Robotic Case Packing for Stand-Up Pouches
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for packing articles into containers, such as cardboard boxes, face challenges in speed, flexibility, and meeting retail-ready packaging requirements, with multi-axis robots being slow and heavy, and limited range of movement, making it difficult to achieve efficient and flexible upright configuration of stand-up pouches.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a conveying device, a case support, and a robotic mechanism with an article supporting device that can move between extended and retracted positions, executing specific loading cycles to place stand-up pouches in a vertical configuration within a case, allowing for efficient and flexible packing and meeting retail-ready packaging standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple robot heads are used to increase packing speed, then productivity increases, but device complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic mechanism is segmented into multiple independent robot heads (first robot head, second robot head, etc.) that can operate simultaneously and independently. Each robot head is equipped with its own article supporting device and can pick up articles from the conveyor and place them in the container separately, enabling parallel processing and increasing packing speed without requiring a single complex system
Solution Approach 2:
Each robot head is designed as a universal module that can perform the same functions (picking articles, supporting them, placing in container) independently. The robot heads are configured to work with the same conveyor system and container, allowing them to be identical or slightly different units that perform the same task, simplifying the overall system design while maintaining high productivity
2Adaptability or versatility
If multi-axis robots are used to provide flexibility and range of movement, then adaptability improves, but speed and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using complex multi-axis robots throughout the entire system, the patent applies local quality by using simpler, faster robot heads only where needed for article handling, while using a dedicated conveyor system for transport. The robot heads have optimized arm structures with appropriate degrees of freedom for their specific tasks rather than full multi-axis capability, improving speed while maintaining necessary adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The robot heads are designed with dynamic characteristics optimized for speed, using lighter materials and streamlined mechanical structures. The conveyor system provides continuous motion while the robot heads perform rapid pick-and-place operations, creating a dynamic system where different components operate at different speeds optimized for their specific functions
3Device complexity
If three-axis robots are used to simplify the mechanism, then device complexity decreases, but vertical movement capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses the vertical movement limitation of three-axis robots by adding a fourth dimension of movement capability to the robot heads. This allows the robot heads to achieve the necessary vertical range of motion to pick up articles from the conveyor and place them in deep containers while maintaining relatively simple three-axis base structures, effectively resolving the contradiction between simplicity and vertical capability
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 system enables fast and accurate packing of stand-up pouches in a vertical configuration within a case, facilitating easy display and consumer access, while addressing the limitations of existing technologies in speed, flexibility, and range of movement.
Implementation Method 1
allowing the batch of articles to fall in the case while being guided by an adjacent row of articles already deposited in the case and the side wall of the case
Data Source
AI summary
A system for packing a case with articles, the system including a conveying device to convey articles to be packed, in a serial configuration and a support for a case to be packed with the articles in which the articles are configured to be placed in a plurality of rows, including a first row, a second row adjacent to the first row and a last row adjacent to a side wall of the case.