Studying, identifying and designing new solutions for industrial automation with the goal of meeting market and customer needs.
The Ecor Research R&D Division, based in Castelvetro di Modena, is working with the University of Bologna in a project whose objective is to develop a new mechanism to extract pre-formed packs inside a continuous automatic machine for aseptic food packaging. The device allows pushing partially formed packs to the next station.
This project has been set up to meet the need of one of Ecor Research’s customers to apply this mechanism to different food processing machines, as well as to use it in packaging different pack formats.
It is a complex effort because it requires expertise in engineering and the ability to analyse the specific features of the mechanism in order to develop a solution that meets the operation requirements.
The project, in collaboration with Prof. Marco Troncossi and Prof. Marco Carricato of the Industrial Engineering Dept. of the University of Bologna, provides for an initial analysis of the required functions, the identification of alternative solutions and the choice of the optimal solution based on the use of appropriate indicators. The device must be integrated with a feature to reject any damaged packs while complying with the overall size of the machine parts already present.
Different architectures will be studied including those using planar articulated systems. The dimensions of the parts constituting each kinematic mechanism will be calculated complying with the set restraints and obtaining a matrix of possible solutions from which to select those mechanisms that best meet the required functions while meeting requirements.
This operation is called synthesis and will be carried out by developing a software through the use of the MatLab® computing platform.
The last phase of the project provides for the validation of the solutions through virtual simulation using the PTC® Creo design software, which will be able to reproduce the behaviour of the mechanism in contact with the packs.
TO KNOW
█ A mechanism is a set of interconnected mobile components that transmit motion.
█ A planar articulated system is a mechanism whose components are located on the same plane.
█ Synthesis is the operation that allows correct sizing of the kinematic mechanism, i.e., calculating precisely its dimensions in order to perform the required laws of motion and the task for which it was created.
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