Flexible Drape Tube Alignment System
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to properly orient and fill long thin tubes, such as plastic dip tubes or straws, into cardboard boxes, leading to disorganization and incomplete filling due to the tubes' light weight and tendency to lose orientation during the filling process.
Innovation Solution
A system featuring a tubular-shaped insert with a flexible drape and a pivot system to maintain tube alignment, combined with a lift system, clamps, and a gate to control the filling process, ensuring tubes are aligned across the box width and preventing improper orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If tubes are moved on a conveyor for filling, then productivity is improved, but tube orientation is lost due to light weight and easy catching of ends
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible drape is introduced as an intermediary element between the conveyor and the tubes. The drape is positioned to overlie the tubes as they fill into the insert, providing continuous contact and guidance that maintains tube orientation throughout the filling process while allowing high-speed operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible drape, made of a compliant material, conforms to the tubes and provides gentle guidance without causing damage. Its flexibility allows it to adapt to the moving tubes while maintaining their orientation, solving the problem of light-weight tubes losing alignment during high-speed conveying.
2Manufacturing precision
If tubes are guided rigidly to maintain orientation, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of complex rigid guidance mechanisms, a simple flexible drape is used to maintain tube orientation. This flexible film approach provides effective guidance with minimal structural complexity, avoiding the need for multiple rigid guides, actuators, and control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible drape is a simple, low-cost component that can be easily replaced if needed, rather than investing in complex, expensive rigid guidance systems. This approach prioritizes simplicity and ease of maintenance over permanent, intricate mechanical structures.
3Manufacturing precision
If clamps are used to hold container in position, then manufacturing precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to additional positioning steps
Solution Approach 1:
The clamps are designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing them to be engaged and disengaged as needed. This dynamic positioning system enables precise container placement when required while allowing easy removal and repositioning when container changes are needed, balancing precision with operational flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for filling a container with relatively long thin tubes that are delivered on a tube conveyor. The system has a generally tubular-shaped insert with an at least partially open top and an open bottom, the insert sized and shaped to fit into the container and defining a width that is slightly larger than the length of the tubes and an insert holder that is adapted to engage the insert to hold the insert in place. There is a lift system that moves the container between an engaged position in which the container is located over the insert and a disengaged position in which the container is free from the insert, and movable clamps adapted to be moved between an engaged position in which they hold the container in position relative to the insert and a disengaged position in which the container can be moved relative to the insert. A pivot system pivots the insert holder about a pivot axis that is generally parallel to the longitudinal axes of the tubes. A flexible drape is adapted to be located at least in part in the insert and overlies tubes as they fill into the insert from the conveyor, to help keep the tubes aligned across the width of the insert.