Modular Plastic Gas Production Machine Heads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas production machines, particularly onsite generators, face challenges in reducing material and manufacturing costs, logistical difficulties, and increasing mechanical strength while maintaining safety, as increasing tank size requires thicker metal walls, leading to inefficiencies and high production costs.
Innovation Solution
The machine employs cylindrical members with plastic heads made through injection molding, forming a modular manifold for connecting cylinders, utilizing widespread and cost-effective plastic materials like high-density polyethylene or glass-reinforced polypropylene, which allows for efficient assembly and reduced production times with low material usage and no corrosion concerns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the diameter of metal tanks is increased to provide greater gas production capacity, then the quantity of active ingredient and machine performance increase, but the thickness of the tank shell must be increased nonlinearly, leading to increased material costs and manufacturing difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The machine is divided into multiple modular units, each with its own tank and head assembly. These modules can be stacked or arranged in configurations to achieve the desired total gas production capacity without requiring a single large tank with excessively thick walls. Each module maintains manageable dimensions for easy manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite construction with plastic heads and metal or plastic tanks. The plastic heads, made through injection molding, provide corrosion resistance and complex internal flow paths, while the tanks can be made from various materials including high-density polyethylene or glass-reinforced polypropylene, optimizing both strength and corrosion resistance without requiring thick metal walls.
2Quantity of substance
If the diameter of metal tanks is increased to provide greater gas production capacity, then the quantity of active ingredient and machine performance increase, but the thickness of the tank shell must be increased, leading to increased material costs
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multiple smaller tanks instead of one large tank. This segmentation allows each tank to maintain thin walls while the collective system provides the required total capacity, significantly reducing the overall weight of material required.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material parameters by using plastics with high strength-to-weight ratios, such as glass-reinforced polypropylene or high-density polyethylene. These materials provide sufficient mechanical strength with much thinner walls compared to metal, reducing both weight and material cost.
3Strength
If metal tanks are used for gas production, then mechanical strength is provided, but corrosion protection is required, increasing manufacturing complexity and cost
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs composite construction where plastic heads and tanks replace metal components. The plastic materials inherently provide corrosion resistance while maintaining sufficient mechanical strength for the application. This eliminates the need for additional corrosion protection layers or treatments, simplifying manufacturing.
4Productivity
If injection molding is used to manufacture plastic heads, then production costs and production times are reduced, but the complexity of the molding process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The injection molding process combines multiple manufacturing steps into a single operation. The heads are molded with integrated features including coupling ports, manifold connections, and internal flow channels all formed in one shot, eliminating the need for subsequent assembly operations and reducing overall manufacturing complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
A machine (1) for gas production, including one or more cylindrical members (2), each of which is associated with two heads that are fixed to the ends of each one of the cylinders (2); adjacent heads, associated with adjacent cylinders, being mutually connected to form a modular manifold; wherein each one of the heads is provided monolithically and made of plastic material by injection molding. The head made of plastic material allows to provide specific tanks for providing onsite gas generators. The advantages of the machine, which is preferably but non-limitatively made of high-density polyethylene or glass-reinforced polypropylene, are: low cost of the raw material and of the molding process, wide and easy availability of the raw material, high repeatability of the production process and very short production times, as well as very low production costs for each manufactured object.