Patent ID: 11970348
Assignee: SYMBOTIC CANADA, ULC
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 14:
15. A system for simultaneous infeed of empty pallets and outfeed of a full pallet, the system comprising:
a palletizing elevator for receiving one of the empty pallets at an upper level and for lowering same from the upper level to a lower level as products are moved onto said one of the empty pallets;
an empty pallet elevator for raising another one of the empty pallets to the upper level; and
a conveying system with an expanding/contracting stage at the upper level between the empty pallet elevator and the palletizing elevator for moving said another one of the empty pallets from the empty pallet elevator to the palletizing elevator while said one of the empty pallets is moved by the palletizing elevator during a filling thereof, the expanding/contracting stage expanding and contracting between a retracted position and first and second extended positions respectively on opposite sides of the retracted position and respectively over the empty pallet elevator and the palletizing elevator, so that a common stage of the expanding/contracting stage, having an empty pallet support surface that is common to each of the one of the empty pallets and the another one of the empty pallets, is in the first extended position over the empty pallet elevator at the upper level and the second extended position over the palletizing elevator on the opposite side of the retracted position from the empty pallet elevator at the upper level.