Patent Application
20240375810
The present disclosure relates generally edge protection mounting devices in systems for sheet coil packaging.
Coils of sheet metal need to be properly wrapped in order to protect the sheet metal during transport and storage. WO2021219861 describes sheet coil wrapping using two robot arms and a wrapping tool. During a wrapping sequence, the first robot arm inserts the wrapping tool into the central hole of the sheet coil and hands it over to the second robot arm, which transports the wrapping tool along the outside of the sheet coil and hands it back to the first robot arm.
Especially the edges of the sheet metal coils need to be properly protected, so that the sheet metal will not be damaged along the edges. KR20200074765 shows the application of edge protection material on a sheet coil.
Prior art edge protection mounting devices are quite bulky. There is thus a need for an improved edge protection mounting device for use in a system for sheet coil packaging.
The present disclosure relates to an edge protection mounting device for use in a system for sheet coil packaging. The edge protection mounting device preferably comprises an edge protection material guide, configured to feed out and guide edge protection material into a correct position along an outer edge of a sheet coil from the side of an end of the sheet coil, without the edge protection mounting device being arranged above or below the sheet coil as it is rotated by a sheet coil rotating arrangement. The fact that the edge protection mounting device is configured to be arranged at the side of the sheet coil, instead of above or below it, makes the whole system for sheet coil packaging much more compact.
The present disclosure further relates to a system for sheet coil packaging. The system preferably comprises: a sheet coil wrapping arrangement, arranged for wrapping a sheet coil; a sheet coil rotating arrangement, arranged to rotate the sheet coil while it is wrapped by the sheet coil wrapping arrangement; and two edge protection mounting devices. Each of the edge protection mounting devices preferably comprises an edge protection material guide, arranged to feed out and guide edge protection material into a correct position along an outer edge of a sheet coil from the side of an end of the sheet coil, as the sheet coil is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement, while it is wrapped by the sheet coil wrapping arrangement, thereby fixing the edge protection material to the outer edges of the sheet coil by the wrapping. The edge protection mounting devices are preferably arranged beside opposite ends of the sheet coil, without being arranged above or below the sheet coil, as it is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement. The fact that the edge protection mounting devices are arranged at the side of the sheet coil, instead of above or below it, makes the whole system for sheet coil packaging much more compact.
In embodiments, the edge protection material comprises slits along both sides and is folded before being guided into the correct position along the outer edge of the sheet coil. The slits make it possible to use the edge protection material guide to guide folded edge protection material into the correct position along the outer edge of the sheet coil from the side of an end of the sheet coil.
In embodiments, the edge protection mounting device comprises an arm support which carries a mounting arm, on which the edge protection material guide is arranged. This is a simple yet robust construction of an edge protection mounting device.
In embodiments, the edge protection material guide is shaped to guide the material so that it is displaced sideways from the mounting arm. This allows the edge protection mounting device to be arranged at the side of the sheet coil instead of above or below it, while still guiding the edge protection material into a correct position along an outer edge of the sheet coil.
In embodiments, the mounting arm comprises a hinge arrangement, arranged to allow the part of the mounting arm that comprises the edge protection material guide to be moved out of the way when the edge protection material guide is not used.
In embodiments, the arm support comprises a horizontal adjusting arrangement and a vertical adjusting arrangement, so that the mounting arm may be positioned to allow the edge protection material guide to guide the edge protection material into a correct position on the edge of a sheet coil. This enables a simple adjustment to sheet coils of varying dimensions.
In embodiments, the edge protection material is wound up in a folded state on an edge protection material coil carried by the arm support. This means that it is not necessary to provide an arrangement for folding the edge protection material between the edge protection material coil and the edge protection material guide.
In embodiments, the sheet coil wrapping arrangement comprises first and second industrial robots, having first and second robot arms, arranged to wrap the sheet coil using a wrapping tool, using sequences of the first robot arm inserting the wrapping tool into a central hole of the sheet coil and handing over the wrapping tool to the second robot arm, and the second robot arm transporting the wrapping tool along the outside of the sheet coil and handing it back to the first robot arm, as the sheet coil is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement.
