Patent Application
20250108946
The present invention relates to the field of loading articles into a carton.
Manual order-picking operations are usually carried out by picking and collating items into boxes on carts, which are then packed into cartons.
These manual picking and packing operations require double handling of the items.
Numerous cases with removable bottoms have been developed, such as those described in documents EP0610489, EP2889025, EP0720949 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,421, but they do not allow the case to be inserted into the carton to deposit the articles securely at the bottom of the carton.
The present invention provides a box for transferring articles into a carton, enabling the articles to be deposited at the bottom of the carton advantageously in their initial storage or packaging position, without suffering a drop to the bottom of the carton.
The box for transferring articles into a carton according to the invention comprises a bottom wall slidable between a deployed position closing the bottom of the transfer box and a withdrawn position, a means for driving the bottom wall, two opposite side walls, the bottom wall being slidable along one of the side walls by actuation of the driving means for passage from the deployed position to the withdrawn position.
According to one feature, a side wall comprises a reservation space delimited by an inner plate and an outer plate.
According to a complementary feature, the drive means comprises a withdrawal means and a return means each secured to a longitudinal end of the bottom wall.
According to embodiments, the drive means comprises a connecting means attached to a longitudinal end of the bottom wall.
According to a further feature, the transfer case comprises means for actuating the drive means.
The bottom wall is flexible or articulated.
According to embodiments, the transfer box comprises a front wall and/or a rear wall adjacent to a side wall, able to adopt a closed position and an open position for side loading of articles.
In one embodiment, the drive means is a rotary drive means or a linear drive means for the bottom wall.
In one embodiment, the drive means comprises a drive roller connected to a connecting means secured to a longitudinal end of the bottom wall.
In a further embodiment, the drive means comprises a connecting means connecting each of the longitudinal ends of the bottom wall, a bar connecting the upper ends of the side walls and a slider slidably mounted on the bar, the slider being attached to the connecting means.
The implementation of the invention will be better understood with the aid of the detailed description which is set out below in relation to the appended drawings in which:
A transfer case (1) is a rigid container in the form of a straight block, open at the top, consisting of a bottom wall (2) and four peripheral walls (3, 4, 5, 6), called right side wall (3), left side wall (4), front wall (5) and rear wall (6) respectively, according to the representations on the figures, but it could be other-wise, the transfer case (1) is a prism in the form of a polyhedron whose bottom wall (2) has a surface area smaller than that of the face delimited by the upper ends of the peripheral walls (3, 4, 5, 6).
The right-hand side wall (3) and the left-hand side wall (4) are referred to as side walls (3, 4). Right, left, front and rear qualifications are indicated in reference to the figures as a whole, to facilitate reading the description and naming the walls (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) in relation to each other.
It is understood that the front wall (5) and rear wall (6) are adjacent to the right side wall (3), and that the left side wall (4) is located opposite the right side wall (3).
The inner surfaces of the peripheral walls (3, 4, 5, 6) delimit the space available for loading articles into the transfer case (1).
An extended position of the bottom wall (2) encloses the transfer box (1) and is suitable for loading articles, while a retracted position of the bottom wall (2) frees the bottom of the transfer box (1) for depositing articles at the bottom of a carton, as explained in more detail later in the description.
Let's consider that the bottom wall (2) comprises a first and a second longitudinal end, as explained in greater detail later in the description, directed in the deployed position towards the right-hand side wall (3) and towards the left-hand side wall (4) respectively.
A longitudinal end of the bottom wall (2) is understood to mean an end facing a side wall (3, 4), and a lateral end of the bottom wall (2) is understood to mean an end facing either the front wall (5) or the rear wall (6).
The purpose of the invention is to deposit a set of articles simultaneously, without dropping, advantageously in their initial storage or packaging position during order picking, at the bottom of a carton.
Another complementary aim of the invention is to optimize the space occupied by articles in a carton, in order to reduce the amount of cushioning used to cushion the articles in the carton.
To achieve this, the size of the carton used should ideally correspond to the overall volume of the order, and the external dimensions of the transfer box (1) should ideally correspond to the internal space of the selected carton.
