Sorting Table Grading Rolls with Adjustable Gaps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sorting tables with grading rolls face challenges in efficiently sorting grape clusters and other agricultural products due to significant size variations, as they require complex and costly mechanical systems to adjust pass-through openings, which can lead to damage and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A sorting table with grading rolls that uses elastic elements and actuators to adjust the gap between rolls, allowing for a maximum or minimum pass-through cross-section, enabling the sorting of products of varying sizes while maintaining the conveyor function and preventing damage from hard objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fixed cross-section pass-through openings are used between rolls, then the sorting table can maintain a simple structure, but it cannot handle significant size variations in harvested products
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the gap between grading rolls adjustable rather than fixed. The end supports can be displaced laterally to modify the gap width, allowing the sorting table to adapt to different product sizes. This dynamic adjustment capability resolves the contradiction by enabling size variation handling without requiring completely different sorting tables for each product type.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements parameter changes by allowing the gap width between rolls to be modified according to the size of harvested products. The actuator system enables continuous adjustment of the gap parameter, allowing the same sorting table to handle various product sizes by changing only the gap parameter rather than the entire structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If complex mechanical systems are used to modify the gap between rolls, then the pass-through opening cross-section can be adjusted, but the system becomes costly and time-consuming to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the gap modification function from complex mechanical systems and implements it through a simplified actuator mechanism. The actuator directly displaces the end supports laterally to adjust the gap, eliminating the need for complicated mechanical linkages, levers, or multiple adjustment stages that would increase system complexity and operation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical adjustment systems with a more straightforward actuator-based mechanism. The actuator system uses a simplified mechanical arrangement that directly translates actuator movement into lateral displacement of end supports, reducing the number of mechanical components and simplifying the overall system architecture.
3Reliability
If rigid mechanical systems are used to maintain gap between rolls, then structural stability is ensured, but damage can occur from hard objects getting stuck between rolls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies beforehand cushioning by incorporating elastic elements between the end supports and the grading rolls. These elastic elements act as a cushion that absorbs the impact force when hard objects become trapped between rolls, preventing damage to both the rolls and the object. The elastic elements are positioned in advance to provide immediate protection upon impact.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mechanical parameter of the support system from rigid to elastic by introducing elastic elements. This parameter change allows the system to maintain structural stability under normal operation while providing shock absorption capability when abnormal conditions occur, such as hard objects getting stuck between rolls.
4Manufacturing precision
If multiple sets of rolls with different profiles are used to handle various product sizes, then sorting accuracy is improved, but the time required to remove and install rolls increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by enabling continuous adjustment of the gap between rolls rather than requiring physical replacement of rolls. The actuator system allows the gap to be dynamically modified to match different product sizes, maintaining sorting accuracy while eliminating the time-consuming process of removing and installing different roll sets.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the approach from physical replacement of rolls to modification of the gap parameter. By adjusting the lateral position of end supports, the effective gap parameter is changed to suit different product sizes, achieving the same sorting accuracy as different roll profiles but without the time loss associated with physical replacement.
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 allows for efficient sorting and calibration of products with varying sizes, neutralizes the sorting function when needed, and prevents damage from hard objects, while maintaining the conveyor function and enabling modular design.
Implementation Method 1
elastic elements which push or pull the end supports and the grading rolls supported by them either closer together or farther apart, so as to decrease or increase the cross section of the openings for pass-through of the sorted or calibrated products
Data Source
AI summary
A sorting table with grading rolls supported by end supports and positioned to form a sorting plane. The rolls are rotated in the same direction and configured to create at least one opening between adjacent rolls to permit the pass-through of only the products to be sorted or calibrated. Larger products remain at the surface and are evacuated downstream. The gap between rolls can be modified. Elastic elements are interposed between said end supports and means of actuation for are provided bringing said end supports and the rolls supported by the latter closer together or moving them farther apart, in opposition to the antagonistic action exerted by said elastic elements, to decrease or increase the cross section of the openings, displacements in the opposite direction of said end supports and of the grading rolls being achieved by the action of extension or compression of said elastic elements.