Open-Container Turning Unit for Automated Flat-Product Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for portioned filling of flat products like potato chips, such as packaging horizontal stacks in can-shaped or bowl-shaped containers, are either cost-intensive or require manual intervention, limiting automation and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A turning unit and method for automatically rotating open containers, such as bowl-shaped containers, to change their orientation from vertically open to vertically closed, allowing for automated packaging in tube bags without manual handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If horizontal stacks of flat products are packaged in can-shaped containers, then packaging is achieved, but the process is cost-intensive and not always practical
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging process is segmented into distinct operational phases: portioning flat products into horizontal stacks, transferring them to bowl-shaped containers, rotating the containers to vertical orientation, and packaging in tube bags. This segmentation allows each phase to be optimized independently, with automation applied where feasible and manual intervention where necessary, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing ease and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The bowl-shaped container serves multiple functional states: it receives flat products in a horizontal orientation, is then rotated to a vertical orientation for packaging, and can be manually manipulated during transition. This dynamic repositioning of the container enables flexibility in the packaging process, allowing the system to adapt between automated and manual operations to balance cost and efficiency.
2Adaptability or versatility
If bowl-shaped containers are used to receive horizontal stacks, then packaging flexibility is improved, but manual intervention is required for turning and packaging
Solution Approach 1:
The bowl-shaped container is pre-positioned in a horizontal orientation to receive and hold flat products before packaging. This preliminary positioning allows the container to be filled efficiently, and subsequent rotation to vertical orientation prepares it for automated tube bag packaging, thus achieving both flexibility and automation through staged preparation.
Solution Approach 2:
The bowl-shaped container acts as an intermediary between the flat product supply system and the automated packaging system. It receives products in a convenient horizontal orientation, provides a stable holding position, and can be rotated to the required vertical orientation for tube bag packaging, thereby mediating between different operational requirements and enabling partial automation.
3Ease of operation
If manual turning of containers is performed, then orientation change is achieved, but time and money are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The manual mechanical action of turning containers is replaced with an automated rotating mechanism that repositions the bowl-shaped containers from horizontal to vertical orientation. This substitution eliminates manual labor time while achieving the same orientation change, directly reducing process time and cost while maintaining ease of operation through automated control.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a turning unit for turning a, preferably dish-shaped, open container (19) with a portion of flat products, in particular of potato chips or the like, received in the container, the turning unit comprising at least one turning device (15) which is set up to turn the container by transferring it from a first orientation of the container, in which an opening (20) of the container is oriented in a first direction, to a second orientation, in which the opening is oriented in a second direction, by rotating the container about an axis of the container.