Dynamic Feed Device for Extrusion Bridging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing feed devices for extrusion machines face challenges in ensuring a continuous and uniform supply of raw materials, particularly those with high fiber content, which are prone to bridging due to poor flowability, leading to clogging and irregular supply.
Innovation Solution
A feed device with an adjusting mechanism that allows displacement and tilting of the feed channel section and filling funnel, enabling adjustable distance and angle between their longitudinal axes, and oscillating movements to enhance flowability and prevent bridging, ensuring a consistent supply of raw materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a stationary feed pipe and feed hopper are used for gravity-assisted feeding, then the device structure is simple, but bridging occurs and raw material feed becomes irregular
Solution Approach 1:
The feed hopper is made movable relative to the extrusion machine feed opening through a displacement device, allowing dynamic adjustment of the feed position and angle. This dynamic configuration prevents bridging by continuously varying the material flow path while maintaining reliable feed of difficult-to-convey raw materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The displacement device implements periodic oscillating movements of the feed hopper, creating periodic changes in the material flow characteristics. This periodic action disrupts potential bridging formations and ensures continuous, uniform feed of raw materials with poor flow properties.
2Productivity
If the feed hopper cross-section tapers towards the production machine, then gravity-assisted feeding is improved, but bridging risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The feed hopper maintains its tapered cross-section for effective gravity-assisted feeding while being made dynamically movable. The combination of the static taper geometry (for productivity) and dynamic displacement (for reliability) resolves the contradiction between feed rate and bridging prevention.
3Adaptability or versatility
If raw material with high fiber content is fed, then product variety is increased, but flowability deteriorates and bridging occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The dynamic displacement of the feed hopper compensates for the poor flowability of high-fiber raw materials by continuously varying the material flow path and preventing bridging formations, enabling reliable feeding of diverse raw material types including those with challenging flow properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The oscillating movement of the feed hopper creates mechanical vibrations in the raw material flow, which helps prevent bridging of cohesive, high-fiber materials and improves their conveyability through the feed device.
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 effectively prevents bridging and ensures a continuous, uniform supply of raw materials, even for poorly flowing materials, thereby maintaining a consistent extrudate quality and reducing operational effort.
Implementation Method 1
an adjusting device (7) for generating an adjusting movement, by means of which an adjusting movement of the feed channel section (3) and/or the filling funnel (5) can be generated, whereby a displacement of the feed channel section (3) relative to the filling funnel (5) can be effected
Implementation Method 2
the raw material is fed through a feed opening of the production machine, with the feed of the raw material taking place from above into the feed opening of the production machine under the influence of gravity
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
Method and device for supplying a raw material quantity to a production machine (2). The raw material quantity is supplied to the production machine (2) through a supply opening along a trajectory by means of a supply unit (1). The trajectory of the raw material quantity can be varied. The supply unit (1) consists of a supply channel portion (3) having an exit opening (3), and a feed hopper (5). The supply unit (1) comprises at least one advance unit (7) by means of which an advance movement of the supply channel portion (3) and/or of the feed hopper (5) can be produced so that it is possible to cause the supply channel portion (3) to move relative to the feed hopper (5). The invention also relates to a method for processing a raw material mixture in an extrusion machine to produce a food product. The raw material mixture is supplied to the extrusion machine by means of the moving supply unit (1), thereby allowing the raw material mixture to be supplied to the extrusion machine especially uniformly so that the raw material mixture can be processed by means of the extrusion machine.