Floating Cover Liquid Storage Tank Air Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wine storage solutions are complex, expensive, and difficult to clean, and fail to adapt to varying liquid levels while minimizing air contact, which can lead to oxidation and degradation of volatile and oxidation-sensitive liquids.
Innovation Solution
A storage tank with a cylindrical design, a floating cover that moves vertically with liquid levels, and a support system to maintain distance from the tank bottom and ceiling, combined with washing nozzles for easy cleaning, ensuring minimal air contact and effective liquid protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a floating cover with inflatable seal is used, then the liquid is protected from air contact, but the device cannot monitor variations in liquid level
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is designed to move vertically dynamically in response to liquid level changes. The cover includes a vertical movement guide and is positioned to float on the liquid surface, automatically adjusting its position as the liquid level rises or falls, thereby maintaining continuous contact protection while enabling level variation monitoring.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a floating lid with suction effect and sealing oil is used, then the liquid is protected from air contact, but the cleaning operation becomes delicate and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention eliminates the sealing oil layer entirely, replacing it with a mechanical sealing approach using a peripheral seal element that contacts the tank wall. This extraction of the oil-based sealing system removes the cleaning complexity associated with oil residue and allows for simpler, more effective cleaning operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The peripheral seal element is designed as a simple, replaceable component made of food-grade material that can be easily removed and replaced. This approach replaces the complex, difficult-to-clean sealing oil system with a disposable or easily replaceable mechanical seal that simplifies cleaning procedures.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a sealed tank with skirt dipping into sealing chamber is used, then the liquid is protected from air contact, but the tank design becomes complex and difficult to clean
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the complex sealing chamber and skirt structure from the tank design. Instead, it uses a simple floating cover with a peripheral seal element that directly contacts the tank wall, reducing structural complexity while maintaining effective sealing.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating a sealed chamber around the tank with a dipping skirt, the invention inverts the approach by placing a floating cover on top of the liquid that seals against the tank wall from above. This inverted sealing approach simplifies the overall tank design and improves cleanability.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If a floating lid with leather seal is used, then the liquid is protected from air contact, but the gap between lid and tank requires filling with oil
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the need for sealing oil in the gap between the cover and tank. It uses a peripheral seal element made of food-grade material that creates a mechanical seal against the tank wall, completely removing the requirement for oil-based sealing substances.
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 isolates liquids from air, adapts to varying liquid levels, and facilitates easy cleaning, preserving the quality of volatile and oxidation-sensitive liquids like wine.
Implementation Method 1
a cover (3), having a lower face (3a) and an upper face (3b), mounted inside the tank (2) and arranged to float on the liquid (L) present in the tank (2)
Implementation Method 2
the tank (2) being provided with washing nozzles (10)
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
AI summary
The invention relates to a device (1) for storing a liquid (L), comprising a storage tank (2) having a bottom (4) from which there rises a cylindrical wall (6) closed by a ceiling (5), the tank being provided with washing nozzles (10) and with at least one liquid supply inlet (8) and with at least one liquid outlet (9); a cover (3) mounted inside the tank and arranged to float on the liquid present in the tank; the cover (3) being mounted in the tank so as to delimit, with the cylindrical wall, a communication space (11) on all sides of the cover that is configured to allow the vertical movement of the cover when the level of the liquid changes in the tank, and wherein the device comprises a system (12) for pressing the cover onto the bottom of the tank that maintains the lower face (3a) of the cover at a distance from the bottom of the tank.