Rotating Sleeve Apparatus for Controlled Food Product Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated systems for loading food products into packaging face challenges in maintaining control over the products as they are deposited, leading to potential damage and inconsistent arrangement, particularly when using ramps that cause crackers to slide uncontrollably into food trays.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that rotate a stack of food products from a vertical to a horizontal position, allowing controlled deposition into a food tray, maintaining the desired orientation and reducing the risk of damage by avoiding the use of ramps, and utilizing rotatable sleeves that open to dispense the products simultaneously into a tray.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a ramp is used to guide crackers into a food tray, then the loading process is automated and efficient, but the crackers lose control during travel down the ramp leading to damage and inconsistent arrangement
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a rotatable sleeve that can dynamically change its orientation from vertical to horizontal position. The sleeve rotates to align with the food tray, allowing controlled deposition of crackers while maintaining their orientation. This dynamic adjustment eliminates the uncontrolled sliding issue of static ramps while preserving automated loading efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotatable sleeve acts as an intermediary device between the cracker supply system and the food tray. It provides a controlled interface that guides crackers in a predetermined orientation into the tray, preventing the loss of control that occurs with direct ramp loading while maintaining automated operation.
2Extent of automation
If crackers are released down a ramp for automated loading, then manual orientation is eliminated, but the shingled arrangement consistency is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable sleeve dynamically adjusts its angle to match the desired shingled arrangement orientation. By rotating to the precise angle needed, the system maintains consistent shingled stacking of crackers in the food tray while fully automating the loading process, eliminating the need for manual orientation adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the orientation parameter of the sleeve from vertical to a specific angled position that corresponds to the desired shingled arrangement. This parameter adjustment ensures that crackers are deposited at the correct angle for consistent shingled stacking, maintaining manufacturing precision throughout automated operation.
3Speed
If crackers slide down a ramp into the food tray, then loading speed is increased, but the risk of cracker damage significantly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable sleeve serves as a protective intermediary that controls the cracker's movement path. Instead of directly sliding down a ramp, crackers are guided through the sleeve which maintains their orientation and prevents impact damage, thereby reducing harmful effects while preserving loading speed through automated operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeve design provides a controlled environment that cushions and protects crackers during the transfer process. By maintaining control over the crackers throughout their journey to the tray, the system prevents damage before it occurs, rather than attempting to mitigate damage after the fact.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method for placing food products into a food tray are disclosed. The apparatus comprises at least one sleeve at least one sleeve having a first end configured to singly receive food products and an at least partially closed second end opposite the first end. The at least one sleeve has a first position where the food products are singly receivable through the first end to form a stack having a predetermined orientation in the at least one sleeve. The at least one sleeve is configured to rotate from the first position to a second position where the food products are positioned over the food tray and substantially simultaneously unloaded in the predetermined orientation through an opening positioned between the first and second ends into the food tray.