Pivotable Cutting Knives for Ceramic Handle Trimming
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing handle processing devices for ceramic objects with handles, such as cups, face challenges in simplifying the cutting off of excess handles and ensuring precise fitting accuracy, particularly due to manual processing methods and the need for precise adjustments of cutting tools.
Innovation Solution
A handle processing device featuring a mechanical handle contour cutting station with pivotable cutting knives that form a pair of blades, capable of moving towards each other to create a precise cut, and a handle holding device connected to an industrial robot for automated and precise positioning, utilizing a rubber-elastic clamping matrix and driven cutting blades for efficient and accurate cutting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If manual processing methods are used for cutting handles, then flexibility and simplicity are maintained, but manufacturing precision and fitting accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical cutting with an automated cutting device featuring a pivotable cutting blade guided by a template. The template contains a contour of the handle opening, guiding the blade to automatically trace the precise shape, eliminating manual positioning errors while maintaining ease of operation through simple template placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a template as an intermediary element between the cutter and the workpiece. The template serves as a guiding medium that transfers the precise handle opening contour to the cutting blade, ensuring accurate reproduction of the desired shape without requiring complex direct measurement or positioning systems.
2Ease of operation
If cutting knives are positioned at a distance from the holder, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to manual adjustment requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a pivotable cutting blade that can rotate about a pivot point. This dynamic mechanism allows the blade to be positioned at an accessible distance from the holder for easy operation, while the pivot point ensures precise angular positioning during cutting, eliminating the need for complex manual adjustments of fixed-position blades.
3Stability of the object's composition
If overhanging handle is supported during cutting, then stability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the overhanging handle portion after the main cutting operation is complete. By separating the support function (holding the main handle body) from the cutting operation, and only removing the excess material after cutting, the design avoids complex support mechanisms while maintaining stability during the critical cutting phase.
4Productivity
If multiple blades are used on each cutting knife, then productivity is improved through simultaneous cutting, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the cutting function into multiple separate cutting knives, each with a single blade, rather than using multiple blades on each knife. This segmentation simplifies the individual knife design and blade configuration, while the system achieves productivity through coordinated operation of multiple simple knives, making maintenance and replacement easier.
Data Source
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AI summary
A handle processing device for use in a plant for the production of ceramic objects with handles, for example, mugs with handles, is described, comprising a handle trimming device (3) for removing a handle protrusion (11u) from a leather-hard handle (11), a machine-operated handle contour cutting station (6), and a handle holding device (4). The handle contour cutting station (6) has a contour cutting knife device (61) with two cutting knives (611, 612), each of the cutting knives (611, 612) having at least one blade (62), and the blades (62) of the two cutting knives (611, 612) forming at least one blade pair. The surface of the cutting knives (611, 612) is a section of a body of revolution corresponding to the outer surface of a leather-hard ceramic object (14) to which the handle (11) is attached.The cutting blades (611, 612) can be pivoted from an open position to a cutting position, in which they come into contact with each other in the longitudinal central axes of the arms of the handle (11).