FIELD OF INVENTION:
The invention generally relates to the field of building large structures by additive manufacturing. The invention more precisely relates to a winch operation and control system for 3D printing and material handling of large structures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
The current generation of 3D printers and other robotic motion systems are based on fixed gantry structures. The gantry can be Cartesian, delta, cylindrical, and the like. All such gantry structures always define an outer constraint to the dimension of the structure that can be printed, or to the actuation that can be caused.

However, in applications involving creating structures or handling material on large sites/fields, like 3d printing of habitats/structures and moving scaffolds, precast slabs etc. within this area, conventional gantry’s size increases impractically, increasing the cost of its manufacturing. Moreover, transporting and erecting the gantry is a challenge and further add up additional cost and set up time.

In light of the discussion above in large spaces, like factory floors or construction sites, large gantries or cranes needed for automatic material movement and handling make automation a more costly affair than it needs to be.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION:
With reference to the above background explanation, the present invention of a winch operation and control system for 3D printing and material handling of large structures has following objectives to solve the limitations of the conventional systems.

The principal object of the invention is that the gantry with a winch operation and control system that is compact and portable, and that can be commissioned or erected on- site very quickly without a fixed-frame structure. It needs three or more arbitrary mounting points in three-dimensional space, and the space in between the points is transformed into a digitally accessible and addressable volume.

Another object of the present invention is that the invention includes the physical gantry and the control system which accepts any arbitrary mounting points in 3D space, and generates desired motion of the tool head in the volume covered in the overlap defined by the mounting points and maximum length of strings.

Another object of the present invention is that the system consists of electronics, associated software, and three or more winches powered by motors, and has a feedback mechanism built into the system.

Another object of the present invention is that the cables from all winches are connected to a common junction point carrying the head (material depositor, crane hook etc.) and the software actuates the motors to vary the lengths of the cables, to make the head move along the desired path and deposit the material, hence creating a 3D shape.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
A winch operation and control system for 3D printing and material handling of large structures according to the present invention consisting of a human Machine Interface (HMI), and three or more winches, wherein each winch is having a cable reel, an inelastic rope or string wound over it, a motor to drive the spool for winding and unwinding of the string, a unidirectional gear box, an automated control system, a head or a hook and Feedback system, the pre-constructed structures or substitute temporary scaffolds or combination of permanent structures and temporary scaffolds being provided to mount at least three winches on three poles/support points securely through fasteners in a identified location in the construction site, the winches can be mounted on the ground level or at any desired height through poles/support points with the cable passing over a pulley at the desired height, the head being mounted on the cables extending from the winches for 3D printing operation, the hook is connected instead of head that is being again mounted on the cables extending from the winches for material movement operation, the automated control system is configured and wired to the winch motors and encoders, and to the head, three winches powered by motors and with a feedback system, the cables from all winches are connected to a common real or virtual junction point carrying the head or the hook, the encoders being mounted along with pulleys attached to the winches configured to convert motion to electric signals and send feedback signals to the control system to determine the position, speed or direction of the head, a control system being pre-loaded with an application and that is being configured to actuate the connected motors to vary the lengths of the cables to make the head move along the desired path and deposit the material for creating a 3D shape, a feedback system is configured to precisely measure the length of cable and the position of head, and give the input to the control system, a distance measurement unit being set-up to determine the position of the head, and the control system being pre-loaded with an application and that is configured with information about the material strength, material properties, weather and humidity to be considered for the calculation of design mix proportions, temperature and humidity to make water and cementitious material ratio corrections and setting of cycle time as per the shape of the structure to be printed.

