Infusion Bag Thread Winding via Rotating Carousel
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging methods for infusion products, such as tea, are inefficient and of poor quality due to the complexity of winding thread around bags, which can alter the product and hinder production speed and quality.
Innovation Solution
A packaging apparatus featuring a rotating carousel with triple gripping elements allows for the optimal winding of thread around infusion product bags, ensuring efficient and high-speed packaging without direct heat contact, maintaining product integrity and improving production rates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If heat-joining or gluing means are used to attach thread to bags, then the attachment reliability is improved, but the infusion product undergoes harmful alterations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the harmful heat-joining operation from the packaging process. Instead of using heat sealing or gluing to attach the thread to the bag and tag, the invention employs a mechanical winding system where the thread is simply wrapped around the bag and secured with a knot. This extraction of the harmful thermal process eliminates product alterations while maintaining attachment reliability through the winding mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a mechanical winding system as an intermediary between the thread and the bag/tag. Rather than directly joining the thread to the bag through heat or adhesive, the winding system acts as a mediator that secures the thread through mechanical wrapping and knotting, avoiding direct harmful contact with the infusion product while ensuring reliable attachment.
2Manufacturing precision
If complex mechanical groups are used for handling and winding thread around bags, then the winding quality is improved, but the production rate decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic winding system where the bag is rotated during the threading process rather than using complex stationary mechanical groups. The bag rotates on a spindle while the thread is fed and wound around it, creating a simple yet effective mechanism that achieves proper winding quality without the complexity and speed limitations of multiple mechanical handling groups.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of moving the thread through complex mechanical groups to wrap around a stationary bag, the invention inverts the approach by rotating the bag itself while feeding the thread. This inversion simplifies the mechanical system while maintaining winding quality and enabling higher production speeds through the continuous rotation mechanism.
3Productivity
If the tag is not properly centered on the bag, then the packaging speed is maintained, but the tag visibility and readability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a positioning mechanism that ensures the tag is correctly oriented and centered on the bag during the winding process. The system includes guides and positioning elements that provide feedback control, ensuring the tag reaches the correct final position on the rotating bag. This maintains both packaging speed through automation and tag readability through precise positioning.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus for producing packages of infusion products, such as a bag filled with a dosed quantity of a product, a tag and a length of thread attached at opposite ends to the bag and to the tag respectively, includes a closing station of the filled bag, a feeding group of the closed bag and of the tag, a sewing station for sewing each length of thread to the tags and to the bags, and an inlet station to a winding group for winding the stitched length of the thread around the bag.