Vacuum Storage Volume for Packaging Machine Cycle Rate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Packaging machines face challenges in achieving high cycle rates while effectively evacuating or gas exchanging packaging cavities, which is crucial for extending the shelf life of protein-containing foodstuffs.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a vacuum storage volume within the packaging machine, preferably near the degassing/gassing point, and using a controller to regulate vacuum and gas exchange, allowing for rapid degassing and gassing processes by minimizing flow resistance and optimizing the vacuum volume for each cycle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If evacuation or gas exchange is performed in packaging cavities using conventional vacuum systems, then shelf life of packaged foodstuffs is extended, but cycle rate and productivity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum storage volume is pre-evacuated before each packaging cycle, so that when a packaging cavity needs evacuation, the pre-prepared vacuum can be immediately applied through rapid connection. This eliminates the time-consuming process of creating vacuum from scratch during each cycle, thereby extending shelf life through proper evacuation while maintaining high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
A vacuum storage volume acts as an intermediary between the vacuum pump and the packaging cavities. This intermediate storage buffer allows the system to decouple the slow vacuum creation process from the fast packaging cycles, enabling rapid vacuum application to multiple cavities simultaneously without limiting the overall cycle rate.
2Reliability
If vacuum is drawn or gas exchange is performed during each packaging cycle, then packaging quality is improved, but the time required per cycle increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum storage volume is prepared in advance by the vacuum pump, storing the vacuum condition needed for packaging. When packaging cavities require evacuation, they are rapidly connected to this pre-prepared vacuum source, dramatically reducing the time required per cycle while maintaining the quality benefits of proper evacuation and gas exchange.
Solution Approach 2:
The vacuum pump operates continuously or near-continuously to maintain the vacuum storage volume, rather than cycling on and off with each packaging cycle. This continuous preparation of vacuum eliminates idle time between cycles and ensures that vacuum is always readily available when needed, reducing total cycle time while preserving packaging quality.
3Productivity
If vacuum storage volume is provided within the packaging machine, then degassing and gassing speed is increased, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum storage volume serves multiple functions: it stores vacuum for evacuation, provides a buffer for rapid gas exchange, and can accommodate multiple packaging cavities simultaneously. This multi-functionality justifies the added complexity by delivering significant productivity gains across all packaging operations rather than adding dedicated systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having a separate vacuum pump for each packaging cavity or line, the system creates one vacuum storage volume that serves as a template or buffer for all subsequent evacuation operations. This single vacuum buffer replaces what would otherwise require multiple complex vacuum generation systems, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining high degassing and gassing speeds.
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
This configuration enables faster degassing and gassing, significantly increasing the number of packaging cycles and ensuring efficient gas exchange, thereby enhancing the production rate and quality of packaged products.
Implementation Method 1
a certain vacuum, i. H. a certain negative pressure is generated in the packaging cavity
Implementation Method 2
a gas exchange takes place in the packaging tray, i.e. the packaging tray is at least partially replaced by an exchange gas
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a packaging machine (1), comprising a deep-drawing station (2), which forms packaging wells in a material web (8), and a sealing station (19), which bonds a top material web to the material web, wherein before the bonded connection the packaging well is degassed and/or gassed, and a cutting unit, which separates the packagings thus produced from the material webs. The invention further relates to a method for producing a packaging, in which a material web is transported in cycles along a packaging machine, and during each cycle one or more packaging wells are formed in the material web and the packaging well is then filled with a product to be packaged, and then a cover film is sealed onto the packaging well, wherein before sealing a vacuum is drawn and/or a gas exchange is carried out in the packaging well.