Spice mill grinder
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spice mill grinders face difficulties in automated assembly due to the annular end faces of internal grinder parts, which hinder optimal alignment and gripping for automatic assembly, leading to inefficiencies in manufacturing.
Innovation Solution
The internal grinder parts are equipped with at least two straight side faces acting as stop faces for alignment, forming a narrowing transport channel to ensure precise positioning and facilitate automated assembly, with additional features like perpendicular contact surfaces for automatic removal and material choices that enhance service life and cost-effectiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If annular end faces are used on inner grinder parts, then the grinder structure is simple and manufacturing is easy, but automated grasping and alignment become much more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by replacing the rotationally symmetric annular end face with an asymmetric structure featuring two straight side faces that are not uniformly distributed. This asymmetric configuration creates specific geometric features (straight edges and corners) that are easily detectable by automated grippers and alignment systems, while still maintaining manufacturing simplicity through standard machining processes.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional circular end faces are used, then manufacturing is straightforward, but automated alignment and positioning precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The two straight side faces act as intermediary alignment features between the grinder component and the automated assembly system. These straight faces provide reference surfaces that mediate the alignment process, enabling precise positioning without requiring complex circular feature detection, thus improving alignment precision while keeping manufacturing straightforward.
3Extent of automation
If complex alignment features are added to enable automated assembly, then automated assembly improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The end face is segmented into two distinct straight side faces rather than using a continuous circular profile. This segmentation creates discrete, easily identifiable features for automated systems while keeping the overall structure simple. The segmentation approach enables automated grasping and alignment without requiring complex multi-feature geometries, thus improving automation capability without significantly increasing device complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1~4
AI summary
A spice mill grinding mechanism is provided, comprising a lower housing part (2;12) with an outer grinding part (3;13) and an upper housing part (4;14) rotatable against it, with a truncated cone-shaped inner grinding part (5;15), which is equipped on its truncated cone base facing the upper housing part (4;14) with an annular end face (6;16), which is optimized for fully automated assembly, which is achieved by providing the annular end face (6;16) with at least two straight side surfaces (7;17) which serve as stop surfaces for aligning the inner grinding part (5;15) at the end of a conveying path, such as a transport trough.