Pod Dispenser Belt Conveyor and Agitator for Jam-Free Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pod dispensers in vending machines struggle to efficiently separate and orient single-serve pods containing powdered anhydrous materials from a large, randomly arranged storage, leading to jamming and inefficient dispensing.
Innovation Solution
A pod dispenser design featuring a belt extractor device with rollers and an agitator, which uses a belt conveyor and inclined operating branch to separate and orient pods correctly, preventing jamming and ensuring orderly stacking, combined with an agitator to prevent bridging and ensure one-by-one dispensing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If pods are stored in a large number randomly arranged in storage compartment, then storage capacity is improved, but pod separation and orientation becomes difficult causing jamming
Solution Approach 1:
The storage compartment is divided into multiple compartments, each dedicated to storing pods of a specific type or orientation. This segmentation allows pods to be stored in an organized manner while maintaining high storage capacity, and enables reliable pod separation and dispensing without jamming.
2Manufacturing precision
If complex extraction mechanisms are used to separate and orient pods, then dispensing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Pods are pre-oriented and pre-positioned in the storage compartments before dispensing. The extractor device simply needs to retrieve pods that are already in the correct orientation, eliminating the need for complex mechanisms to orient pods during extraction. This preliminary organization simplifies the extractor device while maintaining high dispensing precision.
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 solution enables efficient, jam-free dispensing of single pods in a vertical stack, enhancing the capacity and usability of vending machines by ensuring correct orientation and separation, thus improving the overall dispensing process.
Implementation Method 1
a belt extractor device (9), which is arranged on the bottom of the storage compartment (4) inside the box-shaped body (5) and comprises a belt conveyor
Implementation Method 2
two rollers (12), one of them being a motorised roller, which are rotationally mounted on the longer side walls (6) to rotate about respective axes (13)
Implementation Method 3
the pods (2) that, in use, lie flat on the belt (11) and individually reach the outlet (16), then fall down by gravity directly into the tubular element (17)
Data Source
AI summary
A dispenser (1) of pods (2) for the production of brewed beverages; the dispenser (1) is equipped with a magazine (4) for holding pods (2) arranged in random order, a belt conveyor (9) designed to extract the pods (2) one by one from the storage compartment (4) to feed then to an outlet (16) in a feed direction (15), and an agitator device (10), which cooperates with the conveyor (9) to move pods (2) away from the conveyor (9) and is defined by a rotor having a hub (24), which is rotationally mounted about an axis (25) transversal to the feed direction (15) to rotate in the opposite direction to the belt conveyor (9), and blades (26), which, during rotation, define with the belt conveyor (9) and upstream of the outlet (16), a gap (28) designed to allow pods (2) lying flat on the belt (11) of the conveyor (9) to reach the outlet (16).