Patent Application
20250100591
The present invention relates to an alignment assembly.
In detail, the invention relates to an alignment assembly for adjacent guides, arranged so as to be travelled along in succession by an element in sliding movement along the same.
The alignment assembly according to the present invention has advantageous application in load conveyance systems: such systems may comprise two or more guides, arranged and constrained in succession to one another so as to form a path identifying a conveyance direction and adapted to determine the movement of objects along said path, between a departure station and an arrival station. The term load is understood to mean objects of various types, known in the sector; the term load is also understood to mean persons.
Typically, the guides are arranged one after the other and constrained; each guide has a first end and a second end: in the prior art, the connection between guides is achieved by constraining the second end of the first guide to the first end of the guide arranged after it, considering the direction of movement identified by the path.
However, especially if one considers different types of guides, such as tracks, cables, rails or other guides of a type known in the sector, the connections as per the prior art have the evident limit of creating discontinuity between the guides; this discontinuity depends on the successive placement of guides having different structural and geometric characteristics and using different materials.
In detail, and in other words, each of the guides constrained in succession has its own structural and geometric characteristics, such as the cross section, material used and three-dimensional conformation; such characteristics are further variable due to factors such as variations in the temperature of the environment in which the guides are located, or variations in the weight of the conveyed load; for example, some types of guides, such as cables, have a more variable behaviour in response to the variations listed above than other guides, such as tracks.
Such structural differences and such variable behaviours translate into a functionally discontinuous interface between guides. If the guides, in particular, have considerably different structural characteristics, an element that is in sliding movement on said guides can undergo impacts in the passage from the first guide to the second guide.
Considering a cable as the first guide and a track as the second guide, in the passage between cable and track the element in sliding movement from the cable to the track could impact on or hit the track itself.
Such impacts represent an evident limit of the prior art, since they negatively influence the sliding of the element from one guide to the next guide. Moreover, both the element in sliding movement and the second guide can suffer damage as a result of said impacts.
Typically, two or more guides are positioned consecutively within a system for conveying objects: the greater the number of guides used, the greater the number of discontinuities and, therefore, of undesirable impacts the element in sliding movement meets with while completing a path within the system.
One example of a system of this type is represented by so-called “suspended cables” or “ziplines” for conveying persons along a path identified by a succession of adjacent guides, constrained in succession between a departure station and an arrival station: a carriage connected to a seat element for the person to be conveyed is the element which, by sliding along the guides, allows the person to be carried from the departure station to the arrival station.
An example of a path for a zipline as per the prior art provides for at least a first type of guide, of the cable type, adapted to move the carriage in a substantially rectilinear direction, connected to a second guide, of the track type, adapted, for example, to allow a deviation from the rectilinear trajectory.
The succession of at least one cable connected to the track enables person conveyed by the sliding carriage to travel the pre-established path between the departure station and arrival station, following a given path.
However, in view of the different behaviour and the different structural characteristics of the cable and track, the element, preferably a carriage, typically impacts on the track during the sliding movement between the cable and track.
The main object of the present invention is to offer an alignment assembly for guides, configured to overcome the evident limits of the prior art.
The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description that follows of one embodiment of the invention in question, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the appended figures in which:
The alignment assembly G according to the present invention comprises a first guide 1, having a first section 11 identifying a first axis A1; the first section 11 of the first guide 1, in other words, extends substantially, but not necessarily, rectilinearly along the first axis A1. Other spatial configurations of the first section 11, identifying the first axis A1, can intuitively be applied.
The first guide 1 further comprises a second section 12, rotatably constrained to the first section 11 in a point P: the second section 12, in detail, is configured to rotate about a rotation axis R passing through the point P and perpendicular to the first axis A1. For example, but not exclusively, the second section 12 can be constrained to the first section 11 by means of a hinge positioned at the point P and identifying the rotation axis R as the rotation axis of the second section 12 relative to the first section 11. Other constraints located at the point P or functionally connected with the point P can be advantageously used.
The alignment assembly G according to the present invention further comprises a second guide 2 extending prevalently along a second axis A2, between a first end portion 21 and a second end portion 22.
Within the alignment assembly G, the second guide 2 is constrained to the first guide 1: in detail, the second guide 2 is constrained to the first guide 1 at the second section 12, thanks to a constraining element 13; the alignment assembly G, in fact, comprises the constraining element 13, adapted to constrain the second guide 2 to the first guide 1.
The first end portion 21 of the guide 2, in particular, is constrained to the second section 12 of the first guide 1, at the constraining element 13.
