Patent Application
20220306326
In the food distribution process it is typically necessary to consolidate individual articles or packages containing the food into larger groupings, for instance in containers, boxes, cartons, or trays. Quite often this operation is carried out manually, wherein the articles or packages arrive at a packing station on conveyor, and then workers manually place the articles or packages into the containers, boxes, cartons, or trays.
In some situations, the packing of articles or packages into larger groupings now occurs using automated equipment. Groups of articles or packages are picked up using a lifting head mounted on a robot. The lifting head is constructed to move the articles or packages relative to each other so that they are in proper position to be placed into the containers/boxes/cartons/trays. This requires a rather complicated construction of the lifting head, the lifting head having individual sections capable of attaching to the articles of packages, and also the sections of the lifting head must be capable of moving relative to each other to achieve the proper registration of the articles of packages.
The present disclosure seeks to address the shortcomings of prior methods and systems for packing articles of packages into larger groupings. The present disclosure is applicable not only for food distribution, but also for distribution of many other types of goods that are consolidated for shipping or distribution.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, a container packing system for placing articles into one or more containers includes: a registration system for arranging the articles at a staging location of the packaging system into a loading registration configuration wherein the positions of the articles correspond with the locations and configurations of the one or more containers; a loader for transferring the articles from the staging location into predetermined locations in the one or more containers, and a control system for controlling the operation of the registration system to arrange the articles into loading registration configuration at the staging location and for operating the loader to transfer the articles from the staging location and into the one or more containers.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein the registration system comprises a first conveyor for delivery of the articles to a second conveyor onto which the articles are positioned relative to each other into loading registration configuration.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein the second conveyor comprises the staging location.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, further comprising: a sensor for sensing the locations of the articles on the first conveyor and producing data related to such locations, and the control system using the data from the sensor for controllably operating the first and second conveyors so that the articles are delivered from the first conveyor to the second conveyor into loading registration on the second conveyor.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein the loader comprises: an interface for attachment to the articles to be placed into the containers; an actuating system for moving the interface between the staging location and the one or more containers to transfer the articles from the staging location and into the one or more containers, the control system controlling the operation of the actuating system.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein the interface comprises a lifting head for attachment to the articles for lifting the articles from the staging location.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein the articles comprise tops, and the lifting head is configured to attach to the tops of the articles.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein the actuating system comprises a five-bar linkage arrangement to which the interface is mounted.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein the five-bar linkage arrangement is located above the staging location.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein the five-bar linkage arrangement is configured to detachably mount the interface.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein two of the linkages of the five-bar linkage arrangement are powered to move the interface between the staging location and the one or more containers.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, further comprising an auxiliary linkage arrangement mounted on the five-bar linkage arrangement and connected to the interface to maintain the interface in selected orientation relative to the articles being lifted from the staging location and placed into the one or more containers.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, wherein the auxiliary linkage arrangement is linked to the five-bar linkage arrangement to thereby operate on the auxiliary linkage arrangement based on the motion of the five-bar linkage arrangement.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, further comprising a conveyance system for transporting the one of more containers to the staging location to be loaded, and then for transporting the one or more containers away from the staging location after being loaded, wherein the control system controls the conveyance system to position the containers in predetermined position relative to the staging location
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings, where like numerals reference like elements, is intended as a description of various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter and is not intended to represent the only embodiments. Each embodiment described in this disclosure is provided merely as an example or illustration and should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The illustrative examples provided herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Similarly, any steps described herein may be interchangeable with other steps, or combinations of steps, in order to achieve the same or substantially similar result.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that many embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without some or all of the specific details. In some instances, well-known process steps have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure various aspects of the present disclosure. Further, it will be appreciated that embodiments of the present disclosure may employ any combination of features described herein.
The present application may include references to “directions,” such as “forward,” “rearward,” “front,” “back,” “ahead,” “behind,” “upward,” “downward,” “above,” “below,” “top,” “bottom,” “right hand,” “left hand,” “in,” “out,” “extended,” “advanced,” “retracted,” “proximal,” and “distal.” These references and other similar references in the present application are only to assist in helping describe and understand the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present invention to these directions or specific references.
The present application may include modifiers such as the words “generally,” “approximately,” “about”, or “substantially.” These terms are meant to serve as modifiers to indicate that the “dimension,” “shape,” “temperature,” “time,” or other physical parameter in question need not be exact, but may vary as long as the function that is required to be performed can be carried out. For example, in the phrase “generally circular in shape,” the shape need not be exactly circular as long as the required function of the structure in question can be carried out.
