Metered Liquid Dosing Device With External Control Rod
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for delivering metered quantities of viscous fluids, such as food products, often suffer from product leaks that soil the actuating mechanism, making them difficult to clean and prone to environmental contamination.
Innovation Solution
The device features a receiving enclosure at the opposite end of the cylinder to collect leaks and keep the control rod and actuation mechanism away from soiled areas, allowing for easier cleaning and maintenance, with the piston disengaging for washing and the control rod extending into this enclosure to prevent contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the piston is operated directly from its operating rod in line with the cylinder, then the actuation mechanism is compact and simple, but the actuating mechanism is soiled by product leaks making it difficult to clean
Solution Approach 1:
The control rod is extracted from the cylinder and positioned externally in the receiving enclosure. This separates the actuation mechanism from the product-containing environment, allowing the piston to be actuated remotely without exposing the control mechanism to product leaks that would soil and complicate cleaning.
2Ease of operation
If the control rod is positioned outside the cylinder, then the actuating mechanism is easier to clean, but product leaks can still contaminate the environment
Solution Approach 1:
The control rod is nested within the receiving enclosure, which acts as a containment structure. This enclosure captures and contains any product leaks that occur, preventing them from contaminating the external environment while still allowing the control rod to extend into the enclosure for actuation purposes.
3Ease of operation
If the piston is disengaged from the metering chamber for washing, then the device can be thoroughly cleaned, but the dosing volume may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The piston is designed with dynamic positioning capability, allowing it to be engaged with the metering chamber wall during dosing operations to ensure precise volume measurement, and disengaged during washing operations to allow thorough cleaning access. This dynamic adjustment resolves the conflict between cleaning accessibility and dosing precision.
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 design effectively prevents environmental contamination, simplifies cleaning and maintenance, and enhances dosing accuracy by allowing air bubbles to rise and be expelled, while enabling simultaneous operation of multiple pistons with a common actuation system.
Implementation Method 1
the air bubbles which may be generated in the piston naturally tend to rise towards the top of the piston
Implementation Method 2
any product leaks settle there naturally, by gravity
Data Source
Figure 1~3
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AI summary
The device has a product dosing and delivering equipment (10) comprising a dosing chamber (12) formed in a cylinder (14). A piston is handled by an operating rod (26) extended from one end (12A) of the chamber towards another end (12B). The operating rod is connected to a control rod (28). The control rod is activated from its end (28A) located in a side of the former end of the chamber. An end of the cylinder opposite to the former end of the chamber is opened into a reception enclosure (36), where the control rod is extended into the enclosure.