Abstract:
A loading apparatus for vertically stacking a plurality of articles includes a staging assembly. The staging assembly includes a staging platform configured to receive and support the articles. The staging platform is vertically movable to a plurality of vertical levels. The staging assembly further includes a lift drive to raise and lower the staging platform, and a positioning system to move the articles off of the staging platform at selected ones of the plurality of levels. A conveyor assembly is configured to transport the articles to the staging assembly. The positioning system may be operable to remove the articles from the conveyor assembly and position the articles on the staging platform. The positioning system may be operative to position the articles on the staging platform while the lift drive is raising or lowering the staging platform. The conveyor assembly may include a transfer conveyor and a staging conveyor configured to receive the articles from the transfer conveyor, the staging conveyor being movable with the staging platform and pivotally connected to the transfer conveyor.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for transporting and loading articles and, more particularly, to apparatus and methods for loading articles at multiple levels. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It is often necessary to load a plurality of articles on different levels. For example, a plurality of articles such as bottles may be placed on respective vertically spaced shelves of a transport or holding rack. By way of further example, a plurality of articles may be stacked one on top of the other so that each subsequent article or layer of articles must be placed at a higher level than the previous level. Such loading operations are often accomplished by manual labor. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to embodiments of the present invention, a loading apparatus for placing a plurality of articles on a plurality of vertically stacked shelves of a rack includes a staging assembly. The staging assembly includes a staging platform configured to receive and support the articles. The staging platform is vertically movable to a plurality of positions adjacent the shelves of the rack. A lift drive is provided to raise and lower the staging platform. A positioning system is provided to position the articles on the staging platform and to move the articles onto the shelves of the rack. A conveyor assembly is configured to transport the articles to the staging assembly. 
     Preferably, the positioning system is operative to position the articles on the staging platform while the lift drive is raising or lowering the staging platform. 
     The conveyor assembly may include a transfer conveyor and a staging conveyor configured to receive the articles from the transfer conveyor. The staging conveyor is movable with the staging platform and pivotally connected to the transfer conveyor. 
     Preferably, the staging platform is configured to support an array of the articles and the transfer conveyor is configured to transport the articles seriatim. The positioning system is operative to position rows of the articles from the conveyor assembly onto the staging platform to form an array of the articles and to thereafter move the array of articles from the staging platform onto a shelf of the rack. The conveyor assembly may be operative to position the articles adjacent the staging platform such that the articles are aligned along an axis, with the positioning system being operative to push the articles onto the staging platform in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis. 
     The loading apparatus may include a rack conveyor system comprising a rack drive. The rack drive is operable to position the rack adjacent the staging platform. 
     According to embodiments of the present invention, a loading apparatus for vertically stacking a plurality of articles includes a staging assembly. The staging assembly includes a staging platform configured to receive and support the articles. The staging platform is vertically movable to a plurality of vertical levels. A lift drive is provided to raise and lower the staging platform. A positioning system is provided to move the articles off of the staging platform at selected ones of the plurality of levels. A conveyor assembly is configured to transport the articles to the staging assembly. 
     The positioning system may be operable to remove the articles from the conveyor assembly and position the articles on the staging platform. The conveyor assembly may include a transfer conveyor and a staging conveyor configured to receive the articles from the transfer conveyor, the staging conveyor being movable with the staging platform and pivotally connected to the transfer conveyor. 
     According to further embodiments of the present invention, a method for placing a plurality of articles on a plurality of vertically stacked shelves of a rack includes raising or lowering a staging platform to a position adjacent a selected shelf of the rack. The articles are placed on the staging platform while the staging platform is raising or lowering. Thereafter, the articles are moved from the staging platform to the selected shelf. 
     The step of placing the articles on the support platform may include transporting the articles to a position adjacent the staging platform while the staging platform is raising or lowering, and pushing the articles onto the staging platform while the staging platform is raising or lowering. The step of placing the articles on the support platform may include: transporting a first row of the articles to a position adjacent the staging platform while the staging platform is raising or lowering; thereafter, pushing the first row of the articles onto the staging platform while the staging platform is raising or lowering; thereafter, transporting a second row of the articles to a position adjacent the staging platform while the staging platform is raising or lowering; thereafter, pushing the second row of the articles onto the staging platform and adjacent the first row of the articles while the staging platform is raising or lowering to form an array of the articles on the staging platform; and, thereafter, pushing the array of the articles from the staging platform onto the selected shelf of the rack. 