In the following description, various embodiments of the present disclosure are described. In the following description and in the accompanying drawings, the corresponding systems assemblies, apparatus and units may be identified by the same part number, but with an alpha suffix. The descriptions of the parts/components of such systems assemblies, apparatus, and units that are the same or similar are not repeated so as to avoid redundancy in the present application.
In the present application and claims, references to a “tray,” “carton,” “box,” and “container,” are used interchangeably and are meant to include all manner trays, cartons and containers to receive articles for packing therein. Also, the present application and claims refer interchangeably to “articles”, “packages” and “items” to be placed or packed into the trays, cartons, and containers.
Referring to the FIGURES, disclosed is a container packaging system 20 composed of a registration system 22 for arranging articles 24 at a staging location 26 into a loading registration configuration. A loader 28 lifts the articles 24 from the staging location 26 for placement into predetermined locations in containers 30. Although not necessarily always the case, the containers 30 can be sized and configured to receive a plurality of articles 24. A control system 32 controls the operation of the packaging system, including controlling the registration system 22 so that the articles 24 are placed in the correct registration configuration at the staging location 26, and controlling the operation of the loader 28 to transfer the articles 24 into predetermined locations in the containers 30.
Next describing the foregoing complements of the container packaging system 20 in more detail, the packaging system includes a frame structure 40 having a forward section which supports the registration system 22 as well as the loader 28 above the registration system. Although not shown, a housing encloses the frame structure 40 as well as the registration system 22 and loader 28. The housing has been removed from the FIGURES so that the components of the packaging system 20 can be viewed without obstruction.
The frame structure 40 is also constructed with a rearward section that supports a conveyor system 42 disposed within the housing on which the containers 30 are positioned relative to the registration system 22 for receiving the articles 24 from the loader 28. The conveyor system 42 includes a central belt conveyor 44 corresponding to the location of the registration system 22 on which the containers 30 are located when being loaded. Upstream from the central belt conveyor 44, a feed conveyor 46 delivers empty containers 30 to the central belt conveyor.
The empty containers 30 travel to the feed conveyor 46 on an underlying conveyor 48 moving from the right to the left in
Also controlled by the control system 32, a takeaway conveyor 49 is positioned to receive filled containers 30 from the central belt conveyor 44. The takeaway conveyor 49 is shown as a roller conveyor, but can be of other construction. Also, the takeaway conveyor 49 can be interconnected with one or more other conveyors, not shown, for transfer of the filled containers to other downstream locations, such as a cold storage room or a shipping area.
The registration system 22 in basic form includes a first feed conveyor 50 aligned with the second registration conveyor 52, both extending along and positioned in front of the conveyor system 42 while supported on the frame structure 40. The conveyors 50 and 52 are constructed with corresponding endless flat belts 54 and 56, which are in close end-to-end proximity to each other to facilitate transfer of the articles 24 from belt 54 to belt 56, as described below. The conveyor belts 54 and 56 are each driven by separate servomotors so that the belts can be started, moved, and stopped under the control of the control system 32 to arrange the articles 24 into desired registration configuration on conveyor 52, as described below.
An optical sensor system 58 is positioned near the downstream end of the feed conveyor 50 sense the position and size (length) of the articles 24 being fed by conveyor 50. A reflection plate 59 is mounted across from the feed conveyor 50 from the location of the optical sensor 58 to receive and reflect back the optical signal emitted by the sensor 58. As can be appreciated, other types of position sensing systems, such as radar or lidar systems, can also be employed to sensor the position and size of the articles 24 on the conveyor 50.
A delivery conveyor 60 delivers the articles 24 to the feed conveyor 50. The delivery conveyor 60 includes a frame structure 62 supported by legs 64. A conveyor belt 66 is mounted on the frame structure 62 to deliver articles 24 to the feed conveyor 50.
Side rails 68 extending along the conveyor belt 66 to position the articles 24 into desired location laterally of the width of the conveyor belt 66. To this end, the side rails 68 can be laterally adjusted by loosening knob screws 70 extending through slots formed in lateral tabs extending from the side rails 68, and then shifting the side rails laterally relative to the width of the conveyor belt 66. As will be appreciated, such adjustment of the side rails 68 can be made to accommodate the width of the articles 24 as well as to align the articles 24 relative to the width of the feed conveyor 58.
