Conical Ice Cream Wrapper Production via Continuous Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The production of ice cream wrappers in discontinuous systems results in significant paper waste and dimensional issues due to curling from humidity and temperature effects, leading to inefficiencies and manual handling challenges.
Innovation Solution
A continuous production system where a supporting sheet is cut into segments with specific cutting lines to form conical wrappers, minimizing waste and allowing for direct feeding into a cone-forming machine, with optional pre-printing and positional control to ensure precise cutting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If discontinuous stamping of printed paper segments is used, then wrappers can be produced, but significant paper waste and trimmings are generated
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting sheet is divided into multiple wrapper segments through strategic cutting lines that create trapezoidal shapes. These segments are arranged and cut from a continuous sheet in such a way that minimizes the disposable trimmings between segments, effectively segmenting the material usage to reduce waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting lines include curved portions that follow the natural geometry of the wrapper design. By using curved cutting lines instead of straight lines, the patent optimizes the use of the supporting sheet area, allowing segments to be packed more efficiently and reducing the triangular disposable trimmings that would otherwise be generated.
2Productivity
If paper rolls with pre-printed segments are used, then production can proceed, but curling due to humidity and temperature causes dimensional variations and operational problems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary printing on the supporting sheet before cutting and wrapping. By printing first on the continuous supporting sheet and then cutting the segments, the process avoids handling pre-cut printed segments that are prone to curling. The supporting sheet maintains its dimensional stability throughout the cutting and wrapping process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a continuous supporting sheet that is unwound, printed, cut, and wrapped in a continuous process flow. This eliminates the need to handle separate pre-printed segments or rolls, maintaining continuous production while avoiding the dimensional instability issues associated with pre-printed segmented paper rolls.
3Ease of manufacture
If discontinuous stamping with manual stacking is used, then segments can be processed, but manual manipulation time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple operations into a unified continuous process. The supporting sheet undergoes printing, cutting, and wrapping in sequence without manual intervention between steps. The cutting stage creates segments that are directly fed into the wrapping machine, merging the preparation and production stages into one continuous flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The process maintains continuous action from supporting sheet unwinding through printing, cutting, and wrapping. The segments are produced and consumed in continuous sequence without manual stacking or interruption, eliminating the time loss associated with manual handling and stacking operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
This is a continuous mode procedure wherein in a first cutting operation an upper band (5) is obtained and a lower band (6), followed by a second cutting operation to obtain some separate trapezoidal segments (4), to finish with a third cutting operation on the curled side (10) of the segment (4) to obtain a circular side with only one radius of curvature, forming in this way a wrapper (11) of conical development.