Injection Device Piston Shutter for Cleanable Pressure Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing injection devices are complex and have inaccessible areas, making them difficult to clean, which reduces throughput and increases the risk of contamination, especially when used for filling containers with consumer products.
Innovation Solution
A simplified injection device design with a piston system that allows for easy cleaning by replacing the liquid with cleaning products, featuring a shutter and body arrangement that isolates chambers and controls pressure, enabling controllable and variable injection pressure without additional valves.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional valve systems are used in injection devices, then injection function is achieved, but cleaning becomes difficult and device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the conventional valve system from the injection device and replaces it with a piston-based injection mechanism. The piston system uses a simple opening in the chamber wall instead of complex valves, making the device much easier to clean while maintaining injection functionality. The piston directly controls liquid flow by moving within the chamber, eliminating the need for separate valve components.
Solution Approach 2:
The injection device is divided into distinct functional zones: a filling zone where liquid enters the chamber, and an injection zone where the piston delivers the liquid. The piston itself is segmented into a body and a shutter component that can move relative to each other, allowing simple control of liquid flow without complex valve mechanisms.
2Ease of manufacture
If flexible membranes are used for filling and injection control, then cleaning is easier than conventional valves, but some areas remain inaccessible to cleaning products
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates flexible membranes entirely and replaces them with a rigid piston system. The piston components (body and shutter) are designed with open structures that allow cleaning products to flow through and contact all surfaces. The shutter moves within the chamber creating open pathways for cleaning fluid access, eliminating hidden areas where contamination could occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The piston shutter is designed with specific geometric features including apertures and open edges that ensure cleaning products can reach all critical surfaces. The local geometry of the piston components is optimized to prevent dead zones where cleaning fluid might not reach, while maintaining the injection function.
3Reliability
If the injection device is dismantled for cleaning, then thorough cleaning is achieved, but machine operation is stopped and throughput is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The injection device is designed to be cleanable in-situ without disassembly or machine shutdown. The piston system allows cleaning products to continuously flow through the filling zone and injection zone during normal operation or brief cleaning cycles, maintaining production continuity while achieving thorough cleaning of all internal surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The device structure itself facilitates its own cleaning through the piston movement mechanism. When the shutter moves, it creates flow paths that allow cleaning products to automatically reach all internal surfaces including areas around the piston and chamber walls, without requiring external disassembly or manual intervention.
4Stress or pressure
If additional valves are added to control injection pressure, then pressure control is improved, but device complexity increases and cleaning difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The piston system performs multiple functions: it controls liquid flow from the filling zone to the injection zone, it regulates injection pressure through its movement characteristics, and it maintains simple cleanable geometry. The single piston component replaces what would otherwise require multiple valves and pressure control mechanisms, achieving pressure control as an inherent function of the injection mechanism 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
The device can be thoroughly cleaned without disassembly, maintaining machine operation and ensuring contamination prevention, while allowing for precise control of injection pressure, especially beneficial in hydroforming processes.
Implementation Method 1
a piston extending in said chamber and dividing said chamber in an upper chamber, in fluidic communication with the inlet, and a lower chamber, in fluidic communication with the outlet, said piston being movable in said chamber in a filling direction, wherein the volume of the lower chamber increases while the volume of the upper chamber decreases
Implementation Method 2
the piston further comprising a shutter which can move with respect to the body between a relative closed position, wherein the body and the shutter isolate the upper chamber from the lower chamber and prevent fluidic communication between said chambers
Implementation Method 3
a mechanical actuator being attached to the piston, said mechanical actuator being actuable to move the piston in the injecting direction and in the filling direction
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The injection device (1) comprises: an inlet (2), an outlet (4) and a chamber (6) extending between the inlet (2) and the outlet (4), a piston (12) dividing said chamber (6) in an upper chamber (16) and a lower chamber (18), said piston (12) being movable in said chamber (6) and comprising a body (14). The piston (12) comprises a shutter (30) movable with respect to the body (14) between a closed position, wherein the body (14) and the shutter (30) isolate the upper chamber (16) from the lower chamber (18) when the piston (12) is moved in an injecting direction, and an open position, wherein the body (14) and the shutter (30) place the upper chamber (16) in fluidic communication with the lower chamber (18) when the piston (12) is moved in a filling direction.