With a view to optimizing order picking and carton packing operations, different models of transfer boxes (1) according to the invention may be available for order picking. The various transfer boxes (1) can be sized to suit standardized carton sizes.
The transfer case (1) can be independent and maneuverable or integrated into a special machine, as described in greater detail later in the description.
The transfer box (1) is thus suitable for loading articles, inserting into a carton, unloading the articles at the bottom of the carton, removing from the carton, placing dunnage, closing and sealing the carton.
As introduced previously, the external dimensioning of the transfer box (1) must advantageously correspond to the internal dimensioning of the carton, so that the articles unloaded into the carton, after removal of the transfer box (1), advantageously have a minimum of free space with the walls of the carton.
To this end, the transfer box (1) according to the invention comprises a bottom wall (2) designed to adopt two positions, namely a deployed position, closing the bottom of the transfer box (1), and a retracted position, allowing the transfer box (1) to be opened from the bottom, so as to allow the release of articles at the bottom of the carton.
As the bottom wall (2) is intended to be withdrawn from the space delimited by the lower ends of the peripheral walls (3, 4, 5, 6), when the transfer box (1) is located at the bottom of a carton, the footprint of the bottom wall (2) in its withdrawn position must be kept to a minimum, so that the articles deposited can occupy the greater part of the interior space of the carton.
With a view to automating the operation of removing the bottom wall (2), the transfer case (1) comprises drive means (10, 11), namely a removal means (10) and a return means (11), for the bottom wall (2).
The transfer case (1) thus comprises means (10) for retracting the bottom wall (2) from an extended position to a retracted position, and means (11) for returning the bottom wall (2) from a folded position to an extended position.
The removal means (10) and the return means (11) may be separate means or a single means (10, 11) for driving the bottom wall (2), as explained in greater detail later in the description.
According to one feature, the side walls (3, 4) each comprise a reservation space (7).
In the retracted position, the bottom wall (2) is housed in the reservation space (7) of a side wall (3, 4), for example the right-hand side wall (3), completely freeing the space delimited by the lower ends of the peripheral walls (3, 4, 5, 6).
The reservation space (7) in the left side wall (4) is intended to accommodate the drive means (10, 11) or part of the drive means (10, 11), preferably the return means (11) or part of the return means (11), as explained in more detail later in the description.
For the sake of clarity, and as illustrated, the bottom wall (2) will be considered to withdraw into the reservation space (7) of the right side wall (3).
According to the embodiments shown in
In other words, the side walls (3, 4) are hollow walls consisting of two parallel plates (8) delimiting a reservation space (7).
More precisely, the side walls (3, 4) also comprise two transverse plates (9), bordering in width the reservation space (7), the two transverse plates (9) are arranged perpendicular to the inner plate (81) and the outer plate (82).
According to non-illustrated embodiments, the side walls (3, 4) comprise a single plate (8), more precisely an inner plate (81), participating in delimiting the inner space of the transfer case (1), the reservation space (7) being adjacent to the plate (8), more precisely the reservation space (7) is located opposite the inner space of the transfer case (1) with respect to the inner plate (81).
According to the preceding embodiments, the side walls (3, 4) comprise two transverse plates (9), bordering in width the reservation space (7), the two transverse plates (9) are arranged perpendicular to the inner plate (81).
From the extended position to the retracted position, the bottom wall (2) slides along the lower ends of the front wall (5) and rear wall (6) and engages the lower end of the right-hand side wall (3), sliding into the reservation space (7) of the right-hand side wall (3).
The bottom wall (2) is either flexible, i.e. soft, or hinged, so that it can be fitted to the lower end of the right-hand side wall (3) and slide into the cavity (7).
According to another feature, the back wall (2) is a reinforced fabric or an assembly of hinged slats, such as a roller shutter.
The bottom wall (2) must be sufficiently rigid to support the weight of the articles and sufficiently flexible or articulated to allow passage through the corner, for example the right-hand corner, materialized by the lower end of the right-hand side wall (3).
