Variable-Volume Pack-Off Container With Rotating Lift Bottom
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Solution Overview
Problem
In high-volume manufacturing of commercial goods, the rate at which manufactured articles are conveyed onto a pack-off table often exceeds the capacity of packing personnel, leading to disruptions in the manufacturing line and reduced output, as the conveyor must be slowed or shut down to accommodate the packing process.
Innovation Solution
A rotating pack-off container with a vertically translatable bottom wall, driven by a mechanism such as a screw drive, pneumatic cylinder, or linear actuator, allowing the container's volume to adjust based on sensed fill conditions, enabling efficient and automated packing of articles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the conveyor rate is increased to improve manufacturing output, then productivity increases, but the packing capacity becomes insufficient causing disruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The container employs a flexible bottom wall that can dynamically change its position vertically to adjust the container's volume capacity. This dynamic adjustment allows the container to accommodate varying quantities of manufactured articles, enabling the packing system to handle high-volume production without disruption while maintaining ease of operation.
2Device complexity
If the container volume is fixed to simplify the structure, then device complexity decreases, but the ability to accommodate varying quantities of articles is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The container utilizes a flexible wall material for the bottom wall, allowing it to deform and adjust its position. This flexibility enables the container to vary its volume capacity to accommodate different quantities of manufactured articles while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure, thus balancing device complexity with adaptability.
3Device complexity
If manual packing is used to maintain simplicity, then device complexity remains low, but productivity decreases due to bottlenecks
Solution Approach 1:
The rotating container enables continuous packing operations by constantly presenting open container positions to the feed device and removal positions to packing personnel. This continuous rotation eliminates idle time and bottlenecks, significantly improving packing rate and productivity while keeping the overall system relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible bottom wall dynamically adjusts the container volume to match the rate of article accumulation, allowing the system to maintain optimal packing flow without interruption. This dynamic volume adjustment supports higher productivity by preventing overflow and enabling continuous operation.
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 solution allows for continuous operation of the manufacturing line by automatically adjusting the container's volume to match the flow of articles, preventing bottlenecks and optimizing output.
Implementation Method 1
the flexible wall material in beneficial embodiments forms a pocket extending downward from the frame. Vertical translation of the container bottom wall can reshape a flexible material when used as container wall material so as to vary the volume capacity of the container
Implementation Method 2
The container bottom wall can be defined by a flexible wall material attached to the frame, and the flexible wall material in beneficial embodiments forms a pocket extending downward from the frame. A drive mechanism is provided, and is arranged to rotate the container bottom wall so as to rotate manufactured articles when supported on the bottom wall
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are container apparatuses that have variable volume capacity, which are useful, for example, as pack-off containers in operations involving manufactured articles. The container apparatuses can have vertically translatable bottom members to adjust volume capacity, and the bottom members can also be rotatable to facilitate the presentation of manufactured articles for removal. The vertically translatable bottom members can be suspended flexible sheet materials, portions of which can be raised or lowered to re-contour the shape of and adjust the volume capacity of the container apparatuses.