Down Separation with Airflow and Mechanical Opening for Recycling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for recycling feathers from products like bedding and clothing are inefficient due to scatter and manual separation, especially when feathers are covered with fabrics, lacking in collection efficiency and environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
A feather separation system and method that includes a cutting part to open the product, a feather separation part with a rotating shaft and stirring rods to mechanically separate feathers from the covering, and an airflow introduction to facilitate separation and collection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If down feathers are separated from down clusters by conventional methods, then down feathers can be obtained, but the down feathers are contaminated with oils and odors from livestock and require extensive cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by separating down feathers from down clusters immediately after plucking, before the oils and odors from livestock have time to contaminate the feathers. This is achieved through a separation system that processes feathers directly from the plucking stage, preventing the accumulation of harmful substances that would otherwise require extensive cleaning.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts down feathers from down clusters using a separation mechanism that isolates the feathers while leaving the contamination sources behind. The separation system physically removes feathers from the cluster structure, enabling their extraction in a cleaner state before significant contamination occurs.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If down feathers are cleaned by conventional methods, then contamination is removed, but production costs and processing time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
By performing separation immediately after plucking, the system prevents contamination before it occurs, eliminating the need for subsequent cleaning operations. This preliminary separation action reduces both processing time and production costs while maintaining feather quality.
3Quantity of substance
If down feathers are separated late in the process, then complete separation is achieved, but contamination from livestock oils and odors increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs separation as a preliminary action immediately after plucking, achieving both complete separation and minimal contamination simultaneously. The separation mechanism is designed to fully separate feathers from clusters in one operation, eliminating the need for delayed processing that would allow contamination to occur.
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 system enables continuous and efficient separation of feathers with high down ratio by mechanically striking and airflow, effectively collecting feathers from products with minimal contamination.
Implementation Method 1
The separated down feathers are substantially free of contamination from oils and odors from livestock and require little to no cleaning before use or incorporation into down products
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided are a feather separation system and a feather separation method that efficiently separate and collect feathers from products in which feathers are filled into a bag-shaped product of a covering and a method for producing recycled feathers. The feather separation system according to the present invention is a feather separation system for separating feathers from a product in which feathers are filled into a bag-shaped product of a covering. The feather separation system includes: a cutting part configured to cut the product into individual pieces so that at least a part of the bag-shaped product of the covering is open; a feather separation part configured to separate the individual pieces of the product into the feathers and the covering; a feather collection part configured to store the separated feathers; and an airflow introduction part configured to introduce airflow to the feather separation part.