to one end of the worm (6) and extending axially through the worm;
A pocketed gear (21) having an inner spline and an outer spline, slidably engaged with the spline shaft (15) and rotationally engaged with the spline shaft;
An elastic member (22) having one end connected to a stop piece (23) fixed to the spline shaft (15) and the other end connected to the pocket gear (21);
A drive gear (20) having a spline hub, wherein the drive gear (20) is rotationally engageable with the pocketed gear (21) by the outer spline included in the pocketed gear (21);
-A motor (35) called "backup motor" capable of rotating the drive gear (20)
With
The pocket gear (21) occupies outside the failure state of the lifting mechanism, occupies the normal disengagement position not engaged with the drive gear (20), and the failure mechanism of the lifting mechanism, and the drive gear (20). The spline shaft (15) between the exceptional engagement position, which rotationally engages the drive gear (20) to the spline shaft (15) and thus to the worm (6). An assembly characterized in that it is movable with the assembly.   The assembly (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuation system (3) comprises means (21e, 20) for locking the pocketed gear (21) in the engaged position. Assembly. Assembly (1):
The female spline (20f) of the drive gear (20) has a width greater than the width of the male spline (21m) of the pocketed gear (21), whereby the tooth surface of the male spline (21m); Depending on the drive direction of the drive gear (20), the first tooth surface that delimits the female spline (20f) of the drive gear (20), or the opposite side of the first tooth surface Abutting the two tooth surfaces delimiting these same female splines (20f);
The male spline (21m) of the pocket gear (21) has a wider front portion (21a) forming a lateral shoulder (21e), the wider front portion (21a) The pocketed gear (21) can project beyond the drive gear (20) in the engaged position, leaving the worm (6) in its exceptional position and the worm (6) on the opposite side When the drive gear (20) is driven in the rotational direction to move toward the stop position, the abutment against the drive gear (20), thereby causing the pocketed gear (21) to move to the elastic member (22). The assembly according to claim 2, wherein the engagement position is maintained against the elastic force of ().   4. Assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that the wider front part (21a) has a narrower front end.   The assembly (1), wherein the actuation system (3) also comprises contactors (40, 42), one of the contactors detecting the arrival of the worm (6) to the exceptional position. The other of the contactors detects whether the pocketed gear (21) is in the engaged position or in the disengaged position. The assembly according to item.

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