Fully Automatic Round Drum Lifting And Sealing Machine

The Fully Automatic Round Drum Lifting And Sealing Machine, as the name suggests, is a piece of equipment used in automated production lines, specifically designed for lifting and sealing inner bags within round drum containers (such as metal drums, plastic drums, paper drums, etc.). This equipment is applied at the end of filling production lines for powdery, granular, paste-like, liquid, and other materials requiring inner bag sealing. Its core function is to lift the mouth of a pre-inserted plastic inner bag inside a round drum, perform sealing, and may include subsequent bag mouth processing steps, such as folding, flattening, or trimming, to prepare the product for final ex-factory packaging. Fully automatic round drum lifting and sealing machines are widely used in industries such as chemical, food additives, pharmaceutical, pigments, and lubricating oil, and are crucial for product packaging that requires strict sealing, moisture-proof, and contamination-proof properties.

To comprehensively understand the Fully Automatic Round Drum Lifting And Sealing Machine, we will conduct an in-depth technical analysis from two aspects: design principles and mechanical structure composition.

I. Design Principles

The core design of the Fully Automatic Round Drum Lifting And Sealing Machine lies in achieving automated, stable, and efficient bag lifting and sealing of inner bags in round drums. Its design principles are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

Round Drum Container Adaptability Principle:

The equipment must be compatible with round drum containers of different sizes, materials, and shapes, possessing a certain degree of versatility and flexibility. The design needs to consider the positioning, conveying, and fixing of round drums to ensure the stability and accurate position of the round drum during the bag lifting and sealing process.
Adjustable mechanisms may be required to adapt to round drums of different diameters and heights, such as adjustable guide rails, positioning fixtures, lifting platforms, etc.
Reliable Inner Bag Lifting Principle:

Since the inner bag is placed inside the round drum and the bag mouth may have wrinkles or irregularities, the bag lifting mechanism needs to have reliable gripping and lifting capabilities to ensure the bag mouth is lifted completely and stably without slippage or tearing.
The bag lifting process needs to ensure that the bag mouth can be fully opened to facilitate subsequent sealing mechanism operations.

Efficient and Sealed Sealing Principle:

The sealing mechanism needs to provide stable and controllable energy (such as heat energy, ultrasonic energy) and pressure to ensure that the plastic inner bag mouth can be firmly and hermetically sealed, meeting the sealing requirements of the product.
Appropriate sealing methods, such as heat sealing, ultrasonic sealing, welding, etc., can be selected according to different bag materials and sealing requirements. It is necessary to precisely control sealing parameters (such as temperature, pressure, time, power, etc.) to achieve the best sealing effect.
The sealing process needs to be efficient and match the takt time of the overall production line.

Bag Mouth Processing Versatility Principle:

According to different packaging needs, the equipment may need to have a variety of bag mouth processing functions, such as:

Simple Heat Sealing: Only heat seals the bag mouth without subsequent processing.
Fold Sealing: Folds the bag mouth and then heat seals it to enhance sealing or reduce volume.
Trim Sealing: After sealing, trims the excess bag mouth edges to make the packaging more aesthetically pleasing.
Flattening Sealing: After sealing, flattens the sealed part to make the top of the packaging flatter.
The equipment design should have modularity and configurability to facilitate the selection and combination of different bag mouth processing modules according to actual needs.

Automated Continuous Operation Principle:

The equipment must be seamlessly integrated with upstream and downstream equipment such as round drum conveying lines and filling machines to achieve continuous and automated production processes.
The entire bag lifting and sealing process should achieve automated control, reducing manual intervention, improving production efficiency, and reducing labor costs.
The equipment should have automatic fault detection and alarm functions to reduce downtime and ensure stable operation of the production line.

Safety, User-Friendliness, and Maintainability Principle:

The equipment operation interface should be simple, intuitive, and easy to operate, facilitating operators to set parameters, monitor operation, and troubleshoot faults.
The equipment design should fully consider safety factors and be equipped with necessary safety protection devices to ensure the safety of operators.
The equipment structure design should consider the convenience of maintenance and upkeep, facilitating daily maintenance and parts replacement, and reducing downtime.

II. Mechanical Structure Composition

The mechanical structure of the Fully Automatic Round Drum Lifting And Sealing Machine revolves around key processes such as round drum conveying and positioning → inner bag lifting → bag mouth sealing → bag mouth processing → finished product output, and is composed of the following main parts:

Round Drum Conveying and Positioning System:

Round Drum Conveying Line: Uses roller conveyor lines, chain conveyor lines, or belt conveyor lines to carry and convey round drums. Choose the appropriate conveying method according to the weight and size of the round drums.

Round Drum Positioning Mechanism: At the bag lifting and sealing station, it is necessary to accurately position the round drum to ensure that subsequent mechanisms can accurately operate on the inner bag mouth. Positioning methods may include:
Baffle Positioning: Uses cylinder-driven baffles to limit the horizontal movement of the round drum.
Clamping Positioning: Uses pneumatic grippers or fixtures to clamp the round drum from the side or bottom.
Conical Positioning: Uses a conical positioning seat to cooperate with the bottom of the round drum to achieve precise center positioning.

Round Drum Arrival Detection: Uses sensors (such as photoelectric sensors, proximity sensors) to detect whether the round drum has reached the predetermined station and feed the signal back to the control system to trigger subsequent processes.

Inner Bag Lifting Mechanism:

Multi-Claw Gripping Mechanism: Employs multiple mechanical claws (such as three-claw, four-claw) evenly distributed above the round drum, extending down into the drum, synchronously gripping the inner bag mouth edges, and then lifting vertically upwards. This method can more stably lift bag mouths with larger diameters and is less affected by the bag mouth shape.