According to the embodiments illustrated in
In other, non-illustrated, embodiments, the withdrawal means (10) and the return means (11) are each located in a reservation space (7) bordered by the inner plate (81) of their respective side wall (3, 4).
According to other modes of execution, not illustrated, the removal means (10) and the removal means (11) are each located in line with a reservation space (7), i.e. located in the extension of the upper end of the side wall (3, 4) with which it is associated.
According to an embodiment illustrated in
According to a complementary feature, the first longitudinal end of the bottom wall (2) is advantageously connected to the removal means (10) via a connecting means (14).
According to the above feature, the second longitudinal end of the bottom wall (2) is connected to the return means (11) via a connecting means (14).
As shown in
In one embodiment, the connecting means (14) is thinner than the bottom wall (2).
In the previous embodiment, the connecting means (14) comprises at least one band or cable.
The withdrawal means (10) and the return means (11) can be rotational drive means (10, 11) or linear drive means (10, 11) of the bottom wall (2).
The drive means (10, 11) can be manually or motor-driven.
In a first alternative, the removal means (10) and the return means (11) are rotary drive means (10, 11).
As illustrated in
A drive roller (15) is located at the upper end of the reservation space (7), more precisely opposite or substantially opposite the upper ends of the inner plate (81) and outer plate (82) of a side wall (3, 4).
A drive roller (15) is arranged parallel to the upper end of a side wall (3, 4).
More specifically, a drive roller (15) is attached to the two transverse plates (9), partitioning the width of a side wall (3, 4).
Rotation of a drive roller (15) winds up the connecting means (14) and retracts or extends the bottom wall (2).
The drive means (10, 11) advantageously comprise a guide roller (17) of the bottom wall (2) or of a connecting means (14) of the return means (11), located at the lower end of the reservation space (7), but it could be otherwise the lower end of the side walls (3, 4) comprise a sliding coating having a low coefficient of friction.
A guide roller (17) or sliding cover facilitates the drive of the bottom wall (2) or of the connecting means (14) of the return means (11) in the direction of the reservation space (7), or more precisely facilitates the corner engagement at the lower end of a side wall (3, 4).
A guide roller (17) is arranged parallel to the lower end of a side wall (3, 4).
More specifically, a guide roller (17) is attached to the two transverse plates (9), thickly partitioning a side wall (3, 4).
According to a complementary feature, the drive means (10, 11), namely the withdrawal means (10) and the return means (11), comprise an actuation means.
According to the above feature, the drive roller (15) actuation means can be any mechanical means enabling rotation of the drive roller (15), for example a wheel, such as a toothed wheel (16), or a pinion, flat wheel, bevel wheel or magnet.
According to the embodiment illustrated in
In a second alternative, the removal means (10) is a linear drive means for the bottom wall (2).
As shown in
According to the previous embodiment, the drive means (10, 11) comprises a slider (19), as the actuating means, slidably mounted on two parallel bars (18) fixed to the upper ends of the side walls (3, 4).
The bars (18) extend opposite the upper ends of the front wall (5) and rear wall (6), while not impeding their possible mobility, as explained in greater detail later in the description.
As shown in
According to the previous embodiment, as illustrated in
The connecting means (14) and the bottom wall (2) form a closed loop.
As shown in
Facing the upper ends of the front wall (5) and rear wall (6), the connecting strips (14) are housed in guides, not shown.
The slider (19) is attached to the two strips forming the connecting means (14). Sliding the slider (19) along the bars (18) causes the connecting means (14) to slide, resulting in the bottom wall (2) sliding from an extended position to a retracted position and vice versa, depending on the direction in which the slider (19) is manipulated.
Thus, the drive means (10, 11) of the embodiment shown in
The embodiments shown in
In the embodiment shown in
More precisely, according to the previous embodiment, the first longitudinal end of the bottom wall (2) is directly connected to a first blade (20) slidably mounted in the reservation space (7) of the right-hand side wall (3), and the second longitudinal end of the bottom wall (2) is connected to a linking means (14) connected to a second blade (20) slidably mounted in the reservation space (7) of the left-hand side wall (4). In a deployed position, closing off the lower ends of the peripheral walls (3, 4, 5, 6), pulling the first blade (20) causes the bottom wall to retract into the corresponding reservation space (7), while pulling the second blade (X) causes the bottom wall partitioning off the bottom of the transfer case (1) to return.
