Aseptic Packaging Enclosure Loadbearing Structure
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing filling and sealing machines for packaging elements, such as bottles, face challenges in achieving optimal hygienic design and dimensional accuracy due to complex, large-sized self-supporting structures that hinder the flow of sterile gases and are costly to produce.
Innovation Solution
The enclosure is designed with a loadbearing structure that absorbs forces and moments, separate from the sealing function, allowing for prefabrication of components with high accuracy and simplified welding, enabling unobstructed flow of sterile media and improved surface quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a large-sized self-supporting welded structure is used for the enclosure, then the structural strength and stability are improved, but the manufacturing complexity and production costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The enclosure is divided into separate functional components: a loadbearing structure for structural strength and a wall structure for sealing and hygiene. This segmentation allows each part to be manufactured independently with optimized processes, avoiding the complexity of manufacturing a single large welded structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The loadbearing function is extracted from the wall structure and placed into a separate loadbearing structure. This extraction allows the wall structure to be simplified for hygienic purposes while the loadbearing structure handles all structural requirements separately.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a large-sized self-supporting welded structure is used for the enclosure, then the structural stability is improved, but the dimensional accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the enclosure into loadbearing and wall structures, each component can be manufactured with appropriate precision for its specific function. The loadbearing structure ensures stability while the wall structure achieves the required dimensional accuracy for sealing without the compromises of large-scale welding.
3Strength
If force-absorbing and moment-absorbing components are included in the enclosure, then the structural strength is improved, but the hygienic design quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The force-absorbing and moment-absorbing components are extracted from the interior wall structure and placed into a separate loadbearing structure. This eliminates protrusions and complex features within the sterile interior while maintaining structural strength through the external loadbearing framework.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the enclosure have different qualities optimized for their specific functions: the loadbearing structure has high structural strength for external forces, while the wall structure has smooth, hygienic surfaces optimized for cleaning and sterile media flow.
4Ease of manufacture
If the enclosure interior is designed with smooth surfaces and no protrusions, then the hygienic design quality is improved, but the structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The enclosure is segmented into two functional systems: the loadbearing structure provides structural strength externally, while the wall structure provides smooth, hygienic interior surfaces. This separation allows each function to be optimized independently without compromising the other.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for treating a packaging element having a sub-area that includes a packaging-element opening includes an enclosure having an outer load-bearing structure having load-bearing elements and a wall structure held in the load-bearing structure and isolated by the load-bearing structure from loads. It also has two subsections, one on and moving with a conveyor and the other on a device frame and not moving with the conveyor. The enclosure defines a sterile interior that contains the packaging-element opening. The conveyor moves the packaging element along a transport route in a transport direction. Supports of the load-bearing structure extend transversely to the transport direction and connect to a longitudinal chord oriented along the transport direction. Either the load-bearing structure is disposed outside the enclosure and spaced apart from the enclosure or the transport route includes a circular conformation and a ring forming the longitudinal chord.