Unrolling Device for Balancing Weights with Top Extraction and Segmented Spool
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for unwinding and cutting balancing weights connected by a band are inefficient, particularly due to the weight and rigidity of the spool, which makes handling and precise unwinding challenging, and often damage the tape during the process.
Innovation Solution
A rolling device with a trunnion-based spool securing mechanism, where the spool can be easily placed and secured, allowing for adjustable braking, and featuring a passage for tape unwinding from the top with edge protection and a roller to prevent rolling, along with a contact surface for stable cutting and edge guidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the spool is made heavy to hold the band of weights, then the spool can securely hold the weights, but the spool becomes difficult to handle and place on the bearing
Solution Approach 1:
The spool is divided into two separate components: a heavy spool body that holds the band of weights, and a separate bearing assembly with a recess. The heavy spool body can be easily placed into the bearing recess without requiring manual handling of the entire assembled unit, effectively segmenting the handling difficulty from the weight-holding function.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing recess acts as an intermediary structure that facilitates the placement of the heavy spool. By providing a pre-positioned recess in the bearing assembly, the system creates an intermediate receiving structure that makes it easier to position the heavy spool body without direct manual manipulation of the complete assembled unit.
2Ease of operation
If the tape is pulled off from the underside of the spool, then the unwinding process is simple, but the masking tape and adhesive tape on the underside get damaged
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of pulling the tape from the underside of the spool as in conventional designs, the patent inverts the unwinding approach by pulling the tape from the top side of the spool. This reversal changes the extraction point from the vulnerable underside (where masking and adhesive tapes are located) to the top side, thereby preventing damage to the tape layers while maintaining the unwinding function.
3Ease of operation
If the passage for the tape is open at the top for easy guidance, then the tape can be easily guided, but the tape lacks protection from damage
Solution Approach 1:
The passage structure merges multiple functions into a single integrated component: it provides open top and side edges for easy tape guidance while simultaneously incorporating a roller at the bottom and edge protection elements that shield the tape from damage. This merging of guidance and protection functions into one passage structure resolves the contradiction between ease of guidance and tape protection.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If a roller is added to the passage to protect the band, then the band is protected from damage, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The roller is merged into the passage structure as an integrated component rather than a separate attachment. The passage is formed as a single piece that incorporates the roller at its bottom surface, combining the guidance function of the passage with the protective function of the roller in one unified structure, thereby minimizing the increase in device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The passage structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it guides the tape through its open edges, protects the band through the integrated roller, and provides structural support. By making the passage multi-functional, the design avoids adding separate protective components that would increase complexity, as the passage itself performs both guidance and protection roles.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
A dispenser for a strip (9) of individual weights (16) connected to one another by a film or the like includes a bearing (5) with a horizontal axis of rotation for the spool (6). The strip (9) is guided from the top of the spool through a guide (13) located in front of the spool, from which it then hangs downwards. Between the guide (13) and the downward-hanging end of the spool, an inclined support surface (12) is formed for several weights. Between the inclined support surface (12) and the vertical front surface, which is marked in weight units, an edge (17) is formed, creating a gap between two weights. Behind the edge (17), a slot (18) is formed, allowing a user to insert a knife into the opening notch between two adjacent weights at this edge and separate them.