Trailing Article Pusher Assembly for Continuous Packaging Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Continuous motion packaging machines face downtime and productivity losses due to the need for manual intervention to convey the last few trailing articles through the machine, as they often get stuck in 'dead zones' without upstream articles to push them forward.
Innovation Solution
A pusher assembly with a flexible yet straight pusher chain and pusher block, driven by a motor with a slip clutch, is deployed to automatically push trailing articles through the machine, using magnetic attraction to maintain alignment and prevent bending, allowing for automatic operation without machine shutdown.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual intervention is used to convey trailing articles through dead zones, then articles can be moved through the machine, but machine downtime increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The pusher assembly is automatically actuated by a sensor detecting the presence of trailing articles, eliminating the need for manual operator intervention. The system serves itself by automatically deploying the pusher chain to convey articles through dead zones and automatically retracting when not needed, maintaining continuous machine operation and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The pusher assembly is positioned and ready for deployment in advance, with the pusher chain stored in a retracted position within the machine housing. When trailing articles are detected, the assembly quickly deploys to push them through dead zones before the articles would otherwise stall, preventing downtime before it occurs.
2Ease of operation
If the pusher chain is made flexible to allow retraction and storage, then the assembly can be automatically deployed and retracted, but the chain may bend and fail to push articles straight through the machine
Solution Approach 1:
The pusher chain is divided into multiple rigid link segments connected by joints. This segmentation allows the chain to flex and bend during retraction and deployment while maintaining a straight configuration when actively pushing articles, ensuring both automatic operation and precise article alignment through the dead zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The pusher chain utilizes articulated joints that allow controlled curvature during retraction storage, but constrain the chain to a straight configuration during the pushing operation. The joint design enables the chain to transition from a curved stored position to a straight operational position, maintaining article alignment while allowing automatic deployment.
3Productivity
If the machine operates continuously without stoppages, then productivity increases, but trailing articles get stuck in dead zones without upstream articles to push them forward
Solution Approach 1:
The pusher assembly acts as an intermediary device between the trailing articles and the dead zones. When articles enter the dead zone area, the sensor-triggered pusher assembly deploys to provide the necessary pushing force, mediating the transfer of articles through the zone where normal conveyor forces are insufficient, ensuring continuous article flow without machine stoppage.
Solution Approach 2:
The pusher assembly operates periodically rather than continuously - it is deployed only when sensors detect trailing articles approaching dead zones, pushes them through, and then retracts. This periodic activation maintains continuous article flow through the machine while consuming energy and occupying space only when needed, supporting uninterrupted productivity.
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
The solution enables the automatic conveyance of trailing articles through packaging machines, reducing downtime and operator intervention, ensuring all articles are packaged without manual handling or machine stoppages, and automatically retracts for the next production run.
Implementation Method 1
driven by a motor with a slip clutch
Implementation Method 2
using magnetic attraction to maintain alignment and prevent bending
Data Source
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AI summary
An article packaging machine includes a trailing article pusher assembly for pushing the trailing articles of a packaging production run down infeed conveyer lanes and through workstations of the packaging machine so that the trailing articles can be packaged. The pusher assembly comprises a pusher chain that is flexible in one direction to allow the chain to be coiled upon itself and generally inflexible in the other direction beyond a substantially straight configuration of the chain. A pusher block is attached to a free end of the pusher chain. The pusher chain is normally stowed on a take-up magazine beside its associated infeed lane during a packaging operation. When the trailing articles of a production run approach the workstations of the packaging machine, a gate opens to allow the pusher chain and its pusher block to be extended into the infeed lane behind the last trailing article. A drive sprocket engaged with the pusher chain is rotated to extend the chain and its pusher block into the infeed lane until the pusher block engages and exerts a pushing force on the last trailing article. Continued rotation of the drive sprocket further extends the pusher chain and pushes the trailing articles through the workstations of the packaging machine until the trailing articles are packaged. The drive sprocket is then reversed in direction to retract the pusher chain from the infeed lane and coil it in its stowed position on the take-up magazine.