Compressed Air Consumption Output Device for Automatic Winder

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing textile machines lack a quantitative method to grasp compressed air consumption, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs due to the reliance on air flowmeters with high measurement errors and maintenance issues.

Innovation Solution

An automatic winder system with a compressed air consumption output device that includes a storage section, output section, and display unit, allowing for the calculation and display of compressed air consumption per multiplication unit time or operation number, eliminating the need for air flowmeters and reducing costs and maintenance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If air flowmeters are installed to measure compressed air consumption, then measurement capability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompressed air consumption measurementVSAvoidnumber of air flowmeters required
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the measurement function from physical air flowmeters and relocates it to a computational system. The compressed air consumption is calculated by extracting data from existing controllers of compressed air-consuming devices, eliminating the need for physical flowmeters in the air supply lines.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a compressed air consumption output device as an intermediary between the compressed air-consuming devices and the user. This device receives operation data from device controllers and computes consumption, serving as a mediating computational layer that avoids direct physical measurement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If air flowmeters are installed to measure compressed air consumption, then measurement capability is improved, but maintenance burden increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompressed air consumption measurementVSAvoidmaintenance of air flowmeters
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSEase of repair

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses the existing self-reporting capability of compressed air-consuming devices. Each device controller already records its own operation data, and the consumption calculation leverages this existing data without requiring additional maintenance for measurement devices.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The measurement function is extracted from vulnerable physical components (air flowmeters exposed to compressed air) and relocated to protected computational systems, eliminating maintenance issues related to air quality and physical wear.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Measurement precision

If many air flowmeters are installed to monitor multiple compressed air consuming devices, then measurement coverage is improved, but cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompressed air consumption monitoring coverageVSAvoidnumber of air flowmeters required
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The compressed air consumption output device serves as a universal monitoring system that can handle multiple compressed air-consuming devices through a single unit. It receives data from various device controllers and computes total or individual consumption, providing multi-functionality without requiring multiple specialized measurement devices.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent merges the measurement and calculation functions into a single computational system that aggregates data from multiple sources. Instead of having separate flowmeters for each device, the system combines data from device controllers and computes consumption centrally, reducing the total number of components.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP3705430B1Compressed air consumption output device and automatic winder
Publication Date: 2021.07.21 MURATA MASCH LTD
  • EP3705430B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3705430B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3705430B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A compressed air consumption output device 150 outputs compressed air consumption of an automatic winder 1. The automatic winder 1 includes a plurality of compressed air consuming devices and a plurality of winding units 1a that wind spun yarns 10. The compressed air consumption output device 150 includes a storage section 95a, an output section 95b, and a display unit 92. The storage section 95b stores compressed air consumption per multiplication unit while each of the compressed air consuming devices uses compressed air. The calculation section 95b calculates and outputs the compressed air consumption by multiplication using the compressed air consumption per multiplication unit for each of the compressed air consuming devices. The display 92 displays compressed air consumption outputted by the calculation section 95b.