Dual Gripper Packaging Machine Collision Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gripper systems in packaging machines face challenges with timing and handling, leading to potential collisions, damage, and inefficiencies in moving packaging trays between conveyors, which can result in product impairment and increased production costs.
Innovation Solution
A packaging machine with a dual-gripper system, where each gripper has two movable arms and is independently controlled for precise movement synchronization with conveyors, preventing collisions and ensuring a consistent, equidistant stream of packaging trays, using separate drives and transport carriages for efficient power transmission and easy adaptation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single gripper system is used to move packaging trays both into and out of the workstation, then device complexity is reduced, but collisions between grippers and packaging trays occur leading to damage and inefficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The single gripper system is divided into two independent grippers: a first gripper for loading packaging trays into the workstation and a second gripper for unloading them. This segmentation eliminates collisions between the gripper and packaging trays by separating the loading and unloading operations into independent systems with independent control.
2Reliability
If the gripper moves simultaneously with the conveyor to prevent damage, then handling safety is improved, but the conveyor must be stopped reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The gripper system incorporates dynamic speed control that allows it to move at variable speeds independent of the conveyor. The gripper can accelerate, decelerate, and stop independently to match the conveyor's motion profile only when necessary, eliminating the need to stop the conveyor while ensuring smooth, collision-free handling of packaging trays.
3Productivity
If the discharge conveyor moves at constant speed for efficient transport, then productivity is improved, but packaging trays cannot be deposited at equidistant intervals reducing manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 1:
The control system incorporates feedback mechanisms that monitor the position and speed of the discharge conveyor. Based on this feedback, the second gripper's deposition timing and position are dynamically adjusted to ensure equidistant spacing of packaging trays, even while the conveyor operates at constant speed. This closed-loop control maintains both productivity and spacing precision.
4Productivity
If two grippers are used for independent loading and unloading operations, then productivity is improved through parallel operations, but device complexity and risk of collision increase
Solution Approach 1:
Both the first and second grippers are designed with identical structures and functions, enabling them to perform the same loading/unloading operations independently. This universality allows for parallel operations that improve productivity while maintaining consistent, proven design elements that reduce overall system complexity despite having multiple grippers.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
Packaging machine (1) comprising a workstation (3), a feeder (5), a discharge conveyor (7), a control system (31), and a gripper system (9), wherein the gripper system (9) includes a first and a second gripper (11, 13), each movable in a transport direction (T). The first gripper (11) is configured to move one or more packaging trays (15) from the feeder (5) into the workstation (3), and the second gripper (13) is configured to move one or more packaging trays (15) from the workstation (3) to the discharge conveyor (7). The control system (31) is configured to move the first gripper (11) independently of the second gripper (13) and is further configured to control the movements of the two grippers (11, 13) such that a collision between the grippers (11, 13) is prevented.