DEVELOPING ADVANCED SUBSYSTEM FOR SECURING STEEL COIL CARGO ON SHIMMNS WAGON CRADLES

Abstract

In this paper design improvement on assembly used for securing steel coils on Shimmns wagon is presented. The main disadvantage of current solution is that it is very slow for securing coils with smaller width, since safety mechanism is positioned manually for each coil. We needed to solve this issue without compromising function and reliability of the current locking mechanism. In the current design spindle rotation causes coupled movements of securing arms which constrain lateral movement of coils by applying significant force, but if the coil is not adequately centered, the arms on one side will not come in the contact with the coil, as arms on both sides are coupled on the same spindle and are moving symmetrically. The Finite Element Method is used to analyze the new solution and verify that it meets all the safety requirements prescribed in the standards. The improvement of existing solution is done with the half-nut mechanism which enables arbitrary, decoupled initial positioning of arms and clamping with threaded spindle when the arms are brought in contact with the coil. The new solution is implemented, and has proven to be practical and reliable in the exploitation.