Hide Splitting Feeder Belt Retraction Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hide splitting machines require manual introduction of hides, posing safety risks and struggling with varying hide thicknesses, leading to suboptimal belt adjustment and potential hide rejection, with previous solutions being complex and ineffective.
Innovation Solution
An automatic feeder with a pair of looped belts that retract and rotate after hide insertion, allowing for thickness compensation without touching the rollers, preventing friction and wear, and enabling smooth hide stretching and feeding without external adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual introduction of hides is used, then operators can control hide insertion, but safety risks increase and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The automatic feeder system performs hide introduction, stretching, and positioning autonomously without operator intervention. The system uses sensors to detect hide presence and automatically controls the feeding mechanism, eliminating the need for manual handling while maintaining proper hide insertion control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operations with an automated mechanical system comprising conveyors, stretching mechanisms, and positioning devices. This substitution eliminates safety risks associated with manual hide handling while increasing processing speed and consistency.
2Device complexity
If fixed belt distance is maintained, then system simplicity is preserved, but hides with varying thickness cannot be properly processed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic belt positioning system where the distance between belts can be automatically adjusted based on detected hide thickness. Sensors measure hide dimensions and the control system modulates belt positions in real-time, allowing the feeder to adapt to varying hide thicknesses without manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameter of belt distance dynamically according to hide thickness. The control system modifies the spacing parameter between belts based on sensor feedback, enabling proper processing of hides with different thicknesses while maintaining system simplicity through automated control.
3Reliability
If belts are positioned close to rollers, then hide rejection is prevented, but friction and wear between belts and rollers increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a preliminary stretching and positioning action that prepares the hide for roller engagement before actual contact occurs. The belts stretch and align the hide in advance, ensuring proper positioning at the rollers without requiring excessive friction during the feeding process, thereby reducing wear.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediate stretching zone with controlled friction characteristics that mediates between the belts and the rollers. This intermediate zone allows the hide to be properly positioned and stretched before reaching the rollers, reducing direct friction and wear between belts and roller surfaces while maintaining feeding reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
The finding concerns a splitting machine for splitting the thickness of hides in two parts in the transverse direction, in order to separate the upper part from the lower part thereof, provided with an automatic feeder for transporting, stretching and inserting the hide between the conveyor rollers, of the type composed by two belts (11, 12) wrapped in a loop, mutually superimposed so as to determine an intermediate zone where the hide (P) slides and where the front ends (1, 2) of said belts (11, 12) are positioned in the hide introduction zone (13) as close as possible to the conveyor rollers (101, 102) of the splitting machine (100). Said feeder (10) is characterized in that it is provided with means that operate so that, when the edge (P2) of the hide (P) is inserted between the conveyor rollers (101, 102), simultaneously to the separation of the hide by the cutting blade (103), determine the retraction of the upper belt (11) only from the hide (P) introduction zone between the conveyor rollers (101, 102).