Moveable Injection Nozzles for Targeted Bottle Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing receptacle conveying and cooling apparatuses face issues such as uneven cooling distribution, leading to spoilage and unwanted moisture on sidewalls, particularly in compact treatment machines where bottles are conveyed and cooled along extended paths, and the cooling medium is not effectively controlled when bottles are missing or defective.
Innovation Solution
A conveying and cooling apparatus with a rotating carousel and moveable injection nozzles that direct a cooling medium specifically onto the bottom portions of bottles, with a control system to ensure the cooling medium is only applied when a bottle is present and to avoid defective bottles, thus preventing uncontrolled distribution and maintaining dry sidewalls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a fixed injection nozzle is used to direct cooling medium onto bottles, then the cooling process is simple, but the cooling medium is uncontrolledly distributed onto sidewalls when bottles are missing or defective
Solution Approach 1:
The injection nozzle is made moveable along the conveying path to dynamically follow the bottle movement. This allows the nozzle to be positioned precisely where bottles are located and to adapt its position based on the presence or absence of bottles, enabling controlled cooling application while maintaining relatively simple device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
A detection device monitors the presence and position of bottles along the conveying path, providing feedback to the control unit. The control unit then adjusts the nozzle position and cooling medium injection accordingly, ensuring cooling is applied only where bottles are present and preventing uncontrolled distribution onto sidewalls or missing bottle positions.
2Productivity
If the cooling medium is continuously injected, then the cooling process is continuous and efficient, but the cooling medium spoils and creates unwanted moisture on sidewalls
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling medium injection is made periodic rather than continuous. The control unit activates the injection nozzle only during periods when bottles are detected at the cooling position, and deactivates it when bottles are absent. This periodic injection maintains cooling efficiency while preventing cooling medium spoilage and unwanted moisture accumulation on sidewalls.
3Loss of time
If an extended conveying path is used for cooling, then bottles have sufficient time to cool down, but the overall machine compactness is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The injection nozzle moves dynamically along the conveying path to follow bottle positions, allowing the cooling action to be concentrated at specific locations rather than distributed along an extended path. This enables sufficient cooling time to be achieved within a more compact machine footprint by intensifying the cooling process at the bottle location rather than extending the conveying path.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution ensures efficient cooling of bottle bottom portions while preventing spoilage of the cooling medium and maintaining dry sidewalls, enhancing the processing efficiency and quality in compact treatment machines by ensuring targeted and controlled cooling.
Implementation Method 1
the cooling device (28) is adapted to direct a cooling medium onto an outer surface of the receptacles (2), in particular onto a bottom portion (2a)
Data Source
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AI summary
There is described a conveying and cooling apparatus (6, 6') for conveying and cooling receptacles (2) comprising a conveying device (25) for advancing receptacles (2) along a conveying path (P1), a cooling device (28, 28') for cooling the receptacles (2). The cooling device (28, 28') comprises a supply unit adapted to supply a cooling medium, a plurality of advancing injection nozzles (45) adapted to be in fluid connection with the supply unit and for directing a cooling medium onto the receptacles (2) and a plurality of valve members (46), each one associated to one respective injection nozzle (45) and adapted to selectively open or close the fluid connection between the respective injection nozzle (45) and the supply unit (40, 81).