As shown in
As described more fully below, the operation of the feed conveyor 50, registration conveyor 52, delivery conveyor 60, and exit conveyor 80 are all controlled by control system 32. To this end, encoders may be integrated in the conveyors 50, 52, 60, and 80, as well as the conveyors of system 42, so that the positions of the articles/containers on the conveyor is known. Further the control system sends signals to the servo motors or other types of motors used to drive the various conveyors of the packaging system 20.
Referring to the FIGURES, the loader 28 includes an interface 90 for attachment to the articles 24 that are arranged in registry on registration conveyor 52, for placement of the articles in the containers 30. The loader 28 also includes an actuating system 92 on which the interface 90 is mounted for operation. As with the various conveyors described above, the operation of the loader and interface is controlled by the control system 32.
The actuating system 92 is in the form of a five-bar linkage arrangement mounted above the frame structure 40 by on an upper frame structure 94, which is suspended above the registration station 22 by a pair of upright posts 96 extending upwardly from frame structure 40. A crossbar 98 is attached to the upper ends of the posts 96. In turn, side plates 100 and 101 of the upper frame structure 94 are attached to the crossbar 98. Front and rear connecting brackets 102 and 104 interconnect the upper edge portions of the side plates 100 and 101 to maintain the side plates a desired separation.
The proximal ends of actuator links 110 and 112 are rotatably mounted to the frame structure 94 at lower portions of the side plates 100 and 101. Motors 114 and 116 are mounted on the plate 101 to extend outwardly thereof. The motors 114 and 116 operate to rotate the actuator links 110 and 112 through the various operating position of the actuator as shown in
The five-bar linkage arrangement of actuating system 92 also includes a link 122 extending between the distal end of link 110 and interface 90. A corresponding link 124 extends between the distal end of link 112 and interface 90. The ends of the links 122 and 124 are pivotally attached to the corresponding links 110 and 112, respectively, as well as to the interface 90.
The interface 90 includes an attachment head 126 to which the distal ends of links 112 and 124 are pivotally connected. The interface 90 also includes a longitudinally extending quick release attachment tool 130 detachably connected to the attachment head 126. The attachment tool 130 includes an upper beam section 132 from which three sets of suction plates 134 depended downwardly via connector columns 136 spanning between the beam section 132 and suction plates 134. Suction tubes 140 also depended downwardly from the beam section 132 to extend through longitudinal slots formed in the suction plates. Suction heads 142 are mounted on the lower ends of the suction tubes 140 engage the tops of the articles 24 arranged on the registration conveyor 52. The suction tubes 140 are connected to a vacuum source associated with the container packaging system 20.
Although the attachment tool 130 as described above is utilizing a vacuum to attach to the tops of the articles 24, other types of attachment tools can be utilized, for example, clamping or gripping units for securing the articles for transfer from the registration conveyor 52 to the containers 30.
As most clearly shown in
To this end, the auxiliary linkage arrangement 150 includes a first link 152 having its proximal end rotatably attached to frame structure side plates 100 and 101. The distal end of the first link 152 is rotatably attached to the end of the longer arm 154 of the first crank 156. The crank includes a shorter arm 158 extending substantially transversely to the longer arm 154 for pivotal connection to the proximal end of second link 160. The first crank is rotatably mounted in alignment with pivot joint between the links 112 and 124. The distal end of the second link 160 is pivotally attached to an attachment link 162. The attachment link 162 has a base portion fixedly connected to the end portions of attachment head 126. As shown in
The auxiliary linkage arrangement 150 can be designed otherwise if, for example, the articles being transferred are placed into the container 30 in non-level orientation, for example, in an angular orientation relative to the horizon. Further, it may be that the articles have been transferred to not have a flat top surface as in articles 24, thus it is necessary to grasp or attach to a surface of the articles that is not level, but instead disposed at an angle from level. In this situation, the auxiliary linkage arrangement 150 can be designed so that the orientation of the attachment tool being used can be attached to the desired surface or section of the article being transferred. For example, one or both of the first and second links 152 and 160 can be designed to be adjustable in length, including during the actual operation of the loader 28.
Also, it may be that the articles are to be placed into the containers in an orientation that is different than their orientation when in registration position on the registration conveyor. In such case, the auxiliary linkage can be designed to accommodate the “packing” position of the articles.
