Container Clamp With Integrated Control Pins for Hygienic, Low-Force Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container clamps in the food processing industry are not sufficiently simple in design, difficult to clean, and fail to meet high hygiene requirements, while also being slow and requiring high control forces.
Innovation Solution
A container clamp design featuring a support body with pivotable gripping arms and a control element with integrated control pins, allowing for rapid, low-force operation and secure container holding, facilitated by a single-piece construction and magnetic tensioning for easy cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional container clamps are used, then they can hold containers, but they have complex design making them difficult to clean and meet hygiene requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp is divided into a fixed arm and a movable arm that can independently pivot about a pivot axis. This segmentation allows each component to be simplified and easily cleaned, while still achieving reliable container holding when the arms work together in the closed position.
Solution Approach 2:
The control element is extracted as a separate rotatable component with control pins that interface with the movable arm through a control groove. This extraction simplifies the main clamp structure by removing complex actuation mechanisms from the clamp body itself, making the clamp easier to clean while maintaining functional control.
2Productivity
If conventional container clamps are used, then they can grip containers, but they require high control forces and operate slowly
Solution Approach 1:
The movable arm is designed to pivot dynamically about a pivot axis, allowing rapid opening and closing movements. The control element can be rotated to quickly reposition the control pin along the control groove, enabling fast actuation of the movable arm between open and closed positions, thus increasing operation speed while reducing the force required compared to linear actuation mechanisms.
3Force
If conventional container clamps are used, then they can hold containers, but they have large moving mass requiring high control forces
Solution Approach 1:
The control groove is designed with specific local geometry to guide the control pin efficiently. The groove's shape optimizes the mechanical advantage at different positions, allowing the control pin to leverage small rotational movements of the control element into effective actuation forces on the movable arm, reducing the overall control force required despite the moving mass.
4Reliability
If conventional container clamps are used, then they can transport containers, but they have complex components causing wear and noise
Solution Approach 1:
The control element is merged with the base body as a single rotatable component, eliminating separate actuators, linkages, and fasteners that would otherwise be required. This merging reduces the number of moving components, minimizing wear points and noise sources while maintaining the ability to control the movable arm's position for reliable container transport.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6c
AI summary
The invention relates to a container clamp (1) for transporting a held container (2). The container clamp (1) is equipped with a support body (3) for arranging the container clamp (1) on a container transport device or on a container handling device, and with two gripping arms (5a, 5b) each pivotably mounted on the support body (3) about a pivot axis (4a, 4b). Each gripping arm (5a, 5b) has a gripping section (7a, 7b) for holding the container (2) at an outer end (6a) and a control groove (8a, 8b) at an inner end (6b) opposite the outer end (6a). The pivot axis (4a, 4b) of each of the gripping arms (5a, 5b) is arranged between the gripping section (7a, 7b) and the control groove (8a, 8b).In addition, the container clamp (1) has a control element (10) mounted on the support body (3) for controlling the gripping arms (5a, 5b) and rotatable about a rotational axis. The control element (10) has two control pins (11a, 11b), each of which is movably guided in the control groove (8a, 8b) of one of the gripping arms (5a, 5b) in such a way that, with a rotational movement of the control element (10), the control pins (11a, 11b) in the respective control groove (8a, 8b) pivot the gripping arms (5a, 5b) between an open position and a gripping position. According to the invention, the control element (10) is formed in one piece with at least one base body (12) for rotatable mounting on the support body (3) and with the two control pins (11a, 11b).