Elastic Band Dispenser With Convex Surface And Stop Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manual handling of rubber bands in industrial settings is inefficient due to their tendency to tangle, making it difficult to separate individual bands for use.
Innovation Solution
A dispenser with a fixed convex surface and stop element is used to manage a chain of rupturably connected elastic bands, allowing for easy dispensing by drawing the chain over the surface and inserting the stop element into the bands' apertures, facilitating the separation of individual bands.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If rubber bands are provided in a package in which many rubber bands are jumbled together, then the packaging is simple and compact, but the bands tangle into a mass making it difficult to separate a single band for use
Solution Approach 1:
The rubber bands are segmented into individual units by providing them in a linear array with ruptureable connections between adjacent bands. This allows the bands to be stored in a compact package while enabling easy separation of individual bands by breaking the ruptureable connections, resolving the contradiction between packaging simplicity and band separation difficulty.
2Device complexity
If manual handling of rubber bands is used in industrial settings, then no additional equipment is required, but the handling takes more time than desired due to tangling
Solution Approach 1:
A dispenser device serves as an intermediary between the packaged rubber bands and the user. The dispenser maintains the bands in a linear array configuration and provides a mechanism for easy separation by breaking ruptureable connections, thereby significantly improving handling speed and productivity while adding only minimal equipment complexity.
3Ease of operation
If rubber bands are provided in a linear array with ruptureable connections, then individual bands can be easily separated, but the package structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The package structure applies local quality by providing ruptureable connections only at specific locations between adjacent bands, while the rest of the package maintains a simple linear array configuration. This localized complexity enables easy band separation without requiring the entire package structure to be complex.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3A
Figure 3B
AI summary
A dispenser (10) is configured for use with a chain (30) of rupturably connected elastic bands (28), each of the bands (28) having an aperture (36). The dispenser (10) includes a fixed convex surface (80) and a stop element (26). The chain (30) of bands (28) is configured to be drawn over the fixed convex surface (80) in a direction (39) from a first side (82) to a second side (84) of the surface (80). The stop element (26) is positioned proximate the second side (84) of the surface (80) and is configured for insertion into the aperture (36) of one of the elastic bands (28). In another aspect, an assembly (46, 62) is configured for use with a chain (30) of rupturably connected elastic bands (28). The chain (30) is provided on a spool (52, 72), and each of the bands (28) has an aperture (36) therethrough. The assembly (46, 62) includes a dispenser (10) and a shaft (50, 68) configured to support the spool (52, 72). Methods are described for dispensing elastic bands (28) from a chain (30) of rupturably connected elastic bands (28).