Airflow Sorting Device with Adjustable Drag Body
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing airflow sorting devices face challenges in achieving high accuracy and flexibility for sorting various objects due to issues with airflow velocity distribution, braking mechanisms, and space constraints, particularly as device scale increases, leading to compromised sorting accuracy and complexity in adjustment and installation.
Innovation Solution
A sorting device with a conduit system featuring an airflow adjusting body having an inclined surface and adjustable drag force, which includes a rotating body positioned within an inclined conduit section to ensure consistent airflow velocity and easy adjustment, allowing for high accuracy sorting of objects regardless of size or shape, while minimizing space occupation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a braking mechanism is incorporated into the airflow sorting device, then sorting accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The braking mechanism is extracted as a separate, removable component that can be independently positioned and adjusted within the airflow sorting device. This allows the braking function to be isolated from the main airflow system, enabling easier maintenance and adjustment without affecting the overall device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The braking mechanism is designed with adjustable parameters including position, angle, and resistance level. This dynamic configuration allows the same component to adapt to different sorting requirements and object characteristics, improving accuracy without requiring multiple fixed mechanisms.
2Productivity
If the device scale is increased to handle more objects, then productivity is improved, but airflow velocity distribution becomes uneven and sorting accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The airflow sorting device is segmented into multiple independent zones with adjustable airflow rates and braking forces. This allows each zone to be optimized for specific object types and sizes, maintaining uniform airflow velocity distribution even in larger-scale configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the device are assigned different airflow characteristics and braking parameters tailored to the specific sorting requirements of objects in each zone. This localized optimization ensures high sorting accuracy across the entire device scale.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a multistage configuration is used to sort multiple types simultaneously, then versatility is improved, but space in the height direction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The multistage sorting configuration is nested within a compact horizontal footprint, with each stage arranged in sequence rather than vertically stacked. This allows multiple sorting stages to be integrated in the horizontal plane, reducing the height requirement while maintaining high versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The device transitions from a vertical multistage arrangement to a horizontal configuration, utilizing the horizontal dimension for multistage sorting. This dimensional change reduces the height occupation while preserving the ability to sort multiple object types simultaneously.
4Productivity
If the suction port is positioned to maximize object capture, then sorting efficiency is improved, but airflow velocity distribution becomes uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The suction port configuration uses asymmetric positioning and shaping to optimize object capture while compensating for airflow velocity variations. The asymmetric design allows preferential suction of target objects while maintaining relatively uniform airflow distribution across the sorting area.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary airflow control mechanism is introduced between the airflow generation system and the suction port. This intermediary component regulates and equalizes airflow velocity distribution before it reaches the suction port, ensuring uniform conditions while maintaining high sorting 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 enables high accuracy sorting of various objects with flexible adjustability and adaptability across different scales, maintaining a compact and cost-effective design by stabilizing airflow velocity and optimizing drag forces within the sorting device.
Implementation Method 1
an inclined surface having a sectional shape, sectional areas of which are similar to each other and increase in size downward, and a drag force which acts on the object to be sorted which falls due to gravity increases downward from the suction port
Implementation Method 2
an air supply port provided at a lower part of the conduit and configured to blow air upward along the central shaft line
Implementation Method 3
a suction port which is provided above the air supply port of the conduit and is an opening oriented downward of a suction pipe provided parallel to the central shaft line
Implementation Method 4
a conduit which has a central shaft line and allows an object to be sorted to fall due to gravity inside the conduit along the central shaft line
Data Source
AI summary
In order to provide an airflow sorting device having high accuracy and easy adjustment properties with a simple configuration, there are provided a conduit which has a central shaft line and which lets an object to be sorted to fall due to gravity on the inside of the conduit along the central shaft line; an air supply port which is provided at a lower part of the conduit and configured to blow air upward along the central shaft line; a suction port which is provided above the air supply port of the conduit and is an opening oriented downward of a suction pipe provided parallel to the central shaft line; and an input port provided above the suction port of the conduit through which the object to be sorted is input into the periphery of the suction pipe which is in the conduit. Sorting is performed in the sorting device according to whether or not the object to be sorted is being suctioned by the suction port together with a part or the entirety of an airflow generated in the conduit by the air blown from the air supply port, and an airflow adjusting body which is provided below the suction port in the conduit and blocks a falling path of the object to be sorted which falls due to gravity, is provided, and the airflow adjusting body includes: a vertex on the central shaft line; and an inclined surface having a sectional shape, sectional areas of which are similar to each other and increase in size downward, and a drag force which acts on the object to be sorted which falls due to gravity increases downward from the suction port.