Inner-Ring Wax Applicator

Project Description

Bee Scientific’s modular beehive, the Bee Barrel, requires beeswax to be applied to the inner surface of each ring. The current process is slow, inconsistent, and a bottleneck to mass production. The challenge is to design a system that applies an even layer of wax to rings efficiently and reliably.

Design Description

The Inner Ring Wax Applicator is a system designed to streamline beeswax application for the Bee Barrel. The system melts and sprays wax onto the inner surface of plastic hive rings using a pressurized delivery mechanism and a motorized carriage.

Key components of the wax applicator include a wax melting system, a gantry and carriage that cycle rings, and an operator interface. By spraying multiple rings per cycle and using retention-based cycling, the design minimizes wax waste and operator effort.

Primary Requirements and Constraints

• Solution shall fit within the footprint of a pallet (48”x40”)
• Solution should store sufficient wax for a full day of production
• Minimum application time should be less than 2 minutes/ring

Performance Review

• The final design is 1.5” longer than a pallet
• The solution cycles between kilns to allow a constant supply of wax
• Ring application time is approx. 5.5 seconds/ring

Conclusion

The Inner Ring Wax Applicator met its requirements well.

The team learned the importance of testing early and often and how to communicate effectively as a team.

The design could be improved upon by implementing automatic ring loading, including another ring carriage on the opposite side of the gantry, and adding more kilns to store wax.