Modular Conveyor Unit Design for Textile Folding Alignment Precision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing conveyor devices for folding textiles face issues with process stability, cost optimization, ease of assembly and repair, and precise alignment due to rigid side plates and cumulative axis tolerances, which hinder efficient transportation and folding processes.
Innovation Solution
A modular conveyor device design with detachable subassemblies and adjustable modular conveyor units, allowing precise alignment and easy maintenance, where belt conveyors and transfer units are driven by a common drive and feature spring tension for reliable textile handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rigid side plates with multiple individually mounted axes are used, then the conveyor device can be assembled, but cumulative axis tolerances cause significant axial offsets reducing process stability
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor device is divided into modular conveyor units, each comprising a bearing plate with integrated roller bearings. This segmentation allows each module to be manufactured and pre-assembled separately with controlled tolerances, avoiding the cumulative tolerance issue of rigid side plates with multiple individually mounted axes.
Solution Approach 2:
A bearing plate serves as an intermediary component that integrates multiple roller bearings in a fixed geometric relationship. This bearing plate acts as a precision reference frame, ensuring that all axes within a module maintain precise alignment while allowing the entire module to be easily replaced or adjusted.
2Ease of repair
If modular conveyor units with detachable subassemblies are used, then ease of maintenance and replacement is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor device is segmented into standardized modular units that can be independently removed and replaced. Each module contains complete functional elements (bearings, rollers, drive mechanisms), allowing defective units to be quickly swapped without disassembling the entire conveyor system.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple functional components (roller bearings, drive mechanisms, support structures) are merged into integrated modular units. This consolidation simplifies maintenance by treating the entire module as a single replaceable entity, reducing the complexity of individual component interactions during repair operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple folding steps with different conveyor planes are used, then textile folding capability is improved, but alignment precision between planes becomes difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The multi-plane conveyor system is segmented into discrete modular units, each responsible for a specific folding operation. This segmentation allows each module to be precisely manufactured and pre-aligned, then assembled in a standardized configuration to maintain overall alignment accuracy across multiple folding planes.
Solution Approach 2:
Each modular conveyor unit is designed with local precision features (precision-machined bearing plates, localized alignment references) that ensure accurate positioning at each folding station. This local quality approach maintains overall system alignment while allowing flexibility in the number and configuration of folding steps.
Data Source
AI summary
A conveyor device for a folding apparatus for folding textiles includes an infeed region for a textile and an outfeed region for a folded textile. A first belt conveyor conveys the textile on a first conveyor plane from the infeed region to a first transfer unit, which feeds the textile to a second conveyor plane of a second belt conveyor. At least one second transfer unit and at least one additional belt conveyor having an additional conveyor plane are disposed downstream of the belt conveyor. At least two subassemblies, each configured as modular conveyor units are provided, into which one belt conveyor and at least one transfer unit are each integrated. The conveyor device is modularly configured, in that a plurality of modular conveyor units are disposed one atop the other and connected to each other.