In embodiments, the system further comprises an inner edge protection mounting tool, arranged to be moved by the first and second industrial robots for arranging edge protection material on the inner edges of the sheet coil, around the central hole, before the wrapping of the sheet coil.
In embodiments, the inner edge protection mounting tool comprises an edge protection material collecting arrangement, arranged to collect edge protection material directly from one of the edge protection mounting devices, and create a ring of edge protection material to be arranged on an inner edge of the sheet coil.
In embodiments, the system further comprises a further sheet coil rotating arrangement and two further edge protection mounting devices, in order to enable the sheet coil wrapping arrangement to wrap sheet coils in two different positions.
The present disclosure also relates to a method for sheet coil packaging. The method preferably comprises: wrapping a sheet coil using a sheet coil wrapping arrangement; and feeding out edge protection material along an outer edge of the sheet coil as the sheet coil is rotated by a sheet coil rotating arrangement during said wrapping of the sheet coil, using two of edge protection mounting devices. Each of the edge protection mounting devices preferably comprises a mounting arm, on which an edge protection material guide is arranged to feed out and guide edge protection material into a correct position along an outer edge of a sheet coil from the side of an end of the sheet coil, as the sheet coil is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement while it is wrapped by the sheet coil wrapping arrangement, thereby fixing the edge protection material to the outer edges of the sheet coil by the wrapping. The edge protection mounting devices are preferably arranged beside opposite ends of the sheet coil, without being arranged above or below the sheet coil, as it is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement. The fact that the edge protection mounting devices are arranged at the side of the sheet coil, instead of above or below it, makes the whole system for sheet coil packaging much more compact.
In embodiments, the feeding out of edge protection material through the edge protection material guide comprises displacing the edge protection material sideways from the mounting arm. This allows the edge protection mounting device to be arranged at the side of the sheet coil instead of above or below it, while still guiding the edge protection material into a correct position along an outer edge of the sheet coil.
In embodiments, the method comprises moving the part of the mounting arm comprising the edge protection material guide out of the way when it is not needed, using a hinge arrangement comprised in the mounting arm.
In embodiments, method comprises positioning the edge protection material guide of each edge protection mounting device so that it will guide the edge protection material into the correct position along the outer edge of the sheet coil, using an arm support, comprising a horizontal adjusting arrangement and a vertical adjusting arrangement, comprised in the edge protection mounting device.
In embodiments, the sheet coil wrapping arrangement comprises first and second industrial robots, having first and second robot arms, arranged to wrap the sheet coil using a wrapping tool, and the wrapping of the sheet coil comprises using sequences of the first robot arm inserting the wrapping tool into a central hole of the sheet coil and handing over the wrapping tool to the second robot arm, and the second robot arm transporting the wrapping tool along the outside of the sheet coil and handing it back to the first robot arm, as the sheet coil is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement. However, the method works also with other types of sheet coil wrapping arrangements—it may not be necessary to use industrial robots.
In embodiments, the method comprises arranging edge protection material on the inner edges of the sheet coil, around the central hole, using an inner edge protection mounting tool that is moved by the sheet coil wrapping arrangement before the wrapping of the sheet coil.
In embodiments, the method comprises collecting edge protection material directly from one of the edge protection mounting devices, using an edge protection material collecting arrangement comprised in the inner edge protection mounting tool.
In embodiments, the method comprises creating a ring of edge protection material to be arranged on an inner edge of the sheet coil.
In embodiments, the edge protection material comprises plastic and/or cardboard.
In embodiments, the sheet coil is a sheet metal coil.
The scope of the invention is defined by the claims, which are incorporated into this section by reference. A more complete understanding of embodiments of the invention will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantages thereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of one or more embodiments. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawings that will first be described briefly.
Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures.
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for sheet coil packaging. Embodiments of the disclosed solution are presented in more detail in connection with the figures.
In the system 100 illustrated in
Since it is desirable to have edge protection material 400 on both sides of the sheet coil 116, there are preferably two edge protection mounting devices 200, one arranged beside either end of the sheet coil 116. The fact that the edge protection mounting devices 200 are arranged at the side of the sheet coil 116, instead of above or below it, makes the whole system for sheet coil packaging much more compact. Two edge protection mounting devices 200 may thus be arranged beside opposite ends of a sheet coil 116, to feed out and guide edge protection material 400 into correct positions along the outer edges of the sheet coil 116 as the sheet coil 116 is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement 120.
The illustrated edge protection mounting device 200 comprises a mounting arm 210, which is carried by an arm support 220. On a first end of the mounting arm 210, an edge protection material coil 250 is arranged. The edge protection material coil 250 has a conical shape, because the edge protection material 400 that has been wound up on the edge protection material coil 250 is folded, as illustrated in
On a second end of the mounting arm 210, an edge protection material guide 300 is arranged.
The mounting arm 210 is preferably moved so that the edge protection material guide 300 is positioned to apply the folded edge protection material 400 along the outer edge of the sheet coil 116 as the sheet coil 116 is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement 120. The arm support 220 is preferably arranged to be easily adjustable both horizontally and vertically, so that it will be easy to position the mounting arm 210 so that the edge protection material guide 300 will guide the folded edge protection material 400 into the correct position on the edge of the sheet coil 116. The arm support 220 therefore preferably comprises both a horizontal adjusting arrangement 230 and a vertical adjusting arrangement 240. This enables a simple adjustment to sheet coils 116 of varying dimensions.
The illustrated edge protection mounting device 200 for use in the system 100 for sheet coil packaging thus comprises an arm support 220 which carries a mounting arm 210 having a first end, where an edge protection material coil 250 comprising wound-up edge protection material 400 in a folded state is arranged, and a second end, where an edge protection material guide 300 is arranged to guide the folded edge protection material 400 into the correct position on the edge of a sheet coil 116. It is however not necessary for the edge protection material coil 250 to be carried by the mounting arm 210 or for the edge protection material 400 to be wound-up in a folded state on the edge protection material coil 250.
The system 100 for sheet coil packaging preferably comprises: a sheet coil wrapping arrangement 112, 113, arranged for wrapping a sheet coil 116; a sheet coil rotating arrangement 120, arranged to rotate the sheet coil 116 while it is wrapped by the sheet coil wrapping arrangement 112, 113; and two edge protection mounting devices 200, each comprising an edge protection material guide 300, arranged to feed out and guide edge protection material 400 into a correct position along an outer edge of a sheet coil 116 from the side of an end of the sheet coil 116, as the sheet coil 116 is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement 120 while it is wrapped by the sheet coil wrapping arrangement 112, 113, thereby fixing the edge protection material 400 to the outer edges of the sheet coil 116 by the wrapping. As illustrated in
The sheet coil wrapping arrangement may e.g. comprise two industrial robots 112, 113, as shown in
As shown in
The system 100 works also with other types of sheet coil wrapping arrangements—it may not be necessary to use industrial robots 112, 113.
After the wrapping operation in the wrapping station, a crane or similar may be used to lift out the wrapped sheet coil to an after-processing station, where supplementing packing operations may be carried out manually or semi-automatically.
The system 100 may comprise a robot jig 114 having a first 148 and possibly a second 149 intersecting leg. The first leg 148 of the robot jig 114 is configured with first 150 and a second 151 robot base mounts placed apart on said first leg 148. The second leg 149 of the robot jig 114 may be configured with a first coil roller abutment 152 placed at an end of the second leg 149. The sheet coil rotating arrangement 120 may e.g. be positioned in relation to the robot jig 114 with the aid of positioning beams with abutment, so that the sheet coil rotating arrangement 120 will not be in physical or mechanical contact with the robot jig 114 during operation, in order to avoid dynamical forces being conveyed to the robot jig 114.
