Modular Packaging Machine with Separable Production Units
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Solution Overview
Problem
The cigarette packaging industry requires different packaging machines for various types of packs, leading to complexity and high costs due to the need for distinct machines for different packaging configurations.
Innovation Solution
A versatile packaging machine with separable production units that can be rearranged or added to switch between producing different types of packaging, including box-in-box, standard folding box, and sealed bundle packs, by modifying the configuration of forming, folding, and curing units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If different packaging machines are used for various packaging types, then packaging quality and specificity are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging machine is designed with separable production units that can be configured in different arrangements to produce multiple packaging types (box-in-box, sealed bundle, flow wrap). This multi-functional design allows a single machine to replace multiple specialized machines, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining packaging quality through optimized unit configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging machine is divided into independent separable production units (forming unit, folding units, sealing units, curing unit) that can be individually removed, added, or rearranged. This segmentation enables flexible reconfiguration for different packaging types without affecting the entire system, allowing quality optimization for each packaging type while managing overall complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If different packaging machines are used for various packaging types, then packaging specificity is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
A single packaging machine is designed to produce multiple packaging types (box-in-box, sealed bundle, flow wrap) through different configurations of its separable units. This universal design eliminates the need for multiple specialized machines, reducing cost while maintaining high adaptability to different packaging requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging machine features dynamic reconfigurability through separable production units that can be added, removed, or rearranged based on the desired packaging type. This dynamic configuration capability allows the machine to adapt to different packaging specifications without requiring completely different machine setups, reducing both cost and complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If production units are made separable for reconfiguration, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging machine is segmented into standardized separable production units with defined interfaces and connection points. This segmentation enables flexible reconfiguration for different packaging types while managing system complexity through modular design principles, where each unit maintains relative simplicity but the system achieves high adaptability through combinatorial arrangements.
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
Enables efficient conversion between packaging configurations without the need for multiple machines, reducing costs and complexity while maintaining high production quality.
Implementation Method 1
a separable manufacturing unit - curing unit - is adjacent to this, in which the adhesive of the respective outer blank of the outer packaging, arranged between glued folding flaps, can cure
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a packaging machine for producing packs having a group (23) of cigarettes as pack content, having individual production units (11-16) arranged beside one another in a production line, each of which production units can be separated from one another (without destruction) and removed from the production line as required in the region of or along (imaginary) separating planes between the same, wherein the packing machine can be changed, by removing at least one separable production unit (7-16) from the production line, by replacing at least one separable production unit (11-16) by another separable production unit (11-16) and/or by adding at least one further separable production unit (11-16) to the production line, from a first configuration, in which a first pack type can be produced, to a second configurations, in which a second pack type different from the first pack type can be produced.