Variable-Length Tray for Manual Food Bagging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bagging machines for food products, particularly bread, are inefficient for non-calibrated items due to the need for long conveyor belts, which complicate the handling and bagging process, and require significant operator movements, leading to potential injuries and reduced productivity.
Innovation Solution
A bagging machine with a variable-length tray and a movable carriage that covers part of the conveyor, allowing for manual introduction and automatic evacuation of non-calibrated products, reducing operator movements and enabling high-rate bagging of products of varying lengths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a long conveyor belt is used to introduce non-calibrated products, then the products can be conveyed, but the machine size increases and handling becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor belt is replaced by a movable table that can be positioned at different locations along the bagging direction. This dynamic repositioning allows the table to cover only the necessary portion of the conveyor, reducing the effective conveyor length while maintaining the ability to introduce products of various lengths efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution introduces a new degree of freedom by making the table movable in the bagging direction (longitudinal dimension) rather than fixed. This allows the system to adapt to different product lengths without requiring a proportionally longer conveyor belt, effectively decoupling the conveyor length from the product length requirements.
2Productivity
If preformed pouches are used with horizontal insertion, then bagging can be performed, but significant arm movements are required causing operator fatigue and potential injuries
Solution Approach 1:
The table is positioned and oriented to create an ergonomic working plane that reduces the need for large arm movements. By aligning the table and bag formation area at appropriate heights and angles, the system minimizes operator strain while maintaining efficient bagging operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automates the bag formation and positioning processes, with the movable table and carriage system reducing the manual effort required for product insertion. The automatic evacuation system further reduces operator involvement in the bagging cycle.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the tray length is fixed, then the machine structure is simple, but it cannot adapt to products of variable lengths
Solution Approach 1:
The tray system achieves variable effective length through the movable table that can be positioned at different locations along the bagging direction. This dynamic adjustment allows the same physical tray to serve different product lengths without requiring complex mechanical transformations of the tray itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The bagging system is divided into independent functional modules: the movable table for product introduction, the carriage for bag formation, and the evacuation system. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the table position adjustable for different product lengths without affecting the overall system complexity.
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 significantly reduces operator movements and enhances comfort while allowing for efficient bagging of non-calibrated products, adapting to different product lengths, and minimizing machine size.
Implementation Method 1
a blower system for shaping the sheath
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3
AI summary
This food bagging machine (1) is adapted to receive at least one rotating reel (5) comprising a wound tubular sleeve, a drive mechanism (8, 9) for the sleeve from the reel (5), cutting, folding and sealing means (13) configured to form bags from the sleeve, a tray (10) on which the unwound sleeve is positioned, a blower system (17) for shaping the sleeve, a table (15) for manually introducing food products into a bag formed on the tray (10) according to a bagging direction (X), a locking device (19) adapted to lock in position an edge of one end of the sleeve, open on the side of the table (15), against the tray (10) before the bag is formed, and a system for evacuating the bagged food products.The discharge system includes a conveyor (21) oriented along a direction (Y) transverse to the bagging direction (X), this conveyor (21) forming the platform (10). A useful length (L) of the platform (10), defined according to the bagging direction (X) between the cutting, bending and welding means (13) and the table (15), is variable by overlapping a part of the conveyor (21) with the table (15), which is movable in translation relative to the platform (10) according to the bagging direction (X).