Adjustable Processing Stations for Folding Box Blank Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Folding box gluing machines face challenges in aligning folding box blanks accurately with respect to the central axis of processing stations, especially for boxes with complex shapes, leading to inefficiencies and reduced machine capacity due to the need for sensitive adjustments and repeated passes through the machine.
Innovation Solution
A device with independently adjustable processing stations before and after a turning station, allowing for transverse alignment without altering the entire machine setup, ensuring the machine's maximum width is utilized and maintaining existing settings, using modular structures and actuators for precise adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the entire machine setup is adjusted to align blanks with the central axis, then alignment precision is improved, but setup time and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The machine is divided into independently adjustable processing stations (inserter, folding station, turning station, pressing station) that can be individually positioned transversely. Each station has its own conveying elements that can be adjusted independently, allowing alignment without adjusting the entire machine setup, thus reducing setup time while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveying elements at each processing station are made transversely positionable through actuators, enabling dynamic adjustment of each station's position relative to the central axis. This allows the system to adapt to different blank formats and alignment requirements without requiring time-consuming reconfiguration of the entire machine.
2Productivity
If the machine width is maximized to increase capacity, then productivity is improved, but alignment precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the machine into independently positionable stations, the system can accommodate larger blank formats without compromising alignment. Each station can be adjusted to handle the specific dimensions of the blank being processed, allowing the machine to process larger formats while maintaining precise alignment with the central axis.
Solution Approach 2:
The transverse position of each processing station can be changed as a parameter to accommodate different blank formats. This allows the machine to adapt its geometry dynamically to match the dimensions of the blanks being processed, thereby maximizing machine capacity while maintaining alignment precision through coordinated adjustment of individual stations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple passes through the machine are used to process complex box shapes, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The turning station can rotate blanks by 90 degrees and reposition them for processing in a single pass. The transverse adjustability of subsequent processing stations allows the system to handle complex box shapes by adjusting the position of folding and pressing stations after rotation, enabling single-pass processing of complex geometries that would otherwise require multiple passes, thus maintaining high productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
The device has processing stations (27-30) arranged before and behind a turning station. The processing stations include independent conveyor elements for transporting a blank (2) through the stations. The stations are rightwardly or leftwardly transversely adjustably arranged relative to the remaining stations individually or as a composite. The conveyor elements are fixedly arranged in the turning station. The stations are modularly built. A position of each station is transmitted to a control and/or a display.