Patent Application
20190178344
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/628,950, filed on Dec. 8, 2017 entitled “DIRECTIONAL LINK CHAIN”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety at least by reference.
The present disclosure generally relates to link chain; and, is more particularly directed to directional link chain for use in chain wheel operators.
Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, Applicant has identified a number of deficiencies and problems with link chain used on chain wheel operators, such as chain falls, roll-up doors, valve operators. In an example application, a chain fall, also called a chain hoist or differential pulley, is used to manually lift heavy objects by using the mechanical advantage of a gear system. When lifting heavy objects, a high amount of force is applied to a chain fall's lifting chains, which have limited tensile strength depending on the chain grade used. While operating a chain fall, an operator pulls a hand chain comprised of interconnected link chain to move the gear system, which in turn rotates the lifting chains to move a heavy object or attached load vertically or horizontally. Depending on the specific gearing of the chain fall used, it requires a tremendous amount of time to move a very heavy object a small distance. Occasionally, an operator may be pulling the hand chain in the wrong direction resulting in the load moving in the wrong direction. This could result at the very least in time consuming delays, and in some situations cause the load to be imbalanced and not level when multiple operators are used. This can be a serious problem and can create a significant safety hazard depending on the application and object lifted. Consequently, Applicant has developed a solution that is embodied by the present invention, which is described in detail below.
The following presents a simplified summary of some embodiments of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some embodiments of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
An object of the present disclosure is a directional link chain for use in chain wheel operators, such as chain falls and roll up door systems, comprising a series of interconnected directional links, each directional link comprising a first U-shaped end and a second U-shaped end forming an integral link chain, wherein the first and second U-shaped ends are opposed at a transverse plane and symmetric to a longitudinal axis; and, a directional indication element consisting of a pair of directional members, wherein each directional member of the pair of directional members includes a proximal end and a distal end, the distal ends forming at least one indication point, the directional indication element corresponding to a directionality of travel of a load during operation in a chain wheel operator.
Another object of the present disclosure is a directional link chain for use in chain wheel operators or roll-up garage door systems comprising a series of interconnected directional links, each directional link comprising at least one U-shaped end; and, a directional indication element having at least one indication point, the directional indication element corresponding to a directionality of travel of a load during operation in a chain wheel operator.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention so that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood and so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the disclosed specific structures may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Exemplary embodiments are described herein to provide a detailed description of the present disclosure. Variations of these embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art. Moreover, certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. For example, the words “right,” “left,” “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “inner,” “outer,” “proximal,” “distal,” “transverse,” and “longitudinal” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. In addition, reference to “first,” “second,” “third,” and etc. members throughout the disclosure (and in particular, claims) are not used to show a serial or numerical limitation but instead are used to distinguish or identify the various members of the group. The word “a” is defined to mean “at least one.” The terminology includes the words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.
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In an embodiment, a directional indication element 205 is provided, the directional indication element consisting of a pair of directional members 206/207 each directional member having a proximal end 208/209 and a distal end 210/211. In an embodiment, the proximal end of each directional member is attached to an interior surface 212 of the integral link chain. The distal ends of each directional member are combined to form an upper indication point 213 and a lower indication point 214. The directional indication element indicates to an operator the direction of load travel for use in chain falls or similar chain driven hand crank systems. This will be discussed in further detail below.
In an embodiment, upper indication point 213 and lower indication point 214 are positioned along longitudinal axis 204. The pair of directional members is positioned symmetrically in relation to longitudinal axis 204, such that the pair of directional members forms a pair of equal acute angles α from longitudinal axis 204. Angles α define the slope of the pair of directional members of directional indication element 205. Specifically, the pair of equal acute angles α corresponds to the slope of the pair of directional members defining a V-shape of directional indication element 205. The V-shape of directional indication element 205 is recognized as an arrow, and advantageously used to show load directional travel during operation. It should be understood, that angles α may vary depending on design considerations for the directional indication element. For instance, the V-shape or arrow is easily recognizable by a user during operation, however by varying angles α, the directional indication element may cause some confusion, especially if angles α are too large, i.e. close to 90 degrees. Thus, it is critical to select angles α that avoid confusion and clearly indicate a direction via directional indication element 205, while factoring in material usage, construction, weight, and balance of the directional indication element and the direction link chain as a whole. Preferably, each angle α of the pair of equal acute angles is approximately 45 degrees.
Preferably, upper indication point 213 is positioned approximate to transverse plane 203. This ensures proper weight and balance of the directional indication element when factoring in the pair of equal acute angles α of directional members 206 and 207.
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The directional indication elements of each directional link chain of the series of interconnected directional links enable the user or multiple users to visually recognize the gear system direction, and corresponding trolley direction via the left or right indication displayed via each directional indication element to efficiently move the trolley the desired direction without trial and error. For instance, if a user desires to move the trolley in a horizontally leftward direction, the user would pull on the series of interconnected directional links having directional indication elements indicating a leftward direction. Alternatively, if a user desires to move the trolley in a horizontally rightward direction, the user would pull on the series of interconnected directional links having directional indication elements indicating a rightward direction.
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As previously described, directional link chain 501 comprises a directional indication element 502, the directional indication element consisting of a pair of directional members 507/508, each directional member having a proximal end 509/510 and a distal end 511/512. In an embodiment, the proximal end of each directional member is attached to an interior surface 513 of the integral link chain. The distal ends of each directional member are combined to form a left indication point 514 and a right indication point 515, such that a horizontal plane intersecting the left indication point and the right indication point is parallel to transverse plane 505.
The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its exemplary forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of has been made only by way of example and numerous changes in the details of construction and combination and arrangement of parts may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 29628950 | Dec 2017 | US |
| Child | 15899221 | US |