     Objects of the present invention will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the Figures and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments which follow, such description being merely illustrative of the present invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the invention. 
     FIG. 1 is a top, schematic view of a loading apparatus according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side, fragmentary view of a staging assembly of the loading apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a front, fragmentary view of the staging assembly of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a rear, fragmentary view of the staging assembly of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary side view of a conveyor hinge of the loading apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a side, schematic view of the loading apparatus of FIG. 1 wherein a lift thereof is in a fully lowered position; 
     FIG. 7 is a side, schematic view of the loading apparatus of FIG. 1 wherein the lift is in an intermediate level position; 
     FIG. 8 is a side, schematic view of the loading apparatus of FIG. 1 wherein the lift is in a fully raised position; 
     FIGS. 9-16 are partial, schematic, top views of the staging assembly of the loading apparatus of FIG. 1, illustrating the loading of articles thereon; and 
     FIG. 17 is a partial, schematic, top view of the staging assembly of the loading apparatus of FIG. 1 and a shelf of an associated rack, illustrating the transfer of an array of the articles from the staging assembly to the shelf. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
     With reference to FIGS.  1  and  6 - 8 , a loading apparatus according to the present invention is shown therein and designated  100 . As best seen in FIG. 1, the loading apparatus  100  includes a rack conveyor system  120 , a loading conveyor system  130  and a staging assembly  160 . A series of racks (exemplified at  110 A,  110 B,  110 C) are sequentially transported by the conveyor system  120  to a position adjacent the staging assembly  160  (for clarity, the rack  110 B is omitted from FIGS.  6 - 8 ). A series of articles (illustratively shown as bottles  10 ) are sequentially transported to the staging assembly  160  by the loading conveyor system  130 . As shown in FIG. 6, each rack  110 A,  110 B,  110 C includes three spaced apart, vertically stacked shelves  112 ,  114 ,  116 . The staging assembly  160  assembles and configures the articles  10  and then pushes the articles  10  onto the racks  110 A,  110 B,  110 C. More particularly, the staging assembly  160  loads an array of the articles  10  onto each of the shelves  112 ,  114 ,  116 , which are disposed at different vertical levels. A controller  190  synchronizes and controls the operations of the subsystems of the loading apparatus  100 . 
     With reference to FIG. 1, the rack conveyor system  120  includes a floor conveyor  102 . Preferably, the floor conveyor  102  is a non-driven conveyor including opposed side rails and a series of free rollers mounted in the side rails and having their axes extending transversely across the conveyor  102 . Preferably, the side rails extend upwardly above the rollers to prevent the racks from traveling over the side edges of the conveyor  102 . 
     A rack drive  122  is fixed along the conveyor  102 . A suitable drive mechanism such as a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, a step motor or the like is housed in the rack drive  122 . A shuttle  124  is slidably mounted on a guide rail  122 A of the rack drive  122 . The drive mechanism is coupled to the shuttle  124  to selectively drive the shuttle  124  along the rail  122 A in either of a return direction R and an opposed advance direction A, each of which is parallel to the direction of travel of the conveyor. A spring-biased latch  126  attached to the shuttle  124  extends inwardly from the shuttle  124  and is rotatable about a vertical axis. 
     In FIG. 1, the latch  126  is shown in a locked, carrying position. When the shuttle  124  is driven back in the direction R, the latch  126  will strike the leading edge of the rack  110 A and pivot clockwise to allow the shuttle  124  to return to the far left end of the rack drive  122  without significantly moving the rack  110 A. Once the latch  126  clears the rack  110 A, the spring bias will cause the latch  126  to again assume the locked position. The shuttle  124  is driven toward the right end of the rack drive  122 , whereupon the latch  126  engages the trailing edge of the rack  110 A to pull the rack  110 A forward with the shuttle  124 . 
     As the rack  110 A is pulled into position in front of the staging assembly  160 , a guide block  127  positively laterally positions the rack  110 A. The guide block  127  includes a tapered leading edge  127 A to assist in guiding the rack. A proximity sensor  196  confirms that a rack is in position in front of the staging assembly  160  and signals the controller  190  accordingly. The foregoing procedure is executed for each of the racks  110 A,  110 B,  110 C. 
