Silent Spiral Conveyor Tray Structure for Wear and Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional spiral conveyors face issues with damage from abrasive chips, high noise levels, and increased costs due to the need for frequent replacement of trays when handling high-hardness materials like titanium, and they fail to effectively manage vibrations and noise during chip conveyance.
Innovation Solution
A silent spiral conveyor with a dual-layered tray structure incorporating vibration dampening materials between the outer and inner trays, along with a fixing mechanism that prevents vibration transmission, reduces noise and extends the lifespan of the inner tray by allowing for detachable maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional spiral conveyor is used to convey high-hardness chips, then the conveyance function is achieved, but the tray is easily damaged by abrasion and requires frequent replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The tray is divided into an outer tray and an inner tray that can be detached from each other. The inner tray comes into contact with the chips and can be replaced independently, while the outer tray remains in place. This segmentation allows the wear-prone inner tray to be replaced without replacing the entire tray structure, extending the overall system lifespan.
Solution Approach 2:
A vibration dampening material is introduced as an intermediary layer between the inner tray and the outer tray. This material serves multiple functions: it dampens vibrations generated during chip conveyance, reduces noise transmission, and provides additional protection against abrasion. The dampening material extends vertically from the bottom surface of the inner tray to its top surface, creating a cushioning interface.
2Productivity
If the spiral conveyor operates at high speed to improve productivity, then chip conveyance efficiency increases, but vibration and noise levels increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vibration dampening material acts as an intermediary that absorbs and dissipates vibration energy generated during high-speed chip conveyance. By placing this material between the inner tray and outer tray, vibrations are dampened before they can propagate to the conveyor structure, allowing higher operating speeds with reduced noise and vibration.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray structure utilizes composite construction with the vibration dampening material integrated between the inner and outer trays. This composite structure combines the structural integrity of the metal trays with the vibration-absorbing properties of the dampening material, enabling high-speed operation while controlling harmful vibrations and noise.
3Strength
If the tray structure is made robust to prevent damage from abrasive chips, then protection against abrasion improves, but the overall cost increases due to complete replacement requirements
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the tray into replaceable inner and outer components, the design provides robust protection against abrasion where needed (inner tray and dampening material) while avoiding the cost of making the entire structure unnecessarily robust. The outer tray provides structural support, while the inner tray and dampening material provide abrasion resistance and can be replaced independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The design enables selective replacement of only the wear-prone inner tray and dampening material while retaining the outer tray structure. This approach recovers the value of the durable outer tray and support structure, discarding only the consumable inner components, thereby reducing overall replacement costs and improving economic efficiency.
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 significantly reduces noise levels and extends the lifespan of the inner tray, lowering maintenance costs and improving the conveyance of high-hardness materials by effectively dampening vibrations and preventing their transmission to the outer tray.
Implementation Method 1
a first vibration dampening material interposed between the outer tray and the inner tray
Implementation Method 2
a conveyance spiral member like a coil spring is received in a tray and driven by a drive means to be rotated at a low speed in a predetermined direction, thereby conveying chips thrown into the tray in a predetermined direction within the tray
Implementation Method 3
Cutting fluid is thrown into the tray together with the chips, which will fall by gravity during conveyance to be separated from the chips and collected in a cutting fluid tank positioned beneath the tray
Data Source
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AI summary
[Problem] To provide a spiral conveyor having a novel structure that is adapted to handle any chip while having a simple structure and is capable of achieving low vibration and low noise. [Solution] A tray 11 for a spiral conveyor 10 is configured from an outer tray 12, an inner tray 13 which is placed over the inside of the outer tray, and a vibration damping material 14 which is interposed between the outer tray and the inner tray. The tray 11 has a fixing means for detachably fixing the inner tray and the vibration damping material to the outer tray on the outside of a conveyance spiral casing. The vibration damping material may be a single vibration damping material which is continuous over substantially all of the area between the outer tray and the inner tray (fig. 2) or may alternatively be arranged so as to be separated into a lower vibration damping material 14a that is provided in a noise generation area with which a conveyance spiral 15 is brought into contact and upper vibration damping materials 14b that are provided in a noise propagation area including the fixed portion (fig. 6).