Modular Cooling Turner With Segmented Flanges
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cooling turners are difficult to manufacture, transport, and assemble due to large flanges welded onto a drum-like center pipe, leading to inefficiencies in welding, increased costs, and challenges in transportation and installation.
Innovation Solution
A modular cooling turner design where the flanges are composed of sector modules connected by rods to the center pipe, allowing for efficient manufacturing, transportation, and assembly, with bolted connections and optional welding at the site, facilitating easier handling and reduced costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If flanges are rigidly fixed to the center pipe by welding, then the structural strength and stability are improved, but the manufacturing complexity and transportation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flange structure is divided into multiple sector-shaped segments that can be manufactured separately and then assembled around the center pipe. This segmentation allows each segment to be produced independently with simpler welding operations, avoiding the need to weld large diameter flanges as a single piece, thus reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining structural integrity through the assembled configuration.
2Stability of the object's composition
If flanges are rigidly fixed to the center pipe by welding, then the structural stability is improved, but the transportation feasibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the flange into transportable sector segments, the overall diameter of the structure is reduced to fit within standard intermodal container dimensions. The segments can be shipped separately and assembled on-site, enabling transportation by conventional intermodal containers while maintaining the structural stability of the final assembled configuration.
3Manufacturing precision
If manual welding is used to attach flanges to the center pipe, then the ease of manufacture is reduced, but the manufacturing precision can be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The sector-shaped flange segments can be manufactured using standardized welding jigs that are easier to design and implement for smaller components. This segmentation allows for more efficient manual welding operations compared to welding large diameter flanges, improving manufacturing efficiency while maintaining precision through the use of jigs for each segment.
4Strength
If large diameter flanges are used, then the structural strength is improved, but the transportation cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flange is divided into multiple sector segments that can be transported in standard intermodal containers, avoiding the need for expensive specialized transportation equipment. The segments are designed to maintain the required structural strength when assembled, thus reducing transportation costs while preserving flange strength.
5Stability of the object's composition
If the cooling turner is designed as a single integrated structure, then the structural stability is improved, but the ease of assembly and disassembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling turner is designed with sector-shaped flange segments that can be assembled and disassembled relatively easily at installation sites, while the overall structure maintains structural stability. The modular segment design facilitates transportation and assembly operations compared to a single integrated large-diameter flange structure.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
AI summary
A cooling turner for cooling wood-based boards or board stacks, which cooling turner comprises a rotatable center pipe (1), flanges fastened to it and also support prongs fastened to the flanges for supporting the boards or board stacks during cooling. The invention is implemented in such a way that each flange is formed from at least three sector parts, and that the sector parts are fastened to the center pipe (1).