Viscous Material Follower Plate Safety Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for conveying viscous materials pose a risk of injury to operating personnel during container changes, particularly when inexperienced personnel handle the follower plate and upper edge of the barrel.
Innovation Solution
A protective device encloses the area around the upper edge of the container during follower plate insertion, featuring a stationary housing or hood that covers the upper edge and includes switches to automatically shut off the drive unit if the edge is exposed, preventing accidental contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the follower plate is manually inserted into the container, then the conveying process can be restarted, but the risk of injury to operating personnel increases due to exposure of the upper edge of the container
Solution Approach 1:
A protective body is introduced as an intermediary element between the operating personnel and the container's upper edge. This protective body encloses the upper edge of the container when the follower plate is inserted, preventing direct contact between personnel and the potentially hazardous edge, thus resolving the contradiction between operational ease and safety
Solution Approach 2:
A switch device provides feedback control by detecting whether the protective body is properly positioned around the container's upper edge. The switch actuates to switch off the drive unit of the lifting device when the protective body is in place, preventing accidental movement that could cause injury, thereby enabling safe container change operations
2Ease of operation
If the protective body is removed during follower plate insertion, then access to the container is gained, but the drive unit may cause injury if not switched off
Solution Approach 1:
The switch device continuously monitors the position of the protective body and provides feedback control of the drive unit. When the protective body is removed or improperly positioned during follower plate insertion, the switch actuates to automatically switch off the drive unit, preventing accidental activation that could injure personnel while maintaining necessary access to the container
Data Source
Figure 1a~1c
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The invention relates to a device (10, 110) for conveying viscous material out of a barrel-type container (12) which has a container base (14) and a circumferential container wall (18) extending from the container base (14) to a container upper edge (16), and which is open at the container upper edge (16), comprising a follower plate (26) for closing the container (12) and having a material outlet (28) connected to a conveying pump (30), wherein the follower plate (26) can be moved up and down in the container (12) with a sealing contact on an inner surface of the container wall (18) facing towards same, and comprising a lifting device (22) for raising and lowering the follower plate (26), wherein the lifting device (22) has a drive unit. According to the invention, a protection device (32, 132) having a protection element (34, 134) is provided, which is arranged in relation to the follower plate (26) and the container (12) in such a way that, when introducing the follower plate (26) into the container (12), it encircles both the follower plate (26) and the container (12) in the region of the container upper edge (16). The protection device (32, 132) also has at least one switch (52, 152, 154) for deactivating the drive unit in the event that the container upper edge (16) becomes at least partially exposed by the protective element (34, 134) during the introduction of the follower plate (26) into the container (12).