Container Inlet Guides for Cleaning Machine Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container cleaning machines experience noise and mechanical wear issues during container transport, and fallen containers are difficult to reach and remove due to wedging in sloping alleys.
Innovation Solution
A container cleaning machine design featuring a carriage with parallel transfer straps and orthogonally extending sloping tapes, where some guides extend into an overshoot area between the transfer strap and insert tapes, allowing for gentle and even distribution of containers, with kinked guides to prevent wedging and facilitate ergonomic removal, and an oscillating transfer strap to manage jamming.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If containers are pushed onto insert tapes using movable swords or flexible swords, then containers can be distributed along the insert tapes, but noise development and mechanical wear increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical pushing action of movable swords with a gravity-based guidance system. Containers are guided by container guides that direct them onto the insert tapes without active mechanical pushing, eliminating the source of noise and mechanical wear while maintaining efficient container distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces container guides as intermediary elements between the container supply and the insert tapes. These guides act as mediators that channel containers smoothly onto the tapes without direct mechanical contact from pushing mechanisms, reducing harmful effects.
2Reliability
If container guides are kinked to prevent wedging, then containers can be blocked from reaching certain areas, but fallen containers become difficult to reach for removal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the container guides into different sections with varying degrees of kinking. Some guides have mild kinks for gentle guidance, while others have stronger kinks for blocking. This segmentation allows optimized container positioning in different areas while maintaining accessibility for removal operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different kinking characteristics to different sections of the container guides based on local requirements. Areas requiring strong blocking have more pronounced kinks, while areas needing container removal have milder features, creating local quality variations that balance reliability and ease of operation.
3Productivity
If the transfer strap moves continuously in one direction, then containers are transported efficiently, but jamming occurs more frequently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the transfer strap dynamically adjustable by introducing a reversing mechanism. The strap can change its direction of movement from continuous one-way transport to oscillating motion, allowing it to adapt to different operational conditions and resolve jamming situations while maintaining high transport efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements periodic reversing phases in the transfer strap operation. Instead of continuous unidirectional movement, the strap alternates between forward transport and reverse motion, creating periodic action that prevents jamming by allowing containers to be pushed back and redistributed when obstacles arise.
Data Source
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AI summary
A container inlet (1) for a container cleaning machine (2) and a method for feeding containers (9) into insertion lanes (8) of a container inlet (1) are described. The container inlet (1) comprises at least one inlet conveyor (3), a transfer conveyor (4) parallel to it and optionally movable in the opposite direction, a series of insertion conveyors (5) orthogonally connected to it, and container guides (6) arranged above the insertion conveyors (5) that separate the insertion lanes (8) for the containers from one another. The optional counter-rotating movement of the transfer conveyor (4) in combination with the container guides (6), which extend at least partially on the inlet side to/into an overlap area between the transfer conveyor (4) and the insertion conveyors (5), enables reliable and quiet operation in the container inlet (1) with user-friendly removal of fallen containers (9).