Rotating Carousel Bottle Packaging System with Spiral Connecting Zone
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Solution Overview
Problem
The efficiency of packaging plants for bottles is hindered by stoppages and losses due to mechanical or electronic connections, particularly at the shrinkwrap and cartoning machines, where maintaining constant pressure and reducing bottle velocity is challenging without introducing instability, and there is a risk of packs burning if the shrinkwrap machine oven is not emptied promptly.
Innovation Solution
A packaging system featuring a rotating carousel with gripping means and a multi-lane conveying belt with spiral progression, independent motors for each section, and a dynamic accumulation transport system without guides, allowing for constant pressure and controlled bottle release and transport to prevent burning and optimize space usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple machines are mechanically or electronically connected in sequence, then the packaging system can complete the packaging process, but the overall production efficiency decreases due to the product of individual machine efficiencies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate machines (conveyor, star wheel, shrinkwrap machine, cartoning machine) into a single integrated packaging system with a common base structure. This merging eliminates the efficiency losses from sequential machine operations while managing system complexity through unified control and shared components.
Solution Approach 2:
The common base structure serves multiple functions: it supports the conveyor, star wheel, shrinkwrap machine, and cartoning machine, providing a unified platform that coordinates all operations simultaneously. This multi-functionality improves overall productivity by enabling parallel operations rather than sequential processing.
2Reliability
If accumulation transports are interposed between machines, then buffer capacity is provided, but the overall efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the accumulation function from separate transport devices and integrates it directly into the conveyor system that is already part of the synchronized packaging line. This eliminates the need for additional accumulation transports while maintaining buffer capacity through the conveyor's inherent design.
Solution Approach 2:
The accumulation function is merged with the conveyor system rather than being a separate interposed transport. This integration allows the conveyor to serve dual purposes: transporting bottles through the packaging process and providing buffer capacity, thereby maintaining reliability without sacrificing efficiency.
3Productivity
If the shrinkwrap machine oven is not emptied promptly, then production continuity is maintained, but packs may burn
Solution Approach 1:
The synchronized control system continuously monitors the status of the shrinkwrap machine oven and coordinates the cartoning machine operation accordingly. When the oven is empty or ready, the system immediately feeds new packs, ensuring continuous production while preventing over-processing that could cause burning through real-time feedback control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares the cartoning machine in advance to receive packs as soon as the oven is ready, rather than waiting passively. This preliminary positioning and readiness ensure that production continuity is maintained without delay while the synchronized control prevents packs from remaining in the oven too long.
4Area of stationary object
If the linear velocity of output bottles is reduced quickly in a small space, then space is saved, but bottle instability is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system uses variable speed control to dynamically adjust bottle velocity rather than maintaining a constant speed. This allows the bottles to be decelerated smoothly over a short distance without sudden changes that would cause instability, while still achieving compact space utilization through efficient speed management.
Solution Approach 2:
The star wheel mechanism uses a curved, rotating path to reduce bottle velocity gradually through a controlled arc rather than a sudden linear deceleration. This curved trajectory allows space-efficient velocity reduction while maintaining bottle stability through smooth, continuous motion changes.
Data Source
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AI summary
A bottle packaging system in a bottling line comprises the following components: a pick-up device (2) having a rotating carousel to pick up the bottles (11) from a labelling or filling machine (1), a rectilinear, multi- lane (4, 4') conveying belt (3), a packaging machine, such as a shrinkwrap machine (6) or a cartoning machine, a transport system (7) to connect the packs exiting from the packaging machine (6) with downstream devices, wherein this system comprises, at a grip circumference (C) of the rotating carousel (2), which corresponds to the point of release of the bottles (11) by gripping means (13), a connecting zone (12) with the conveying belt (3), wherein the connecting zone (12) is constituted by a plurality of adjacent flexible chain belts with a spiral progression, that is to say, with increasing curvature radius, which constitute as many lanes (14), adapted to support and distance, in a centrifugal direction, the bottles (11) released thereon by the gripping means (13), directing them into the corresponding lane (4, 4') of the conveying belt (3), the lanes (14) of the connecting zone (12) underneath the rotating carousel (2) being in a position of intersection (X) with the grip circumference (C).