Patent ID: 12187476

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIGS.1,2and3show a packing machine100for packing articles A supplied on an article conveyor120into packing boxes B. The articles A can be any type of objects or products that can be packed into packing boxes B. The articles have a length L, a width W and a thickness T, as is shown inFIG.6. The thickness T is defined as the smallest one of the length, width and thickness dimensions. Usually, in operation, the products are conveyed in a horizontal orientation in an article conveying direction on the article conveyor. The article conveying direction is right to left inFIG.1. The horizontal orientation means that the thickness direction of the articles is transverse to a conveyor supporting surface121of the article conveyor120on which the articles A are supported and conveyed. The conveyor supporting surface121defines an article conveying surface AS over which the articles are conveyed by the article conveyor120. Each article A has an associated article plane AP defined to be parallel to the article conveying surface AS when the article is on the article conveyor120. The article plane AP, which is an imaginary plane, is tied to its associated article and defined to be parallel to the article conveying surface AS when the article is on the article conveyor, while the article plane remains in that manner tied to the article, not to the article conveying surface AS, when handled further in the machine. When the article A is handled further in the machine, for instance, to become rotated into an orientation transverse to an orientation as conveyed on the article conveyor120, the associated article plane AP will rotate accordingly and also become oriented transverse to the article conveying surface AS. In a horizontal orientation of the articles A conveyed on the article conveyor, the length L and width W dimensions of each article A are parallel to the associated article plane AP and the thickness T dimension is perpendicular to the associated article plane AP. The article conveyor120shown in the embodiment ofFIGS.1,2and3is of the endless belt type, but any other suitable article conveyor can be employed as well.

A parallel orientation of an article is defined as an orientation of the article in which the associated article plane AP is parallel to the supporting surface of the article. A transverse orientation of an article is defined as an orientation of the article in which the associated article plane AP is transverse to the supporting surface of the article. The articles A may be packed in a parallel orientation in the packing boxes B, in which the article plane AP is parallel to the bottom of the packing box on which the articles are supported, as shown inFIG.10A. This corresponds to a horizontal orientation of the articles in the embodiment shown, in which the length L and width W dimensions are directed parallel to the bottom of the packing boxes and the thickness T dimension transverse to the bottom. Articles may also be packed in a transverse orientation in the packing boxes, in which the article plane AP is transverse to the bottom of the packing boxes on which the articles are supported, as shown inFIG.11A. In the embodiment shown, this corresponds to a vertical orientation of the articles in the packing boxes, in which the thickness T dimension of the article is directed along the bottom of the packing box and one of the length L and width W dimension of the article is directed transverse to the bottom of the packing box. The packing machine100ofFIGS.1,2and3allows for packing articles in both the parallel and transverse orientations, and thus in both the horizontal and vertical orientations for the embodiment shown, into the packing boxes B.

The packing boxes B are supplied on a packing box conveyor110. The packing box conveyor110and the article conveyor120are provided next to one another so that they are arranged adjacent and alongside one another as the figures show. In operation, the packing boxes are conveyed on the packing box conveyor110with their bottoms supported on the packing box conveyor and with their top sides in an open configuration and directed upward. The packing box conveyor110in the embodiment shown conveys the packing boxes B in counter-flow, from left to right inFIG.1, to the conveying direction of the articles A on the article conveyor120, but a conveying direction of the packing boxes in co-flow with the conveying direction of the articles is possible as well.

The embodiment of the packing machine shown inFIGS.1,2and3has a pick-and-place arrangement of two pick-and-place delta robots130that each have an end-effector131for picking up articles A from the article conveyor120and for providing the articles into the packing boxes B. Other embodiments may have one pick-and-place robot or more than two robots130, which will be dependent on a number of factors such as the capacity of the individual robots, the number of products that a packing box can take, and the required packing capacity of the packing machine. The article conveyor is arranged adjacent and alongside the packing box conveyor in at least a pick-and-place section of the packing apparatus100where the pick-and-place arrangement is provided. The delta robots130pick up the articles A, especially individual articles, from the article conveyor120such that the article planes AP remain parallel to the article conveying surface AS, and place the articles into the packing box in the parallel orientation on the bottom of the packing box. While handled by the delta robot, the article remains in an orientation having its associated article plane AP parallel to the article conveying surface AS of the article conveyor, while the article can be rotated by the end-effector of the delta robot around an axis perpendicular to the article plane for a preferred positioning into the packing box. Since the articles will generally be conveyed in a horizontal orientation on the article conveyor120, the articles will then be placed in horizontal orientation into the packing box as well. The robot may rotate individual articles around a vertical axis for optimal placing in the packing box, but this will maintain a parallel orientation and not change the orientation of the article from a horizontal to a vertical orientation. The pack-and-place arrangement and its robots130are in the pick-and-place section arranged along the article conveyor120and the packing box conveyor to allow picking articles from the article conveyor and place those articles into packing boxes on the packing box conveyor.

