Pivotable Platform for Vertical Food Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food conveying and delivery devices are inefficient in terms of space usage, speed, gentleness, and reliability when handling baked goods, particularly in ensuring safe and cost-effective transport and loading/unloading.
Innovation Solution
A food conveying and dispensing device featuring a pivotable platform driven by a stepping motor, allowing for vertical movement and pivoting about a horizontal axis, enabling efficient loading/unloading and transport with a short transport route, and equipped with a retaining device to prevent food from slipping, while being cost-effective and space-efficient.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a vertical lift is used to transport food, then the transport speed is improved, but the space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from purely vertical transport to a combination of vertical and rotational movement. The platform rotates about a horizontal axis during vertical transport, enabling loading/unloading from the side while maintaining the compact vertical shaft structure. This dimensional change allows functional versatility without increasing space requirements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a tilting device with servo motor is used, then the loading and unloading capability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the tilting function from a complex servo motor system and implements it using a simpler mechanism. The platform is given rotational freedom about a horizontal axis without requiring an active servo motor for tilting, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining loading and unloading versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The platform serves multiple functions: vertical transport, rotation for loading/unloading, and stable food carrying. By integrating these functions into a single multi-functional component with rotational freedom, the patent reduces the need for separate mechanisms, thereby simplifying the overall device structure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the platform is made pivotable for loading from two sides, then the adaptability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the loading function from both sides into a single rotational movement capability. The platform's ability to rotate about a horizontal axis enables it to present its loading surface to either side of the shaft, combining what would otherwise require separate loading mechanisms into one simple rotational degree of freedom.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a foodstuff-conveying and -discharging apparatus having: - a housing (2); - at least one feed device (20) in the housing (2), it being possible for foodstuffs (13, 14), in particular baked products, to be conveyed, preferably in the horizontal direction, on said feed device, - a vertically running shaft (35) in the housing (2), - a motor-driven transporting device (25), which travels upwards and downwards in the shaft (35) and can be charged with at least one foodstuff (13, 14) by the at least one feed device (20), - a removal location (40) in or on the housing (2), the transporting device (25) conveying the at least one foodstuff (13, 14) in the direction of said removal location, wherein the transporting device (25) has at least one platform (30) which can be displaced in the vertical direction in the shaft (35), can be pivoted about a horizontal pivot axis (31) and can be charged with at least one foodstuff (13, 14), wherein the pivotable platform (30) can be pivoted by means of a stepping motor (32; 27a).