Adjustable Transport Lane for Collision-Safe Preform Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container transport systems face issues with damage to beverage containers and holding elements due to high throughput, where the holding element has a limited time window to intervene between containers, leading to collisions and damage.
Innovation Solution
The transport lane length is adjustable in sections, allowing for buffering and reducing container pressure by extending the path, which minimizes collisions and damage, and can also compensate for gaps between containers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the holding element is used to stop beverage containers in a fixed-length transport lane, then the transport can be interrupted quickly, but the limited time window causes collisions and damage to containers and holding element
Solution Approach 1:
The transport lane length is made dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. During high throughput, the lane is extended to reduce container pressure and prevent collisions. When stopping is required, the lane can be quickly shortened to allow the holding element to intervene safely without collision risks, thus resolving the contradiction between safe handling and high throughput
Solution Approach 2:
The physical parameter of transport lane length is changed to resolve the contradiction. By extending the lane during high throughput operations, container pressure is reduced and the system can handle containers safely. When interruption is needed, the lane length is reduced to enable safe holding element operation, thus adapting the parameter to different operational requirements
2Reliability
If the transport lane length is extended to reduce container pressure, then collisions and damage are minimized, but the device complexity increases due to adjustable sections
Solution Approach 1:
The transport lane is divided into multiple separable sections that can be independently adjusted in length. This segmentation allows the lane to be extended or contracted by connecting or disconnecting sections, reducing container pressure when needed while keeping the complexity manageable through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable transport lane sections are designed to nest within each other when retracted, similar to a telescoping mechanism. This nesting approach allows the lane to extend significantly when needed to reduce container pressure, while maintaining a compact form when retracted, thus achieving the reliability benefit with controlled complexity
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 adjustable transport lane design reduces container pressure and damage by extending the path during high throughput, enabling safe handling and efficient feeding into subsequent plant components.
Implementation Method 1
The plastic preforms are first heated in a heating device. This heating causes the material of the plastic preforms to heat up, at least below the neck ring, and thus soften.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The invention relates to a container transport device (6) for transporting beverage containers, in particular plastic preforms (1), with a transport lane (7) arranged along a transport path (T), in which the beverage containers can be transported one after the other without gaps. According to the invention, the length of the transport lane (7) running along the transport path (T) is adjustable in at least one section of the transport lane.