According to Wikipedia, revolving doors are favoured because they can be used as an airlock to minimise a building's heating and air conditioning losses.
This principle can effectively be applied to the Seeker's requirement to transfer plastic trays from ambient conditions into and out of a pressurised, high-temperature atmosphere at production speeds.
Detailed Description of the Solution
The Solver's proposed process to transfer trays from ambient to saturated steam conditions (high temperature and high pressure) quickly and efficiently is the "4-Chamber Horizontal Revolving-Door Airlock System".
The novel 4-Chamber Horizontal Revolving-Door Airlock System can get uncovered plastic trays (at ambient conditions) containing product into and out of the system quickly and continuously without losing significant temperature and pressure.
The novel 4-Chamber Horizontal Revolving-Door Airlock System has 2-way double tracks in order to simultaneously transport the trays into and out of the system on 2 reciprocating tracks.
The novel 4-Chamber Horizontal Revolving-Door Airlock System has simple design in order to lower the installation cost and the maintenance cost, i.e., requiring few repairs, etc.
The revolving-door mechanism itself is a very well-established technology.
Each of the Seeker's Technical Requirements and Desirable Properties is addressed as follows.
The revolving-door process continuously takes a plastic tray from ambient conditions to a pressurised saturated steam environment while maintaining the temperature and pressure inside the environment. The process is reversed by the same airlock system, which is driven by a single electrical motor.
The trays are covered neither with a lid nor with a "steam hat".
The trays remain upright and are not shaken during transport.
The system is able to maintain high speeds for a single line. Faster speeds will be possible in future upgrades by synchronously increasing the speed of rotation of the revolving-door mechanism.
The atmosphere is air and/or steam at all times. There is no water lock.
The system is able to handle trays that range from 50 x 50 mm to 200 x 250 mm at a height of 30 mm or more.
The option to inject pressurised air and/or water into the tray pressure lock during depressurising can easily be accommodated in the 4-Chamber Horizontal Revolving-Door Airlock System.
A phased depressurisation system is possible by cascading the 4-Chamber Horizontal Revolving-Door Airlock System in tandem.
Please refer to the detailed drawings of the process apparatus proposed (pressure lock system).
References and Notes
There is no patent art preventing the use of specific material for their commercial application.
Systems with a vertical rotary airlock (U.S. Patent 5 405 231) are not suitable for the Seeker's application because of the technical requirement that trays remain upright and not be shaken.
Systems with a 2-chamber revolving door or with a 3-chamber revolving door are not suitable for the Seeker's application because a straight linear track cannot be made within the airlock system.
Supporting Information
U.S. Patent 5 405 231: "Conveyor with rotary airlock apparatus" (a vertical rotary airlock)
Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolving_door>
Conclusion
The Solver believes that the novel 4-Chamber Horizontal Revolving-Door Airlock System will meet all of the Seeker's Technical Requirements and Desirable Properties.