     The conveyor system  130  includes a transfer conveyor  140 . The conveyor  140  receives articles  10  from an existing conveyor  132  or other suitable source. For example, the conveyor  140  may alternatively be loaded by hand. With reference to FIG. 5, the conveyor  140  includes an endless belt  142  mounted on a frame  141  and rollers  143 . The belt  142  is driven by a gear motor  146  (see FIG.  1 ). The conveyor  140  includes a supporting leg  145  having a roller or other suitable pivot  145 A which allows the opposing end of the conveyor  140  to be tilted upwardly and downwardly as shown in FIGS. 6-8 and discussed in more detail below. 
     As best seen in FIGS. 1,  2 ,  4 ,  5  and  9 , the conveyor system  130  also includes a staging conveyor  150 . The staging conveyor  150  includes an endless belt  152  mounted on a frame  151  and rollers  153 . The belt  152  is driven by a gear motor  156  (see FIG.  1 ). The frame  151  is directly or indirectly fixed to a staging platform  182  (described in more detail below). 
     The frame  151  is joined to the frame  141  by a hinge bolt  138  to form a conveyor hinge  134 . The conveyor hinge  134  allows pivotal movement between the conveyors  140 ,  150  about a horizontal axis. A bracket  137  is secured to either of the frames  141 ,  151  and extends upwardly between the belts  142 ,  152 . A flexible, resilient plate  136  is secured to the bracket  137  and overlaps each of the belts  141 ,  151 . The plate  136  is preferably formed of nylon or a similar flexible, low-friction material. The plate  136  facilitates a smooth transition of the articles over the conveyor hinge  134  and from the conveyor  140  to the conveyor  150 . 
     As best seen in FIGS. 1-4 and  7 - 9 , the staging assembly  160  includes a lift  180  having scissored legs  184  and a drive unit  185 . The drive unit  185  is controllable by the controller  190  and may be any suitable drive mechanism, such as a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder (as shown) or a step motor. The staging platform  182  is mounted on the legs  184 . The staging platform  182  can be continuously and selectively vertically raised and lowered by selectively extending and retracting the drive unit  185 . More particularly, the staging platform  182  can be lowered at least as low as about the level of the lower shelf  116  (see FIG. 1) and raised at least as high as about the upper shelf  112 . 
     As best seen in FIGS. 2,  4  and  9 , the staging conveyor  150  is coupled to the staging assembly  160  such that the conveyor  150  raises and lowers with the staging platform  182 . As the staging platform  182  is raised from a lowermost position as shown in FIG. 6 to an uppermost position as shown in FIG. 8, the transfer conveyor  140  pivots about the wheel  145 A and the hinge  134 . In this manner, a smooth and uninterrupted path is provided for transferring the articles  10  between the conveyor  132  and the conveyor  150 . Transport of the articles  10  is limited by a vertically extending side stop wall  178  (see FIGS. 4 and 9) which is fixed with respect to the staging platform  182 . 
     With reference to FIGS. 2-4, a pusher assembly  170  is mounted over the staging platform  182 . The pusher assembly  170  includes a frame  172  including vertical beams  172 B (not shown in FIG. 2 for clarity) extending upwardly from the staging platform  182 . Transverse horizontal beams  172 A (not shown in FIG. 2 for clarity) are supported by the vertical beams  172 B. 
     A drive unit  174  (see also FIG. 1) is suspended between the vertical beams  172 A by means of end brackets  174 C. The drive assembly  174  includes a drive means such as a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, a step motor or the like. The drive unit  174  includes a lengthwise guide rail  175 . A cable  174 A is operatively connected to the drive means, along the guide rail  175 , and about pulleys  174 B such that the cable may be selectively pulled by the drive means in a forward direction F and in an opposite, backward direction B, each of which is parallel to the direction of travel of the conveyor  150  (see FIG.  2 ). 
     A pusher bar  176  is connected to the cable  174 A for travel therewith. More particularly, a shuttle  176 B is slidably mounted on the rail  175 . The shuttle  176 B is secured to each of the cable  174 B and the top of the pusher bar  176 . Alignment of the pusher bar  176  is further maintained by lengthwise extending guide rails  172 C (not shown in FIG. 2 for clarity) secured to the vertical beams  172 B and slidably mounted guide brackets  176 C secured to the top of the pusher bar  176 . The pusher bar  176  has a forwardly facing front wall  176 A. 
     A level sensor  192  is coupled to the staging platform  182  and detects the vertical height of the staging platform  182 . A position sensor  194  detects the presence or absence of an article  10  adjacent the inlet of the conveyor  150 . Suitable sensors for the sensors  192 ,  194 ,  196  will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the description herein. 
