Patent Application
20240367926
The invention relates to a receiving device for transporting at least one object not belonging to the receiving device, the receiving device comprising a base unit with a floor portion, the underside of which is prepared for attachment to a mover, not belonging to the receiving device, of a conveying device also not belonging to the receiving device, and two wall portions which project from two side edges of the floor portion lying opposite one another starting from a side of the floor portion facing away from the underside of the floor portion.
From the applicant's international patent application PCT/EP2022/067894, not yet published at the time of filing the present application, it is known that a receptacle suitable for loading with at least one object can be attached to a mover of a device designed using magnetic levitation technology. However, PCT/EP2022/067894 does not specify how the at least one object can be removed from the receptacle.
From the applicant's European patent application No. 25 153 079.1, not yet published at the time of filing the present application, a connecting arrangement for fastening a receiving device on a mover is known.
US 2020/0030995 A1 generally describes a device designed using magnetic levitation technology.
The task of the invention is to provide a receiving device which can be unloaded in a simple manner and which also allows vertical unloading of objects placed horizontally in the receiving device.
According to the invention, this task is solved by a receiving device of the type mentioned above, which further comprises a tilting unit which is hinged to the base unit by means of a tilting hinge so as to be tiltable about a tilting axis between a horizontal tilting position and a vertical tilting position, which axis extends substantially orthogonally to the wall portions of the base unit, the tilting unit comprising a support portion which, in the horizontal position, extends substantially parallel to the floor portion of the base unit, and two retaining portions which, regardless of the respective tilting position, extend substantially orthogonally to the wall portions of the base unit. When the tilting unit is in its horizontal tilting position it forms, together with the base unit, an upwardly open tray-shaped receptacle into which the objects to be transported can be placed horizontally and stacked on top of one another. The tilting unit can be transferred to its vertical tilting position in order to unload the receiving device. The objects are thereby set upright and can be picked up by a gripper and removed from the receiving device.
To transfer the tilting unit from the horizontal tilting position to the vertical tilting position in a simple manner, it is proposed that an engagement element be provided at a free end of the retaining portion arranged at a distance from the tilting axis. A counter-engagement element of an auxiliary device not belonging to the receiving device is able to engage with this engagement element, so that the tilting unit can be transferred from the horizontal tilting position to the vertical tilting position by moving the auxiliary device and the receiving device relative to one another.
In order to prevent objects from falling out of the tilting unit when the tilting unit is in the vertical tilting position, the auxiliary device can comprise an abutting unit which is pivotably hinged to the auxiliary device about a pivot axis and is designed and intended, after the engagement element of the receiving device and the counter-engagement element of the auxiliary device have engaged with one another, to abut from above against the object or stack of objects received in the receiving device, and to continue to abut in this way during the tilting of the tilting unit by pivoting about the pivot axis in a manner adapted to the tilt.
In order to be able also to abut against the object or object stack from the rear, it is proposed in a further development of the invention that the tilting unit has at least one aperture, preferably at least two apertures, passing from a free end of the retaining portion arranged at a distance from the tilting axis and extending into the support portion, preferably up to an end of the support portion adjacent to the tilting axis. A further abutting unit of the auxiliary device can move through this at least one aperture and abut against the object or object stack.
Through the interaction of the two abutting units, the auxiliary device can perform the function of a removal device which grips the object or object stack by means of the two abutting units and moves it out of the tilting unit.
In order to return the tilting unit to the horizontal tilting position, a return spring, for example a torsion spring, or a pneumatic and/or electric motor-driven power unit can be assigned to the tilting hinge. In principle, however, the tilting unit can also be returned to the horizontal tilting position manually.
To fully support the object or the lowest object of an object stack when the tilting unit is in the horizontal tilting position, it is proposed that the floor portion of the base unit has a support rib at a point corresponding to the at least one aperture in the tilting unit, which rib substantially fills the at least one aperture when the tilting unit is in the horizontal tilting position.
According to a further aspect, the invention further relates to a combination of a receiving device and an auxiliary device. Concerning the advantages that can be achieved with this combination, see the above explanation of the holding device and its interaction with the auxiliary device.
The invention is explained in more detail below based on exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. These show the following:
In
The receiving device 100 comprises a base unit 110 and a tilting unit 120 which is hinged to the base unit 110 by means of a tilting hinge 102 so as to be tiltable about a tilting axis K between a horizontal tilting position (see
The base unit 110 comprises a floor portion 112, which is substantially rectangular in the exemplary embodiment shown. An underside 112a of the floor portion is prepared for connection to a mover M (see
The base unit 110 further comprises two wall portions 114, 116 which project upwards from two longitudinal edges 112b, 112c of the floor portion of the base unit 110.
The tilting unit 120 comprises a support portion 122, which, as will be explained in more detail below, is formed by three support struts 122a in the exemplary embodiment shown, as well as two retaining portions 124, 126, which project upwards from the two short sides 122b, 122c of the support portion 122. While the retaining portion 124, which is arranged on the side of the support portion 122 facing the tilting hinge 102, forms a continuous surface, the opposite retaining portion 126 is formed by three retaining struts 126a, which are formed in one piece with the support struts 122a but extend substantially orthogonally thereto.
In its horizontal tilting position, the tilting unit 120 together with the base unit 110 forms an upwardly open tray into which objects O can be placed.
At this point, it should also be noted that the floor portion 112 of the base unit 110 has two support strips 112d which, when the tilting unit 120 is in the horizontal tilting position, engage in the apertures 122d between the support struts 122a and thus, together with the support struts 122a, form a substantially continuous support surface for the objects O.
In order to unload the objects O vertically, it must be possible to transfer the tilting unit 120 from its horizontal tilting position as shown in
Before explaining further, it should be noted that, although not shown in the figures, the auxiliary device 200 can be moved by means of a displacing apparatus, for example a robot arm.
With the receiving device 100 in a predefined unloading position on the working surface A according to
The auxiliary device 200 is then moved through a circular arc C about the tilting axis A of the tilting unit 120, whereby the tilting unit 120 is lifted out of the base unit 110 of the receiving device 100 and tilted about the tilting axis A. Since both the engagement element 128 and the counter-engagement element 202 abut against each other with circular cylindrical surfaces, they slide smoothly against each other.
As shown in the figures, the auxiliary device 200 has a first abutting unit 210 which is hinged to the base plate 204 of the auxiliary device so as to pivot about a substantially horizontal pivot axis S1. To prevent the objects O from falling out of the receiving device 100 when the tilting unit 120 is tilted, the first abutting unit 210 can be pivoted in such a way that it abuts against the uppermost object O (see
Furthermore, the auxiliary device 200 has a second abutting unit 220 which is hinged to the base plate 204 of the auxiliary device so as to pivot about a substantially horizontal pivot axis S2. This second abutting unit has two abutting tines 222 (see
Once the tilting unit 120 has reached the vertical position shown in
If the two abutting units 210, 220 exert a sufficiently strong lateral pressure on the objects O, they can grip the objects O, remove them from the receiving device 100 and transfer them to a further device (not shown), for example a packaging device.
To return the tilting unit 120 to the horizontal tilting position in a simple manner, the tilting hinge 102 can, for example, be equipped with a return spring (not shown), which initiates the return to the horizontal tilting position as soon as the engagement element 128 has been disengaged from the counter-engagement element 202.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23171557.4 | May 2023 | EP | regional |
