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CN-122029713-A - Energy recovery system

CN122029713ACN 122029713 ACN122029713 ACN 122029713ACN-122029713-A

Abstract

An energy recovery system for a machine each having a mechanical power transmission system that generates energy in a first portion of a mechanical power transmission system cycle and that draws energy from an energy source in a second portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle includes a power distribution assembly configured to receive energy generated during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle, a plurality of actuator controller devices configured to selectively output energy to corresponding actuators of each of the plurality of machines, each of the plurality of actuator controller devices electrically coupled to the power distribution assembly and configured to reuse energy received by the power distribution assembly, and a controller for each of the plurality of actuator controller devices that is programmed to regulate output energy of the corresponding actuator controller devices to substantially maintain a voltage set point of the power distribution assembly relative to a voltage level.

Inventors

  • Willie Petrus Jiqin

Assignees

  • JBT马瑞尔公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20241009
Priority Date
20231010

Claims (20)

  1. 1. An energy recovery system for a plurality of machines each having a mechanical power transmission system, wherein each of the plurality of machines generates energy in a first portion of a mechanical power transmission system cycle and draws energy from an energy source in a second portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle, the energy recovery system comprising: a power distribution assembly configured to receive energy generated during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle; a plurality of actuator controller devices configured to selectively output energy to corresponding actuators of each of the plurality of machines, each of the plurality of actuator controller devices electrically coupled to the power distribution assembly and configured to reuse energy received by the power distribution assembly, and A controller for each of the plurality of actuator controller devices, the controller programmed to regulate output energy of the corresponding actuator controller device to substantially maintain a voltage level of the power distribution assembly relative to a voltage level set point.
  2. 2. The energy recovery system of claim 1, wherein energy generated by the plurality of machines during the first portion of a machine cycle is received by a dc common bus of the power distribution assembly.
  3. 3. The energy recovery system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of actuator controller devices are Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs).
  4. 4. The energy recovery system of claim 1, wherein each of the actuator controller devices is coupled in parallel to the power distribution assembly such that energy received by the power distribution assembly that is generated by the plurality of machines during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle is available for retrieval by any of the plurality of actuator controller devices for reuse.
  5. 5. The energy recovery system of claim 1, wherein each of the controllers is a PID controller configured to regulate an output speed of each of the corresponding actuator controller devices to substantially maintain a dc common bus voltage level of the power distribution assembly relative to the voltage level set point.
  6. 6. The energy recovery system of claim 1, wherein the voltage level set point is substantially the same as a power dissipation capacity of the power distribution assembly.
  7. 7. The energy recovery system of claim 1, wherein the voltage level set point is substantially the same as a VFD brake resistor power dissipation capacity of the power distribution assembly.
  8. 8. An energy recovery system, comprising: a plurality of machines each having a mechanical power transmission system powered by an electric motor, wherein the electric motor of each of the plurality of machines generates energy in a first portion of a mechanical power transmission system cycle; A direct current common bus configured to receive energy generated during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle; A plurality of Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) configured to selectively output energy to corresponding electric motors of each of the plurality of machines, each of the plurality of variable frequency drives electrically coupled to the DC common bus and configured to reuse energy received by the DC common bus, and A PID controller for each of the plurality of variable frequency drives, the PID controller programmed to regulate the output energy of the corresponding variable frequency drive to substantially maintain the voltage level of the dc common bus relative to a voltage level setpoint.
  9. 9. The energy recovery system of claim 8, wherein each of the variable frequency drives is coupled in parallel to the dc common bus such that energy received by the dc common bus that is generated by the plurality of machines during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle is available for retrieval by any of the plurality of variable frequency drives for reuse.
  10. 10. An energy recovery system for a juice extraction system having a plurality of juice extraction machines, wherein each juice extraction machine generates energy during a first portion of a mechanical power transmission system juice extraction cycle and draws energy from an energy source during a second portion of the mechanical power transmission system juice extraction cycle, the energy recovery system comprising: a power distribution assembly configured to receive energy generated during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system juicing cycle; A plurality of actuator controller devices configured to selectively output energy to corresponding actuators of each of the plurality of juice extraction machines, each of the plurality of actuator controller devices electrically coupled to the power distribution assembly and configured to reuse energy received by the power distribution assembly, and A controller for each of the plurality of actuator controller devices, the controller programmed to regulate output energy of the corresponding actuator controller device to substantially maintain a voltage level of the power distribution assembly relative to an energy level set point.
  11. 11. The energy recovery system of claim 10, wherein energy generated by the plurality of juice extraction machines during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system juicing cycle is received by a direct current common bus of the power distribution assembly.
  12. 12. The energy recovery system of claim 10, wherein each of the actuator controller devices is coupled in parallel to the power distribution assembly such that energy received by the power distribution assembly that is generated by the plurality of juice extraction machines during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system juice extraction cycle is available for retrieval by any of the plurality of actuator controller devices for reuse.
  13. 13. A method of recovering energy for a plurality of machines each having an actuator controller device that supplies energy to an actuator to move a component of the machine between a first portion of a mechanical power transmission system cycle and a second portion of a mechanical power transmission system cycle, the method comprising: supplying output energy from each actuator controller means to a corresponding actuator; generating energy by each of the actuators during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle of each of the plurality of machines; a power distribution assembly electrically coupled to each actuator controller device to sink generated energy below a predetermined energy level, and The complementary generated energy above the predetermined energy level is directed to the power dissipation device.
  14. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein supplying output energy from each actuator controller device to a corresponding actuator comprises at least one of drawing energy from Alternating Current (AC) mains and the power distribution assembly and supplying energy.
  15. 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising supplying generated energy from the power distribution assembly to each actuator controller device of a machine during the second portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle of the machine.
  16. 16. The method of claim 13, further comprising substantially synchronizing speeds of the first and second portions of the mechanical power transmission system cycles of the plurality of machines.
  17. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein substantially synchronizing speeds of the first and second portions of the mechanical power transmission system cycles of the plurality of machines comprises substantially matching a cycle speed of each of the first and second portions of the mechanical power transmission system cycles per time interval.
  18. 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising adjusting an output speed of at least one of the plurality of actuator controller devices to correspondingly adjust an energy level of the power distribution assembly relative to an energy level set point.
  19. 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising adjusting an output speed of at least one of the plurality of actuator controller devices to correspondingly adjust a dc common bus energy level of the power distribution assembly relative to a voltage level set point.
  20. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the voltage level set point is substantially equal to a power dissipation capacity of each of the actuator controller devices coupled to the power distribution assembly.

