Guide Mandrel Feeding of Circular Blank Rings Without Jamming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing feeding devices struggle to reliably transport circular blanks from a pick-up point to a delivery point in an orderly manner, particularly when the blanks have a small radial ring width, leading to potential jamming and blockages.
Innovation Solution
A feeding device featuring a guide mandrel with a cylindrical or polygonal cross-section that extends along a longitudinal axis, allowing circular blanks to slide by gravity and supported by pressing or pushing means, with a holding device and centering sleeve to ensure accurate alignment and delivery, and a drive device for moving the guide mandrel without mechanical contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a stacking magazine with vibration is used to stack blanks flat, then the blanks are arranged in an orderly manner, but small ring fragments fall into each other due to play, causing blockage
Solution Approach 1:
A guide mandrel is introduced as an intermediary element between the receiving point and dispensing point. The guide mandrel provides a physical guide surface that constrains the movement of ring fragments, preventing them from falling into each other while still allowing orderly stacking and dispensing. The guide mandrel acts as a mediator that resolves the conflict between needing play for stacking and preventing blockage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional vibration-based stacking mechanism with a gravity-driven system guided by the mandrel. Instead of using vibration to arrange blanks, the guide mandrel allows blanks to slide down under gravity while maintaining proper alignment, eliminating the blockage issue caused by vibration-induced movement of small fragments.
2Ease of operation
If the guide mandrel is loosely arranged to allow disc rings to slide by gravity, then the feeding process is simple and reliable, but mechanical support and positioning must be minimized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates unnecessary mechanical support structures from the guide mandrel system. The guide mandrel is designed to be loosely arranged without direct mechanical guidance or support, allowing disc rings to slide freely under gravity. Only essential components like the holding device and centering sleeve are retained to provide minimal necessary support.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide mandrel system is designed to be self-sufficient, using the weight and movement of the disc rings themselves to achieve positioning and feeding. The rings slide down the mandrel under their own gravity, and the mandrel's loose arrangement allows it to adapt to the rings' movement without requiring external mechanical support or active control mechanisms.
3Reliability
If the upper end of the guide mandrel projects into the insertion channel, then disc rings are reliably threaded onto the mandrel, but an annular space must be left for the rings
Solution Approach 1:
The guide mandrel's upper end projects into the insertion channel in advance, creating a preparatory geometry that guides disc rings onto the mandrel before they fully enter the stacking area. This preliminary positioning ensures reliable threading by providing a gradual transition and alignment surface, while the annular space is only minimally required for the threading action itself.
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
Ensures reliable and orderly delivery of circular blanks from a disordered receiving point to a delivery point, preventing jamming and ensuring precise positioning, even for small blanks, through the use of a guide mandrel and holding device that allows for loose movement and non-mechanical actuation.
Implementation Method 1
The sliding movement of the disc rings along the guide mandrel is preferably caused solely by gravity
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention relates to a feeding device (21) to pick up a quantity of circular blank rings (15) at a pick-up point (22), to sort, and to deliver the same sporadically to a delivery point (23). A guide mandrel (34) extends along a longitudinal axis (L) from an upper end (35) to a lower end (36). The guide mandrel (34) is not directly held or guided by mechanical means. As a result, the guide mandrel (34) is arranged loosely in a freely movable manner, in particular along the longitudinal axis (L) thereof. In this way, the circular blank rings (15) can be threaded or plugged at the upper end (35) onto the guide mandrel (34), and can be stacked along the guide mandrel (34) coaxially to the longitudinal axis (L). At the lower end (36), the circular blank rings (15) can be removed from the guide mandrel (34) in that the latter is raised from the transport surface (24). The lifting can be done mechanically, magnetically, electromagnetically, by means of a fluid.