Rotating Drum Packaging Machine for Bag Filling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic packaging machines for filling bags with loose products, such as powders or liquids, face issues with product quality, waste percentage, space efficiency, maintenance accessibility, and contamination due to complex conveyor systems and contamination risks.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a packaging machine with a rotating drum supporting pick-up heads that move along a continuous circular path, featuring separate filling and sealing devices to minimize contamination and optimize positioning, along with a stabilization conveyor for precise handling and reduced waste, using a single drum conveyor system for improved control and accessibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a complex chain conveyor system with multiple sprockets is used to support pick-up heads, then the packaging path can achieve a complex form, but the device complexity increases and maintenance accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging machine is divided into functional modules (pick-up heads, filling devices, sealing devices, stabilizing heads) that are independently mounted on the conveyor drum, allowing each module to be maintained separately without disassembling the entire conveyor system
Solution Approach 2:
The complex chain conveyor system is extracted and replaced with a single drum conveyor system, removing the unnecessary sprockets and chains while maintaining the ability to support multiple pick-up heads and perform packaging operations
2Productivity
If multiple pick-up heads are used to handle bags, then productivity increases, but the space required for the packaging machine increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pick-up heads are arranged radially around the rotating drum, utilizing the rotational dimension to accommodate multiple heads without increasing the linear footprint of the machine. This allows multiple packaging operations to occur simultaneously in a compact circular arrangement
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the filling device and sealing device are positioned close to each other, then contamination risk decreases, but the positioning precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing device is positioned to perform sealing immediately after filling, creating a continuous process where the bag is sealed before the pick-up head moves to the next position. This preliminary sealing action prevents contamination by closing the bag opening before any potential contaminant contact
Solution Approach 2:
The rotating drum acts as an intermediary that precisely positions both the filling device and sealing device relative to each other and to the pick-up heads, enabling accurate alignment and timing without requiring direct mechanical coupling between the devices
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
This configuration enhances product quality by reducing contamination and waste, improves processing precision, minimizes space usage, simplifies maintenance, and reduces the need for complex chain systems, leading to a more efficient and cost-effective packaging process.
Implementation Method 1
a sealing clamp which squeezes the bag at the open upper end in order to apply pressure and heat and determining locally the melting, and so the sealing, of the plastic material which constitutes the bag
Implementation Method 2
a filler device which feeds from above the predetermined dose of food product
Implementation Method 3
one or more nozzles, which inject an inert gas into the bag (typically nitrogen) at the same time with the feeding of the food product to reduce the content of oxygen inside the bag
Data Source
AI summary
Automatic packaging machine (3) for filling a bag (1) made of heat-sealable material, having an open upper end (2) with a dose of loose product; the packaging machine (3) has: a packaging conveyor (4); a pick-up head (7), which is supported by the packaging conveyor (4) to advance along a packaging path (P1); an input station (S1) where the empty bag (1) is grabbed by the pick-up head (7); an output station (S2) where the full, sealed bag (1) leaves the pick-up head (7); a filling device (18) that is mounted on the packaging conveyor (4) to move together with the pick-up head (7) along the entire packaging path (P1) and is adapted to supply the dose of product inside the bag (1) through the upper open end (2); and a sealing device (19) that is mounted on the packaging conveyor (4) to move together with the pick-up head (7) along the entire packaging path (P1) and is adapted to seal the full bag (1) through a heat-seal in correspondence with the open upper end (2).