A transverse packing arrangement140is provided at the discharging end of the article conveyor120, in line with the article conveying direction. The transverse packing arrangement allows for packing articles A into the packing boxes B in the transverse orientation. Articles supplied in horizontal orientation on the article conveyor are provided in vertical orientation into the packing boxes by the transverse packing arrangement. The transverse packing arrangement140is provided in line with the article conveyor120, which means that articles A are handled by the transverse packing arrangement in a same flow direction as articles are being conveyed on the article conveyor and that the transverse packing arrangement is provided aligned with the article conveyor and the article conveying direction.

In the embodiment shown, the articles are first provided from the article conveyor120onto a transfer conveyor170of the transverse packing arrangement140. The transfer conveyor170is arranged at a discharging end of the article conveyor and receives articles from the article conveyor120, and subsequently transfers the articles from the transfer conveyor into a cassette150. The transfer conveyor is arranged in line with the article conveyor so that a conveying direction of articles on the transfer conveyor is the same as a conveying direction of articles on the article conveyor. In a collection position of the cassette, as is shown inFIGS.1,2and5A, the cassette150presents an open side thereof sideward in the direction of the article conveyor120and the transfer conveyor170for collecting articles in the cassette. The cassette is mounted on a beam155that can be moved in the vertical direction by a linear drive156. The linear drive156is mounted on another linear drive157for moving the beam155in a horizontal direction along the article conveying direction of articles on the article conveyor120. Therefore, the cassette150can be translated in a vertical direction and in a horizontal direction along the conveying direction of articles A on the article conveyor. Additionally, the cassette can be rotated by a rotation drive (not shown) mounted on the beam around an axis that is perpendicular to both translation directions. This allows to position the cassette150in the collection position with its open side at the discharge end of the transfer conveyer170and with the open end toward the transfer conveyor to collect articles discharged from the transfer conveyor, which is achieved by driving the transfer conveyor to forward the articles towards the cassette150, as is depicted inFIG.5A.

Articles A are collected in a stacked relationship of the articles in the parallel orientation in the cassette150onto a supporting cassette side as a support surface for the articles. The supporting cassette side is the lower horizontal side of the cassette as shown inFIGS.1,2and5A. The articles maintain their parallel orientation when provided from the article conveyor120via the transfer conveyor170into the cassette. When the articles are conveyed in horizontal orientation on the transfer conveyor, the articles will be provided in horizontal orientation in the cassette on the supporting cassette side. The transverse packing arrangement140moves the cassette downward while articles A are collected into the cassette to provide the articles stacked onto one another in the cassette on the supporting cassette side. The embodiment inFIGS.1,2,3,5A and5Bactually shows a double cassette150having two compartments which allows collecting articles to be provided subsequently in two packing boxes. Alternatively, the double cassette could have been embodied as two fully separate cassettes, or as a single one-compartment cassette providing articles subsequently into two packing boxes at the same time.

In the embodiment shown, the transfer conveyor comprises a pre-grouping section172adjacent, at a discharging end of the article conveyor, and in line with the article conveyor120, and a transfer section171adjacent, at a discharging end, and in line with the pre-grouping section172. The pre-grouping section comprises an endless conveyor belt having a conveying surface that is at a lower level than the conveying surface AS of the article conveyor120. This allows to provide articles in an overlapping relationship, as is shown in more detail inFIG.7, by appropriately driving the conveyor belt of the pre-grouping section172when an article is provided from the discharging end of the article conveyor120to the pre-grouping section172. One or more of the robots130are used to reposition articles A, that are to be processed by the transverse packing arrangement for transverse packing, on the article conveyor120. The one or more robots reposition, which includes reorienting, the articles on the article conveyor to be appropriately positioned on the article conveyor and with respect to one another, and in a desired length wise or width wise orientation. The robots may, for instance position the articles in lines along the conveying direction. As a result, sets S of pre-grouped articles are formed on the conveyor belt of the pre-grouping section when articles are provided from the article conveyor to the pre-grouping section. It is shown in the figures that two sets S of pre-grouped articles are formed in the pre-grouping section172. Alternatively or additionally, a robot130may directly position articles A from the article conveyor120onto the conveyor belt of the pre-grouping section to form one or more sets S of pre-grouped articles A. Each set S is shown to consist of a row of overlapping articles A. Each subsequent article in a row partly overlaps a preceding article in the row, and the first article in each row is at an end of the row associated with the discharging end of the transfer conveyor170where the articles are provided into the cassette.

