Patent ID: 7850415
Filing Date: 2010-12-14
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
1. A machine for palletizing substantially parallelepipedic objects, comprising: at least one conveyor for feeding objects successively one by one, a station for orienting each object in a horizontal plane with respect to a fixed horizontal direction, a grouping station for forming objects into a group able to form a layer of a palletized load comprising a stack of layers of objects, the grouping station being adapted to place each object supplied by the feed conveyor in a position that it is to occupy in the forming of a layer; a layer-stacking unit adapted to grasp and transport in a single block each layer previously formed at the grouping station on to a palletized load in the course of being formed by a stacking of layers, a reference stop, firmly mounted to a fixed structure and adapted to stop an object in a horizontal transverse abutment direction, an abutment conveyor for placing an object to be positioned in abutment against the reference stop, a layer-forming surface extending laterally opposite the reference stop, said layer-forming surface being movable in horizontal translation along an axis orthogonal to the direction of the reference stop under the effect of a driving device, a motorized thruster adapted to displace the object located against the reference stop onto a predetermined zone of the layer-forming surface corresponding to the position the object is to occupy in the layer in the course of formation, an automatic control system adapted to control said driving device so as to position laterally opposite the reference stop a zone of the layer-forming surface which is to receive the object located against the reference stop, and to control the thruster so that said object is displaced to said zone of the layer-forming surface.