Viscous Material Feeder Nozzle with Dividable Bent Feed Route

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Solution Overview

Problem

Viscous material feeders, such as solder printers, face challenges with solder remaining in the feed route due to bent feed routes, which hinder cleaning and make it difficult to check the cleanliness of the interior portions.

Innovation Solution

A viscous material feeder with a nozzle featuring a bent feed route that is dividable along its length, including straight and inclined passage portions with smoothly curved connections, allowing for easy cleaning and maintenance by exposing the feed route and reducing flow resistance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a bent feed route is used to guide viscous material from storage to nozzle, then the material flow path is achieved, but cleaning workability deteriorates and material remains in the feed route

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecleaning workabilityVSAvoidfeed route structure
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The nozzle body is divided into multiple detachable sections along the feed route, allowing the feed route to be segmented and separated for cleaning. This enables direct access to interior portions that would otherwise be inaccessible in a continuous bent feed route structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The feed route includes a vertically extending passage portion that changes the spatial dimension of material flow. This vertical section provides a straight accessible path for cleaning tools from above, transforming the cleaning approach from horizontal access to vertical access, thereby improving cleaning workability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If a bent feed route is used, then material guidance is achieved, but interior portions cannot be checked from outside

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevisibility of feed route interiorVSAvoidcleaning accessibility
Core Design Contradiction:
Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

By segmenting the nozzle body into detachable sections, the interior of the feed route becomes visible and accessible when sections are separated. This allows direct visual inspection and cleaning of previously hidden interior portions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The nozzle sections are designed to be detachable in advance, allowing the feed route to be opened for inspection and cleaning before material hardening occurs. This preliminary accessibility prevents material accumulation issues.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Ease of operation

If the feed route is made straight and accessible, then cleaning workability improves, but flow resistance increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecleaning accessibilityVSAvoidflow resistance
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The feed route utilizes vertical space by including a vertically extending passage portion. This three-dimensional routing allows the feed route to maintain smooth continuous flow characteristics while providing vertical accessibility for cleaning, avoiding the need for horizontal bends that would increase flow resistance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Solution Approach 2:

The feed route passages are designed with smooth curved transitions rather than sharp angles. The vertically extending portion connects smoothly to horizontal sections, maintaining laminar flow and minimizing turbulence, thereby reducing flow resistance while keeping the route accessible.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

Data Source

PatentEP2727728B1Viscous material feeder
Publication Date: 2018.02.28 YAMAHA MOTOR CO LTD
  • EP2727728B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2727728B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2727728B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

This viscous material feeder (4) includes a nozzle (43) to discharge a viscous material stored in a storage portion (110) storing the viscous material and a feeding mechanism (44) transferring the viscous material from the storage portion to the nozzle and discharging the viscous material from the nozzle. The nozzle has a bent feed route (50) to guide the viscous material from the storage portion to a tip of the nozzle and is configured to be dividable along the bent feed route.