Inverted Package Folding Arms for Transfer Interference
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging machines for horticultural products in flexible tubular packages face inefficiencies in forming and maintaining folds during closure, leading to mechanical interference with transfer mechanisms and potential undoing of folds during package transfer.
Innovation Solution
A device with opposed drive units featuring movable arms that expand and form folds from within the package, eliminating the need for a return movement and allowing for improved package holding during transfer, using gripping tools and retention means to maintain fold shape without interfering with transfer plates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If feeder means push portions of the package towards the interior from outside to form folds, then the closure of the package is optimized, but the return movement of the blades interferes with the transfer means of the package to the subsequent station
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by having the arms act from inside the package rather than from outside. The arms are introduced through the mouth of the package and push the walls outwards to form folds, eliminating the need for a return movement that would interfere with transfer means. This inversion resolves the contradiction by maintaining fold formation capability while avoiding mechanical interference with subsequent transfer operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the spatial dimension of operation by moving the folding action from the external horizontal plane to the internal vertical dimension. The arms operate within the package volume, pushing walls outwards and inwards along the vertical axis, which allows transfer plates to operate freely in the horizontal plane without interference, thus resolving the contradiction between fold formation and transfer operations.
2Manufacturing precision
If the blades rotate through a large angle to form folds from outside, then the folding operation is effective, but the machine rate decreases due to the need for return movement
Solution Approach 1:
By inverting the folding mechanism to operate from inside the package, the arms can form folds through a limited angular rotation without requiring a large return movement. The arms are introduced through the package mouth, rotate to push walls outwards and inwards, and then simply retract along the same path, significantly reducing the total angle of movement and increasing machine rate while maintaining effective fold formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables continuous useful action by eliminating the idle return movement of the blades. The arms perform their folding function and then retract along the same introduction path, maximizing the proportion of time spent on productive folding operations versus return movements, thus increasing the machine rate while maintaining manufacturing precision.
3Stability of the object's composition
If transfer plates are placed closer to the mouth of the package to hold it during transfer, then the folds may become undone, but if placed lower, mechanical interference with the arms occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The inversion of the folding mechanism to operate from inside the package allows the arms to work in the upper portion of the package volume, clearing the space for transfer plates to be positioned closer to the package mouth. This positioning ensures fold integrity during transfer without creating mechanical interference with the folding arms, as the arms operate in a different spatial zone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent separates the operating zones vertically: the arms operate in the upper vertical dimension through the package mouth, while the transfer plates operate in the lower horizontal dimension. This dimensional separation allows both components to function simultaneously without interference, enabling transfer plates to be positioned optimally for fold stability while arms perform folding operations above them.
4Manufacturing precision
If the arms are moved through a large angle to expand and form folds, then the package is properly prepared, but the operation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The inverted folding mechanism allows the arms to perform both expansion and fold formation through a limited angular rotation. The arms are introduced through the package mouth, rotate to push walls outwards for expansion, then rotate back to push walls inwards for fold formation, and finally retract along the same path. This eliminates the need for large-angle return movements, reducing total operation time while maintaining proper package preparation.
Solution Approach 2:
The arms perform multiple functions (expansion, fold formation, and retraction) within a single limited angular rotation cycle. By designing the arms to accomplish both wall expansion and fold creation through their movement, the system eliminates the need for separate large-angle movements for each function, thereby reducing total operation time while ensuring proper package preparation.
Data Source
AI summary
Method for filling and closing a package including the operations of introducing two arms through the mouth, each one having or bearing a gripping tool and impressing a mutual distancing movement on the arms to expand the package with a retention mechanism which operates outside the package to grasp the walls of the package arranged between the arms and the retention mechanism while the retention mechanism approaches and fits over the gripping tool of each arm, such that when the arms move in the direction of the mouth of the package, the arms carry the grasped walls of the package to produce folds towards the interior of the package. For flexible tubular net packages, the at least one gripping tool on each arm has the shape of a protuberance and that the method includes passing through a wall of the package with the gripping tool.