Bag Forming Assembly Volume Control for Sealing Quality
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vertical fill and form packaging machines produce faulty bags that are not detected efficiently, leading to quality degradation and operational inefficiencies, and the bags' varied configurations complicate storage and packaging.
Innovation Solution
A packaging assembly with a controller, belt drive, sealing device, jaws, conveyor, and sensor assembly that adjusts film and jaw speeds, stripper bar speeds, and gas delivery to form sealed bags of consistent volume, ensuring proper sealing and efficient bag formation and handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional packaging machines are used to produce bags, then bag formation is achieved, but faulty bags are not detected efficiently leading to quality degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by detecting bag faults immediately after sealing while the bag is still in the sealing position, rather than detecting faults after the bag has been conveyed away. The sensor assembly detects volume deviations at the moment of sealing, enabling immediate identification of faulty bags before they leave the sealing station.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the bag's own volume as an intermediary parameter to detect sealing faults. Instead of directly detecting seal integrity, the system measures the bag's volume through optical sensors, which serves as an indirect indicator of proper sealing. This intermediary measurement approach enables fault detection without direct contact with the seal.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If packaging machines operate intermittently to detect faulty bags, then detection capability is provided, but operational speed becomes slow
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous detection by integrating the sensor assembly into the sealing station, allowing every bag to be detected as it passes through the sealing position. The system continuously monitors bag volume for each sealing cycle, eliminating intermittent operation and maintaining continuous production flow while detecting all faulty bags.
3Productivity
If bags are delivered to conveyor with varied configurations, then bag formation is achieved, but arrangement for storage becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by detecting and identifying faulty bags immediately after sealing, allowing them to be flagged for removal before they reach the storage area. This preliminary detection enables downstream sorting systems to efficiently separate defective bags from good bags, simplifying the arrangement process for storage.
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly for forming bags, having a belt drive for feeding a film at a film speed to a former shoulder to form a tubular film, a set of jaws movable at a jaw speed to engage and seal a tubular film to form a closed bag, and a sensor assembly to provide a volume signal indicative of a volume of the closed bag, wherein the controller is configured to adjust at least one of the film speed and the jaw speed in response to the volume signal.