Adjustable Suction Seats for Jammed Hopper Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern packaging machines for smoking articles face productivity losses due to jamming issues caused by misaligned components, leading to incomplete production runs and increased energy consumption when operating at reduced capacity.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable conveyor drum system with adjustable suction seats allows the feeding unit to maintain operation even when one hopper is jammed, by altering the pitch of the seats to ensure continuous component flow and prevent empty spaces, thus managing the combining machine efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the pitch of the suction seats on the conveyor drum is fixed, then the drum structure is simple, but the drum cannot adapt when one hopper is jammed, causing production stoppages
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor drum is designed with adjustable suction seats that can change their pitch dynamically. When one hopper is jammed, the pitch of the suction seats is modified to match the reduced flow rate from the single operative hopper, allowing continuous operation without production stoppages.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the pitch parameter of the suction seats on the conveyor drum based on the operational status of the hoppers. When one hopper is jammed, the pitch is adjusted to accommodate the alternating flow pattern from the single operative hopper, maintaining continuous component feeding.
2Productivity
If the machine operates at half capacity with one hopper jammed, then production continues without stopping, but energy consumption and noise increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor drum speed and suction seat pitch are adjusted to match the reduced component flow rate from the single operative hopper. This optimization allows the drum to operate efficiently at half capacity rather than running at full speed with half the components, reducing unnecessary energy consumption and noise.
3Loss of energy
If the pitch of suction seats is altered to accommodate single hopper operation, then energy consumption is reduced, but the drum structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The suction seats are designed with adjustable mechanisms that allow pitch modification. This dynamic capability enables the system to optimize energy consumption by matching the drum operation to the actual component flow rate, while the adjustment mechanism itself remains relatively simple.
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 system prevents production stoppages and maintains normal operation by ensuring all seats are filled, reducing energy consumption and noise, while allowing the machine to operate at reduced capacity when one hopper is out of service.
Implementation Method 1
a pickup drum is arranged at the bottom of the hopper which is provided with peripheral suction seats and withdraws, from the mass of components, a succession of components
Implementation Method 2
the descent of the mass of components into the hopper occurs by gravity
Data Source
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AI summary
A method to control a feeding unit (1) to feed components (2) for smoking articles. The feeding unit (1) has: a first feed (3) containing a first mass of components (2), a second feed (4) containing a second mass of components (2), a first drum (24), which is provided with seats (27) receiving the components (2) from the first feed (3), a second drum (25), which is provided with seats (29) receiving the components (2) from the second feed (4), and a third drum (5), which is provided with seats (7) receiving the components (2) from the first drum (24) and from the second drum (25). The control method, in case of regular operation of both feeds (3, 4), entails the steps of: configuring the first drum (24) and the second drum (25) according to a normal configuration, which entails a normal pitch (P2) between the corresponding seats (27, 29); and transferring the components (2) from the first drum (24) into half the seats (7) of the third drum (5) and the components (2) from the second drum (25) into the remaining half the seats (7) of the third drum (5). The control method, in case the first feed (3) stops, entails the step of: configuring the second drum (25) according to a special configuration, which entails, between the seats (29) of the second drum (25) a special pitch (PI), which half the normal pitch (P2); and transferring the components (2) from the second drum (25) into all the seats (7) of the third drum (5) .