Weighing Hopper Partition Wall Prevents Contamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing weighing apparatuses fail to adequately prevent the ingress of foreign matters into the objects being weighed, such as loose fastening members or support components, leading to contamination issues during operation and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A weighing apparatus design featuring a tubular hopper body with a partition wall that separates the center region for object discharge from outer regions for the gate, rotary shaft, and bearing units, ensuring these components are fastened and supported in a way that prevents them from falling into the hopper, using a rotary shaft and fastening units that are unitarily connected and supported to prevent loose components from entering the weighing area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the gate and rotary shaft are fastened using bolts and nuts, then the gate can be securely attached to the rotary shaft, but the fastening members may get loose due to vibration and fall into the hopper body causing contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fastening members (bolts and nuts) from the potential contamination zone by providing a dedicated fastening member storage space within the bearing unit housing. This separation ensures that even if fastening members become loose, they are contained within the outer region and cannot fall into the hopper body, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining fastening strength and preventing contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing unit housing acts as an intermediary structure that provides a controlled environment for storing fastening members. This intermediate storage space serves as a buffer zone that prevents direct contact between loose fastening members and the objects in the hopper body, thereby eliminating the contamination risk while maintaining the necessary fastening function.
2Strength
If support members are used to support the weighing hopper, then the hopper can be properly supported, but support members may be dropped into the hopper body during maintenance/inspection work causing contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts support members from the contamination risk zone by designing them to be detachably connected to the bearing unit housing rather than directly to the hopper body. During maintenance, support members can be removed from the outer region without needing to access the inner region where objects are stored, thus preventing accidental dropping into the hopper body while maintaining support strength during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the weighing hopper structure into distinct regions (inner region for objects, outer region for components) with the bearing unit housing serving as a boundary. This segmentation allows support members to be attached to the outer region structure, separating their function from the inner contamination zone and enabling safe maintenance operations.
3Ease of operation
If the bearing unit is designed to allow easy access for maintenance, then maintenance work can be performed easily, but the risk of foreign matters entering the hopper body increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts maintenance activities from the inner region by providing all necessary maintenance access points (fastening members, support members, bearing units) on the outer region side of the partition wall. This allows maintenance workers to service components without entering or accessing the inner region where objects are stored, thus maintaining ease of operation while preventing contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The partition wall serves as an intermediary barrier that physically separates maintenance access points from the object storage region. All maintenance operations can be performed on the outer region side of this barrier, and the partition wall prevents any accidental introduction of foreign matters into the inner region during maintenance activities.
Data Source
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AI summary
A weighing hopper (10) includes a hopper body (11), a gate (12a), an opening and closing means (13), a rotary shaft (41a), first and second bearing units (42A, 42B), and a partition wall (50, 51) which partitions a region in which the weighing hopper (10) is placed into a center region (P) and outer regions (Q) located at both sides of the center region (P). The rotary shaft (41a) penetrates the partition wall (50, 51) in a non-contact state. The hopper body (11), the gate (12a), and a fastening means (40A, 40B) which unitarily fastens the gate (12a) to the rotary shaft (41a), are placed in the center region (P); and the opening and closing means (13), and the first and second bearing units (42A, 42B) are placed in the outer regions (Q).