Sorting Screen Rotor Bodies with Tubular Spacers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sorting screens require costly and time-consuming replacement of screen discs to accommodate different material sizes, as each disc has a specifically shaped perimeter, leading to high investment and potential jamming issues.
Innovation Solution
A sorting screen with rotatable shafts carrying radially extending rotor bodies, where tubular spacers of varying diameters are used to define openings for material sorting, allowing for easy adaptation to different sizes without replacing rotor bodies, and rotor bodies made of plastic or elastomeric materials for resilience and reduced noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If screen discs with specifically shaped perimeters are used for sorting material, then sorting precision is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase due to the need to replace all screen discs for different material sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The screen disc is divided into separate functional elements: rotor bodies with standard perimeters and tubular spacers. The spacers define the sorting openings while rotor bodies provide structural support and material conveyance. This segmentation allows the spacers to be replaced independently to adapt to different material sizes without replacing the entire screen disc assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor bodies are designed with universal standard perimeters that can work with spacers of different diameters. The same rotor body design can be used across multiple sorting configurations, while only the spacers need to be changed to adapt to different material sizes, reducing overall system complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If screen discs with specifically shaped perimeters are used for sorting material, then sorting function is improved, but loss of time increases due to the need to replace all screen discs for different material sizes
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the screen disc into rotor bodies and separate tubular spacers, the spacer becomes an independent replaceable component. This allows rapid adjustment of sorting parameters by simply swapping spacers rather than replacing entire screen discs, significantly reducing adaptation time for different material sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables dynamic reconfiguration of sorting parameters through simple spacer replacement. The modular design allows the sorting screen to be quickly adapted to different material sizes without extensive downtime, making the system more flexible and responsive to changing sorting requirements.
3Reliability
If heavy screen discs are used for sorting material, then reliability is improved, but weight of moving object increases leading to higher energy consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The tubular spacers provide structural integrity and define sorting openings with thin-walled construction. This reduces the overall weight of the screen disc assembly while maintaining sufficient rigidity for reliable operation. The lightweight spacers can be easily rotated and replaced without requiring heavy-duty support structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The screen disc combines different materials with optimized properties: rotor bodies made from durable materials for structural support and material conveyance, and tubular spacers made from lighter materials that provide precise opening definitions. This composite approach reduces overall weight while maintaining reliability.
4Strength
If rigid rotor bodies are used for sorting material, then strength is improved, but object-generated harmful factors increase due to jamming and impact forces
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor body material properties are optimized to provide sufficient strength for structural support while incorporating appropriate flexibility to prevent jamming. The material parameters are selected to allow controlled deformation under load, enabling the rotor body to yield slightly when objects become stuck, thereby expelling them without excessive force.
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 sorting of materials of different sizes at a lower cost, reduces the risk of jamming, and absorbs impact energy smoothly, maintaining the sorting function while minimizing noise and peak loads on the rotor bodies.
Implementation Method 1
the resilient characteristics of the rotor bodies allow impact energy of heavy hard items hitting the rotor bodies to be absorbed relatively smoothly
Implementation Method 2
the opening for sorting material of a certain size is defined by the distance between the periphery of a rotor body carried by a shaft and the outer periphery of a spacer mounted on a neighboring one of said shafts
Data Source
AI summary
A sorting screen for sorting material comprises a row of rotatable, driven shafts mutually spaced in a conveying direction. Each shaft extends transversally to said conveying direction and carries carrying a row of radially extending rotor bodies for intermittently urging material on the sorting screen upward and in conveying direction. The rotor bodies of each of said rows are mutually spaced in longitudinal direction of the respective shaft by spacers. Each spacer is a tubular spacer and each rotor body is provided with at least a recess or a number of projections retaining a respective end face of a respective tubular spacer.