Article Supply Device Gas Injection Prevents Meshing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing article supply devices face issues with articles meshing and overlapping, leading to clogging and delayed cycle times, and existing methods like vibration or gas injection can damage articles or require complex positioning.
Innovation Solution
An article supply device with a storage unit, a supply path, a partition/passing-through member, a driving unit, and a gas injection unit that uses a visible sensor to detect article positions and orientations, and controls gas injection timing to prevent meshing and overlapping, utilizing a servo motor for precise rotation and parallel gas injection to disperse articles without vibration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If articles are allowed to pass through a gap between the table and partition/passing-through member, then articles can be supplied to the next destination, but articles may mesh with each other and get clogged in the gap
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gas injection unit that喷射气体 to articles on the supply path, using pneumatic pressure to disperse articles that are meshing or overlapping, preventing them from getting clogged in the gap between the table and partition/passing-through member
Solution Approach 2:
The gas injection unit injects gas to articles before they reach the gap between the table and partition/passing-through member, preliminarily dispersing them to prevent meshing and clogging from occurring
2Reliability
If vibration is applied to articles to prevent meshing, then articles can be dispersed, but the surfaces of articles may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the vibration method with gas injection, using pneumatic pressure to disperse articles without physical contact that could damage surfaces, thereby eliminating the harmful effect of surface damage while maintaining the beneficial effect of article dispersion
3Reliability
If gas is injected to disperse articles, then articles can be prevented from meshing, but the position and orientation of injection port must be changed, resulting in delayed cycle time
Solution Approach 1:
The gas injection unit is designed with a universal injection port positioned and oriented to effectively disperse articles regardless of their specific shapes and orientations, eliminating the need to change port position and orientation for different article types
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of gas injection pressure and timing rather than the physical position of the injection port, using parameter adjustment to adapt to different article configurations without mechanical repositioning
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 effectively prevents article clogging, reduces cycle time, and avoids surface damage by using gas injection to disperse meshed articles, simplifying the system configuration and allowing flexible handling of articles with varying shapes and orientations.
Implementation Method 1
a gas injection unit (36) that injects gas to the articles on the supply path in at least one of upstream and downstream of the partition/passing-through member in a supply direction of the articles
Data Source
AI summary
An article supply device includes a storage unit in which a plurality of articles are stored, a supply path, a partition/passing-through member that forms a predetermined gap between a surface of the supply path and the partition/passing-through member, a driving unit that allows the supply path and the partition/passing-through member to relatively move each other, and a gas injection unit that injects gas to the articles on the supply path in at least one of the upstream and the downstream of the partition/passing-through member.