Adjustable Feed Plate for Medical Waste Shredder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crushing machines for medical waste are inflexible in material supply, leading to excessive power consumption and increased risk of rotor blocking, particularly in smaller machines with limited power supply, such as those used in hospitals.
Innovation Solution
A crushing device with a rotatably mounted feed plate that can be controlled to vary its slope and position, allowing for continuous, stepless, and controllable material supply to the crushing rotor, and capable of operating in both directions of rotation, with a control device managing power consumption to prevent overloading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If material is fed continuously to the shredding rotor without precise metering, then productivity increases, but power consumption increases and rotor blocking risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The feed plate is made dynamically adjustable in its inclination angle, allowing the system to adapt the material feed rate to match the actual processing capacity of the shredding rotor. This dynamic adjustment prevents overfeeding that would cause motor overload while maintaining high productivity when the motor can handle the load.
Solution Approach 2:
The inclination angle of the feed plate is changed as a controllable parameter to regulate material flow. By varying this geometric parameter, the system optimizes the balance between material feed rate and motor power consumption, preventing blocking while maintaining efficient operation.
2Device complexity
If a fixed feed plate is used, then device complexity is reduced, but material feed control flexibility is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The feed plate transitions from a fixed structure to a dynamically adjustable component that can change its inclination angle. This adds control flexibility without significantly increasing overall device complexity, as the adjustment mechanism is integrated into the existing feed structure.
3Device complexity
If the shredding rotor operates in one direction only, then device complexity is reduced, but productivity during blockage clearing is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The shredding rotor operates in periodic cycles, alternating between forward rotation for normal shredding and reverse rotation for blockage clearing. This periodic bidirectional operation maintains simple device structure while significantly improving productivity during blockage events by enabling quick reverse rotation to dislodge obstructions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables efficient, energy-saving, and flexible material supply, reducing the risk of rotor blocking and allowing for effective crushing of medical waste in constrained power environments, such as hospitals, while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
The feed wall is inclined such that material to be comminuted through the feed window slides down its surface
Implementation Method 2
At the lower edge of the feed wall, the material to be comminuted is fed to a pusher, which presses it against the circumferential surface of a comminution rotor
Implementation Method 3
a shredding rotor which rotates around an axis of rotation and carries at least one knife, and b) a first counter-knife which works together with the knife of the shredding rotor
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A device (10) for crushing material (12), in particular medical waste material, has a crushing rotor (22) which rotates about an axis of rotation (30) and carries at least one knife (32), and a first counter knife (24) which cooperates with the knife (32) of the crushing rotor (22).A feed plate (20) is provided which is rotatably mounted about a pivot axis (38) and which is connected to an actuator, in particular an electric motor, such that the feed plate (20) can be moved by means of the actuator into a feed position in which the material (12) to be shredded can rest on a first main surface (34) of the feed plate (20) and slide along it in the direction of the shredding rotor (22), and into a first pressing position in which the material (12) to be shredded is also pressed against the shredding rotor (22) with the first main surface (34) of the feed plate (20) and is shredded between the knife (32) and the first counter knife (24).