Adjustable Roller Doser Assembly for Precise Plant Material Filling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies for manufacturing plant material products, such as oral products, face challenges in efficiently and accurately dosing plant materials into pouches, particularly in ensuring consistent weight and distribution.
Innovation Solution
A doser assembly comprising a hopper assembly with a roller and bracket assembly, where the roller is connected to a shaft that rotates and is adjustable in position, allowing precise control over the dosing process through a vertical adjuster mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a roller is used to dose plant material, then dosing precision and weight consistency are improved, but device complexity increases due to the need for position adjustment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The roller is made adjustable in its vertical position through a mechanism involving a shaft extending through hopper grooves and a vertical adjuster. This allows the roller position to be dynamically changed to optimize dosing performance for different plant materials or packaging requirements, resolving the contradiction by enabling precise control without fixing the roller in a single position.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the positional parameter of the roller within the hopper assembly to achieve optimal dosing. By allowing the roller position to be adjusted vertically through the shaft and vertical adjuster mechanism, the system can adapt to different dosing requirements while maintaining high precision through controlled parameter variation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the roller position is fixed, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability to different dosing requirements decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The roller position is made dynamic rather than fixed, allowing adjustment along the vertical axis through the shaft and vertical adjuster mechanism. This enables the same device to adapt to different plant materials, packaging sizes, and dosing requirements without requiring multiple fixed configurations or separate devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable roller mechanism provides universal functionality, allowing a single doser assembly to handle various dosing requirements and material types by simply adjusting the roller position, rather than requiring multiple specialized devices or complex reconfiguration procedures.
3Measurement precision
If a vertical adjuster mechanism is added to position the roller, then dosing accuracy is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The position adjustment function is segmented into separate components: a shaft that extends through the hopper grooves, hopper grooves that guide and constrain the shaft, and a vertical adjuster that operates on the shaft. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently and assembled together, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while achieving precise position control.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft acts as an intermediary element between the hopper grooves and the vertical adjuster, transmitting motion and force while maintaining precise positional control. The shaft serves as a mediator that enables accurate roller positioning without requiring direct complex mechanisms between all components.
Data Source
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AI summary
In an example embodiment, a doser assembly (100) includes a hopper assembly (200) configured to receive plant material, a bracket assembly (300) connected to the hopper assembly (200), and a roller (120) in a hopper opening (200_O) defined by the hopper assembly and extending through the hopper assembly. An interior surface of the hopper assembly may define the hopper opening (200_O). The bracket assembly (300) may include a shaft (318) extending across a portion of the hopper opening (200_O). The roller (120) may be in the portion of the hopper opening (200_O) of the hopper assembly (200), and may extend between a first part (200_P1) and a second part (200_P2) of the interior surface of the hopper assembly (200). The roller (120) may be connected to the shaft (318) and may be configured to rotate with rotation of the shaft (318).