Bag Rack Assembly With Hooked Bag Opening for Solo Food Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for packaging preprocessed or precooked food items, such as a rotisserie chicken, often require two people to hold open a storage bag and place the item inside, leading to inefficiencies in the packaging process.
Innovation Solution
A bag rack and dispensing system that includes a base assembly with side and crossbars, a hanger assembly for supporting storage bags, and a hooking device to hold open the frontmost bag, allowing one person to easily load and seal items into the bags, which are then removable from the rack.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If one person attempts to hold open a storage bag and load food items simultaneously, then the packaging process becomes more efficient, but it becomes difficult to hold open large storage bags and load items
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bag holder as an intermediary device that assists the operator in holding open the storage bag. The bag holder includes a clamp mechanism that can grip the bag opening and maintain it in an open position, serving as a mediator between the operator's hand and the bag opening. This allows the operator to easily load food items without struggling to hold the bag open.
Solution Approach 2:
The bag holder is designed to be easily adjustable and operable by a single person, allowing the packaging process to be self-sufficient without requiring assistance from another person. The clamp mechanism can be quickly adjusted to different bag sizes and opened/closed by the operator themselves, enabling one-person operation for efficient packaging.
2Ease of operation
If two people are used to package food items, then the bag can be held open and items loaded, but the packaging process becomes less efficient due to requiring multiple personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The bag holder enables a single operator to perform both functions of holding open the bag and loading items, making the system self-sufficient without requiring a second person. The clamp mechanism automatically maintains bag opening, allowing one person to complete the entire packaging task independently, thereby improving productivity while maintaining ease of operation.
3Device complexity
If a fixed rack structure is used for storage bags, then the system is simple, but it cannot accommodate various bag sizes and types of items
Solution Approach 1:
The rack system incorporates adjustable components including movable shelves and adjustable bag holders that can be repositioned to accommodate different bag sizes. The clamp mechanism on the bag holder can adjust its grip strength and position, allowing the same rack structure to handle various bag dimensions and weights, thereby providing versatility while maintaining relatively simple device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A bag rack and dispensing system and method of packaging and dispensing items, such as food. The bag rack and dispensing system includes a rack that is formed of a base assembly and a hanger assembly on which multiple storage bags can be hung. A method of using the bag rack and dispensing system for packaging and dispensing food items includes, but is not limited to, the steps of hanging the storage bags on the rack of the bag rack and dispensing system, opening the frontmost storage bag, holding open or propping open the storage bag using a hooking device, placing the food item(s) or any other types of item(s) into the storage bag, removing the hooking device, if used, closing the storage bag, and removing the filled storage bag from the rack of the bag rack and dispensing system.