Sealed Inner Package Stiffener for Cigarette Shape Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sealed inner packages for cigarettes often result in irregularly shaped packages due to cigarette movement during the packing process, leading to rejection and inefficiencies in production.
Innovation Solution
A sealed inner package design featuring a U-shaped stiffener with a jointing system that connects the bottom wall to lateral walls without glue, maintaining the shape and preventing cigarette movement, combined with a reclosable sealing flap for easy cigarette extraction, and a packing method using the 'flow-pack' method to ensure correct packaging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the flow-pack method is used to continuously wrap cigarettes, then production efficiency is improved, but cigarettes may shift out of position causing irregular package shapes
Solution Approach 1:
The stiffener is inserted into the cigarette group before the wrapping process begins. This preliminary action secures the cigarettes in their correct positions and maintains the group's shape throughout the continuous flow-pack wrapping process, preventing shifts that would cause irregular package shapes while allowing high-speed production to continue
2Manufacturing precision
If a stiffener is added to maintain cigarette group shape, then package shape consistency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The packing system is divided into separate functional modules: a stiffener insertion module that places the stiffener into the cigarette group, and a wrapping module that performs the flow-pack process. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized independently and simplifies the overall control system, reducing device complexity while maintaining package shape consistency
3Device complexity
If conventional packing methods are used, then device complexity is reduced, but production efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The flow-pack method implements continuous wrapping where the packing material is fed continuously and sealed in real-time as the cigarette group moves through the machine. This continuous process eliminates stopping and starting, maintaining high production efficiency while the added stiffener insertion step is integrated into the continuous flow without disrupting it
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4a
Figure 4b~4c
AI summary
A package of tobacco articles, having: a group (4) of tobacco articles; a sealed inner package (3) enclosing the group (4) of tobacco articles having an extraction opening (5) from which to extract the tobacco articles being closed by a sealing flap (6); and a stiffener (8) located inside the sealed inner package (3) contacting the group (4) of tobacco articles which has a front wall (9), two lateral walls (10) located on opposite sides of the front wall (9) and a bottom wall (11) contacting the tips of the tobacco articles; the stiffener (8) also having a connecting system for connecting the bottom wall (11) to the lateral walls (10) of the stiffener (8) being based on lateral tabs (13) of the bottom wall to prevent movement of the two lateral walls (10) with respect to the bottom wall (11).