Oscillating Hopper Walls for Rod-Shaped Article Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hoppers in cigarette and smoking article production lines struggle with misaligned rod-shaped articles, leading to jamming and production interruptions, as existing mechanical agitation methods like vibrating pins are insufficient to properly guide components with orientation deviations.
Innovation Solution
A hopper design featuring a distributor device with channels defined by stationary and movable parts, where the movable parts oscillate to realign rod-shaped articles, ensuring they enter the channels aligned with their longitudinal axis, minimizing misalignment and blockages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vibrating pins are used for mechanical agitation, then the fluidity of the flow of components is increased, but the components are not properly guided within the channels due to insufficient vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the wall partially movable instead of completely stationary. The movable part of the wall oscillates back and forth to actively push and guide the rod-shaped articles through the channel, transforming a static structure into a dynamic one that can adapt to guide misaligned components effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements mechanical vibration by oscillating the movable part of the wall. This vibration mechanism pushes the rod-shaped articles forward and helps realign them within the channel, solving the insufficiency of previous vibration methods while maintaining device simplicity.
2Productivity
If rod shaped articles with random orientation enter the hopper, then all orientations are accepted, but misaligned articles cause jamming and production interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by realigning the rod-shaped articles before they fully enter the channel. The movable wall oscillates to push and orient the articles correctly in advance, preventing misalignment issues before they cause jamming or production interruptions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of misaligned articles into a beneficial outcome. By using the oscillating movable wall to actively push and realign misoriented articles, the system transforms potential jamming problems into an opportunity to ensure proper alignment, thereby maintaining continuous production.
3Manufacturing precision
If the channel width is reduced to guide alignment, then only properly oriented articles can enter, but misaligned articles are rejected causing production interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses dynamics by making the wall movable rather than fixed. This allows the channel effective width to dynamically adjust during operation - the movable wall oscillates to accommodate misaligned articles and push them into proper orientation, maintaining both precision and production continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements parameter changes by varying the position of the movable wall. The wall oscillates between different positions, effectively changing the channel dimensions dynamically to guide articles with varying orientations, thereby maintaining alignment precision without rejecting misaligned articles.
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
The hopper effectively realigns misoriented rod-shaped articles, ensuring they flow correctly through channels, reducing production interruptions and maintaining efficient processing by using oscillating movable parts to guide articles into perpendicular alignment.
Implementation Method 1
a vibrating device adapted to oscillate the movable part with respect to the stationary part
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4
AI summary
The invention relates to a hopper (10) for rod shaped articles (100) defining a longitudinal axis, the hopper (10) including: a chamber (20) to hold the rod shaped articles (100); a distributor device (30) to align the rod shaped articles (100) with substantially parallel longitudinal axes, the distributor device (30) including a plurality of walls (50) defining adjacent channels (40), at least one of said walls (50) including a stationary part (51) and a movable part (52) connected to the stationary part (51); and a vibrating device (70) adapted to oscillate the movable part (52) with respect to the stationary part (51).