In embodiments configured with two sheet coil stations, the robot jig 114 may comprise two sheet coil rotating arrangements 120, and thus a second coil roller abutment 153 placed at the other end of the second leg 149.
The robot jig 114 shown in
In the embodiment shown in
Sheet coils 116 appear in different sizes. A large coil may have a length of 2300 mm, normal sizes are in the range of 1200 to 1500 mm length and down to a minimum that may be 800 mm length. The central hole 118 often has an inner diameter of 508 or 610 mm, and there are diameters as small as 420 mm. The outer diameter of a coil may vary from for example 1 to 2.5 meters.
The system 100 may further comprise a wrapping material clamping station 156 placed within reach of at least one robot arm 108, 109, for example placed substantially midway between the industrial robots 112, 113. The wrapping material clamping station 156 may be provided with one or more wrapping material clamps 157, 158 configured to hold a strip of wrapping material. The wrapping material clamping station 156 may e.g. be placed substantially at the intersection of the first and second legs 148, 149 of the robot jig 114, for example substantially midway between the robot base mounts 150, 151. The wrapping material clamping station 156 may be provided with one or more wrapping material clamps 157, 158 configured to hold a strip of wrapping material.
The system 100 may further comprise a roll magazine 160 for storing a plurality of rolls 106 of wrapping material available to one or more of the industrial robots 112, 113. The roll magazine 160 may e.g. be configured with one or more roll places 164, and an associated wrapping material clamp 162, 166 for each roll of wrapping material. The wrapping material clamps 162, 166 may each be configured to hold a strip of wrapping material. The roll magazine 160 may in use be positioned and placed within reach of at least one of the robots, for example at the side of the robot setup or in front of one of the robots e.g. at the side of the coil roller.
The system 100 may further comprise a measuring arrangement configured to measure the position and dimensions of a sheet coil 116 positioned on a sheet coil rotating arrangement 120 for being packaged with wrapping material. In embodiments, the measuring system comprises one or more laser measuring tools, for example mounted on one of or both robot arms 108, 109. With such a laser measuring tool mounted on the robot arm, it is preferable that it is positioned such that is has an optical line that is unobstructed by a roll of wrapping material attached to the wrapping tool 110. When measuring the position and dimensions, the system 100 is configured to find the center of the coil, follow the contours and calculate the position and the dimensions.
The system 100 may further comprise a robot control system 170 configured to control the movement of the industrial robots 112, 113 in relation to a sheet coil 116 positioned on a sheet coil rotating arrangement 120 in the system 100. The robot control system 170 may comprise input/output interfaces configured to be communicably couplable to the industrial robots 112, 113, to one or more sheet coil rotating arrangements 120, and/or to a human/machine interface (not shown) for example in the form of a GUI generating a dashboard. The robot control system 170 may be used for determining the dimensions of a sheet coil 116 before applying edge protection.
The wrapping tool 110 preferably comprises two opposing ends 102, 103, each end being provided with a coupling tool piece 122, 123 configured to interface with a robot arm 108, 109. The wrapping tool 110 preferably further comprises a roll holder shaft 104 configured to hold a roll 106 of packaging material, the holder shaft 104 at one end being rotatably mounted substantially midway between said, preferably opposing, ends 102, 103 and projecting substantially perpendicular to an axis extending between said, preferably opposing, ends 102, 103. The wrapping tool 110 may be provided with a housing 105 comprising one or more cover plates 107A, 107B.
In embodiments, the robot arms 108, 109 are each provided with a coupling robot piece 124, 125, for example a gripper or a master piece of a tool changer, configured to be able to grip or mate with a respective coupling tool piece 122, 123 of the wrapping tool 110. As shown in
The coupling tool pieces 122, 123 of the wrapping tool 110 are configured to be able to convey actuating power from a power supply line of a robot, such as an industrial robot. The actuating power may in different embodiments for example be in the form of pneumatic power, hydraulic power or electric power. The coupling may typically be configured to be couplable by a bayonet coupling and/or locked in position by means of actuation power controlled by the respective robots.
