Spouted Pouch Loading Profiles With Overturning and Continuous Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated systems for loading spouted pouches into rectilinear profiles are inefficient and can create bottlenecks, particularly at the end of spouted pouch production lines, and do not allow for continuous feeding and precise orientation of pouches within the profiles.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus that includes a feeding station with oscillating rods and motorized screw feeders to align pouches, overturning devices for changing pouch orientation, and pusher mechanisms to insert pouches into profiles, ensuring continuous feeding and precise layering of pouches with alternating orientations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated loading systems are used to insert spouted pouches into rectilinear profiles, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases and bottlenecks occur at the end of production lines
Solution Approach 1:
The apparatus is divided into distinct functional modules: feeding means for supplying pouches, alignment means for orienting pouches in the rectilinear profile, and insertion means for transferring pouches to stacks of profiles. Each module operates independently, simplifying the overall system while maintaining high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
Pouches are aligned within the rectilinear profile before insertion into the final product stack. The alignment means ensures pouches are properly oriented and positioned in advance, eliminating complex real-time adjustments during insertion and reducing system complexity.
2Productivity
If manual insertion of loaded profiles into boxes is used, then device complexity is reduced, but productivity decreases and manual intervention increases
Solution Approach 1:
The apparatus automatically performs feeding, alignment, and insertion operations without manual intervention. The system is designed to be self-sufficient, with each module automatically transitioning to the next operation, eliminating the need for operators while maintaining high productivity.
3Manufacturing precision
If pouches are loaded into profiles without precise alignment, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision of pouch orientation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment means is integrated into the rectilinear profile structure, which pre-positions pouches in the correct orientation before insertion. This preliminary alignment action ensures precise pouch orientation without requiring complex alignment mechanisms during the insertion process.
Solution Approach 2:
The rectilinear profile acts as an intermediary device that receives pouches from the feeding means and prepares them for insertion into the product stack. This intermediary structure simplifies the alignment function by providing a guided path and fixed orientation points for pouches.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for inserting spouted pouches in rectilinear loading profiles, comprising: a pouch feeding station with at least one pouch feeder; a station for loading profiles which are longitudinally parallel to the feeding direction and superimposed; an accumulation station, which is interposed between the feeding station and the loading station and comprises at least one overturning device provided with accumulation guides for the pouches and rotatable about a rotation axis which is substantially parallel to the feeding direction; movement means adapted to perform at least one mutual translation between the feeder and the overturning device, so as to load, during mutual translation, one pouch at a time on the accumulation guides.