Micro-Ingredient Tower for High-Speed Beverage Mixing
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-speed beverage container filling lines face significant downtime when switching between different beverage products, as existing systems require extensive flushing and changeover procedures, making it inefficient to produce small volumes or customized mixes.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a micro-ingredient tower with a nozzle head featuring dispensing needles, allowing for the precise dosing of multiple micro-ingredients into containers, along with a loading and dispensing section, enables quick adaptation to various beverages and flavors without costly changeovers, facilitating efficient and customizable production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional batch filling process is used with large beverage tanks and pipes, then high-speed filling can be achieved, but significant downtime occurs when switching between different beverage products due to required flushing and changeover procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The beverage delivery system is segmented into multiple independent channels, each with its own tank and dispensing needle. This allows different beverage products to be delivered simultaneously through different channels without requiring system-wide flushing or changeover, thereby maintaining high filling speed while eliminating downtime during product transitions.
Solution Approach 2:
Each dispensing channel is designed as a universal module capable of handling multiple beverage products. The system can quickly switch between different beverages by selecting different channels or adjusting individual channel parameters, rather than requiring the entire filling system to be reconfigured, thus reducing changeover time while maintaining productivity.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional beverage dispensing systems are used, then simple product filling can be achieved, but the system lacks flexibility to quickly adapt to various beverages and flavors or produce customized mixes
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the beverage dispensing function into multiple independent channels, each capable of handling different beverages or flavor components. This segmentation allows the system to maintain simple, reliable individual channels while achieving high versatility through the combination of multiple channels working together to create customized beverage mixes.
Solution Approach 2:
The dispensing system incorporates dynamic control capabilities that allow real-time adjustment of each channel's dispensing parameters such as flow rate, timing, and dosage. This dynamic control enables the system to adapt to different beverage types and create customized mixes on-demand, transforming a static simple system into a versatile adaptive system.
3Reliability
If extensive flushing and changeover procedures are implemented, then thorough cleaning between products is achieved, but production efficiency decreases due to increased downtime
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the system into independent channels, cleaning can be performed on individual channels rather than requiring system-wide flushing. This allows thorough cleaning of each channel while other channels remain operational, maintaining production efficiency while ensuring reliable cleaning between different beverage products.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary cleaning actions on individual channels before product changeover is required. This allows cleaning to be done in advance during low-demand periods or between batches, ensuring thorough cleaning is completed before the next product run without causing downtime during peak production times.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present application provides a micro-ingredient tower for filling a container with a number of different micro-ingredients. The micro-ingredient tower may include a number of micro-ingredient containers therein and a nozzle head. The nozzle head may include a number of dispensing needles therein such that each of the dispensing needles doses a micro-ingredient into the container.