Capsule Filter Integration via Thermoforming and Two-Step Stretching
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for manufacturing capsules with internal filters are complex, laborious, and prone to errors due to the fragility and instability of filtering elements, leading to high rejection rates and reduced productivity in packaging machines.
Innovation Solution
A thermoforming apparatus that integrates the formation of plastic shells and filtering elements from a film of filtering material, using a two-step stretching process to securely attach the filtering elements to the shells, ensuring accurate and efficient assembly without the need for separate handling and transfer devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If filtering elements are manufactured separately and assembled in packaging machines, then the capsule shell and filter can be produced independently, but the assembly process becomes complex and laborious with high rejection rates due to filter fragility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the filter formation and shell formation processes into a single integrated operation. The filter is formed directly within the capsule shell during the thermoforming process, eliminating the need for separate filter manufacturing and assembly operations. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining independent production flexibility while removing the complex assembly station required when components are manufactured separately.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter is pre-formed within the shell cavity before the shell is fully completed and before any assembly operations. By forming the filter in advance within the shell structure itself, the patent eliminates subsequent handling and assembly steps that cause complexity and rejection issues.
2Productivity
If filtering elements are handled and inserted in packaging machines, then capsules can be filled with products, but productivity is reduced due to filter instability and high rejection rates
Solution Approach 1:
The filter is pre-formed within the shell cavity before any handling operations occur. This preliminary formation within the protected shell environment eliminates subsequent handling of the fragile filter, preventing damage and rejection while maintaining high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter is nested within the shell cavity during formation, creating a protected inner structure. This nesting approach allows the filter to be formed and held in its final position within the shell, eliminating the need for separate handling and insertion operations that cause instability and rejection.
3Manufacturing precision
If a two-step stretching process is used to form filters from film, then filters are securely attached to shells, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The two-step stretching process is merged into the single integrated thermoforming operation. The film is stretched and formed directly within the shell cavity during the shell formation process itself, achieving precise filter attachment without adding separate equipment or process steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses parameter changes in the thermoforming process (temperature, pressure, stretching ratios) to achieve precise filter formation and attachment. By controlling these parameters during the integrated process, high manufacturing precision is achieved without increasing device complexity.
4Ease of manufacture
If filtering elements are formed by folding film material, then filters can be created from simple material, but the elements become fragile and unstable during handling
Solution Approach 1:
The filter is nested within the shell cavity during formation, creating a protected structure. This nesting approach maintains the simplicity of film-based construction while preventing the fragility and instability that occur during separate handling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter is pre-formed within the protected shell environment before any handling occurs. This preliminary formation within the shell eliminates subsequent handling of the fragile filter element, maintaining both material simplicity and handling stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the manufacturing process, reduces capsule rejection, and enhances productivity by stabilizing the filtering elements within the shells, allowing for precise and reliable assembly directly in the packaging machine.
Implementation Method 1
In the heating station, the sheet material is prepared for the successive forming operation, i.e., it is heated up to a predetermined softening temperature, so as to increase the plasticity and deformability thereof
Implementation Method 2
The forming station comprises a forming mould in which one or more punches push the sheet inside respective cavities of a die, so as to produce the shells
Implementation Method 3
a stretching device for stretching a portion of the filtering material film locked to the shell so as to form the filtering element within the cavity
Implementation Method 4
a locking device for locking the filtering material film to the shell
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for making a capsule provided with a shell containing a filtering element suitable for receiving a product for preparing a beverage or the like includes a superimposing assembly for applying a film of filtering material to at least one shell with a cavity in order to cover an opening of the cavity. The shell is moved along a first advancement direction and the apparatus further includes a locking assembly to lock the film to the shell, and a first stretching device included in a first stretching station for heating and stretching a portion of the film facing the cavity in order to obtain a filtering element.