The coupling configured for interfacing between the industrial robots and the wrapping tool 110 may be configured in the form of a robot tool changer, with the coupling tool piece 122, 123 configured to be able to mate with a coupling master piece 124, 125 of said tool changer mounted on a respective robot arm 108, 109. Such couplings may be configured with a presence sensor adapted to detect or indicate that the wrapping tool 110 is attached to the robot arm 108, 109. The presence sensor may e.g. be integrated in the tool changer functionality of the coupling and be based on pneumatic or electric signals that are readable by the robot control system, or arranged at the side of the coupling, for example in the form of an electric presence detector coupled to the robot control system.
The roll holder shaft 104 may comprise a roll fixture 140, 141 configured to releasably fix a roll of wrapping material to the roll holder shaft 104. For example, a portion 140, 141 of the roll holder shaft 104 may be configured to be radially expandable to enable a roll fixture to releasably fix a roll of wrapping material to the roll holder shaft 104. This may e.g. be implemented as one or more inflatable bladders 140, 141 that are controllably inflatable by means of pneumatic power, i.e. pressurized air, conveyed from the respective robots via the coupling interfaces. Alternatively, the roll fixture 140, 141 may be actuatable for example by electric or hydraulic power. An embodiment comprises first and a second radially expandable portions 140, 141 in the form of inflatable bladders on the shaft 104, such that the first expandable portion is configured to fix a roll of wrapping material having a first lesser wideness, and such that the combined first and second expandable portions are configured to fix a roll of wrapping material having a larger wideness.
The wrapping tool 110 may further comprise at least one motor configured to be able to drive, prevent and/or brake rotation of the roll holder shaft 104. This may enable driving of the roll holder shaft 104 in first rotational direction, e.g. forwards, for example to roll out wrapping material from the roll in synchronization with the movement of the robots, or in a second rotational direction, e.g. backwards, for example to roll up or in wrapping material onto the roll in order gather superfluous wrapping material or increase the tension of the wrapping material. This further enables prevention of rotation of the roll, for example in order to keep a rolled out strip of wrapping material at a certain length or to keep a current tension of the wrapping material. Further, this enables braking of the rotation of the roll, for example in order to obtain, vary or keep a certain tension in the roll.
If also inner edge protection around the central hole 118 of the sheet coil 116 is used, this is preferably applied before the outer edge protection. This may be done using an inner edge protection mounting tool, provided with a coupling piece configured to interface with a robot arm 108, 109. The coupling piece is preferably similar to the coupling tool pieces 122, 123 of the wrapping tool 110, since it preferably interfaces with the same robot arms 108, 109. The inner edge protection mounting tool is preferably picked up by a robot arm 108, 109 of an industrial robot 112, 113 before the wrapping process for the sheet coil 116 is started. The inner edge protection mounting tool preferably comprises an edge protection material collecting arrangement that enables the creation of a ring of edge protection material 400. The edge protection material 400 may e.g. be the same edge protection material 400 that is used for protection of the outer edges of the sheet coil 116.
When a new sheet coil 116 arrives at the sheet coil rotating arrangement 120, it is preferred to position edge protection material 400 on both sides of the central hole 118 of the sheet coil 116 before the wrapping process is begun. This is preferably done using the robot arms 108, 109 of the industrial robots 112, 113. Each robot arm 108, 109 picks up the inner edge protection mounting tool, interfacing with the coupling piece. As explained above, the robot arms 108, 109 may each be provided with a coupling robot piece 124, 125, for example a gripper or a master piece of a tool changer. This coupling robot piece 124, 125 is preferably configured to be able to grip or mate with the coupling piece, in the same way as with the coupling tool pieces 122, 123 of the wrapping tool 110.