Ring-Shaped Clamping Lifting Mechanism: Uses a ring-shaped fixture that descends from above the round drum, clamps around the inner bag mouth, and then lifts it as a whole. Suitable for inner bags with relatively regular, circular bag mouths.

Vacuum Suction Cup Lifting Mechanism (Suitable for specific bag materials): If the inner bag mouth material permits, vacuum suction cups can be used to adsorb the bag mouth surface and then lift it. May require a pneumatic blowing device to assist in opening the bag mouth.
Servo-Driven Lifting System: The lifting action of the bag lifting mechanism is usually driven by a servo motor or cylinder to achieve smooth and precise lifting and lowering movements, and speed and position control.

Bag Mouth Opening and Shaping Mechanism:

Pneumatic Expanding Mechanism: After the bag lifting mechanism lifts the bag mouth, a pneumatic air nozzle is used to blow air into the bag mouth to assist in fully opening the bag mouth, removing wrinkles, and creating a flat surface for subsequent sealing.

Mechanical Shaping Mechanism: Uses mechanical components such as guide rings, shaping plates, or rollers to slightly squeeze and organize the bag mouth edges, making their shape more regular and facilitating subsequent sealing. This mechanism is usually used in conjunction with a pneumatic expanding mechanism.

Top Sealing Mechanism:

Heat Sealing Mechanism: According to different bag materials and sealing requirements, the following heat sealing methods can be selected:

Impulse Heat Sealing: Achieves sealing through instantaneous heating and cooling, with fast speed, low energy consumption, and good sealing strength. Suitable for a variety of plastic bag materials.

Constant Temperature Heat Sealing: Uses a continuously heated sealing knife or sealing belt for sealing, with a simple structure and low cost. Suitable for scenarios with low requirements for sealing temperature and bag material.
Rotary Heat Sealing: Uses rotating heating wheels to continuously seal the bag mouth, suitable for high-speed production lines.
Ultrasonic Sealing (Suitable for specific bag materials): Uses ultrasonic high-frequency vibration to generate heat to fuse the bag mouth, with extremely fast sealing speed and good sealing performance, but may have limited applicability to certain bag materials.

Sealing Head/Sealing Knife/Sealing Belt: Sealing components that directly contact the bag mouth. The material, shape, and size are customized according to the sealing method and bag mouth size.

Pressure Mechanism: Provides the pressure required for sealing, typically using cylinder-driven pressure plates, pressure rollers, or flexible pressure heads to ensure that the sealing head is in close contact with the bag mouth to achieve uniform and firm sealing.

Temperature/Power Control System: Precisely controls sealing temperature (or ultrasonic power), pressure, and sealing time parameters to ensure the stability and consistency of sealing quality.

Bag Mouth Processing Mechanism (Optional, configured as needed):

Folding Mechanism: If it is necessary to fold the bag mouth, mechanical folding arms, folding plates, or folding rollers and other mechanisms can be configured to fold the bag mouth into a predetermined shape (such as single fold, double fold, multiple folds, etc.).

Flattening Mechanism: To flatten the sealed bag mouth, pressure plates, pressure rollers, or belt pressing mechanisms can be used to make its surface flat and reduce its height.
Trimming Mechanism: If it is necessary to trim excess bag mouth edges, rotary knives or shearing mechanisms can be configured to precisely trim the bag mouth, ensuring packaging aesthetics. The trimmed waste usually requires a waste collection system.

Finished Product Output System:

Finished Product Output Conveying Line: Transports round drum containers that have completed bag lifting and sealing and bag mouth processing to subsequent processes (such as labeling, palletizing, etc.) or collection areas. Usually uses roller conveyor lines or chain conveyor lines.
Automatic Drum Unloading Mechanism (Optional): For heavier round drums, mechanical arms or pneumatic drum unloading mechanisms can be configured to automatically unload the round drums from the conveyor line and place them in designated locations.

Control System:

PLC (Programmable Logic Controller): Serves as the control core of the equipment, responsible for coordinating and controlling the actions of various mechanisms to achieve automated operation.
HMI (Human-Machine Interface/Touch Screen): Used for parameter setting, operation monitoring, fault display and alarm, and other operations. The operation interface should be user-friendly and intuitive.
Sensor System: Various sensors (such as photoelectric sensors, proximity sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, etc.) monitor the equipment operating status in real-time and feed data back to the PLC to achieve closed-loop control and fault detection.
Drive System: Includes motors, servo motors, stepper motors, cylinders, solenoid valves, etc., driving various mechanical mechanisms for precise and coordinated movement.
Frame and Safety Protection System:

High-Strength Frame: As the supporting skeleton of the equipment, it usually adopts a structural steel or welded frame structure to ensure the stability and rigidity of the equipment.
Safety Guard/Door: To ensure the safety of operators, the equipment is usually equipped with a closed safety guard or safety door to isolate hazardous areas. The safety door is usually equipped with a safety interlock device, and the equipment will automatically stop running when the safety door is opened.
Emergency Stop Button: Convenient for operators to quickly stop equipment operation in emergencies.

Summary

The Fully Automatic Round Drum Lifting And Sealing Machine is a complex automated equipment system integrating precision machinery, electrical control, pneumatic execution, and various sealing technologies. It needs to be customized in design and configuration according to the characteristics of the round drum container and the specific needs of inner bag packaging. Understanding its design principles and mechanical structure composition helps users better select, use, maintain, and optimize the equipment, improve the efficiency, sealing performance, and automation level of round drum product inner bag packaging.