Preferably, the constraining element 13 is located at the second section 12 of the first guide 1 so that the first guide 1 and second guide 2 are partially overlapping, in particular along a portion of the second section 12; in other words, the second guide 2 is configured to position the first end portion 21 inside the first guide 1. The first guide 1 and the second guide 2 are thus partially overlapping.
This interpenetration or overlapping between the first and second guides (1,2), provided at the second section 12, is configured so as not to hinder the sliding of an object and the passage thereof from the first guide 1 to the second guide 2 and vice versa.
Furthermore, the second guide 2 is integrally movable with said second section 12 of the first guide 1.
In other words, if the second section 12 rotates relative to the first section 11 by a given angle, for example, clockwise about the rotation axis R, as a result of the constraint provided between the second section 12 and the second guide 2, the second guide 2 will also rotate by the same angle relative to the first section 11 of the first guide 1.
Similarly, if the second guide 2 and, in particular, if the first end portion 21 rotates clockwise relative to the first section 11 by a given angle about the rotation axis R, as a result of the constraint provided between the second guide 2 and the second section 12, the second section 12 will also rotate by the same angle relative to the first section 11.
In still other words, the rotation of the second section 12 relative to the first section 11 will result in a corresponding equal rotation of the second guide 2 at the first end portion 21, relative to the first guide 1.
The second section 12 is configured to rotate between an aligned configuration, in which the first section 11 and the second section 12 are substantially aligned, and an unaligned configuration, in which the first section 11 and the second section 12 identify an angle α.
In other words, in the aligned configuration, the first axis A1 identified by the first guide 1 and the second axis A2 identified by the second guide are substantially aligned or, in any case, parallel; in still other words, the angle α identified between the first axis A1 and the second axis A2 in the aligned configuration is close to 180°.
On the other hand, in the unaligned configuration, the first guide 1 and the second guide 2 are not aligned, i.e. they identify an angle α other than 180°. The second section 12 can pass from the aligned configuration to the unaligned configuration, or vice versa, as a result of a force exerted on the second section 12 of the first guide 1 or on the second guide 2. This force, exerted on the second section 12 or on the second guide 2 determines, in fact, a change of configuration between the first guide 1 and the second guide 2: if the alignment assembly G has the first axis A1 and the second axis A2 aligned, the force exerted on the second guide 2 or on the second section 12 will bring about a rotation of the second axis A2 relative to the first axis A1, the rotation identifying an angle α of varying width depending on the entity of the force exerted and the direction thereof.
Preferably, the force exerted on the second section 12 or on the second guide 2 has at least one component extending in a vertical direction: in this case, for example, if that force is directed downwards, A1 and A2 will identify an angle α other than 180° and, in particular, less than 180°.
Let us consider a direction D1 of movement corresponding to the direction followed by an object in sliding movement from the first guide 1 to the second guide 2; let us further consider a direction D2 of movement corresponding to an object in sliding movement from the second guide 2 to the first guide 1.
In detail, when the object is in movement in the direction D1 at the alignment assembly G, it will initially travel along the first section 11 of the first guide 1, and subsequently the second section 12 of the first guide 1: the second section will undergo a deflection relative to the first axis A1, the rotation depending on the resultant of the forces exerted on the object in movement along D1. Therefore, the object can proceed along D1, by sliding along the second guide 2.
Advantageously, thanks to the partial overlapping of the first guide 1 and the second guide 2 at the second section 12 and thanks to the above-described constraint formed between the second section 12 and the second guide 2, the object slides from the first guide 1 to the second guide 2 without meeting obstacles.
Advantageously, the object slides between the first guide 1 and the second guide 2 without being subjected to impacts in the passage from the first guide 1 to the second guide 2 and vice versa.
Thanks to the alignment assembly G and to the above-described constraint between the first and second guides (1,2), the passage from the first guide 1, having given geometric and structural characteristics, to the second guide 2, having different geometric and structural characteristics, influences the sliding movement of the object to a considerably lesser degree compared to the prior art.
Similar considerations and advantages are also valid for an object in movement in the direction D2, opposite to D1.
The alignment assembly G according to the present invention can further comprise a connection body 14: the connection body 14, where present, represents a further connecting element between the first section 11 and the second section 12. In a non-exclusive embodiment, the elastic body 14 is a spring element having a first end 141, constrained to the first guide at the first section 11, and a second end 142, constrained to the second section 12 of the first guide 1. The second end 142 is movable in response to the rotation to which the second section 12 is subjected.
The spring element, according to a non-exclusive embodiment of the connection body 14, is in fact adapted to stretch or be compressed in response to said rotation of the second section 12 relative to the first section 11.
