Design of a Pick-and-Place Mechanism for a Filter Bag-Forming Machine

In modern manufacturing, filter bags are crucial consumables for liquid purification, yet their production lacks full automation. To enhance efficiency, an automatic pick-and-place mechanism is proposed to replace manual operations. The systematic design procedure with four steps is presented to meet the motion requirements. Firstly, a feasible mechanism structure with a single degree of freedom, six links, and seven joints is generated using the Creative Mechanism Design methodology. Then, the Geometric Constraint Programming method is applied to achieve dimensional synthesis, followed by motion analysis to ensure the motion trajectory. Spring installation positions and parameters are determined based on static equilibrium theory with consideration of the potential energy. Finally, a computer-aided design is employed to finalize the mechanism design, resulting in nearly constant energy by under 3% in simulations, and the performance of static equilibrium is validated by prototype testing.