Container Filling Conveyor Inversion Reduces Acceleration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing container filling devices in the pharmaceutical industry face issues with container acceleration and centrifugal force, leading to potential loss of products during the filling process, compromising quality and stability.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that utilize a series of stationary filling units with a controlled conveyor system, where containers are moved in cycles with a reduced step length that is a whole-number multiple of their spacing, reducing acceleration and maintaining high throughput by using a combination of conveyor devices and a control unit to manage container movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the slide and endless conveyor chain move rapidly in the same direction to transport filled containers, then the throughput and filling capacity are improved, but the acceleration of containers increases causing centrifugal force that leads to product loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reverses the direction of movement between the slide and the endless conveyor chain. Instead of both moving in the same direction (which causes additive speeds and high acceleration), the slide moves in the opposite direction to the conveyor chain during the transfer phase. This subtraction of velocities significantly reduces the acceleration of filled containers, preventing centrifugal force from causing product loss while maintaining efficient throughput.
2Loss of time
If rapid translational movements are used to move filled containers away from filling stations, then the cycle time is reduced and productivity increases, but the quality characteristics cannot be maintained due to product loss
Solution Approach 1:
By making the slide move in the opposite direction to the endless conveyor chain during container transfer, the patent reduces the net acceleration experienced by filled containers. This allows for rapid cycle times and high productivity while maintaining quality characteristics, as the reduced acceleration prevents centrifugal force from causing tablets to fall out of bottles.
3Productivity
If the speed of the slide and conveyor chain are increased to maintain high throughput, then the filling efficiency is improved, but the centrifugal force causes tablets to fall out of bottles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs opposite-direction movement of the slide relative to the conveyor chain to subtract velocities during container transfer. This allows the system to maintain high filling efficiency and throughput while reducing the acceleration forces on filled containers, thereby preventing product loss and ensuring process stability and reliability.
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
Significantly reduces the acceleration of filled containers, minimizing the risk of product loss due to centrifugal force while maintaining high filling capacity and process stability, ensuring consistent quality.
Implementation Method 1
the group of bottles already filled with tablets undergoes considerable acceleration as a result of the rapid translational movements of the slide and of the endless conveyor chain, which are both moving in the same direction and the speeds of which are therefore additive. As a result, it is possible for centrifugal force to cause individual tablets to fall out of the filled but as yet unsealed bottles.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for filling a plurality of containers in cycles at a predetermined number of stationary filling units arranged in a row with a first spacing from each other. The method includes providing a plurality of positively guided containers in a row, one-by-one, wherein the containers have a uniform second spacing from each other, wherein the first spacing of the individual filling units is a whole-number multiple of the second spacing of the containers, and filling a predetermined number of the containers simultaneously at the filling units. The containers are shifted in cycles along the filling units in a transport direction by a step length, which is a whole-number multiple of the second spacing of the containers and which is shorter than a third spacing between a first filling unit and a last filling unit steps of filling and shifting are repeated over a predetermined number of iterations.