Continuous Vacuum Packaging Machine for Food Preservation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packaging machines are unsuitable for mass-producing vacuum packages that can effectively preserve food products over an extended period, and existing vacuum packaging devices are not designed for continuous operation, making them inefficient for large quantities of food products.
Innovation Solution
A packaging machine that uses a tube-forming device to create sealed pockets, an air-removing device to evacuate air from the pockets, and a sealing device to hermetically seal the pockets, allowing for continuous operation without manual intervention, enabling mass-production of vacuum-packaged food products.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a packaging machine uses a tube-forming device to create sealed pockets continuously, then productivity is improved, but the ability to create vacuum packages deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The tube is divided into separate sealed pockets by transverse welds, with each pocket independently processed for vacuum sealing. This segmentation allows continuous production while maintaining vacuum integrity in each individual package.
Solution Approach 2:
A blocking element is introduced as an intermediary component to temporarily seal the tube end during vacuum evacuation, enabling the air-removing device to create vacuum in one pocket while the machine continues operating continuously.
2Reliability
If vacuum packaging devices are used to preserve food products, then preservation quality is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to discrete operation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging machine maintains continuous operation by automatically performing tube formation, pocket sealing, product insertion, vacuum evacuation, and final sealing in an uninterrupted sequence, eliminating the need for manual intervention between packages.
Solution Approach 2:
The machine automatically performs all vacuum packaging operations including blocking the tube end, evacuating air, and sealing the pockets without requiring operator intervention, enabling mass production while maintaining preservation quality.
3Manufacturing precision
If manual operation is used for vacuum packaging, then vacuum sealing quality is improved, but labor intensity and time consumption worsen
Solution Approach 1:
Manual mechanical operations are replaced with automated welding means and air-removing devices that perform sealing and vacuum evacuation automatically, maintaining seal quality while dramatically reducing time per package and eliminating manual labor.
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
Enables the efficient packaging of a large quantity of food products in a vacuum condition, ensuring extended preservation and eliminating the need for manual operation, thus improving the efficiency and scalability of food packaging.
Implementation Method 1
a succession of pockets (11) starting from the tube (5) and in correspondence of which products (6) are insertable; means for removing air from the tube (5) in correspondence of the pockets (11)
Implementation Method 2
The tube is completed by longitudinally welding said side edges to each other by means of a first welding means located in correspondence of the forming member
Implementation Method 3
a second welding means which is made to act on the tube to close it completely by welding in correspondence of a section transverse to a tape-feeding direction
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
A packaging machine (1) comprises a device for the formation of a tube (5) of wrap material into which a succession of products (6) can be inserted; a sealing device (7) being active on said tube (5) to make a succession of seals (23) transverse to the direction of advancement "A" of tube (5) and to define a corresponding succession of pockets (11) for holding the products (6); an air-removing device (13) being active on each pocket (11) in correspondence of a respective aperture (25) to produce a vacuum inside each pocket (11); an additional sealing device (22) operatively located at least in correspondence of the air-removing device (13) for isolating said aperture (25) and hermetically sealing the pocket (11).