Recent Patents on Mechanical Engineering - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2016

The application of stereo-garage relieves the problem of short of parking spaces. The automated transporting vehicle applied in automatic car parking system further raises the efficiency and reliability of the system, and from structural considerations, the automated transporting vehicle is divided into two parts: movement mechanism and lifting mechanism. This paper reviews various representative patents related to the automated transporting vehicle, especially focuses on the navigation method of movement mechanism and the type of lifting mechanism. The differences of different methods and different types are compared and analyzed and the characters are concluded. In the end, current and future development of automated transporting vehicle are also discussed.

Detonation Spray Coating Technology is a thermal spray technique that provides welladherent, highly dense and hard coatings for application in a variety of industries like automotive, aerospace, power generation, etc. This paper, tracks the evolution and current trends of detonation spray coating technology from a patent perspective. Analysis based on patent landscapes and trend maps using various parameters like patenting timelines based on filing and priority, assignees statistics, patent classification codes etc. have been used to understand Detonation Spray Coating Technology’s remarkable journey of over sixty years. Based on the patent statistical analysis, it was found that it still continues to be one of the most popular thermal spray techniques among industries and researchers for generating extremely dense and hard coatings that exhibit excellent resistance to abrasion, wear, impact and corrosion. In addition to the study of patent trends of this technology, a review of patent applications filed during the recent times especially for the period 2011-2014 has also been attempted to understand the recent progress made in the field of detonation spray coating technology.

With the advancement of safety awareness, the automobile brake tester is widely applied to automobile brake performance testing. The brake tester is composed of four major subsystems: one or more energy supply devices, electric motors, transmission assemblies and a control device. This paper reviews various patents of the automobile brake tester which employs the different devices and structures to obtain new functions in recent years. Compared with the new structures, the traditional brake tester is not versatile, compact and modular. Moreover, it is hard to fix the vehicle on the brake tester. Thus, several kinds of new structures of brake testers have been designed to solve these problems, including the limited function and the complex structure. The new types of brake testers are more compact, simple and versatile. The vehicle can be easily fixed on the brake tester as well. Furthermore, the cost of the brake tester will be reduced by importing the new structures and devices.

Background: Radio frequency identification (RFID) has become a hot topic in the fields of logistics management in the recent years. Recent studies have found that RFID and artificial intelligence techniques speed up the development of total solution in logistics industry. Objective: The purpose of this study is to provide an overview about the RFID-based logistics management systems and explain how artificial intelligence techniques and RFID technology enhance the efficiency of the logistics management system. Methods: In this study, the patents from top logistics companies are analyzed from five aspects: systems of container management, shipping route intelligent management, goods delivery, package handling and powered industrial vehicle management (PIVMS) by addressing scholarly articles and recent patents on the subjects of architectures, processes, techniques and applications of such systems. Results: Current and future developments of the patents on RFID-based logistics management systems are finally provided to improve the current RFID technology and logistics management systems. Conclusions: The RFID technology has improved the efficiency of logistics management system and formulated appropriate logistics resources for logistics service providers. But recent patents on RFID-based logistics management systems have also promoted the RFID technology during their application. For further enhancement, more devices should be invented.

Traditionally, scroll compressors are mainly made of metallic parts and oil is used to lubricate the friction surfaces and reduce discharge temperature and leakage. But for the food processing, medical systems, textile manufacturing, fuel cell system, and other super-clean fields, the oil-less operation is critical. The oil is strictly forbidden in the working chambers of the scroll compressor in order to get the oil-free compressed air. So it is very important to develop the oil-free scroll compressor (OFSC). In this paper, the working principle and structure characteristics of the OFSC are investigated. Some of research works and the recent patents in this area are described and analyzed in detail, especially the water injection and air cooling OFSC. The future development on an OFSC is also presented. The analysis results demonstrated that there is dramatic growth potential in OFSC field.

