Shuttle Robot Filling for Precise Food Product Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current food handling and packaging systems face inefficiencies in aligning and packing sliced and formed food products, leading to misorientation and misalignment, which affects packaging efficiency and product quality.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising an alignment device with a sensor and robot to reposition food products, a vacancy reduction device to fill gaps, and a packaging device with a shuttle robot to fill containers efficiently, ensuring precise alignment and filling of food products into packaging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional conveyor systems are used without alignment devices, then the packaging process is simpler and less complex, but food products become misoriented and vacancies occur during packing
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment device performs preliminary positioning of food products on the conveyor belt before they reach the packaging station. Sensors detect product positions and the robotic arm adjusts their locations in advance, ensuring proper alignment when products arrive at the packing area, thereby eliminating misorientation without requiring complex real-time adjustments during packaging.
Solution Approach 2:
A robotic arm with gripper serves as an intermediary between the conveyor system and the packaging station. This intermediary component transfers and repositions food products as needed, bridging the gap between the simple conveyor system and the precision requirements of packaging, thereby achieving alignment precision without fundamentally redesigning the entire system.
2Manufacturing precision
If the packaging machine stops the film at dwell position for filling, then precise filling can be achieved, but the packaging speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment device performs preliminary positioning of food products on the conveyor belt before they reach the packaging station. Sensors detect product positions and the robotic arm adjusts their locations in advance, ensuring proper alignment when products arrive at the packing area, thereby eliminating misorientation without requiring complex real-time adjustments during packaging.
Solution Approach 2:
A robotic arm with gripper serves as an intermediary between the conveyor system and the packaging station. This intermediary component transfers and repositions food products as needed, bridging the gap between the simple conveyor system and the precision requirements of packaging, thereby achieving alignment precision without fundamentally redesigning the entire system.
3Measurement precision
If sensors and robotic alignment devices are added to the conveyor system, then food product positioning precision is improved, but the system cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses sensors to automatically detect food product positions and the robotic arm to automatically adjust positioning without human intervention. This self-service capability maintains high measurement precision while reducing the need for complex manual adjustment mechanisms and specialized operator training, thereby managing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic arm with gripper performs multiple functions: it can pick up food products, reposition them for alignment, and even fill vacancies in the packaging sequence. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized devices for each task, thereby achieving high positioning precision without proportionally increasing system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A shuttle system including a main conveyor for transporting food products in a longitudinal direction, a supply of open top containers displaced along a longitudinal direction and movable in the longitudinal direction into a filling station. The shuttle system includes a shuttle robot for moving food products from the main conveyor to an open top container in the filling station. A sensor for receiving food product position data and a controller receiving data from the sensor and for instructing operation of the robot.