Packaging Machine Crowder Assembly for Custom Box Formation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging systems require significant manual labor and multiple machines to form and secure custom box templates around items, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A packaging machine with a crowder assembly that maintains the arrangement of items and folds and secures a custom box template around them, reducing manual labor and integrating multiple functions into a single system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate machines and manual labor are used to form and secure box templates, then the packaging process can be completed, but the labor cost and operational complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate packaging functions (box formation, item placement, template folding, and securing operations) into a single integrated packaging machine. This consolidation eliminates the need for multiple separate machines and reduces manual labor requirements while maintaining complete packaging functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging machine is designed with multi-functional capabilities to perform diverse packaging operations including forming box templates, positioning items, folding templates around items, and securing the packaging all through automated mechanisms within one device, replacing multiple specialized machines.
2Loss of substance
If custom sized boxes are created to fit items precisely, then packaging and shipping costs are reduced, but the requirement for precise dimensioning and custom template creation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary dimensioning of items before box template creation, measuring item dimensions and using this information to generate custom-sized box templates that precisely fit the items. This preliminary measurement and customization process minimizes packaging material waste while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging system dynamically adjusts box template parameters (dimensions, shape, size) based on the measured characteristics of each item. This parameter customization allows the creation of optimally sized boxes for each item, reducing excess material usage while maintaining standard manufacturing processes.
3Ease of operation
If items are packaged in oversized boxes, then the packaging process is simpler, but filling materials are required and shipping costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary dimensioning and custom template creation before packaging, ensuring boxes are precisely sized for each item. This eliminates the need for filling materials that would otherwise be required to prevent item movement in oversized boxes, while the automated process maintains operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical approach of using filling materials to stabilize items in oversized boxes with an automated system that creates precisely fitted custom-sized boxes. This substitution eliminates the need for additional filling materials while maintaining item protection and packaging stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for packaging one or more items includes an order arrangement station where the one or more items can be arranged into a stack with a desired configuration. A dimensioning mechanism determines the outer dimensions of the stack and a converting assembly creates a box template that when erected forms a box that is custom sized to the dimensions of the stack. A crowder assembly holds and maintains the stack in the desired configuration while the box template is at least partially folded around the stack. The box template is secured around the stack in the form of a box.