Further, measuring the location of the winches and the measured data is to be stored into a control system. The winches are to be mounted on poles or a combination of walls and poles or columns as a support mechanism. The encoder is to be mounted along with pulleys attached to the winches. The encoders configured to convert motion to electric signals and to send feedback signals to the control system. The feedback signals to determine the position, speed or direction of the head for efficient operation. The distance measurement unit being set-up to determine the position of the head and that is to be calculated based on the reflected waves from the prism or laser reflector mounted on the head. The angle and the distance of the head being measured through a laser based mechanism to locate the position of the head. The control system being configured to accept an arbitrary mounting points in 3D space and to generate desired motion of the head in the volume covered in the overlap defined by the mounting points and maximum length of strings. The motor connected with the winches to cause the rotary actuation and the worm gear is provided to enable uni-directional rotation, and stopping the cable from moving when the power to the 3D printer is turned off.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may have been referred by embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. These and other features, benefits, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following text figure, with like reference numbers referring to like structures across the views, wherein:
Figure 1A is a structural view of three winches mounted on three poles that contains a head, according to the present invention.
Figure 1B is a structural view of the winch that consists of a spool with strong, inelastic rope or string wound over it, and a motor with a servo mechanism to drive the spool for winding and unwinding of the string, according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an overview of system and method for a winch operation and control system for 3D printing and material handling of large structures, according to the present invention.
Figure 3 is an exploded view of a control system that illustrates various modules along with hardware parts, according to the present invention.
Figure 4A illustrates an encoder system, according to the present invention.
Figure 4B illustrates distance measurement unit, according to the present invention.
Figure 5A illustrates a prism or a laser reflector mounted on the head, according to the present invention.
Figure 5B illustrates the sound signals are sent from the source to the receiver, according to the present invention.
Figure 6A and Figure 6B illustrates a distribution of load on multiple winches, according to the present invention.
Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
While the present invention is described herein by way of example using embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described, and are not intended to represent the scale of the various components. Further, some components that may form a part of the invention may not be illustrated in certain figures, for ease of illustration, and such omissions do not limit the embodiments outlined in any way. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim. As used throughout this description, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e. meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense, (i.e. meaning must). Further, the words "a" or "an" mean "at least one” and the word “plurality” means “one or more” unless otherwise mentioned.
Furthermore, the terminology and phraseology used herein is solely used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting in scope. Language such as "including," "comprising," "having," "containing," or "involving," and variations thereof, is intended to be broad and encompass the subject matter listed thereafter, equivalents, and additional subject matter not recited, and is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps. Likewise, the term "comprising" is considered synonymous with the terms "including" or "containing" for applicable legal purposes. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like is included in the specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention.
In this disclosure, whenever a composition or an element or a group of elements is preceded with the transitional phrase “comprising”, it is understood that we also contemplate the same composition, element or group of elements with transitional phrases “consisting of”, “consisting”, “selected from the group of consisting of, “including”, or “is” preceding the recitation of the composition, element or group of elements and vice versa.
The present invention is described hereinafter by various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing(s), wherein reference numerals used in the accompanying drawing(s) correspond to the like elements throughout the description. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following detailed description, numeric values and ranges are provided for various aspects of the implementations described. These values and ranges are to be treated as examples only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. In addition, a number of materials are identified as suitable for various facets of the implementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Figure 1A is a structural view of three winches mounted on three poles that contains a head, according to the present invention.
Particularly, Figure 1A illustrates that three such winches are mounted on three poles or other sites at a height. The strings from the three winches are tied together on a common platform that contains the head. The setup combined with the application that enables 3D printing in the space in between this setup, and 3D printed object can be deposited or developed or printed or created by the setup. The physical gantry and the control system which accepts any arbitrary mounting points in 3D space, and generates the motion as per the command from control system of the tool head in the volume covered in the overlap defined by the mounting points and the length of cables. The actual length of the string depends on the height of the structure. In one embodiment the cable length to be 1000 meters.

In one or more embodiments, each winch having a cable reel, an inelastic rope or string wound over it, a motor to drive the spool for winding and unwinding of the string, a unidirectional gearbox, an automated control system, a head or a hook and Feedback system, the pre-constructed structures or substitute temporary scaffolds or combination of permanent structures and temporary scaffolds being provided to mount at least three winches on three poles securely through fasteners in a identified location in the construction site the winches being mounted on the ground level with the cable passing over a pulley at the desired height. The actual length depends on the height of the structure. For example, the cable length can be 1000 meters. The head being mounted on the cables extending from the winches for 3D printing operation, the hook is connected instead of the head that is being again mounted on the cables extending from the winches for material movement operation. The setup can be dismantled and packed into a portable form-factor for easier transportation. The poles or other structures are not part of the machine. They can be any arbitrary base platform. There is no specific rule on the positioning of the three or more winches. Their coordinates are injected into the software program and the space between them is transformed into a 3D printable space. The control system comprises a processor and a memory configured for storing instructions executable by the processor that causes the operation and control of the winch for 3D printing and material handling of large structures.
The feedback is used to navigate the head to a position as decided by the pre-loaded instructions, by constantly driving the motors, thereby altering the length of the cables, taking the present length of the cables and the current location of head as input. The feedback loop works thousands of times per second to ensure accuracy of the operation.

Figure 1B is a structural view of the winch that consists of a spool with strong, inelastic rope or string wound over it, and a motor with a servo mechanism to drive the spool for winding and unwinding of the string, according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an overview of system and method for a winch operation and control system for 3D printing and material handling of large structures, according to the present invention.
Particularly, Figure 2 illustrates a Human Machine Interface (HMI) An automated control system. A head or a hook and Feedback system. The pre-constructed structures or substitute temporary scaffolds or combination of permanent structures and temporary scaffolds being provided to mount at least three winches on three poles securely through fasteners in a identified location in the construction site. The winches being mounted on the ground level with the cable passing over a pulley at the desired height. The head being mounted on the cables extending from the winches for 3D printing operation. The hook is connected instead of head that is being again mounted on the cables extending from the winches for material movement operation. The head position and cable lengths are measured precisely through feedback system for making the head to be positioned at the targeted location for depositing the material through nozzle.