As discussed above, the control system 32 is used to control and operate the container packaging system 20 of the present disclosure, including the various conveyors as well as the loader 28. As shown schematically in
The control system 32 can be connected to a network 178. Also, rather than employing a local computer/processor 170, a network computing system can be used for this purpose.
As illustrated, the filled packages or articles 24 are loaded into the containers 30 using a pick and place loader 28. Two side-by-side articles 24 are shown as placed into each of the containers 30. For this to occur automatically, it is necessary that the articles 24 are in correct position or registration at staging location 26 located beneath the tool 130 as the tool is operated by an actuating system 92 to lower down to the tops of the articles 24, grasp the articles, lift the articles from the staging location, properly position the articles over the containers 30, and then place the articles into the container 30 at a predetermined location. Such container location changes with each set of articles placed into the container. It will be appreciated that in other situations, more than two, or fewer than two, side-by-side packages may be placed into the containers 30.
To correctly position the articles at the staging location 26, the articles arrive at the staging location on the first servo motor driven feed conveyor 50 from the delivery conveyor 60 in random spacing between the articles. An article sensing/measuring device 58 optically senses the location of the articles on the first conveyor 50. The articles are transferred to a second servo driven registration conveyor 52 to be in correct relative spacing to match the relative spacing required for loading the articles into the containers 30. This is accomplished by the pre-programed cooperative movement of the two conveyors 50 and 52. In this regard, the registration conveyor 52 is indexed by a servo drive motor to be in proper position when receiving articles 24 from the first feed conveyor 50.
For example, to achieve the side-by-side paired spacing of the articles 24 shown in
Continuing the foregoing sequence, the registration conveyor 52 moves/indexes forwardly a distance that is greater than the last movement, so that a space exists between the fifth article and the prior received fourth article. Then, the registration conveyor indexes ahead just enough so that the sixth article is loaded onto the registration conveyor 52 from the feed conveyor so as to be in touching relationship to the fifth article. In this manner, the six articles 24 are positioned in three sets of two side-by-side touching articles.
The operation of the conveyors 50 and 52 can be preprogrammed so that the conveyors automatically position the articles in proper relative position on the registration conveyor, which serves as the staging location so the articles can be loaded automatically into the containers 30. In this regard, it will be appreciated that the programming of the operation of the conveyors 50 and 52 will take into consideration the number and size of the articles/packages as well as a size and shape of the containers 30 to be filled. Also, it will be appreciated that the attachment tool 130 may be changed out to correspond to the number, type, size, shape, construction, material composition, etc. of the articles being loaded into the containers 30.
Once the articles 24 are in the correct registration position at the staging location 26, the articles are transferred to the containers 30 with the loader 28 operating, for example, in the sequence shown in
Next motors 114 and 116 operate on five-bar links 110 and 112 to spread the distal ends of the links apart as shown in
It will be appreciated that during the transfer of the articles from the staging location 26 to the containers 30 in the manner described above, the auxiliary linkage arrangement 150 operates to maintain the attachment tool 130 in a vertical position articles 24 remain in level orientation, see
It will also be appreciated that due to the construction of the container 30, it may not be possible to lower the articles 12 directly downwardly into the container due to a lip or flange extending from the upper edge of the container end wall, inwardly towards the interior of the container. Thus, if the articles were lowered vertically into the container, the lip or flange of the container would interfere with the lowering movement of the articles. In this situation, the articles could be lowered a distance inwardly away from the lip or flange, and then once fully lowered into the container, the articles could be nudged toward the container end wall and beneath the overhanging lip or flange.
Once the container 30 has been filled with articles 12, the central conveyor 44 can be advanced to place the containers on the takeaway conveyor 49. Then, a new set of containers 30 can be transferred to the central conveyor 49 from the feed conveyor 46, and thereby place the containers in position to receive new sets of articles 12 from the loader 28. This process can be continued until all of the articles 12 have been loaded into the containers 30.
The packaging system 20 can then be “adjusted” to load other articles into continues 30 or into other containers. This may necessitate a change in the attachment tool 130 used for the new articles. This is readily accomplished by simply detaching the attachment tool 130 from the attachment head 126 using a “quick” connection system of various configurations. Also, the operation of the various conveyors of the packaging system 20 can be adjusted using a program stored in the control system 32. Or, the required parameters for operating the various conveyors and other components of packaging system 20 for the new articles could be inputted into the control system using the interface 172. These new parameters could be stored in the memory unit 174 for future use.
While illustrative embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
