Modular Transfer Adapter for Sealed Bag-to-Container Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transfer systems for connecting bags or liners to containers for bulk material handling face issues such as cumbersome stacking, difficulty in fixing bags, increased equipment volume, and inadequate cleaning due to complex structures, leading to spillage and contamination risks during repeated transfers.
Innovation Solution
A modular transfer adapter with a separable adapter unit and retaining unit, featuring interlocking parts, a sealing mechanism, and a removable retaining fixture for bags or tubular liners, allowing easy attachment and detachment without stacking, and ensuring a hermetic seal during material transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If multiple transfer adaptors are stacked on the container aperture to enable repeated transfers, then repeated transfers are enabled, but the height of the stacked connecting elements increases making the process cumbersome and requiring adaptation of transfer procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The transfer adaptor is divided into two separable units: an adapter unit that remains on the container aperture and a retaining unit that attaches to the bag opening. This segmentation eliminates the need to stack multiple complete adaptors, as the adapter unit stays fixed while only the retaining unit needs to be attached and detached with each bag transfer.
2Device complexity
If the holder for the bag is located inside the opening of the adaptor, then the adaptor structure is compact, but access to the holder is limited making bag fastening cumbersome and cleaning difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining unit, which includes the holder for the bag opening, is extracted from the interior of the adapter and made into a separate, removable component. This allows the holder to be easily accessed from the exterior for both bag fastening and cleaning operations, while the adapter unit remains compact.
3Reliability
If the transfer adaptor is provided with means for fixing it to a container and to other connecting elements, then the adaptor is stable, but the structure and weight of the transfer adaptor render fastening the bag cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The fixation means are distributed between two separate units: the adapter unit has means for fixing to the container aperture, while the retaining unit has means for fixing to the bag opening. This segmentation reduces the weight and complexity of each individual unit, making bag fastening easier while maintaining overall system stability through the combined fixation capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A transfer adapter for connecting a bag or a tubular liner (510) to a container (60) for filling or emptying said bag or a tubular liner. The transfer adapter has an adapter unit (20) for connecting to an aperture of a container, the adapter unit having an inner wall delimiting a transfer opening, and a retaining (101, 102). The retaining unit includes a retaining fixture (11) for receiving a circumferential strip of a bag or of a tubular liner (510), and a retaining element (12) being configured to hold said circumferential strip in the retaining fixture (11). The retaining unit (101, 102) is dimensioned to be removably positioned inside transfer opening such that the transfer opening together with the open bag or together with the open tubular liner (510) form a transfer passage. A transfer system also includes the adapter as well as a method of transferring material between a container and a bag or a tubular liner through the transfer adapter.