Twisted Branch Passages for Stopper-Free Part Alignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing part orienting systems require stopper pins, leading to increased maintenance time and effort due to collisions at merge points.
Innovation Solution
A part orienting system that twists branch passages to orient parts' surfaces orthogonally, allowing parts to merge smoothly without stopper pins by determining their orientation and feeding them sequentially through branching regions, ensuring front surfaces align at the merge point.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If stopper pins are used at branch points to prevent collision, then part orientation is maintained, but system complexity and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the stopper pins from the system entirely. Instead of using mechanical stoppers to control part flow and prevent collision, the system uses the inherent geometry of twisted branch passages to orient parts automatically, eliminating the need for separate stopper components and reducing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The branch passages are designed to automatically orient parts through their twisted geometry without requiring external control mechanisms. The passages themselves perform the orientation function that would otherwise require stopper pins, allowing the system to self-regulate part flow and orientation.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If stopper pins are installed at merge points, then part collision is reduced, but maintenance time and effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the stopper pins that would normally be installed at merge points. The twisted branch passage design inherently prevents collision by orienting parts before they merge, eliminating the need for maintenance-prone stopper components.
Solution Approach 2:
The branch passages perform preliminary orientation of parts before they reach the merge point. By twisting the passages, parts are oriented correctly in advance of the merge, preventing collision before it occurs and eliminating the need for stopper pins that would require maintenance.
3Productivity
If parts are fed continuously through branch passages, then productivity is high, but collision at merge point increases
Solution Approach 1:
The twisted branch passages perform preliminary orientation of parts during their travel through the passages. This preliminary action ensures that by the time parts reach the merge point, they are already correctly oriented, allowing continuous high-speed feeding without collision.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses curved or twisted passage geometry to gently guide and orient parts through rotational displacement. The curved path of the twisted passages allows parts to rotate and orient themselves smoothly during transit, maintaining high feeding speeds while preventing collision at the merge point.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Parts merge smoothly without any stopper at a branching region. A determining and sorting unit 5 determines, between an introduction passage 21 and a branching region 4, whether weld nuts 3 at rest are facing up or down. The weld nuts 3 determined as facing up are fed to a first branch passage 40a, whereas the weld nuts 3 determined as facing down are fed to a second branch passage 40b.