Rotatable Poultry Feed Drop Tube Hinge for Hygienic Cleaning

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing poultry feed distribution systems are difficult to clean, leading to infection hazards and blockages, as the design requires farmers to bend and manually remove parts, making the process time-consuming and prone to splashing dirt and water entering the conveyor pipes.

Innovation Solution

A feed distribution system with rotatable attachment parts that separate from the drop tube, allowing for easy access and sealing during cleaning, enabling thorough hosing of the drop tube and conveyor lines without risking dirt re-entry, and featuring a hinge connection that moves the inlet away from the outlet during cleaning, facilitating efficient flushing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the feeding device uses a fixed connection between the drop tube and the conveyor pipe outlet, then the feeding device remains stable during operation, but the cleaning process becomes difficult and time-consuming requiring manual disassembly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestability of feeding deviceVSAvoidease of cleaning

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The attachment part is designed to be rotatable around the longitudinal axis of the conveyor line, transitioning between a feeding position where it connects to the outlet and a cleaning position where it disconnects. This dynamic capability allows the system to switch between stable operation and easy cleaning modes, resolving the contradiction between reliability and ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Object-affected harmful factors

If the feeding device allows rotation around the conveyor line axis, then animals are protected from injuries and device damage, but the cleaning access to the drop tube inlet becomes restricted

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprotection from injuries and damageVSAvoidaccessibility for cleaning

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The attachment part is separated from the drop tube through a hinge connection, creating two independent components. This segmentation allows the attachment part to rotate freely for animal safety while the drop tube can be independently accessed for cleaning by detaching it from the attachment part.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Ease of manufacture

If manual cleaning by bending and hosing from below is used, then no additional equipment is needed, but water and dirt may splash back and enter the conveyor pipe creating infection risks

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesimplicity of cleaning methodVSAvoidinfection risk and blockages

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The hinge connection is designed to automatically position the drop tube inlet away from the conveyor pipe outlet when the attachment part rotates to the cleaning position. This preliminary positioning action prevents water and dirt from entering the conveyor pipe during cleaning operations, eliminating infection risks before they can occur.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

4Productivity

If the drop tube inlet remains connected to the conveyor pipe outlet during cleaning, then feed distribution continues uninterrupted, but thorough cleaning becomes impossible and dirt accumulates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontinuous feed distributionVSAvoidhygiene and blockage prevention

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The rotatable attachment part enables dynamic switching between feeding mode (connected) and cleaning mode (disconnected). During cleaning operations, the attachment part rotates to disconnect the drop tube inlet from the outlet, allowing thorough cleaning without feed distribution interruption. After cleaning, it rotates back to resume feeding, thus maintaining both productivity and reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

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 system allows for efficient and user-friendly cleaning of feeding devices and conveyor lines, reducing the risk of infection and blockages, while minimizing the need for manual disconnection and reducing operational effort, thus improving hygiene and operational efficiency.

Implementation Method 1

the drop tube is hingedly connected by means of a hinge connection to this attachment part

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectHinge mechanism: Hinge

Data Source

PatentUS9937534B2Poultry feed distribution system with feeding devices having rotatable attachment parts with drop tubes hingedly connected thereto

Publication Date: 2018.04.10 ROXELL

AI summary

A poultry feed distribution system includes a feed storage, a conveyor line and feeding devices. Each feeding device has an attachment part that is rotatable around the line. The attachment part has a drop tube of the device hingedly connected thereto. The attachment part together with the hinge connection to the drop tube is rotatable around the line between a feeding and a cleaning position, with an inlet of the drop tube getting distanced from the line when the attachment part together with the hinge connection to the drop tube is rotated from the feeding to the cleaning position.