Pallet impact station and associated methods

A pallet impact station comprising:

• a frame;
• a front pendulum swing arm and a rear pendulum swing arm rotatably coupled to said frame;
• a carriage assembly carried by said front and rear pendulum swing arms;
• a latching mechanism extending between said frame and said rear pendulum swing arm, and configured to
• engage said rear pendulum swing arm when said carriage assembly is in a lowered position,
• raise said carriage assembly to a raised positon, and
• disengage said rear pendulum swing arm at the raised positon so that said carriage assembly strikes a pallet;
• a movement sensor carried by said frame and configured to generate a signal corresponding to how high said carriage assembly is raised by said latching mechanism;
• a braking mechanism carried by said front pendulum swing arm and said frame;
• and
• a controller configured to
• operate said latching mechanism, including disengaging said at least one pendulum swing arm when a height of the carriage assembly corresponds to a desired release height so that a predetermined impact force strikes the pallet, and
• activate said braking mechanism after said carriage assembly strikes the pallet so as to prevent said carriage assembly from bouncing back and striking the pallet again.

A method for operating a pallet impact station comprising a frame;

• at least one pendulum swing arm rotatably coupled to the frame;
• a carriage assembly carried by the at least one pendulum swing arm;
• a latching mechanism extending between the frame and the at least one pendulum swing arm;
• a movement sensor carried by the at least one pendulum swing arm to generate a signal corresponding to how high the carriage assembly is raised by the latching mechanism, the method comprising:
• operating the latching mechanism to engage the at least one pendulum swing arm when the carriage assembly is in a lowered position;
• operating the latching mechanism to raise the carriage assembly to a raised positon;
• monitoring the signal generated by the movement sensor corresponding to how high the carriage assembly is raised by the latching mechanism;
• and
• operating the latching mechanism to disengage from the at least one pendulum swing arm when a height of the carriage assembly corresponds to a desired release height so that a predetermined impact force strikes a pallet.