Modular Blender Segmentation for Small Batch Yield Loss
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional blenders are large, expensive, and inefficient for small batch operations, with significant yield loss due to mass holdup and difficulty in cleaning and sampling, making them unsuitable for small-scale and continuous blending processes.
Innovation Solution
A modular blender design with separable sections, a rotating shaft, and adjustable blades and baffles, allowing for customizable mixing profiles and reduced mass holdup, enabling efficient blending of small batches with minimal waste and easy cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional large-scale blenders are used, then blending capacity is sufficient for large batches, but yield loss due to mass holdup becomes significant for small batches
Solution Approach 1:
The blender is divided into multiple detachable sections (proximal section, at least one intermediate section, and distal section) that can be assembled in different configurations. This segmentation allows the blender to be scaled down for small batches while maintaining efficient blending performance, and enables complete disassembly for cleaning. The modular design reduces mass holdup by allowing material to be accessed and removed from all sections.
Solution Approach 2:
The blender design allows dynamic adjustment of the number and configuration of sections based on batch size requirements. Users can assemble only the necessary number of sections for each blending operation, optimizing the blending capacity to match the batch size and minimizing unnecessary mass holdup.
2Productivity
If conventional large-scale blenders are used, then blending performance is adequate, but cleaning difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The blender consists of multiple detachable sections with simple connection interfaces (ridges and grooves) that allow quick assembly and disassembly. Each section can be easily separated and cleaned independently, dramatically improving cleaning ease while maintaining adequate blending performance through proper section configuration.
3Productivity
If conventional blenders are used, then blending capability is sufficient, but sampling ability is limited without disturbing the process
Solution Approach 1:
The modular section design allows the blender to be temporarily disassembled for sampling at various locations along the blending path without completely stopping the process. Material can be accessed from intermediate sections while the proximal and distal sections continue operating, enabling sampling without full process interruption.
4Device complexity
If conventional blenders are used, then design is simple, but adaptability to different mixing needs is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The blender uses standardized detachable sections that can be assembled in different numbers and configurations to meet various blending requirements. This modular approach maintains design simplicity through standardization while providing high adaptability - users can configure the blender for different batch sizes, mixing intensities, and material types by selecting appropriate section combinations.
Solution Approach 2:
Each section is designed with universal connection features (ridges and grooves) that allow any section to connect to any other section in any configuration. This universality enables a single set of sections to serve multiple blending applications, from small to large batches, eliminating the need for multiple specialized blenders.
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
The modular blender effectively reduces yield loss, allows for efficient small-batch processing, and facilitates easy cleaning and sampling, making it suitable for small-scale and continuous operations while being cost-effective and adaptable to various mixing needs.
Implementation Method 1
A continuous powder blender may also have a constant fill amount of material, known as the mass holdup, that is given by the transit of material from the inlet to the outlet
Implementation Method 2
The sections may be coupled together using any suitable means, such as ridges and grooves that receive one another
Data Source
AI summary
A blender includes a proximal section having a proximal upper housing and a proximal lower housing, a distal section having a distal upper housing and a distal lower housing, at least one intermediate section disposed between the proximal section and the distal section and coupleable thereto, each of the at least one intermediate section including an intermediate upper housing and an intermediate lower housing, a shaft extending through the proximal section, the distal section and the at least one intermediate section, and at least one blade disposed on the shaft.