Bucket Elevator Bucket with Contoured Walls and Nesting Ears

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing bucket elevators have limited capacity and spacing constraints, which hinder the efficient transportation of flowable solid materials, as the buckets are not optimized for increased capacity and close spacing on the continuous belt.

Innovation Solution

The method involves creating buckets with contoured upper edges and ears on the side walls, allowing for nesting with adjacent buckets, enabling closer spacing and increased capacity by using an injection molding process and machining to form the ears, facilitating material transport above the water level capacity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Volume of moving object

If buckets are designed with traditional straight side walls, then manufacturing is simpler, but capacity and close spacing capability are limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebucket capacityVSAvoidbucket structure complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Volume of moving objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The side walls of the bucket are designed with curved contours instead of straight lines. Specifically, the side walls include first, second, and third portions that form curved surfaces, enabling the bucket to carry material above the water level capacity and allowing closer spacing between buckets while maintaining structural integrity and manufacturing feasibility through injection molding processes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

2Productivity

If buckets are spaced farther apart, then each bucket has more capacity, but the total number of buckets on the belt decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetotal elevator capacityVSAvoidbucket spacing

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLength of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The bucket design allows nesting where the bottom of a leading bucket is positioned within the top portion of a trailing bucket. This nesting arrangement enables closer spacing between buckets on the continuous belt, increasing the total number of buckets that can be accommodated while maintaining adequate material capacity through the contoured side walls that extend above the water level.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

3Volume of moving object

If buckets are designed to carry material above water level capacity, then individual bucket capacity increases, but spacing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial carrying capacityVSAvoidbucket projection

Core Design Contradiction:

Volume of moving objectVSLength of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The side walls of the bucket are designed with differentiated regions: first portions that extend from the back wall, second portions that extend upward to form the main body, and third portions that extend to the front wall. This local variation in wall geometry allows the bucket to carry material above the water level capacity in specific localized areas (the ears) while maintaining a compact overall projection that enables closer spacing between buckets.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP3108067B1A method of making a plurality of buckets for a bucket elevator

Publication Date: 2022.06.22 TAPCO INC

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AI summary

A bucket is adapted to be spaced relatively close to adjacent buckets and has sides with a contoured upper edge to facilitate carrying material above the water level capacity of the bucket.