The coupling piece may be configured to be able to convey actuating power from a power supply line of the industrial robot 112, 113. The actuating power may e.g. be in the form of pneumatic power, hydraulic power or electric power. The coupling may typically be configured to be couplable by a bayonet coupling and/or locked in position by means of actuation power controlled by the respective robots. The coupling configured for interfacing between the industrial robots 112, 113 and the inner edge protection mounting tool may be configured in the form of a tool changer, with the coupling piece configured to be able to mate with a coupling master piece 124, 125 of said tool changer mounted on a respective robot arm 108, 109. Such couplings may be configured with a presence sensor adapted to detect or indicate that the inner edge protection mounting tool is attached to the robot arm 108, 109. The presence sensor may e.g. be integrated in the tool changer functionality of the coupling and be based on pneumatic or electric signals that are readable by the robot control system 170, or arranged at the side of the coupling, for example in the form of an electric presence detector coupled to the robot control system 170.
The robot arm 108, 109 then moves the inner edge protection mounting tool to a position where edge protection material 400 can be collected. If the edge protection material 400 is the same edge protection material 400 that is used for protection of the outer edges of the sheet coil, the edge protection material 400 may be collected directly from one of the edge protection mounting devices 200. In that case, the edge protection mounting device 200 feeds out edge protection material 400 of the desired length, and this is picked up by the edge protection material collecting arrangement, so that a ring of edge protection material 400 is created around the edge protection material collecting arrangement. The edge protection material 400 may however of course instead be collected from another storage of edge protection material 400. The inner edge protection mounting tool is moved, using the industrial robot 112, 113, into the central hole 118 of the sheet coil 116. The industrial robot 112, 113 then moves the inner edge protection mounting tool out of the central hole 118, and hands it over to the other industrial robot 112, 113, or places it in a storage position.
The ring of edge protection material 400 stays in the central hole 118 due to the material properties of the edge protection material 400—when the edge protection material 400 is folded, it tries to straighten out. This is normally enough to keep the ring of edge protection material 400 in position during the wrapping of the sheet coil 116, so that the ring of edge protection material 400 becomes fixed to the sheet coil 116 by the wrapping as the sheet coil 116 is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement 120. It is preferred not to use any type of adhesives to keep the ring of edge protection material 400 in position.
In embodiments, the feeding out 760 of edge protection material 400 through the edge protection material guide 300 comprises displacing the edge protection material 400 sideways from the mounting arm 210. This allows the edge protection mounting device 200 to be arranged at the side of the sheet coil 116, instead of above or below it, while still guiding the edge protection material 400 into a correct position along an outer edge of the sheet coil 116.
In embodiments, the sheet coil wrapping arrangement 112, 113 comprises first 112 and second 113 industrial robots, having first 108 and second 109 robot arms, arranged to wrap the sheet coil 116 using a wrapping tool 110, and the wrapping 750 of the sheet coil 116 comprises using sequences of the first robot arm 108 inserting the wrapping tool 110 into a central hole 118 of the sheet coil 116 and handing over the wrapping tool 110 to the second robot arm 109, and the second robot arm 109 transporting the wrapping tool 110 along the outside of the sheet coil 116 and handing it back to the first robot arm 108, as the sheet coil 116 is rotated by the sheet coil rotating arrangement 120. However, the method 700 works also with other types of sheet coil wrapping arrangements—it may not be necessary to use industrial robots 112, 113.
In embodiments, the sheet coil 116 is a sheet metal coil.
The method 700 may further comprise one or more of:
The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention to the precise forms or particular fields of use disclosed. It is contemplated that various alternate embodiments and/or modifications to the present invention, whether explicitly described or implied herein, are possible in light of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined only by the claims.
Further, not all of the steps of the claims have to be carried out in the listed order. All technically meaningful orders of the steps are covered by the claims.
