Horizontal Support Mats for Flexible Laminar Drying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current drying equipment for flexible laminar surfaces, such as leather, faces issues with stress on the material during transport, non-uniform treatment, surface sliding of paint, and limited versatility in handling different sizes and types of leather, leading to suboptimal product quality and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
The equipment features a feeder system with support mats that maintain the laminar surfaces in a horizontal position throughout the drying process, utilizing a dual-tunnel setup where the drying tunnel handles 90% of the drying and the conditioning tunnel completes the final 10%, with independently controlled temperature, humidity, and air treatment in each cell to ensure uniformity and adaptability to various leather types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If a long drying tunnel is used to achieve sufficient drying time, then the drying effectiveness is improved, but the space requirement and device complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The drying system is divided into two independent tunnels: a primary drying tunnel that performs 90% of the drying, and a secondary conditioning tunnel that completes the final 10%. This segmentation allows each tunnel to be optimized for its specific function while keeping individual tunnel lengths reasonable and space-efficient.
2Ease of operation
If support poles are used to transport leather vertically, then the transport function is achieved, but stress on the leather and non-uniform treatment occur
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of suspending leather vertically from support poles as in conventional systems, the invention transports leather horizontally on support mats. This inversion of the transport orientation eliminates localized stress concentrations and ensures uniform exposure to drying conditions across the entire leather surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Support mats are introduced as an intermediary transport medium between the drying tunnel and conditioning tunnel. These mats provide a flat, stable platform that distributes the leather's weight evenly and maintains consistent positioning throughout the transport process, preventing the non-uniform treatment caused by pole suspension.
3Ease of operation
If leather is suspended vertically on support poles, then transport is enabled, but paint sliding occurs on the surface
Solution Approach 1:
The transport orientation is inverted from vertical suspension to horizontal support. This change in orientation allows the painted surface to remain flat and stable, preventing gravity-induced paint sliding while still enabling effective transport from the drying to the conditioning tunnel.
4Ease of manufacture
If a rack system with trays is used for transport, then leather of reduced sizes can be handled, but versatility for different leather sizes is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The support mats are designed with universal dimensions and characteristics that enable them to accommodate various leather sizes and types effectively. This universal design provides versatility across different leather dimensions while maintaining ease of handling and transport operations.
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 configuration enhances the quality of the finished product by minimizing stress and paint sliding, allowing for efficient and uniform treatment of diverse leather sizes and types, while maintaining high operational flexibility and productivity.
Implementation Method 1
the feeder means comprise a plurality of support mats (4), each provided with an upper surface (4a) adapted to temporarily receive in a spread position a laminar surface to be treated, characterized in that the feeder means (3) comprise actuator means (6, 7, 8) which move each of the support mats (4) into the drying tunnel (5) and/or into the conditioning tunnel (2)
Implementation Method 2
a drying tunnel (5), which temporarily receives laminar surfaces in order to perform on the latter a drying operation
Implementation Method 3
a conditioning tunnel (2), connected upstream with the drying tunnel (5), which temporarily receives the laminar surfaces in order to perform on the latter a conditioning operation
Implementation Method 4
the conditioning tunnel (2), connected upstream with the drying tunnel (5), which temporarily receives the laminar surfaces in order to perform on the latter a conditioning operation
Implementation Method 5
with independently controlled temperature, humidity, and air treatment in each cell to ensure uniformity
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
Equipment (1) for drying flexible laminar surfaces including a conditioning tunnel (2), which temporarily receives the laminar surfaces treated with liquid agents in order to perform a drying operation on them, and adduction means (3), operatively connected with the conditioning tunnel (2), suitable to transport the surfaces to the conditioning tunnel (2), comprising a set of support belts (4), each equipped with an upper surface (4a) suitable to temporarily receive in spread position a laminar surface, said support belts (4) being operatively connected with actuator means which move each of the support belts (4) into the conditioning tunnel (2).