Foreign Body Catching Shaft With Deflectors to Prevent Rebound
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing foreign body separation devices in mass streams, such as tobacco processing, suffer from inefficiencies as rejected foreign objects often bounce back into the product stream due to high rejection speeds, reducing sorting efficiency and product quality.
Innovation Solution
A device with a shaft-shaped catching device featuring inclined deflector elements that redirect foreign objects away from the product stream, utilizing gravity and angled deflection to prevent re-entry, combined with a conveyor belt for collection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a jet of compressed air is used to blow foreign bodies downstream, then the foreign bodies are precisely extracted from the mass flow, but they enter the collection device at high speed and bounce off the bottom to re-enter the cleaned mass flow
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a third dimension by installing deflector elements that extend vertically from the collection device bottom surface. These deflectors create a three-dimensional trapping space that intercepts rebounding foreign objects before they can escape back into the mass flow, transforming a two-dimensional collection problem into a three-dimensional solution.
Solution Approach 2:
The deflector elements act as intermediary structures between the collection device bottom and the rebounding foreign objects. These intermediaries intercept the upward-moving foreign objects and redirect them into the collection device, preventing direct contact with the mass flow and ensuring they are contained and removed.
2Productivity
If foreign bodies are rejected at high speed, then the separation process is efficient, but the foreign objects bounce back into the product stream
Solution Approach 1:
The collection device is designed with a bottom surface and deflector elements that create a cushioning effect for rebounding foreign objects. Instead of allowing foreign objects to bounce freely and re-enter the mass flow, the deflector elements provide a controlled surface that absorbs and redirects their kinetic energy, preventing harmful re-entry while maintaining high separation speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces pure mechanical collection (relying on gravity and bottom surfaces) with a hybrid system that incorporates pneumatic rejection combined with mechanical deflection. The deflector elements provide a mechanical interception mechanism that works in conjunction with the pneumatic rejection system to prevent foreign object re-entry.
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 device significantly reduces the probability of foreign objects re-entering the product stream by effectively deflecting and collecting them using angled deflector elements and gravity, enhancing sorting efficiency and product quality.
Implementation Method 1
The deflector element ensures that a foreign object deflected in the direction of rejection is deflected at a shallow angle to the direction of rejection by impacting the upper surface of the deflector element towards a lower area of the catching device
Implementation Method 2
The force of gravity acting on the foreign matter advantageously ensures that the deflected foreign matter reaches deeper into the collection device as a result of the effect of gravity
Data Source
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AI summary
Device 2 and method for separating foreign bodies from a mass stream M of small parts. The device 2 comprises: a feed device 4, which is configured to guide the mass stream M in a transport area 6 and convey it in a transport direction T; a detection device 8, which is configured to detect a foreign body F in the mass stream M; a rejection device 12, which is configured to pneumatically remove the foreign body F from the mass stream M by subjecting the foreign body F to a pulse directed transversely to the transport direction T of the mass stream M in a rejection direction R and thereby deflecting it; a discharge device 10, which is configured to receive and provide the mass stream cleaned of the foreign body F; and a foreign body receiving device 14, which is configured and arranged to receive the deflected foreign body F.The foreign body receiving device 14 has a shaft-shaped catching device 20 with at least one deflector element 26, wherein shaft walls 24a, 24b of the catching device 20 limit a catching volume V and the deflector element 26 is inclined by an angle α in a discharge plane E, in which the transport and discharge directions T, R lie, extending with its free end 30 into the catching volume V from a mounting position 28 on one of the shaft walls 24a, 24b, so that the free end 30 is arranged downstream of the mounting position 28 in the discharge direction R.