In or more embodiments, the measuring the location of winches and the measured data to be stored into a control system. The winches to be mounted on poles or combination of walls and poles or columns as support mechanism. The encoder to be mounted along with pulleys attached to the winches. The motor connected with the winches to cause the rotary actuation and the worm gear is provided to enable uni-directional rotation, and stopping the cable from moving when the power to the 3D printer is turned off.
In one or more embodiments, the control system being pre-loaded with an application and that is configured with information about the material strength, material properties, weather and humidity to be considered for the calculation of design mix proportions, temperature and humidity to make water, admixtures, and cementitious material ratio corrections and setting of cycle time as per the shape of the structure to be printed.
In one or more embodiments, the control system pre-loaded with an application that enables to continuously learn and decide the material composition based on input material properties and specifications, climate of the site, desired properties of structure, desired geometry of the building etc. The control system pre-loaded with an application configured to give information about the material such as concrete strength, material properties required to calculate the design mix proportions. Temperature and humidity to be used to make water and cementitious material ratio corrections. The variable setting time as per the shape of the structure to be printed.

In one or more embodiments, the method of winch operation and control consisting of,
measuring the coordinates such as a position in 3D space for winches,
mounting of at least three winches based on the site survey,
configuring the measured coordinates of winches into a control system,
loading the material data such as mixing ratios, deposition speed and setting time of material deposition into a control system,
selecting the control system configuration for optimum material deposition, and
enabling the configured control system to construct the structure.

Figure 3 is an exploded view of a control system that illustrates various modules along with hardware parts, according to the present invention.
Particularly, Figure 3 illustrates the automated control system is configured and wired to the winch motors and encoders and to the head. Three winches powered by motors and with a feedback system. The cables from all winches are connected to a common real or virtual junction point carrying the head or the hook. Further, the control system being configured to accept an arbitrary mounting points in 3D space and to generate desired motion of the head in the volume covered in the overlap defined by the mounting points and maximum length of strings.

In one or more embodiments, the program interpreter that interprets the input instructions which are written in robotic motion command languages such as G codes, and translates it into system-internal commands. The Kinematics module converts the motion from joints (e.g., the various degrees of freedom of the gantry) to axis (e.g., cartesian coordinate system) and vice-versa using the kinematic equations. The motion module handles the motion of the gantry. This module decides the speed, position, acceleration etc., and monitors and controls the same.
In one or more embodiments, the feedback system is configured to obtain the feedback from the head coupled through at least one of the encoder system, distance measurement unit, a prism or a laser reflector, sound signals and that can be considered depending upon the size and geometry of the construction to make the necessary corrections so that higher dimensional accuracy can be

Figure 4A illustrates an encoder system, according to the present invention.
Particularly, Figure 4A illustrates the encoders being mounted along with pulleys attached to the winches configured to convert motion to electric signals and send feedback signals to the control system to determine the position, speed or direction of the head. The encoders configured to convert motion to electric signals and to send feedback signals to the control system.

Figure 4B illustrates distance measurement unit, according to the present invention.
Particularly, Figure 4B illustrates the distance measurement unit being set-up to determine the position of the head and that is to be calculated based on the reflected waves from the prism or laser reflector mounted on the head.

Figure 5A illustrates a prism or a laser reflector mounted on the head, according to the present invention.
Particularly, Figure 5A illustrates the distance measurement unit being set-up to determine the position of the head and that is to be calculated based on the reflected waves from the prism or laser reflector mounted on the head. The angle and the distance of the head being measured through a laser based mechanism such as through a laser or another coherent or directed light source to locate the position of the head.

Figure 5B illustrates the sound signals are sent from the source to the receiver, according to the present invention.
Particularly, Figure 5B illustrates the sound waves that also can be used in navigation. The sound signals are sent from the source to the receiver and the phase difference is used to calculate the travelled distance by the waves.

Figure 6A and Figure 6B illustrates a distribution of load on multiple winches, according to the present invention.
Particularly, Figure 6A and Figure 6B illustrates the major focus is to utilize the existing structures as part of the load distribution path as much as possible to reduce the erection cost. Hence depending upon the scenario, combination of walls and columns also can be used to fix the winches. If the load capacity of wall is less than number of winches can be increased to reduce the load on each winch. If the load carrying capacity of the supporting members such as walls, pillars or temporary structures or supporting mechanisms is less than the number of winches can be increased in a way that can reduce the load on each winch and make the arrangement stable.