     The controller  190  includes a suitable programmable microprocessor or other control device as necessary to effectuate the steps and evaluations as described herein. The controller  190  receives signals from the sensors  192 ,  194 ,  196 . The controller  190  generates control signals to selectively actuate the drive unit  192 , the transfer conveyor gear motor  146 , the staging conveyor gear motor  156 , the drive means of the pusher drive unit  174  and the lift drive unit  184 . Connections for such control may include hydraulic or pneumatic tubing, mechanical cabling, fiber optic cabling, electrical wire, RF transceivers or the like. A position sensor may also be provided to sense the position of the pusher bar  176  so that the controller  190  may halt movement of the pusher bar  176  when it reaches the end of the intended stroke. 
     The loading apparatus  100  may be operated in the following manner to load the articles  10  onto the several shelves  112 ,  114 ,  116  of the racks  110 A,  110 B,  110 C. For the purpose of illustration, the process will be described first with respect to the loading of the lower shelf  116 . It will be apparent from the description that follows that the staging platform  182  may be initially positioned at any level and the order of loading the shelves of the rack may be reversed from the order described hereinbelow. 
     With the rack  110 B initially in the positioned occupied by the rack  110 A as shown in FIG. 1, the drive unit  122  pulls the shuttle  124  to the far left end of the rack drive  122 , causing the latch  126  to engage the rear edge of the rack  110 B. The rack drive  122  then drives the shuttle  124  to the far right of the rack drive  122 , thereby indexing the rack  10 B forward and into the position in front of the staging assembly  160  as shown in FIG.  1 . Close proximity between the staging assembly  160  and the rack  110 B is ensured by the guide block  127 . 
     The conveyor  132  periodically, intermittently or continuously supplies articles  10  to the transfer conveyor  140 . The transfer conveyor  140  transports the articles to the staging conveyor  150 . Preferably, the controller  190  selectively actuates the gear motor  146  such that the conveyor  140  only selectively advances the articles  10  to the conveyor  150  as needed to load the conveyor  150  as described hereinafter. However, it is also contemplated that the conveyor  140  may continuously supply the articles  10  to the conveyor  150 . Preferably, the staging conveyor  150  is continuously driven by the gear motor  156 . However, it is also contemplated that the conveyor  150  may be selectively driven, preferably under the control of the controller  190 . 
     Initially, the conveyor belt  152  and the staging platform  182  are empty (i.e., there are no articles  10  disposed thereon) and the pusher bar  176  is disposed in a retracted position as shown in FIG.  9 . Articles  10 A,  10 B,  10 C and  10 D are supplied seriatim to the running conveyor belt  152 . The conveyor belt  152  continues to run so that the article  10 D is stopped by the stop wall  178  and the articles  10 A,  10 B,  10 C stack up against one another as shown in FIG.  10 . The conveyor belt  152  may continue to run, sliding beneath the articles  10 A,  10 B,  10 C,  10 D (hereinafter articles  10 A- 10 D). Once all four of the articles  10 A- 10 D are disposed on the conveyor belt  152 , the sensor  194  (FIG. 1) detects the presence of the fourth article in the leftmost location to confirm that all four articles are in place. Thereafter, the controller  190  actuates the drive unit  174  to pull the pusher bar  176  forward in the direction F as shown in FIG.  11 . The pusher bar  176  thereby assembles the articles  10 A- 10 D in a first row on the staging platform  182  adjacent the rear edge  182 A of the staging platform  182 . The controller  190  then actuates the drive unit  174  to pull the pusher bar  176  back in the direction B (see FIG. 12) to return the pusher bar  176  to the retracted position. 
     Thereafter, the transfer conveyor  140  again supplies the staging conveyor  150  with four articles  10 E,  10 F,  10 G,  10 H (hereinafter  10 E- 10 H) which assemble in the same manner as the articles  10 A- 10 D previously and as shown in FIG.  12 . The sensor  172  again detects the presence of the fourth article  10 E and the controller  190  responsively actuates the pusher bar  176  forward in the direction F to the position as shown in FIG.  13 . In this manner, the pusher bar  176  advances the row of articles  10 E- 10 H and the row of articles  10 A- 10 D. The controller  190  again actuates the drive unit  174  to withdraw the pusher bar  176  to the retracted position. 
