Development of an Unloading system from the Conveyor of Automated Packaging Machine for Coconut Pudding

Abstract

The coconut pudding product is characterized by a soft texture easily susceptible to damage. A key issue in the packaging process of the case study company is that pudding cups frequently fall from the conveyor belt. This is because the machinery used for packaging was originally designed for filling drinking cups and was later adapted for pudding packaging. The water filling machine lacks a mechanism to lift the cups from the conveyor, as the water cups can be tipped off the end of the conveyor without incurring damage. However, this approach is unsuitable for pudding cups, which require manual worker removal. Occasionally, workers fail to remove the cups in time, causing them to fall to the floor and damage the pudding. This results in a daily product damage rate of 5%, or approximately 350 cups per day. The pudding breakages also cause production to discontinue and require an average of 30 minutes to clean the machinery. This research aims to develop an automatic system for lifting pudding cups from the conveyor using pneumatic technology, without damaging the soft pudding texture. The goal is to enhance production efficiency and reduce waste costs associated with the packaging process. The system is designed to move the pudding cups vertically and horizontally at an appropriate speed to prevent damage. The research findings indicate that the developed system successfully lifts the pudding cups continuously without generating waste. Testing with 5-ounce and 6-ounce pudding cups across 1,000 continuous lifts was demonstrated to reveal the system's efficiency. The maximum horizontal speed that does not damage the pudding is 416.67 millimeters per second, and the maximum vertical speed is 197.37 millimeters per second. This improvement increases production capacity by at least 100% and reduces waste costs by 100%