Online Rapid Production Conversion Of Star Wheel Devices For Filling Equipment

As consumers’ demand for personalized packaging grows, the number of bottle shapes on the market increases. The number of bottle shapes that the equipment is compatible with is increasing, and multiple sets of star wheel devices are required accordingly. When producing different bottle shapes, corresponding changes and conversions are required.

This article proposes a star wheel device for online rapid production conversion. It can meet the transmission requirements of different bottle shapes and solve the time-consuming and labor-intensive problem of traditional switching between multiple bottle shapes. See Figure 1 and Figure 2.

Figure 1.  3D diagram of overall structure

Figure 2.  3D cross-sectional view

The star wheel has two layers, each layer includes a fixed layer and a movable layer. The movable layer can be extended or stored in the fixed layer. See Figure 3.

When producing large bottles, turn the handle to synchronously turn the upper and lower plates to retract the upper and lower movable layers into the upper and lower fixed layers. The upper and lower fixed layers are in contact with the bottle shape and the fixing pins are locked.

When producing small bottle shapes, the upper and lower movable layers are extended respectively to contact the bottle shape and locked with the fixing pins.

By simply turning the handle, you can switch between two different bottle shapes, reducing the time from 30 minutes to less than 10 minutes. In order to reduce the weight of the overall switch, it is designed to be split and disassembled separately when changing. It is convenient for production personnel to operate and reduce labor intensity.

01 Upper fixed layer        02 Upper activity layer     03 Lower activity layer

04 Lower fixed layer        05 connecting rod         06 Turn the handle

    07 Upper plate         08 Fixed pin            09 Lower paddle

Figure 3. Distribution of component names

Figure 4: The state of the active layer being retracted into the star wheel when running the large bottle

Figure 5 The state of the active layer extending out of the star wheel when running the vial

Figure 6: Actual shot of the project structure

This project effectively solves the pain points of poor compatibility and low efficiency of traditional bottle feeding equipment through innovative adjustable design. Its modular structure, low-cost maintenance and efficient adaptation capabilities not only provide manufacturers with significant cost reduction and efficiency improvement solutions, but also lay a technical foundation for the digital transformation of the packaging industry. Under the trend of personalized manufacturing, such technology will accelerate the industry's transition from "rigid production" to "flexible intelligent manufacturing".

(Cr. BREW&BEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT)