Modular Rotary Filling Machine Layout for Easier Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rotary filling systems are difficult to clean and require extensive conversion for changing filling products, limiting their modularity and flexibility.
Innovation Solution
A rotary-machine type filling device with a modular design featuring a drive unit, container receptacles, and a releasably fastened lifting unit that can be arranged in multiple angular positions, along with clamping mechanisms for flexible attachment of functional units, eliminating the need for a tabletop and allowing variable positioning of components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a tabletop structure is used to protect the drive side and mount functional units, then structural stability and protection are improved, but cleaning accessibility and floor cleaning ease deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the tabletop structure entirely, extracting the protective and mounting functions from this specific component. The drive unit is positioned directly on the floor without a tabletop, and functional units are mounted on the rotating carrier or drive unit itself, eliminating the barrier that prevented floor cleaning while maintaining structural stability through alternative mounting arrangements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional tabletop mounting surface to three-dimensional mounting options throughout the system. Functional units can be mounted on the rotating carrier, drive unit, or at different vertical levels, providing multiple spatial dimensions for component placement while eliminating the tabletop structure that hindered cleaning access.
2Stability of the object's composition
If lifting units are fixed to the tabletop at specific positions, then structural support and positioning stability are improved, but system modularity and reconfiguration flexibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the system dynamic by allowing lifting units and functional units to be repositioned along the rotating carrier's circumference. Instead of fixed positions, the units can be moved to different angular locations and heights, enabling the system to adapt to different filling products and container types while maintaining stable operation at each configured position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the lifting units and functional units into independent, relocatable modules that can be individually positioned and reconfigured. Each unit can be independently mounted at different locations on the rotating carrier, allowing flexible system reconfiguration for different products without requiring complete system replacement or extensive conversions.
3Ease of manufacture
If the position and number of functional units are substantially fixed on the tabletop, then system simplicity and manufacturing ease are improved, but adaptability to different filling products deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The rotating carrier serves multiple functions: it supports containers, provides mounting for lifting units, accommodates functional units, and enables product changeover through reconfiguration. This universal platform replaces the specialized tabletop structure, providing both manufacturing simplicity through standardized components and adaptability through flexible positioning capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
A rotary-machine type device for filling a filling medium, in particular a food, into a multiplicity of containers. The device includes a drive unit, a multiplicity of container receptacles, which are each designed for receiving a container and are rotatable about a vertical axis V by the drive unit, and a lifting unit for vertically lifting a container out of a container receptacle. The lifting unit is releasably fastened to the drive unit and can be arranged in a multiplicity of angular positions around the drive unit.