To avoid us having to reconstitute the specifications, it would be simpler for you to write it in word and then save it in PDF format readable by all (some colleagues don't have word on their machine). After each question asked and the answer you give, you make a +1 version that you post.
Before going any further, you need the specifications written with freehand sketches or drawn with a ruler.
My first impression is that the system is not complicated to do if there is no wrapping. Because the most complicated thing is wrapping at such speed.
Kind regards
PS: don't slide on a container but on a chute (and at the end of the chute falls into the garbage can )
I give you a piece of advice: at these speeds, avoid reciprocating movements.
In addition I have more than a few doubts about your kinematics which should not work even at low speed.
GO TO specifications (are clamps mandatory???)
Does the chocolate have to be in the same position at the outlet on the chute. In other words, the chocolate should have the flat part of the half-sphere flat when it slides on the exit mat. (chute = blah blah)
Hello... but what do I see... a Zozo who did not resist the challenge of the forum
+1 for the speed is huge, we must be on the printer rotary I would have rather put in a specification a max diameter and a rate of x chocolate/min. How many " posts " around the cylinder? After we watch the video... even in slow motion it's huge. In any case, it will be cam in all directions.
What do you mean by " injection "? Chocolate in paper?
On the other hand, they talk about a rate of between 400 and 600 chocolates per minute. If we count one chocolate per 1/2 revolutions of the wheel, we arrive at a speed of 200 to 300 revolutions per minute. Or did I mess up somewhere in the reasoning?
Hello, for having done 6 months in a company of special machines making this type of machines, this kind of rate can be achieved. In practice, you can't see the parts because of the speed of travel. On one of the machines I saw, there was even quality control by video/video analysis and a jet of air was clearing the non-compliant parts of the conveyor belt.
The basic principle of this kind of system: everything is mechanically powered by a single motor shaft. And cam + arm systems make it possible to manage the movements of all the parts.
The advantage of mechanical systems: once it's at the point at low speed, you increase the cadence and normally everything follows cleanly. The limits are on the parts that can take big accelerations and therefore big inertia forces (hence the carbon fiber clamps: we lighten the parts that take the most acceleration to limit the forces and constraints).
There are two big families: continuous motion systems (a priori the video) and others where a central plate is indexed by a principle similar to Maltese crosses ( Malta cross (mechanism) — Wikipedia ) ): this allows to do different operations on the different indexing positions of the table (and all the operations on the different stations remain synchronized with each other because EVERYTHING is powered by a single main motor (then reducers/ pine nuts)
The whole difficulty is the vrapping, there is a dreadful thing, it's the wind with very thin packaging that moves at a high speed on races of a few cm.
What about mounting the grippers on a " chain " to have a continuous movement, the opening of the grippers being controlled by a system like detachable chairlifts.
Previously, you wrote that wrapping was not part of the project.
But the mere fact that you say " »" The wrapping paper is placed between the injection system and the clamps in such a way that the chocolates are injected into the claws, the chocolates will already be half packaged."
This complicates everything because the paper doesn't come out of nowhere and therefore has to be slaved In addition, making a wrap on half a sphere requires making pre-folds before the chocolate has entered by force.
Between us, are the pliers mandatory or another system is tolerated since we are talking about improvement.
Hoclearly the teacher talked about the clamps in the class, (all that he said exactly is in the pdf that I put it) and yesterday afternoon I spoke with him quickly, he informed me that in the second part of the semester we will work on the packaging, I didn't know. We did just the first session with him so we haven't asked all the questions yet, but in the end I know that more or less we are free to make the machine we like, the important thing is that the machine works. The next session with this course is next Wednesday. I'm going to ask him if the tongs are mandatory, and if he's absolutely sure that he wants chocolates that run at a speed of 80+ km/h (this teacher is used to changing a few things in the specifications in the first 2 after questions from the students). but I have a question for you! If you are thinking of replacing the clamps, what do you want to replace them with?
Quotation I have a question for you! If you are thinking of replacing the clamps, what do you want to replace them with?
For machines of this type there are almost as many solutions as there are designers, so I only reason in relation to my vision of the world and my experience of very fast machines. But it's easier to do this with rigid objects than chocolate prone to warping. So no speed constraint but relative fragility constraint. Look here at the automatic placement of electronic components on a board.
To get you on the right track, do some simple calculations (see the questions in @FUZ3D ) and especially the time between two chocolates if you opt for an alternative system (such as with pliers). Watch here how to fill boxes of chocolates with high-speed robots
You see that in this case of pick and place there are a few fractions of a second between each typical chocolate of a discontinuous movement. It is possible to have continuous movement with another system. The discontinuous movement is well suited to fill a box with several kinds of chocolates, while in the example of the bite wrapping you are in a more continuous system while several operations are performed to wrap the bite.
So in the first sketch you produced, you'll be in a discontinuous motion (which can't work mechanically, by the way).
So you have a choice of principle to adopt from the start because this is what will structure your entire design.
Seen as it goes, the first thing to do before wanting to draw anything is to lock in the specifications. If I understand correctly, your teacher didn't give you a document but just stated the information. You really have to define what is contractual (size, cadence) and what is suggested (speed, number of grippers, type of gripper) and what you have deduced from it. The biggest problem is this last point: it's a classic cognitive bias, you're going to focus on a difficulty when this difficulty comes from your interpretation of information that is not necessarily relevant. From there, it will be necessary to draw up several possible solutions to analyze them.
Another point, doing continuous work is good, but above all you have to be sure that all the workstations can be compatible. Apart from the back fold (in relation to the direction of scroll), they must be able to be done by inclined ramps, such as the cartoning of yoghurt pots, or any other packaging by folding. For me the number of clamps depends on the number of stations but also on the rate, but since it is continuous, the number of stations should not be taken into account.
EDIT: Attached is a small table that makes a first census without proposing a solution, of the different things to be observed and clarified. Document to be completed by the generous contributors CHOCO MACHINING_ V1.pdf (102.4 KB)
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