Packaging and Filling Machine Pressure Flange Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing packaging and filling systems for liquid food face challenges in maintaining positive pressure within tube-shaped containers, which can lead to negative pressure issues and external contamination, especially when the liquid food pressure fluctuates or slight cracks occur in the packaging material.
Innovation Solution
A packaging and filling machine that includes a pressure flange around the filling pipe to control liquid food pressure and a covering means, such as a film or adhesive, to prevent external substances from entering the tube and maintain positive pressure, even when the liquid food pressure drops. The machine forms tube-shaped containers by longitudinally sealing, filling, transversally sealing, and cutting the packaging material while using forming flaps to preform the containers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the packaging material is formed into tube shape and filled with liquid food, then the packaging efficiency and productivity are improved, but the liquid food pressure may fluctuate and drop to negative pressure, causing external contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The longitudinal seal is formed in advance before filling, creating a sealed tube structure that maintains positive pressure. The overlap portion is sealed longitudinally before the transverse sealing and cutting process, preventing contamination pathways from forming during subsequent operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging material uses a flexible laminated structure with overlapping edges that are sealed to form a tube. This flexible sealed structure maintains the positive pressure of liquid food while allowing the tube to be formed and filled efficiently, preventing external contamination.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the liquid food pressure is maintained at positive pressure, then external contamination is prevented, but the preforming process with forming flaps becomes difficult when pressure drops
Solution Approach 1:
The longitudinal sealing is performed in advance before transverse sealing and cutting. This preliminary sealing action maintains continuous positive pressure during the entire filling and forming process, ensuring that the liquid food pressure remains positive even during the preforming operation with forming flaps.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing process is segmented into longitudinal sealing of the overlap portion, followed by transverse sealing and cutting. This segmentation allows the longitudinal seal to be established first, creating a pressure-maintaining structure before the preforming operation occurs.
3Productivity
If cracks occur in the packaging material, then liquid food leakage and contamination occur, but the packaging material integrity cannot be ensured during high-speed filling
Solution Approach 1:
The laminated packaging material with overlapping sealed edges forms a flexible tube structure that can withstand high-speed filling operations. The longitudinal sealing of the overlap portion creates a reinforced structure that prevents cracks and maintains integrity during rapid filling and forming processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging material uses a laminated composite structure with multiple layers that are heat-sealed together. This composite construction provides enhanced strength and crack resistance while maintaining flexibility, ensuring packaging integrity during high-speed filling operations.
4Productivity
If transverse sealing and cutting are performed after filling, then packaging efficiency is improved, but negative pressure may occur during the process allowing contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The longitudinal sealing of the overlap portion is performed in advance before transverse sealing and cutting. This preliminary action establishes a sealed tube structure that maintains positive liquid food pressure throughout the subsequent transverse sealing and cutting operations, preventing contamination even as productivity is increased.
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 ensures that the liquid food remains under positive pressure, preventing external contamination and maintaining the quality of the packaged liquid food by controlling pressure fluctuations and sealing gaps in the packaging material, thus ensuring the hygiene and stability of the filled contents.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure flange being arranged around the periphery of filling pipe below the liquid level in the tube-like packaging material, the pressure flange controls free flows from the lower part to the upper part about the liquid food filled in the tube to keep the pressure of the liquid food in the tube below the pressure flange a positive pressure
Implementation Method 2
a covering means, such as a film or adhesive, to prevent external substances from entering the tube and maintain positive pressure
Implementation Method 3
A packaged container is formed by sealing the packaging laminated material with heat sealing, ultrasonic sealing and the like
Implementation Method 4
A packaged container is formed by sealing the packaging laminated material with heat sealing, ultrasonic sealing and the like
Implementation Method 5
A cylindrical float 34 is arranged around the periphery of the vertical portion of the filling pipe 7. The float 34 floating in the liquid food and being between the tube-shaped packaging material 1 and the filling pipe 7 is put around the external surface of the vertical portion of the filling pipe 7 with freely up-down movability
Data Source
AI summary
A packaging and filling apparatus for keeping pressure of filled liquid food in a tube at positive pressure, facilitating preformation by a forming flap, and preventing an external ambient substance from entering the tube even if the liquid food pressure lowers to negative pressure by a fluctuation of the liquid food pressure is described. The apparatus has a pressure flange provided below a liquid level in a tubular packaging material and along an outer periphery of a filling pipe. The pressure flange prevents the liquid food in the tube from freely flowing up from the lower part to keep the pressure of the liquid food positive in the tube below the pressure flange thereby facilitating the preformation by the forming flap. The apparatus closes a gap occurring on a seam serving as a vertical sealed part or a portion where the gap might occur.