Rotary Tube Socket for Contamination-Free Container Disposal
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic container processing systems face challenges in downsizing while minimizing contamination risks, particularly in double annular processing mechanisms where containers are prone to droplet-induced contamination during transfer.
Innovation Solution
The automatic container processing apparatus employs a rotary tube socket with annularly arranged tube holding parts and a holding knob operation part that sandwiches and drops tubes for disposal, reducing contamination by avoiding the need for tubes to pass over the rotary tube socket and allowing simultaneous disposal of multiple tubes, thus enhancing space efficiency and reducing contamination risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a double annular processing mechanism is employed to downsize the system, then the installation space is reduced, but the risk of contamination due to droplets from containers disposed after passing over the outer side increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two separate annular processing mechanisms: an inner annular mechanism for processing used containers and an outer annular mechanism for processing clean containers. This segmentation physically separates the contamination sources, allowing the used containers to be disposed of without passing over the outer mechanism, thereby eliminating droplet contamination risk while maintaining the compact double-annular configuration for space efficiency
2Productivity
If containers are disposed after passing over the outer side of the annular processing mechanism, then the processing flow is continuous, but droplets may fall and cause contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The disposal function for used containers is extracted from the outer annular processing mechanism and assigned to the inner annular processing mechanism. The inner mechanism specifically handles the disposal of used containers at a position that does not interfere with the outer mechanism's processing area, thereby eliminating the contamination risk while maintaining continuous processing flow through coordinated operation of both mechanisms
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3A~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
According to one embodiment, an automatic container processing apparatus includes a tube socket (4), an operation part (7), and a control device (16). The tube socket (4) has a container holding part (44) for holding a container. The operation part (7) is capable of operating the container holding part (44) of the tube socket (4). The control device (16) controls the operation part (7). The container held by the container holding part (44) is dropped by operating the operation part (7).