Based on the plastoelasticity theory, the computation model of brake shoe for braking is established and the numerical analysis of the braking process of brake shoe for locomotive is carried out. The simulation result shows that maximum stress in no-load condition is apparently smaller than the stress in full-load condition. A combination of local friction surface temperature, local friction intensity, heat of the deformation of the friction partner causes the wear of the break shoe. Besides, the displacement fluctuation quantity with a constant friction coefficient is found to be small. The stress born by the brake shoe in the analysis step begins to increase and then tends to be stable, but with increasing friction, its internal stress increases along with the temperature. This kind of numerical simulation can provide a theoretical basis for fabrication of high friction coefficient composite brake shoe for locomotives, which reduce the experimental cost. Recent patents on the analysis of brake shoe methods are also addressed.

The magnetic metal particle detection is important for health monitoring in rotating machines. In this paper, a micro planar transformer sensor for magnetic metal particle detecting is presented based on electromagnetic induction principle. The model and the simulation model of the sensor are carried out with Ansoft software. The magnetic field and the voltage of sensing coil were simulated as a paramagnetic metal particle and a diamagnetic metal particle detected by the transformer sensor respectively. The simulation results show that the magnetic field and the voltage of sensing coil are increased as the paramagnetic particle near to the sensor, however, the magnetic field and the voltage of sensing coil are decreased as the diamagnetic particle near to the sensor. The relation between the driving frequency and sensitivity of sensor is researched. The sensitivity of detection of the diamagnetic particle increases with the increase in frequency, however, the sensitivity of paramagnetic particle’s detection decreases with the increase in frequency. The paper also introduced the recent patents which are designed to detect metal magnetic particles.

The paper reports an energy conserved hydrodynamic journal bearing registered in a patent, which was realized by the boundary slippage technology. This kind of bearing possesses an obviously better operation in the carried load and the friction coefficient than a conventional type of bearing for the same operating condition especially when the eccentricity ratio of the bearing is no more than 0.28. The increase of the load-carrying capacity of this bearing can reach 100%, while at the same time the reduction of the friction coefficient of this bearing can be 60%, compared to a conventional bearing in the same operating condition. The energy conservation and load improvement effects of this bearing is very significant.

Background: Function is the essential requirement of the user to the product and functional innovation is to optimize, update and restructure the function of the product. Objective: In this paper, the first objective is to accomplish function innovation re-design of patent product based on function analysis methods. Method: This method includes the following steps: function definition, re-design problem identification, problem solving and solution evaluation. Firstly, the total function is identified to build the function model based on patent claim of target patent. Then, judging whether there is a problem with the model and choosing the appropriate method of solving the problem. The method consists of two techniques: (a) using the method of patent around strategies based on TRIZ problemsolving tools to solve the innovation re-design problem; (b) applying the function tree structure and function change to solve function element, and to realize the patent product innovation re-design. Results: Finally, refining and optimizing the design concept to develop a new product. Results demonstrated that the method of patent innovation re-design based on function analysis is more accurate. Conclusion: Recent patent product study on the Red Wine Packaging is investigated to illustrate the method.

To increase the individual combat capability, a novel lower extremely exoskeleton robot (LEER) combining artificial intelligence and machinery is proposed for power assisting. The purpose of this study is to provide the design and dynamic simulation of a proposed novel LEER by addressing recent patents and scholarly articles. In this paper, recent developments and patents regarding the LEER are illustrated in detail firstly. Then, a structural design of the robot is performed which refers to the structure and motion freedom distribution of the human lower extremity joints to achieve a highly integrated of human-computer. Subsequently, the motion trajectory of main joints of the LEER is measured and the corresponding algorithm is fitted referring to the human normal walking gait. It is followed by a numerical simulation of the fitted algorithm using the Matlab software, and then the motion data of the corresponding joints is gained. Finally, dynamic simulation is conducted with the Adams software after importing the calculated motion data. And the motion data of the driving cylinder of each joint, including the displacement curve and driving force curve, are obtained. Simulation results indicate that the designed novel LEER can commendably simulate the human pace after the gait planning.