The blades (20) as removal means (10) and return means (11), are subject to actuation means, not shown, located in the special machine to which the transfer case (1) is integrated.
In a further embodiment shown in
As shown in
According to the previous embodiment, the special machine comprises two actuating means represented by blades (20), namely a first blade (20) and a second blade (20) each located in a reservation space (7). In a deployed position, as illustrated in
To facilitate sliding of the bottom wall (2), the transfer case (1) comprises guide means (12) for the bottom wall (2), more specifically guide means (12) for the lateral ends of the bottom wall (2).
The guide means (12) are parallel and connect the oppositely arranged bottom corners of the right-hand side wall (3) and the left-hand side wall (4).
As illustrated, a guide means (12) is a rail connecting two opposite corners of the right side wall (3) and the left side wall (4) respectively.
In the case of a bottom wall (2) in the form of a reinforced fabric, the reinforced fabric comprises a fold at each of its lateral ends, in which a rope, such as a boat sail, is arranged.
The bent lateral end fitted with a cable is housed in the groove of the guide rail forming the guide means (12) of the bottom wall (2).
In the case of a bottom wall (2) in the form of a hinged slat assembly, the lateral ends of the slats are housed in the groove of the guide rail forming the guide means (12) of the bottom wall (2).
With a view to automating the loading operations of the transfer case (1), the front wall (5) and/or rear wall (6) is/are able to adopt a closed position and an open position for the lateral loading of items into the transfer case (1).
To this end, at least one of the front (5) and rear (6) walls can be moved either by vertical or horizontal translation, or by rotation along a horizontal or vertical axis.
As illustrated, the front wall (5) and rear wall (6) are vertically displaceable along the side walls (3, 4).
According to the previous embodiment, the front wall (5) and rear wall (6) comprise an inner plate provided with a peripheral rim arranged perpendicular to the periphery of the inner plate. The rim is open at the upper end of the inner plate. The opening of the rim constitutes a means of gripping the front wall (5) and the rear wall (6), for its movement in vertical translation. The rim opening at the upper end of the inner plate of the front wall (5) and rear wall (6) forms two upper rim portions.
Securement of the front wall (5) and rear wall (6) to the side walls (3, 4) is achieved, for example, by means of a vertical groove and rib, located respectively on the edge and on the inner plate (81) of a side wall (3, 4), together with an upper stop to prevent the front wall (5) and rear wall (6) from being withdrawn when they are handled.
According to a further feature, the transfer box (1) comprises a gripping means (13), enabling the transfer box (1) to be grasped during the operations of inserting and removing the transfer box (1) from a carton.
As illustrated, the gripping means (13) projects outwards from the upper ends of the side walls (3, 4).
According to the previous embodiment, the gripping means (13) is represented by a horizontal wall located at the upper end of a side wall (3, 4) and extends outwards from the transfer case (1).
As introduced previously, the transfer case (1) according to the invention can be used in an automated or semi-automated way, mobile or integrated into a special machine.
A special machine, not described in the application, can drive the transfer box (1), by opening and closing the front wall (5) or the rear wall (6), actuating the removal means (10) and the return means (11) of the bottom wall (2), integrating an elevator system of the transfer box (1) for its insertion and removal from a carton by the gripping means (13).
As an example of semi-automated use, the transfer box (1) is loaded with articles manually by an operator, placed on a conveyor and taken over by the special machine briefly described above.
As an example of a fully automated application, the transfer case (1) is first taken over by the special machine, the front wall (5) or rear wall (6) is opened, the articles are automatically loaded by the device described in document FR 3 087 427, and then driven by the previously introduced special machine.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| FR2200104 | Jan 2022 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2023/050219 | 1/6/2023 | WO |
