Reciprocating Stirring Blade with Sealed Diaphragm

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional stirring blades and apparatuses are not suitable for medicine and food fields as they cause damage to fungus bodies and contamination due to rotary stirring, and existing sealed stirring apparatuses do not perfectly fluidize the liquid in the up/down direction, leading to inefficient mixing and contamination risks.

Innovation Solution

A sealed stirring apparatus with a laterally long sheet-shaped stirring blade coupled orthogonally to a reciprocating shaft, featuring a diaphragm or bellows for airtight sealing, which generates a large up/down flow and swirling motion with minimal shearing action, preventing contamination and ensuring thorough mixing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If rotary stirring is used to mix the culture liquid, then mixing efficiency is improved, but fungus bodies are damaged and contamination risk increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemixing efficiencyVSAvoiddamage to fungus bodies and contamination

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent inverts the conventional rotary stirring motion by using up/down reciprocating motion instead. The stirring blade moves vertically along the rotation axis rather than rotating horizontally, which eliminates the shearing forces that damage fungus bodies while still achieving effective mixing through the up/down fluidizing action.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the motion parameters from rotational speed to reciprocating stroke and frequency. By controlling the up/down stroke distance and reciprocating frequency, the system achieves gentle mixing suitable for fungus culture without the harmful effects of rotary motion, while the sealed structure changes the containment parameters to prevent contamination.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Productivity

If conventional stirring blades move up and down at large stroke to promote mixing, then mixing is enhanced, but the sealed structure becomes complex and operation becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemixing promotionVSAvoidsealed structure complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent employs a flexible diaphragm that dynamically deforms during the reciprocating motion. The diaphragm flexes to accommodate the up/down movement of the stirring blade without requiring complex mechanical seals, simplifying the sealed structure while enabling effective mixing through controlled dynamic deformation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses a flexible diaphragm as a thin film barrier to achieve sealing. The diaphragm's flexibility allows it to deform with the reciprocating motion of the stirring blade, maintaining the seal integrity without complex rigid sealing mechanisms, thus reducing device complexity while preserving mixing effectiveness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

3Ease of operation

If rotary sliding portions are used in the stirring apparatus, then rotational stirring is enabled, but liquid leakage and vapor escape occur along with foreign substance contamination

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverotational stirring capabilityVSAvoidsealing performance against leakage and contamination

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and eliminates the rotary sliding portion from the system entirely. By removing this vulnerable component that causes leakage and contamination, the system replaces it with a reciprocating motion mechanism that passes through a sealed diaphragm, thereby maintaining operational capability while significantly improving sealing performance and reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

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 provides effective mixing and homogenization of liquids with low shearing action, maintaining a completely sealed structure to prevent pollution, suitable for medicine and food fields, and operates with reduced drive force even for high viscosity liquids.

Implementation Method 1

an up/down movable diaphragm or a bellows disposed on an upper surface portion of a stirring vessel so as to airtightly cover the upper surface portion

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectElasticity: Elasticity

Implementation Method 2

generates a large up/down flow and swirling motion with minimal shearing action, preventing contamination and ensuring thorough mixing

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectFluid flow:

Data Source

PatentUS8246242B2Stirring blade and sealed stirring apparatus

Publication Date: 2012.08.21 SATAKE MULTIMIX CORP

AI summary

An up/down movable diaphragm is disposed to an upper surface portion of a stirring vessel so as to airtightly cover the upper surface portion, a drive shaft passing through the diaphragm is fixed and vertically disposed to the diaphragm, and a stirring blade coupled with and fixed to a lower end portion of the drive shaft so as to be orthogonal thereto is composed of a laterally long and oval sheet-shaped member having a major axis and a minor axis passing through a center thereof, and a stirring is performed by moving the stirring blade up and down. With this arrangement, there are provided a stirring blade and a stirring apparatus which do not apply a strong shearing force to a stirring liquid, do not have an anxiety of polluting the stirring liquid, and can sufficiently fluidize, mix, disperse, and homogenize the stirring liquid in a stirring blade and a stirring apparatus for performing a stirring in fields of medicine and food.