An article conveyor segment120aof the article conveyor120is arranged in the pick-and-place section having the robots130of the pick-and-place arrangement. An optical detection station125for detecting position and orientation of each article A on the article conveyor is positioned at the charging end of the segment120a. Each robot130of the pick-and-place arrangement picks an article A from the article conveyor segment120aof the article conveyor120and places the picked article in parallel orientation into a packing box B on the packing box conveyor110or repositions the article on the article conveyor. Regularly, the repositioning is done to provide each repositioned article on a desired position and in a desired orientation on the article conveyor to allow making sets of pregrouped articles on the transfer conveyor170. This may involve making one or multiple rows of repositioned articles on the article conveyor. At this moment the articles will have random gaps in between the articles in the row on the article conveyor. The articles mainly should be repositioned to be at a desired position as seen in a width direction of the article conveyor and to have a desired orientation. Additionally, an extra row of articles on the article conveyor may be formed of rejected articles, which rejected articles are allowed to drop into a rejection bin from the discharging end of the article conveyor. Making all these rows may require an article conveyor segment120athat has a larger width than the width of segments of the article conveyor upstream of the segment120a.

FIG.9Ashows a top view of the two sets S of articles, of which each set consists of one row, for providing into the two cassettes that are arranged next to one another in the double cassette as is shown inFIGS.1,2and5A. Alternatively, the two rows of articles could be considered as one single set S for providing into a single cassette and subsequently in a single packing box. The robots130reposition a duo of two articles next to one another on the article conveyor120at appropriate positions in a width direction of the article conveyor from, for instance, initially randomly positioned articles and or articles only provided in a single line in the stream of articles. Subsequently, the duo of articles is provided in an overlapping relationship onto a previous duo of articles of the sets which are already present on the pre-grouping conveyor172when the duo of articles is provided from the article conveyor onto the pre-grouping conveyor.FIG.9Bshows a3-2-3-2-3arrangement of articles in a set S for an alternative embodiment to obtain a transverse vertical filling of a packing box as shown inFIGS.11A and11B. The robots130reposition articles on the article conveyor120to alternatingly provide duos and triples of articles behind one another on the article conveyor, which are subsequently provided onto the pre-grouping conveyor in an overlapping relationship with a previous triple or duo, respectively, to provide the configuration as shown inFIG.9B. The packing machine allows to provide articles in various arrangements in packing boxes.

After one or more sets S of pre-grouped articles have been formed in the pre-grouping section172, the sets S are provided to the transfer section171.FIGS.1,2,5A and5Bshow that the transfer section171comprises an endless conveyor belt as well. When having provided the one or more sets S to the transfer section, the conveyor belt of the transfer section is accelerated to be driven at a velocity providing sufficient speed to each article A discharged from the conveyor belt of the transfer section to be launched for bridging the gap between the transfer conveyor170and the cassette150.FIGS.1,2and5Ashow that two compartments of the double cassette150are filled with articles at the same time.

In an alternative embodiment shown inFIG.8, the transfer conveyor171comprises two or more stretches of conveyor belt that are driven along a common endless track. Each stretch of conveyor belt is driven by a separate drive to allow driving the stretches of conveyer belt independent from one another. Articles A are initially pre-grouped on a stretch of conveyor belt in the pre-grouping section172as is described above. Subsequently, said stretch of conveyor belt is moved to the transfer section171for subsequent transfer of articles A into the cassette150by driving said stretch of conveyor belt in the transfer section at the required velocity as described above. A stretch of conveyor belt can be configured as a continuous stretch of material with, for instance, upright holding strips as shown. Alternatively, a stretch of conveyor belt can be configured by individual lamellae that are coupled to one another or each coupled to their common drive. The skilled person may further envisage equivalent embodiments of a stretch of conveyor belt.

After articles A have been provided and collected in the cassette150in its collection position, as depicted inFIG.5A, or in multiple cassettes, a moveable side wall of the cassette is moved inwards to hold the articles in the cassette. The movable side wall is opposite the supporting cassette side of the cassette in the embodiment shown. Other arrangements for holding articles in the cassette can be employed as well. The cassette150is moved and rotated to above a packing box B, in its transfer position, with the open side of the cassette facing downward, as is shown inFIG.5B. The packing box B has its top side open. By releasing the movable side wall of the cassette the articles drop out of the cassette into the packing box in a transverse orientation of the articles in the packing box. When the articles have been conveyed in the horizontal orientation on the article conveyor, the articles will be provided in a vertical orientation in the packing box by the transfer arrangement140. In an alternative embodiment of the cassette, the cassette has the open side and an openable opposite side. In the transfer position of such alternative embodiment, the open side is rotated upward and the articles are released into a packing box below by opening the openable side, for instance, by employing bomb doors, flaps, retracting plates or any other suitable opening arrangement. The alternative embodiment does not require a holding force to be exerted on the article in the cassette, and allows for providing the articles in an opposite transverse orientation in the packing box. In both embodiments the collected articles are released from the cassette to drop into the packing box.