Additionally, while the constructional and operational process described above and illustrated in the drawings is shown as a sequence of steps, this was done solely for the sake of illustration. Accordingly, it is contemplated that some constructional and operational steps may be added, some constructional steps may be omitted, the order of the constructional steps may be re-arranged, and/or some constructional steps may be performed simultaneously.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the system and method described herein. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Many alterations and modifications of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art after having read the foregoing description. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. It is to be understood that the description above contains many specifications these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the personally preferred embodiments of this invention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given.

Claims:

WE CLAIM:

1. A winch operation and control system for 3D printing and material handling of large structures, comprising:
a Human Machine Interface (HMI);
at least three winches, wherein each winch consisting of;
a cable reel;
an inelastic rope or string wound over it;
a motor to drive the spool for winding and unwinding of the string;
a unidirectional gearbox;
an automated control system;
a head or a hook;

Characterized in that;
pre-constructed structures or substitute temporary scaffolds or combination of permanent structures and temporary scaffolds being provided to mount at least three winches on three poles securely through fasteners in a identified location in the construction site;
the winches being mounted on the ground level with the cable passing over a pulley at the desired height;
the head being mounted on the cables extending from the winches for 3D printing operation;
the hook is connected instead of head that is being again mounted on the cables extending from the winches for material movement operation;
the automated control system is configured and wired to the winch motors and encoders, and to the head;
at least three winches powered by motors and with a feedback system;
the cables from all winches are connected to a common real or virtual junction point carrying the head or the hook;
the encoders being mounted and configured to convert motion of the cable to electric signals and send feedback signals to the control system to determine the position, speed or direction of the head;
a control system being pre-loaded with an application and that is being configured to actuate the connected motors to vary the lengths of the cables to make the head move along the desired path and deposit the material for creating a 3D shape;
a feedback system is configured to navigate the head to a position as decided by the pre-loaded instructions, by constantly driving the motors, thereby altering the length of the cables, taking the present length of the cables, the current location of head and give the input to the control system and wherein the feedback loop works thousands of times per second to ensure accuracy of the operation;
a distance measurement unit being set-up to determine the position of the head;
the control system being pre-loaded with an application and that is configured with information about the material strength, material properties, weather and humidity to be considered for the calculation of design mix proportions, temperature and humidity to make water and cementitious material ratio corrections and setting of cycle time as per the shape of the structure to be printed;

wherein the control system comprises;
a network;
a memory unit operably connected with the processor;
the memory unit configured for storing an instructions executable by a processor; and
wherein the processor is configured for implementing the operation and control of one or more winches for 3D printing and material handling of large structures including all the method steps.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein measuring the location of winches and the measured data to be stored into a control system.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the winches to be mounted on poles or combination of walls and poles or columns as support mechanism.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the encoder to be mounted along with pulleys attached to the winches.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the encoders are configured to convert motion to electric signals and to send feedback signals to the control system.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein feedback signals to determine the position, speed or direction of the head for efficient operation and wherein, the angle and the distance of the head being measured through a laser based mechanism to locate the position of the head.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the distance measurement unit being set-up to determine the position of the head and that is to be calculated based on the reflected waves from the prism or laser reflector mounted on the head.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control system being configured to accept an arbitrary mounting points in 3D space and to generate desired motion of the head in the volume covered in the overlap defined by the mounting points and maximum length of strings.

9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motor connected with the winches to cause the rotary actuation and the worm gear is provided to enable uni-directional rotation, and stopping the cable from moving when the power to the 3D printer is turned off.

10. A method of winch operation and control for 3D printing and material handling of large structures, comprising the steps of,

measuring the coordinates such as a position in 3D space for winches;
mounting of at least three winches based on the site survey;
configuring the measured coordinates of winches into a control system;
configuring the feedback system to measure the length of cable and the position of head, and give the input to the control system;
loading the material data such as mixing ratios, deposition speed and setting time of material deposition into a control system;
selecting the control system configuration for optimum material deposition;
enabling the configured control system to construct the structure;

wherein, the control system being pre-loaded with an application configured to give information about the material such as concrete strength, material properties required to calculate the design mix proportions, temperature and humidity to be used to make water and cementitious material ratio corrections and the variable setting time as per the shape of the structure to be printed; and
wherein the feedback system is configured to navigate the head to a position as decided by the pre-loaded instructions, by constantly driving the motors, thereby altering the length of the cables, taking the present length of the cables and the current location of head as input and the feedback loop works thousands of times per second to ensure accuracy of the operation.