Recyclable Container Storage with Angled Transport Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for storing recyclable containers, such as used food or beverage containers, often result in entanglement and contamination due to compression, making the sorting and recycling processes difficult and costly, as the properties of the materials can be altered during compression, leading to unsuitable material for certain recycling processes.
Innovation Solution
A system for storing recyclable containers that includes a storage with a transporting channel directed upwards from the horizontal plane at an angle between 15° and 85°, using a force feeding mechanism to transfer containers into the storage, which helps maintain a suitable compression ratio, preventing entanglement and contamination, and facilitating easier sorting and recycling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of stationary object
If containers are compressed to save storage space, then storage volume efficiency is improved, but container separation and sorting becomes difficult and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system segments containers by directing them through separate transporting channels based on material type. The channel system divides the storage space into multiple zones with different angle configurations, allowing containers to be deposited in separate accumulation zones rather than being compressed together in a single space, thus maintaining separability while achieving storage efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces angular orientation as a new dimension for organizing container storage. By varying the outlet angles of transporting channels (15°-85° from horizontal), containers are distributed across different spatial zones and orientations within the storage volume, enabling efficient space utilization while preventing entanglement through dimensional separation rather than compression.
2Volume of stationary object
If containers are compressed during storage, then space utilization is improved, but material properties are altered making recycling difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system segments containers by material type through separate transporting channels with different outlet angles. This segmentation prevents different material types from coming into contact and contaminating each other during storage, preserving material purity and suitability for recycling processes while still achieving efficient space utilization through organized angular distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the storage volume are assigned different functional qualities based on their angular orientation. Containers deposited at different angles occupy different spatial zones, creating local quality variations that prevent mixing of materials. This localized organization maintains material integrity in each zone while optimizing overall storage density.
3Device complexity
If transporting channel is directed horizontally, then container transfer is simple, but containers become entangled and fused together
Solution Approach 1:
The transporting channel outlet is configured with asymmetric angular orientation (15°-85° from horizontal) rather than a horizontal configuration. This asymmetric angle causes containers to be deposited at an incline, preventing them from settling flat and entangling with subsequent containers. The asymmetric geometry inherently reduces harmful entanglement and fusion while maintaining relatively simple channel structure.
4Quantity of substance
If containers are stored with high compression ratio, then storage capacity is improved, but sorting and processing becomes difficult and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system implements segmentation by material type through multiple transporting channels with different outlet angles. This segmentation allows high storage capacity to be achieved by efficiently packing containers within each material-specific zone, while the pre-separation by material type eliminates the need for difficult sorting of highly compressed mixed containers, maintaining processing efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for storing recyclable containers, such as used food or beverage containers, including a storage for housing recyclable containers, the storage having a set of inner surfaces which defines a storage volume for the recyclable containers; a transporting channel, the transporting channel including an inlet port and an outlet port, wherein the inlet port is arranged to receive compressed and/or uncompressed recyclable containers, and the outlet port being arranged in at least one of the inner surfaces in the set of inner surfaces, a force feeding transporting mechanism configured to transport transfer at least one recyclable container through the transporting channel, and into the storage volume via the outlet port, a centre axis of the outlet port of the transporting channel is directed upwards from the horizontal plane at an angle, the angle being within the range of 15° and 85° at the outlet port of the transporting channel.