The packing box conveyor110is arranged adjacent and alongside the transverse packing arrangement to provide empty packing boxes to the transverse packing arrangement140as well. In the embodiment shown, empty packing boxes with their top sides open are provided from a packing box conveyor segment110aof the packing box conveyor110onto a packing box platform160, especially to an idle location162aof the packing box platform, which can be achieved by pushing the packing boxes from the packing box conveyor onto the packing box platform. The packing box platform comprises a conveyor that subsequently advances empty packing boxes to a filling location161of the packing box platform for filling of the packing box with articles by the cassette150. After filling, filled packing boxes are provided to a second idle location162band subsequently back again from the second idle location162bto the packing box conveyor segment110aof the packing box conveyor to convey the filled packing boxes from the transverse packing arrangement. Providing empty packing boxes first from the packing box conveyor to the idle location162aon the packing box platform160, and subsequently from the idle location162ato the filling location161allows for a quick positioning of an empty packing box at the filling location and therefor for a fast packing box filling process by the transverse packing arrangement. In an alternative embodiment, filled packing boxes are provided directly from the filling location161back to the packing box conveyor. Both embodiments provide discharging a filled packing box from the filling location and providing an empty packing box to the filling location along different respective paths.

The packing box conveyor110in the embodiment shown is provided with separate segments that can be operated independently from one another. A segment110ais provided next to the packing box platform160and allows providing packing boxes to the packing box platform and to a further segment of the packing box conveyor downstream of segment110a. The further segment of the packing box conveyor110is provided next to the transfer conveyor170and alongside the article conveyor120. The embodiment ofFIGS.1to3shows yet further conveyor parts providing packing boxes to the segment next to the packing box platform, and receiving packing boxes from the segment alongside the article conveyor.

In yet another alternative embodiment, which is not shown in the drawings, the packing box conveyor segment110aand the packing box platform160are configured to have a series of joint rollers that support the packing boxes, and are so embodied as a joint unit. Each roller extends in a direction transverse to the conveying direction of the packing boxes on the packing box conveyor and spans the widths of both the packing box conveyor segment110aand the packing box platform160. Some or all of the rollers are driven for advancing the packing boxes in the packing box conveying direction. A set of fingers can be pushed upward between the rollers and moved along the rollers to push a packing box over the rollers from the packing box conveyor segment part of the rollers to the packing box platform part of the rollers, or vice versa. Stops can be pushed upward between rollers to halt advancing a packing box in its conveying direction while rollers are being driven. An empty packing box is first halted by a stop in between rollers on the packing box conveyor segment part of the rollers, after which fingers pushed upwards at the appropriate side of the packing box push against the packing box to move it sideways over and along its supporting rollers to an idle location of the packing box platform part of the rollers. At this location the packing box is halted by another stop between the rollers, which is retracted downward when the empty packing box is to be advanced to the filling position for filling the packing box with articles by the cassette, where it is halted by another stop. Subsequently, a next set of fingers pushed upward between rollers at the appropriate side of the filled packing box will move the filled packing box over its supporting rollers from the filling location of the packing box platform part of the rollers to the packing box conveyor segment part of the rollers, after which the filled packing box will be conveyed further along the packing box conveyor110.

The packing machine100allows parallel and transverse packing of articles A, especially horizontal and vertical packing of articles, in packing boxes B. The articles A are supplied on a single article conveyor120and the packing boxes B are supplied on a single packing box conveyor110. The packing box conveyor provides empty packing boxes to both the transverse packing arrangement140and the pick-and-place section with the pick-and-place robots130, and discharges filled packing boxes from both the transverse packing arrangement and the pick-and-place section. Between the transverse packing arrangement and the pick-and-place section the packing box conveyor will convey both filled and empty packing boxes when both the transverse packing arrangement and the pick-and-place arrangement are employed for filling articles in transverse and parallel orientations, respectively, into the packing boxes. The packing machine is shown as having a linear configuration in which the packing box conveyor110is linearly arranged with the article conveyor120and the transverse packing arrangement140both in a linear configuration alongside. A linear configuration refers to the extension direction and the packing box and article conveying directions.FIGS.10A and10Bshow an example of articles that are packed in a parallel, especially horizontal, configuration in a packing box with a different filling of consecutive layers.FIGS.11A and11Bshow an example of articles that are packed in a transverse, especially vertical, configuration in a packing box with a different filling of consecutive rows. The packing machine allows for a very large variation of arrangements for packing article in packing boxes in both transverse and parallel orientations.