Liquid Container Conveyor Wave Damping Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing conveyor lines for transporting liquid-filled containers with peelable closures face challenges in maintaining high production speeds due to oscillations caused by acceleration, leading to potential liquid spills and reduced fill levels.
Innovation Solution
A conveyor line system featuring a first motorized conveyor with constant speed and a second motorized conveyor with adjustable speed and acceleration, controlled by an electronic unit using a mathematical model for wave damping to maintain container spacing and dampen liquid oscillations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the conveyor speed is increased to increase production capacity, then productivity is improved, but liquid oscillation and spillage occur due to acceleration
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system transitions from constant speed to variable speed operation, dynamically adjusting acceleration and deceleration rates based on container position detection. This allows the conveyor to maintain high average speeds for productivity while using controlled acceleration profiles to minimize liquid oscillation during container transfer.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses optical sensors to detect container positions and feeds this information back to the control unit, which then adjusts conveyor speed in real-time. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables the conveyor to respond to actual container locations, optimizing speed to prevent spillage while maintaining high throughput.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the conveyor speed is reduced to prevent liquid oscillation, then liquid spillage is prevented, but production capacity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor operation is segmented into distinct phases: acceleration phase, constant speed phase, and deceleration phase. Each phase is optimized independently - acceleration is controlled to minimize oscillation, constant speed maintains high throughput, and deceleration is controlled to prevent spillage during container transfer. This segmentation allows the system to achieve both spillage prevention and high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveyor operates in periodic cycles of controlled acceleration and deceleration rather than maintaining constant speed. These periodic speed variations are synchronized with container arrival and departure intervals, allowing the system to prevent liquid oscillation during critical transfer moments while maintaining high average speeds for overall productivity.
3Manufacturing precision
If containers are positioned at predefined distances using a second conveyor with adjustable speed, then container spacing is improved, but complex acceleration patterns cause liquid oscillation
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of container positions using optical sensors before the containers reach the spacing adjustment zone. The control unit then pre-calculates the required acceleration profile to achieve the desired spacing while minimizing liquid oscillation, and applies this profile in advance of the actual spacing adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes multiple parameters including conveyor speed, acceleration rate, and timing based on detected container positions. By coordinating these parameter changes, the system achieves precise container spacing on the second conveyor while using optimized acceleration profiles to minimize liquid oscillation during the spacing adjustment process.
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
Enables higher conveyor speeds without liquid spills, thereby increasing production capacity and maintaining desired fill levels in containers.
Implementation Method 1
programmed to perform a non-linear position variation function in time applied by the second motorised conveyor to the container based on signals received from the first sensor and a mathematical model of wave damping of a liquid in a container
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
A conveyor line for a removable closure on a container comprising a first motorised conveyor at a constant speed for the container filled with a liquid, a second motorised conveyor downstream of the first conveyor having a motorisation such as to control the variation of the position of the container, a first sensor arranged in an input portion of the first conveyor to detect the passage of the container on the first conveyor, a control unit connected in data exchange with the first sensor and programmed to execute a non-linear position variation function in time applied by the second motorised conveyor to the container on the basis of signals received from the first sensor and a mathematical model of wave damping of a liquid in a moving container, so as to distance the container on board the second conveyor by a predetermined distance from the next container arriving from the first conveyor and, during the advancement on board the second conveyor, damping an oscillation of the liquid in the container.