Tray Sealer Gripper Arms With Detachable Coupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Long tray grippers in tray sealers pose handling and adjustment challenges, especially when navigating through doors and dealing with uneven transport levels, complicating the alignment of trays on supply and removal belts with the sealing tool.
Innovation Solution
A tray sealer design featuring two gripper arms with coupling devices that allow for adjustable and detachable tray grippers, reducing overall length and enabling better handling and alignment across multiple transport levels without the need for wrenches, with holding elements that provide secure and torsion-resistant attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If tray grippers are made longer to handle extended sealing tools, then the sealing performance is improved, but the handling and transportation of the grippers becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The tray gripper is divided into multiple segments that can be extended or retracted independently. This allows the gripper to achieve the necessary length for handling extended sealing tools while maintaining manageable dimensions for transportation and handling when the segments are retracted.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray gripper incorporates movable and adjustable components that allow its length and configuration to change dynamically. This enables the gripper to adapt between a compact form for transportation and an extended form for operational requirements, resolving the contradiction between length needs and handling ease.
2Productivity
If tray grippers are made longer to match extended sealing tools, then the tray conveyance capability is improved, but the adjustment complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tray gripper design incorporates universal adjustment mechanisms that can accommodate different tray sizes and configurations without requiring complex custom adjustments. The standardized multi-functional components reduce adjustment complexity while maintaining high tray conveyance capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The gripper allows for easy adjustment of key parameters such as length, width, and gripping force through standardized mechanisms. This enables rapid adaptation to different tray specifications without increasing overall device complexity, maintaining productivity while simplifying adjustments.
3Productivity
If tray grippers are extended to accommodate larger sealing tools, then the processing capacity is improved, but the transportation through doors becomes obstructed
Solution Approach 1:
The gripper is constructed with telescopic or segmented sections that can be extended during operation to provide the necessary processing capacity, but retracted during transportation to fit through standard doorways and corridors.
Solution Approach 2:
The gripper employs dynamic length adjustment mechanisms that allow it to transition between a compact configuration for transportation and an extended configuration for high-capacity processing, effectively resolving the contradiction between processing capacity and transportation constraints.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a tray sealer comprising a gripper device with two gripper arms, a supply device for unsealed trays, a removal device for sealed trays and a sealing device. Each gripper arm can comprise a coupling device that is configured to hold a first tray gripper for supplying trays into the sealing device and a second tray gripper for removing trays from the sealing device.