Unfolding Guide Curvature for Medicine Packaging Wrinkle Prevention
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medicine packaging apparatuses face issues with wrinkles in the package sheets during the heat sealing process, leading to poor airtightness and contamination, especially when the distance between the printing and heat sealing sections is long, resulting in wasted material and device downsizing challenges.
Innovation Solution
A medicine packaging apparatus with a curvature guide and an unfolding guide featuring convex curved surfaces that gently deform and unfold the package sheet, reducing wrinkles by ensuring balanced tension and providing concave sections to absorb bulges, allowing for a shorter distance between the printing and heat sealing sections without generating wrinkles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If the path length from the printing section to the heat sealing section is shortened, then material waste is reduced and device downsizing is achieved, but wrinkles are generated on the package sheet in the heat sealing section
Solution Approach 1:
The unfolding guide incorporates convex curved surfaces instead of flat surfaces to gently deform and unfold the package sheet. This curvature design allows the package sheet to transition smoothly from the folded state without creating tension imbalances that lead to wrinkles, while still enabling a compact layout that reduces the path length from printing to heat sealing sections.
Solution Approach 2:
The unfolding guide features concave sections specifically positioned to absorb bulges in the package sheet during the unfolding process. This localized structural feature addresses the specific problem area where wrinkles would form, allowing other portions of the system to benefit from the shortened path length without compromising packaging quality.
2Volume of moving object
If the path length from the printing section to the heat sealing section is shortened, then device downsizing is achieved, but wrinkles are generated on the package sheet in the heat sealing section
Solution Approach 1:
The convex curved surfaces in the unfolding guide enable a compact arrangement of components by allowing the package sheet to follow a curved path rather than a straight line. This reduces the overall device footprint while maintaining sufficient space for proper package sheet unfolding without wrinkles.
Solution Approach 2:
The unfolding guide changes the geometric parameters of the package sheet path from linear to curved, and incorporates variable depth concave sections that adapt to the package sheet thickness and medicine volume. This allows the system to maintain precision in a smaller physical envelope.
3Productivity
If tension is applied to unfold the package sheet quickly, then productivity is improved, but wrinkles are generated due to unbalanced tension between portions
Solution Approach 1:
The convex curved surfaces distribute the unfolding force evenly across the package sheet by following its natural curvature. This prevents localized stress concentrations that would cause wrinkles, while still enabling rapid feeding of the package sheet through the system to maintain high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The unfolding guide acts as an intermediary mechanism between the package sheet supply and the heat sealing section. It mediates the tension forces by providing a controlled curved path with concave absorption zones, allowing rapid feeding without creating unbalanced tension that would lead to wrinkles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively prevents wrinkles in the heat sealing section, reducing material waste and enabling device downsizing while ensuring reliable packaging and airtightness, thus enhancing operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
an unfolding guide arranged on a downstream side of the curvature guide in the conveying direction of the package sheet, for unfolding and opening the two-folded package sheet; wherein the unfolding guide comprises: a main ridge extending along with a crease of the package sheet; and a pair of unfolding guide surfaces which are convex curved surfaces stretching from the main ridge
Implementation Method 2
a heat sealing section arranged on a downstream side of the medicine introducing section in the conveying direction of the package sheet, for sealing the package sheet so as to enclose the introduced medicine
Data Source
AI summary
In a medicine packaging apparatus, a distance from a printing section to a heat sealing section is reduced without generating wrinkles on a package sheet. An unfolding guide 65 for unfolding and opening a package sheet 61 provided in a packaging unit 4 includes a main ridge 94 extending along with a crease of the package sheet 61 and a pair of unfolding guide surfaces 95a, 95b which are convex curved surfaces stretching from the main ridge 94. A contact start position 100a with the package sheet 61 of the unfolding guide surface 95a on the outer side of a curve in the conveying direction A relative to the main ridge 94 is located on an upstream side in the conveying direction A of the package sheet 61 of a contact start position 100b with the package sheet 61 of the unfolding guide surface 95b located on the inner side of the curve relative to the main ridge 94.