Fluid Jet Cutting for Mattress Component Separation in Recycling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for recycling mattresses are inefficient, requiring significant manual labor and time for cutting, and shredding does not allow for the recovery of individual components, often resulting in incineration or landfill disposal.
Innovation Solution
A method using a fluid jet cutter, such as a water or gas jet cutter, to quickly and easily separate a mattress into parts, including cutting the top and bottom covers near the side walls, or the side walls near the top and bottom covers, and interior parts, allowing for the recovery of all recoverable materials without manual intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual cutting is used to separate mattress components, then individual components can be recovered, but significant manual labor and time are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical cutting with an automated cutting system that uses fluid jets (water or gas) to separate mattress components. This substitution eliminates manual labor while maintaining precise separation of individual components, resolving the contradiction between component recovery accuracy and cutting time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs hydraulic or pneumatic systems in the form of fluid jet cutters that射出 high-pressure water or gas jets to cut through mattress materials. This approach enables rapid, automated cutting without manual intervention, significantly reducing cutting time while preserving the ability to recover individual components intact.
2Productivity
If shredding is used to process mattresses, then processing speed increases, but individual components cannot be recovered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by using multiple fluid jet cutters positioned to make sequential cuts that divide the mattress into distinct sections (head section, foot section, lateral sections). This segmented approach maintains processing speed while ensuring individual components remain separated and recoverable, unlike shredding which destroys component integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts individual components from the mattress structure by making precise cuts that separate covers, side walls, and interior parts. This extraction approach enables both fast processing and complete component recovery, resolving the contradiction between productivity and component separation accuracy.
3Productivity
If fluid jet cutters are used to separate mattress components, then processing speed and automation increase, but the complexity of the cutting system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a universal fluid jet cutter design that can handle multiple mattress materials (fabric, foam, metal springs) with a single system. The fluid jet technology serves multiple functions including cutting, separating, and potentially cleaning, thereby increasing productivity without proportionally increasing system complexity.
4Ease of manufacture
If traditional recycling methods are used, then processing costs are lower, but environmental contamination occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical shredding and incineration methods with fluid jet cutting technology. This substitution eliminates environmental contamination from shredding debris and incineration emissions while maintaining cost-effectiveness through automated processing and complete material recovery for recycling.
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
This method enables fast, cost-effective, and environmentally clean recovery of mattress components, with no contamination by unfriendly substances, facilitating the separation of difficult-to-separate materials from the core, which can be easily processed further.
Implementation Method 1
it comprises the use of a fluid jet cutter and cutting: [a] the mattress in at least one of the top cover and bottom cover near the side walls
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for dividing into parts a mattress, the mattress comprising: - a top cover, - a bottom cover, - side walls connecting the top cover and the bottom cover, and - interior parts, and is characterized in that it comprises the use of a fluid jet cutter and comprises the steps of cutting: [a] the mattress in at least one of the top cover and bottom cover near the side walls; or [b] the mattress in at least one side wall near the top cover and bottom cover for disconnecting at least part of one side wall of the mattress from at least one of the top cover and the bottom cover; or [c] interior parts for disconnecting mutually connected or coupled components.