Packaging Plant Automation for Mixed Container Sizes
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging processes for products like medicines and ophthalmic articles, especially contact lenses, face challenges in automating the packaging of different sizes and types into varying shipment containers, leading to manual labor inefficiencies and potential errors.
Innovation Solution
A method and packaging plant that uses a conveyor system with separate tracks for different product packages, assigning conveyance tracking information, and a pick-and-place robot to accurately place packages into containers of different sizes based on specific orders, with optional manual loading and intermediate storage for incomplete orders.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If pick-and-place robots are used for automated packaging, then productivity and reliability are improved, but the system cannot handle shipment containers of different sizes with different product types
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system is designed with dynamically adjustable parameters including variable conveyance speeds for different tracks and adjustable track configurations. The system can adapt its operation mode based on the specific packaging requirements, switching between high-speed automated operation and flexible manual intervention when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging system is divided into multiple independent conveyance tracks, each capable of handling different product types. This segmentation allows the system to process diverse products simultaneously on different tracks while maintaining automated control, and enables flexible reconfiguration for different container sizes by activating or deactivating specific tracks.
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual packaging is used, then flexibility for different container sizes is maintained, but labor intensity and error risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary control system that coordinates between automated pick-and-place robots and manual operations. This intermediary layer manages the division of labor, assigning automated tasks for standard operations while allowing manual intervention for exceptional cases, thereby reducing overall labor intensity while maintaining flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveyor system is designed with multi-functionality to handle both automated and manual packaging modes. The same infrastructure supports different operation modes depending on the container size and product type, eliminating the need for separate systems and reducing overall operational complexity.
3Productivity
If conventional automated packaging lines are used, then high-speed packaging is achieved, but optimization of container size for freight charges is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary selection and marking of appropriate shipment containers based on the specific order requirements before the packaging process begins. This advance preparation enables optimal container size selection for freight efficiency while maintaining high-speed automated packaging operations without requiring complex real-time adjustments during packaging.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method and to a packaging plant which allows for a high degree of automatization of the packaging of individual product packages into shipment containers of different sizes and which is at the same time highly reliable and according to this method, each one of the product packages is assigned a conveyance tracking clock information, including information about the type of product package, its respective conveyance track, its conveyance speed, and its predetermined position and orientation within the shipment container for the specific shipment order.