Luggage Sorting Device With Telescopic Pusher And Guide Rollers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sorting devices are inefficient and costly for handling pieces of luggage, as they often get stuck due to projecting parts like straps and handles, and require a large number of plates, leading to increased mechanical resistance and wear, especially when sorting capacities are low.
Innovation Solution
The sorting device uses two guide elements connected to the pusher element, which are pivotally connected to a stationary guide, allowing for stable and flexible lateral movement of the pusher element to push products off the supporting surface without changing their orientation, and incorporates a telescopic pusher element and a closed supporting surface to prevent catching, along with a chain-driven conveying system for efficient movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a large number of plates are used to handle pieces of luggage, then the sorting capacity is increased, but the mechanical resistance and wear increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical plate system with a belt-based conveying system. The belt continuously moves sorting units without the need for multiple discrete plates, reducing mechanical friction and wear while maintaining high sorting capacity. The belt system eliminates the complex mechanical interactions between multiple plates that cause energy loss.
2Productivity
If traditional sorting devices are used for pieces of luggage, then sorting can be performed, but the projecting parts like straps and handles cause the luggage to get stuck
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of having the luggage move over a fixed surface with potential obstructions, the patent inverts the approach by having a flexible belt move with the luggage. The belt conforms to the luggage shape and moves synchronously, eliminating the risk of straps and handles catching on fixed structures. This inversion of the reference frame resolves the sticking problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a flexible belt as the conveying surface instead of rigid plates. The belt can adapt to the contours of luggage with projecting parts like straps and handles, preventing them from getting stuck. The flexibility of the belt allows it to move smoothly over various luggage shapes without creating mechanical interference.
3Productivity
If pusher elements move laterally to push products off the supporting surface, then sorting is achieved, but the guide elements and stationary guides experience increased wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces guide rollers as intermediary elements between the pusher element and the stationary guide. These rollers reduce direct friction and wear by converting sliding contact into rolling contact. The rollers act as a mediator that transfers the lateral movement force while minimizing mechanical wear on both the pusher element and the stationary guide structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A sorting device for sorting products, for example pieces of luggage, including a removing mechanism moving the product to be sorted off the supporting surface at a desired sorting location, wherein the removing mechanism includes a pusher element and a moving mechanism moving the pusher element laterally at a sorting location so as to have the pusher element push the product to be sorted off the supporting surface. The removing mechanism further includes two guides each sorting unit for guiding two respective guide members of the pusher element during the lateral movement of the pusher element.