Gripping Device for Food Product Positioning in Portion Carriers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated methods for packaging soft food products, such as fresh chicken and fish, face challenges in efficiently utilizing space in portion carriers, leading to increased storage needs, higher transportation costs, and unattractive product presentation, as they struggle to control the positioning and shape of the products without cutting them.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a gripping device that raises and positions food products in a controlled manner using articulately arranged jaws and ejector means, allowing for precise placement and shaping of food products in portion carriers, with the option of air nozzle assistance for further shaping, to achieve closely packed and visually appealing packaging without cutting the products.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated packaging methods using claws are used, then packaging speed and efficiency are improved, but control over food product positioning and shape is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The gripping device is divided into multiple independently controllable gripping elements (fingers) that can be individually positioned and moved. This segmentation allows precise control over the food product's placement while maintaining automated high-speed packaging operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The gripping device employs dynamic control where the gripping elements can independently move and adjust their positions during the packaging process. This dynamic capability enables precise positioning of food products in portion carriers while maintaining automated packaging speed and efficiency.
2Ease of manufacture
If automated packaging methods are used, then labor costs are reduced, but space utilization in portion carriers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The dynamically controllable gripping elements can adjust their positions to optimize the placement of food products in portion carriers, maximizing space utilization while maintaining automated packaging operations and reducing labor costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the positional parameters of gripping elements during the packaging process to achieve optimal space utilization in portion carriers, allowing automated packaging to maintain both efficiency and effective space usage.
3Productivity
If cutting is used to influence food product shape, then packaging efficiency is improved, but product integrity and process complexity are affected
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces mechanical cutting operations with a sophisticated gripping and positioning mechanism that shapes and places food products through controlled movement and placement. This substitution maintains packaging efficiency while avoiding the added complexity and product damage associated with cutting processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The gripping device performs preliminary positioning and shaping of food products during the gripping and transport phase, before placement in the portion carrier. This preliminary action eliminates the need for subsequent cutting operations, maintaining packaging efficiency while reducing process complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for packaging of food products, in which at least two products are to be packaged at the same portion carrier is disclosed. The method may include:raising the food product to be moved to a portion carrier by a gripping device;moving the food product to the selected portion carrier, and releasing the food product to the portion carrier.The releasing of the food product may include:positioning the gripping device at a predetermined level in relation to the portion carrier; andsetting the gripping device to a first open position, whereby the gripping device defines a space for the food product to be placed in.