Stir Stick Drop Chute Control for Jam-Free Cup Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional stir stick dispensers in beverage vending machines face issues with precision and effectiveness when dispensing biodegradable or compostable materials like wood or paper stir sticks, due to deformation caused by temperature and humidity changes, leading to jamming and unpredictable drop paths, which also affects plastic and heavy or light stir sticks, resulting in noise and improper placement in cups.
Innovation Solution
A stir stick dispenser with a swivelling extractor and a movable stop member within a drop chute that controls the descent of stir sticks, ensuring precise extraction and guided drop into cups, regardless of material type or geometry, using an electrically controlled swivelling mechanism and a pendulum-like movable member to regulate the drop speed and impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional stir stick dispensers use precision-configured extractors and magazines for plastic stir sticks, then extraction precision is maintained, but the system fails when using biodegradable materials like wood or paper due to deformation from temperature and humidity changes
Solution Approach 1:
The extractor is designed with dynamic adjustment capability, allowing it to adapt its movement parameters (amplitude, speed, position) in real-time based on the actual state of the stir stick stack. This enables the system to handle both rigid plastic sticks and deformable biodegradable materials effectively, resolving the contradiction between extraction precision and material adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters of the extractor (movement amplitude, velocity, extraction force) according to the material type and environmental conditions. This parameter adaptation allows the same extractor mechanism to reliably extract different materials despite their varying physical properties and deformation characteristics
2Productivity
If stir sticks are extracted and dropped freely into cups, then the dispensing process is simple and fast, but the drop path becomes unpredictable causing jams and noise
Solution Approach 1:
A guide chute is introduced as an intermediary element between the extractor and the cup. This guide chute constrains and directs the stir stick during its descent, ensuring a controlled and predictable drop path that prevents jams and reduces noise while maintaining dispensing speed
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary alignment and positioning of the stir stick in the guide chute before the actual drop into the cup. This preliminary action ensures the stir stick is properly oriented and positioned, preventing unpredictable behavior during the drop phase and eliminating jams
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 ensures reliable, precise, and controlled dispensing of stir sticks into cups, reducing jamming and noise, and accommodating various materials and sizes, while maintaining operational efficiency across different environmental conditions.
Implementation Method 1
each stir stick, once extracted, is abandoned and let to drop by gravity in a conveying duct
Implementation Method 2
a movable stop member operable to temporarily stop each stir stick during its drop through the conveying duct
Data Source
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AI summary
Stir stick dispenser (1) and method for dispensing stir sticks (2) in a beverage vending machine (A), wherein a stir stick (2) is extracted from a stack (4) of stir sticks (2), is supplied into a drop chute (19) towards a beverage cup (B) and is temporarily stopped in an intermediate point of the drop chute (19) and before the stir stick (2) enters the beverage cup (B) by means of a pendulum member (26) freely oscillating about a reciprocating hinge axis (29).