Description

Energy recovery system Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 63/589,265 filed on 10 months of 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Background Industrial juice (e.g., citrus) extractors typically include a series of juice extraction units that are combined together. Each juice extracting unit includes an upper cup and a lower cup for supporting fruits. The sides of both the upper cup and the lower cup have interengaging or interdigitating fingers. The upper cup is mounted on a common rail which is moved along a fixed up and down path by means of a cam drive located at the top of the juice extraction machine. The upper cup moves into the bottom cup, which remains rigidly positioned. Fruit (such as orange) is initially fed into the bottom cup, such as by a cam operated feeding device. The upper cup is then lowered into the lower cup. Fruit is pressed against a sharp circular cutter located adjacent the top of the filter tube (strainer tube) of the lower cup and an upper cutter located within the upper cup. When the interdigitated fingers of the two cups are engaged together, the two circular cutters cut plugs (plug) on the top and bottom portions of the fruit. At the same time, the interior portions of the fruit (i.e., pulp and juice) are forced downwardly into the filter tubes located within the manifold. More specifically, the upper cup moves rapidly downward until it contacts the fruit, at which point the speed slows to the compression stroke. Once the pressure on the fruit is sufficient, the lower cutter cuts a circular hole in the bottom of the fruit. By this time the two cups have been engaged together so that the fruit is completely enclosed. During this compression stroke, the orifice beam supporting the orifice tube is in its lowest position. As the upper cup descends, the fruit is squeezed and the peel plug, juice, film and seeds are forced downwardly through the lower cutter into the filter tube. When the interdigitated fingers peel the fruit, the peeled surface of the fruit does not contact the juice. After the upper cup descends toward the lower cup, the orifice tube moves upward into the filter tube. The orifice tube includes a restriction (restrictor) at its lower end. The orifice tube applies pressure to an interior portion of the filter tube to separate juice and pulp within the filter tube, collect the core material and drain the core material from the bottom of the orifice tube. Core materials typically include film, seed, and peel plugs. As the orifice beam approaches the top of its stroke, the upper cup begins to slowly rise. When the orifice beam reaches the top of its stroke, the upper cup accelerates rapidly, causing the upper cup to move away to allow the next fruit to be fed into the lower cup. The orifice beam is then lowered rapidly so that the filter tube is emptied and ready to receive juice from the next fruit. Each of the upper and lower cups, together with the filter tube and the orifice tube, form a single juice extraction unit. As described above, three or more juice extraction units are typically combined together to increase yield and positioned within a housing. The orifice tube may include mounting assemblies that are joined together, such as by a drive beam that supports each mounting assembly and is movable to reciprocate the orifice tube within the filter tube. An improved juice extraction system and method or similar machine or method will now be described. Disclosure of Invention In some aspects, the technology described herein relates to an energy recovery system for a plurality of machines each having a mechanical power transmission system, wherein each of the plurality of machines generates energy in a first portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle and draws energy from an energy source in a second portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle, the energy recovery system including a power distribution assembly configured to receive energy generated during the first portion of the mechanical power transmission system cycle, a plurality of actuator controller devices configured to selectively output energy to a corresponding actuator of each of the plurality of machines, each of the plurality of actuator controller devices being electrically coupled to the power distribution assembly and configured to reuse the energy received by the power distribution assembly, and a controller for each of the plurality of actuator controller devices programmed to regulate the output energy of the corresponding actuator controller devices to maintain a voltage set point at a high voltage set point relative to a voltage set point of the power distribution assembly. In some aspects, the technology described herein relates to an energy recovery system including a plurality of machines each having a mechanical power transmission system powere