Displaceable Guide Unit for Leaf Vegetable Filling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for filling containers with products, such as those disclosed in US 4 506 492 A, WO 2012/028865, WO 2013/088150, and NL 1 034 384, face inefficiencies and product wastage due to spillage and external influences like wind, especially when handling compressible products like leaf vegetables.
Innovation Solution
A device with a displaceable filling unit and guide unit, featuring a flap that opens to allow product filling and closes to prevent spillage, along with a guide unit that moves to direct the product into the container, minimizing waste and ensuring efficient filling by compressing the product within the container.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If containers are filled by allowing product to fall from a filling chamber, then filling efficiency is improved, but product spillage occurs between containers on the conveyor belt
Solution Approach 1:
A guide unit is introduced as an intermediary component between the filling chamber and the container. This guide unit directs the falling product along a controlled path, ensuring it lands precisely in the container rather than spilling onto the conveyor belt or between containers, thus resolving the contradiction between efficient filling and product loss
Solution Approach 2:
The guide unit is made displaceable rather than fixed, allowing it to be dynamically adjusted to the position of the container being filled. This dynamic positioning ensures optimal guidance of the falling product while maintaining high filling efficiency, preventing spillage without sacrificing productivity
2Speed
If the filling chamber is open to allow product to fall, then filling speed is increased, but external influences like wind affect product placement
Solution Approach 1:
The guide unit creates a protected environment or channel through which the product falls. This enclosed or semi-enclosed path shields the falling product from external environmental factors such as wind, while still allowing the filling operation to proceed at high speed, thus resolving the contradiction between speed and environmental interference
3Productivity
If containers are filled in batches without closing the filling chamber, then continuous filling is achieved, but product falls outside the container
Solution Approach 1:
The displaceable guide unit acts as a dynamic mediator that continuously adjusts its position to match the container's location during batch filling operations. This ensures that even as containers are filled in batches with the chamber remaining open, the product is accurately directed into each container, maintaining both continuous filling capability and high placement precision
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 solution enables efficient and waste-free filling of containers by guiding the product directly into the container, preventing spillage and external interference, and allowing for optimal compaction of compressible products like leaf vegetables.
Implementation Method 1
a container situated underneath can be filled with product falling from a filling chamber from the filling unit
Implementation Method 2
The filling unit is displaceable into the guide unit in order to press down the product in the container
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to, a device (1A, 1) comprising a filling unit (3), for., filling containers (50) with a product. The invention furthermore relates to a system (101) comprising such a device (1A, 1) and to a harvesting machine provided with such a system (101). Lastly, the invention relates to a method for filling containers (50) with a product by means of a filling unit (3).