Metering Device Mouthpiece Design for Bulk Material Flow Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional metering devices for filling bulk materials into small bags, such as stick packs, face issues where bulk material particles stick to the inside walls of the bag during filling, compromising the quality and impermeability of the cross-sealing seam, necessitating early closure of the metering device and limiting machine output.
Innovation Solution
A metering device design featuring a hollow cylinder-shaped mouthpiece with a larger inner diameter than the metering tube, combined with a closing head having a conical surface and a cylindrical lateral surface, allows the bulk material to be directed away from the bag's inside wall, ensuring minimal sticking and maintaining the metering device open until just before bag closure, thus maximizing machine cycles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the metering device remains open during filling, then the machine output is maximized, but bulk material particles stick to the inside wall of the bag compromising cross-sealing quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mouthpiece that extends in the longitudinal axis beyond the closing head, creating a third-dimensional space above the metering opening. This extension redirects bulk material flow into an annular gap between the mouthpiece inner wall and bag outer wall, preventing particles from contacting the bag's cross-sealing region while maintaining device openness for continuous operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The mouthpiece acts as an intermediary structure between the metering opening and the bag opening. It intercepts bulk material particles that would otherwise stick to the bag wall, redirecting them through the annular gap. This mediator component solves the contradiction by protecting the bag's cross-sealing area while allowing the metering device to remain open.
2Reliability
If the metering device is closed early to prevent contamination, then the cross-sealing quality is maintained, but the metering time window is reduced limiting machine cycles
Solution Approach 1:
By extending the mouthpiece longitudinally beyond the closing head, the patent creates a spatial buffer zone that allows the metering device to remain open while preventing contamination. The annular gap provides an alternative material flow path that eliminates the need for early closure, thus preserving both cross-sealing quality and metering time window.
Solution Approach 2:
The mouthpiece serves as a protective intermediary that allows the metering device to stay open while preventing particles from reaching the bag's cross-sealing region. This mediator enables continuous metering operation without compromising seal integrity, eliminating the time loss associated with early closure.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a hollow cylinder shaped mouthpiece with larger inner diameter is added, then bulk material is directed away from the bag wall, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mouthpiece performs multiple functions: it redirects bulk material flow away from the bag wall, provides structural support for the closing head, and creates the annular gap for particle-free flow. By combining multiple functions into a single component, the patent reduces the net increase in device complexity while achieving the goal of preventing material adherence.
Solution Approach 2:
The mouthpiece is integrated with the closing head and metering tube structure, merging multiple functional elements into a unified component assembly. This integration approach minimizes the increase in device complexity by combining the redirecting function with existing structural elements rather than adding completely separate components.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a device (10) for the metered filling of bulk material having a metering screw (16), which is arranged in a hollow cylinder shaped metering tube (12) and which can be slid in a longitudinal axis (L) of the metering tube (12), having a closing head (18) for closing a metering opening (14), wherein the closing head (18) has a substantially conical surface (20) and the metering tube (12) transitions after the metering opening (14) into a hollow cylinder shaped mouthpiece (32) having a larger inner diameter (DMi) compared to the inner diameter (dRi) of the metering tube (12).