     Thereafter, the transfer conveyor  140  again supplies the staging conveyor  150  with four articles  101 ,  10 J,  10 K,  10 L (hereinafter  10 I- 10 L) which assemble in the same manner as the articles  10 A- 10 D previously and as shown in FIG.  14 . The sensor  192  again detects the presence of the fourth article  101  and the controller  190  actuates the drive unit  174  to pull the pusher bar  176  forward in the direction F to the position as shown in FIG.  15 . In this manner, the pusher bar  176  advances the row of articles  10 A- 10 D, the row of articles  10 E- 10 H, and the row of articles  10 I- 10 L, thereby forming a four by three array of the articles  10  on the staging platform  182 . The controller  190  again actuates the drive unit  174  to pull the pusher bar  176  back into the retracted position. 
     Thereafter, the transfer conveyor  140  again supplies the staging conveyor  150  with four articles  10 M,  10 N,  10 O,  10 P (hereinafter  10 M- 10 P). At this time, a full four by four array  11  of the articles  10  is disposed on the conveyor belt  152  and the staging platform  182  as shown in FIG.  16 . The controller actuates the drive unit  174  to pull the pusher bar  176  forward a full forward stroke such that the pusher bar front surface  176 A is positioned adjacent the front edge  182 B of the staging platform  182 . In this manner, the pusher bar  176  sweeps the full array  11  of articles onto the shelf  116 . Preferably, this actuation of the drive unit  174  requires the satisfaction of two conditions as assessed by the controller  190 . First, the sensor  192  must detect that the staging platform  182  is disposed at a prescribed level corresponding to the level of the shelf  116 . Second, the full array  11  of articles  10  must be present on the staging platform  182  and the conveyor belt  152 . 
     Preferably, the controller  190  determines that the full array is present by use of a counter which counts the number of executed strokes of the drive unit  174 . Alternatively, suitable photoelectric eye sensors, mechanical proximity sensors or the like may be used to detect the presence or absence of articles  10  at at least selected positions on the staging platform  182 . 
     Some, and preferably all, of the foregoing steps of loading the articles  10  on the staging platform  182  and the conveyor belt  152  are executed while the drive unit  184  is lowering the staging platform  182  into the lower shelf loading position of FIG.  6 . That is, under the control of the controller  190 , as the staging platform  182  is continuously lowering, the transfer conveyor  140  feeds the staging conveyor  150  and the drive unit  174  is actuated to load the staging platform  182  in the manner described above. Movement of the lift  180  is preferably temporarily halted during the full stroke push of the pusher bar  176 . 
     After the shelf  116  is loaded in the aforedescribed manner, the drive unit  184  raises the staging platform  182  to the level of the shelf  114  as shown in FIG.  7 . As the staging platform  182  travels vertically between the levels of the shelves  116  and  114 , the transfer conveyor  140 , the staging conveyor  150  and the pusher assembly  170  cooperate to form a second array  11  of articles on the staging platform  182  and the conveyor belt  152 . Once the staging platform  182  reaches the level of the shelf  114 , the controller  190  again actuates the drive unit  174  to push the full array  11  onto the shelf  114 . 
     Thereafter, the drive unit  184  raises the staging platform  182  to the level of the shelf  112  as shown in FIG.  8 . Again, the articles  10  are staged on the staging platform  182  and the conveyor belt  152  as the staging platform  182  is being raised. The array  11  is pushed onto the shelf  112  after the staging platform  182  reaches the level of the shelf  112 . 
     Notably, the array  11  of articles may be fully staged (as shown in FIG. 16) prior to the staging platform reaching the level of the associated shelf. Alternatively, the staging platform  182  may be raised to the level of the associated shelf, and halted while the staging assembly  160  continues to stage the full array  11  of articles  10 . 
     While the foregoing loading apparatus  100  has been described with reference to the loading of racks  110 A,  110 B,  110 C with articles  10  such as bottles, loading apparatus according to the present invention may be used to otherwise load or stack articles. For example, the loading apparatus may be used to vertically stack articles such as boxes, crates and the like vertically and directly on top of one another. As each layer of articles is pushed from the staging platform  182  onto the previous layer (or, for the first layer, the ground, pallet or the like), the staging platform  182  must be raised to a higher level at or above the upper surface of the new layer. The articles may be staged on the staging platform  182  while the lift  184  raises the staging platform  182  to this next level. 
     The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although a few exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. Therefore, it is to be understood that the foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications to the disclosed embodiments, as well as other embodiments, are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.