In particular, the spring element is adapted to maintain a rest length when at rest, be compressed to a minimum length, and stretch to a maximum length; the rest length, minimum length and maximum length depend on the type of spring element, in particular on its geometry and on the material used. The rest length, maximum length and minimum length are defined as the distance between the first end 141 and the second end 142.
Intuitively, a plurality of elastic bodies, such as pistons or systems comprising counterweights, can be used to perform the above-described functions.
In other words, and with reference to
The connection body 14 is advantageously adapted to delimit a maximum range of rotation between the second section 12 and the first section 11. Furthermore, thanks to the mechanical and geometric characteristics selected for the connection body 14 and depending on how it is positioned relative to the first and second guides (1,2), the connection body 14, where present, is capable of providing a further element of stabilisation of the alignment assembly, when an object is in sliding movement over the alignment assembly G, between the first guide 1 and the second guide 2 or vice versa.
The same consideration and advantages detailed in the previous paragraphs can, in a straightforward manner, be applied to more than two guides arranged in succession after one another to form a path P: in this case, every pair of consecutively arranged guides preferably has a respective alignment assembly G according to the present invention.
The alignment assembly G according to the present invention can be advantageously applied in order to facilitate the sliding of a carriage 3 in sliding movement between the guide 1 and the guide 2 along the direction D1 or along the direction D2, opposite to D1, wherein the first guide 1 and the second guide 2 have different geometries and structural characteristics. In the preferred embodiment, in fact, the first guide 1 is a track, comprising a pair of rails, each configured to receive respective sliding elements, preferably sliding wheels, connected to the carriage 3 and adapted to determine the movement thereof; the track thus has a first section 11, which is fixed, and a second section 12 rotatably constrained to the first section 11.
Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment, the second guide is a cable, constrained to the carriage 3 and adapted to allow the sliding thereof in the direction D1 or in the direction D2. The cable is constrained to the second section 12 of the track by means of the constraining element 13; preferably, the constraining element 13 is a winding or pre-tensioning unit.
In this case, the force exerted on the cable or on the second section 12 of the track is the resultant of the forces acting on said carriage 3 in sliding movement between the track and the cable.
The carriage 3, with a mass M1, is preferably configured to convey an object with a mass M2 directly or functionally connected thereto; furthermore, the carriage 3 can be moved via a motor means of various types, known to the person skilled in the art.
A resultant of forces acts on the carriage 3, including: weight determined by the mass M1 of the carriage 3, weight determined by the mass M2 of the object conveyed by the carriage 3 and any force exerted as a result of an acceleration/deceleration preset for the carriage 3.
When the carriage moves along the direction D2, i.e. between the cable and the track, it first slides along the cable, and then meets the second section 12 of the track; the second section 12 of the track, thanks to the constraint provided with the cable, advantageously enables the carriage to pass from one type of guide with a more variable conformation, to a type of guide with a decidedly less variable conformation, while preventing possible impacts of the carriage with the track.
In still other words, the carriage 3, thanks to the alignment assembly G according to the present invention, is advantageously capable of passing from the cable to the track, without being subjected to undesirable impacts caused by the use of different types of guides (1,2) arranged successively. The same considerations apply for different combinations of guides placed consecutively to one another.
The same considerations and advantages detailed in the previous paragraphs can, in a straightforward manner, be applied to more than two guides arranged in succession to one another to form a path P: in this case, every pair of guides arranged consecutively preferably has a respective alignment assembly G according to the present invention.
A further object of the present invention is, in fact, a system for conveying a carriage 3, moved by a motor means known in the art, along a path P, said path P identifying a trajectory defined by at least a first guide 1 connected to a second guide 2, said system comprising at least one alignment assembly G for aligning the first guide 1 with the second guide 2.
The system according to the present invention can preferably, but not exclusively, be used for conveying persons from a departure station to an arrival station; in other words, the system according to the present invention can be a zipline system, of the type described in the introduction: it can advantageously comprise two or more guides arranged in succession, with one or more alignment assemblies G set at intervals.
Advantageously, thanks to the alignment assemblies G, the conveyance of persons along the zipline is smooth, without impacts in the passage between a first guide and a second guide.
Advantageously, thanks to the combination of different guides, including cables for substantially rectilinear trajectories and tracks for partially curvilinear tracks, the zipline systems can respect the constraints imposed by the surrounding environment, such as houses, trees, or rocky formations, thereby creating a plurality of paths P, also with a fair level of complexity from the viewpoint of the trajectory obtained.
Advantageously, as a consequence, such trajectories, also complex ones, are achieved while ensuring a comfortable conveyance of persons.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102023000019539 | Sep 2023 | IT | national |
