Bin Auger Lift Assembly for Clearing Trapped Material
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Solution Overview
Problem
Augers used for removing particulate material from storage bins often become trapped or jammed due to avalanches of material, making it difficult to operate and posing safety risks when manual intervention is required.
Innovation Solution
An auger system with an outflow and inflow auger, along with a movement assembly and a lift assembly that allows the inflow auger to be raised from a lowered operational position to a clearing position, enabling it to be lifted out of trapped conditions and preventing further avalanches.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the inflow auger remains in the lowered operational position, then it can effectively move particulate material toward the center, but it becomes trapped or jammed due to avalanches of material
Solution Approach 1:
The inflow auger is designed to be movable between a lowered operational position and a raised clearing position. The movement assembly enables dynamic repositioning of the inflow auger along the bin floor, allowing it to adapt to changing material conditions and avoid becoming trapped in avalanches, thus maintaining operational reliability while preserving material moving efficiency.
2Reliability
If manual intervention is used to free the auger from trapped positions, then the auger can be freed, but safety risks increase and operational time is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates a lift assembly that automatically raises the inflow auger to a clearing position when trapped material is detected. This self-service mechanism frees the auger without requiring manual intervention, eliminating safety risks associated with operator entry into the bin and reducing operational downtime. The movement assembly and lift assembly work together to enable the auger to self-correct from trapped conditions.
3Reliability
If the inflow auger is raised to a clearing position, then it can move over bin contents and prevent avalanches, but the complexity of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The auger system is segmented into distinct functional components: the outflow auger, the inflow auger, the movement assembly, and the lift assembly. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently. The movement assembly handles lateral positioning while the lift assembly handles vertical positioning, enabling the inflow auger to navigate over bin contents and prevent avalanches through coordinated operation of these modular components.
Data Source
AI summary
An auger system for removing particulate material from an interior of s storage bin having a bin floor with a center and a periphery. The auger system may comprise an outflow auger for positioning from the center of the bin floor to the periphery of the bin floor to move the particulate material from the center to the periphery, an inflow auger for positioning from the periphery of the bin floor to the center of the bin floor to move the particulate material toward the center of the bin floor to feed particulate material to the outflow auger; and a movement assembly configured to move the inflow auger with respect to the outflow auger. The system may also include a lift assembly configured to lift the inflow auger upwardly with respect to the bin floor from a lowered operational position to a raised, clearing position.