Compact Melt Filter with Parallel Sieve Disks for High-Volume Plastic Processing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current melt filters for large volumes of plastic melts are limited by the structural size of their filter elements, which cannot withstand high pressures, necessitating multiple filters that are costly, space-intensive, and energy-inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A compact melt filter design with multiple inlet blocks and a single outlet block, featuring rotatable sieve disks driven by a common motorized ratchet drive, and a filter element changing station, allowing for increased filtration capacity without significant increases in space, energy, or control requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the filter surface area is increased to filter larger amounts of melt, then the filtration capacity is improved, but the filter thickness must also increase to resist the melt pressure, which reduces the sieve surface to thickness ratio and compromises filter performance
Solution Approach 1:
The single large filter is divided into multiple sieve disks (first, second, and third sieve disks) arranged in parallel within the housing. Each sieve disk has its own filter element that can be independently replaced. This segmentation allows the system to handle larger filtration volumes without requiring any single filter element to be excessively thick, thereby maintaining the optimal sieve surface to thickness ratio across all filter elements.
2Productivity
If multiple separate melt filters are provided to handle large volumes, then the filtration capacity is improved, but the space requirement, cost, and control complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple sieve disks (first, second, and third sieve disks) are combined within a single housing that has one common melt inlet and one common melt outlet. The sieve disks are arranged in parallel and can be rotated independently or simultaneously by a common drive mechanism. This merging approach allows the system to filter large volumes of melt while using a single housing structure, reducing the number of separate filters needed and thereby lowering space requirements, cost, and control complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The common drive mechanism serves multiple functions by being able to rotate the first, second, and third sieve disks independently or simultaneously. This multi-functionality allows a single control system to manage multiple filtration elements, reducing the need for separate controls for each filter and simplifying the overall system operation.
3Productivity
If multiple separate melt filters are used, then the filtration capacity is improved, but the energy consumption for heating increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple sieve disks are combined within a single housing that maintains a compact overall structure. This merged design reduces the total surface area that requires heating compared to having multiple separate filters. The common housing and its associated heating elements can more efficiently thermal manage the entire filtration system, thereby reducing the total energy consumption for heating the filters while maintaining the capacity to filter large volumes of melt.
Data Source
AI summary
A melt filter, for the purification of plastic melts, particularly dispensed from extruders, comprises a housing (1) with a melt channel (10), connecting a melt inlet (7) to a melt outlet (9), with a sieve disc (5), which may be rotated by a motorized ratchet drive provided in the melt channel (10), comprising recesses separated by ridges in a circular track for housing exchangeable filter elements and the housing (1) has a filter element changing station (13). The aim of the invention is that the above shall be designed such that large amounts of melt for filtering can be filtered in a cost-effective energy saving and space saving manner. The above is achieved by means of the housing comprising at least two melt inlets (7, 8) connected to the melt outlet (9) by at least two melt channels (10, 11) and in each melt channel (10, 11) a sieve disc (5, 6) driven on rotation by a motorized ratchet drive is provided and each sieve disc (5, 6) is provided with a filter element exchange station (13, 15).