US 11,629,013 B2Granted

Method and device for performing operations on items transported along a manufacturing line

AssigneeAzionaria Costruzioni Macchine Automatiche A.C.M.A. S.p.A.

InventorsLuca Cavazza, Stefano Sinigardi, Enrico Campagnoli, Luca Cerati, Andrea Biondi

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Abstract

A method for performing operations on items (A) transported along a manufacturing line including feeding a sequence of items (A) with respective resting portions along a first feed path onto a first transport surface, arranging a gripping assembly having a first gripping head and a second gripping head, picking up a first item (A) from the first feed path using the first gripping head, rotating the first item (A) around a first rotation axis (R1), performing at least one operation on the item (A) during the rotation thereof around the first rotation axis (R1), swapping the positions of the first gripping head and the second gripping head, resting the first item (A) on a second transport surface and releasing the first item (A), and picking up a further item (A) from the first feed path using the second gripping head.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A method for performing operations on items (A) transported along a manufacturing line comprising:

feeding a sequence of items (A) along a first feed path with respective resting portions of the items (A) resting on a first transport surface;
arranging a plurality of gripping assemblies arranged along a circumferential direction and rotatable along said circumferential direction about a common first rotation axis (R1), wherein each gripping assembly comprises a first gripping head and a second gripping head;
picking up a first item (A) from the first feed path through a picking portion of the item (A) which is different from the resting portion using the first gripping head;
rotating the first item (A) around the first rotation axis (R1);
performing at least one operation on the item (A) during the rotation thereof around the first rotation axis (R1);
swapping positions of the first gripping head and the second gripping head;
resting the resting portion of the first item (A) on a second transport surface and releasing the first item (A) from the first gripping head;
picking up a further item (A) from the first feed path through a picking portion of the further item (A) which is different from the resting portion using the second gripping head.

5 more elements

A device for performing operations on items transported along a manufacturing line comprising:

a picking station and a release station;
a plurality of gripping assemblies arranged along a circumferential direction and rotatable along said circumferential direction around a common first rotation axis (R1);
wherein each gripping assembly comprises a first gripping head and a second gripping head each configured to pick up a respective item (A) from the picking station and to release a respective item (A) in the release station;
wherein the first gripping head is rotatable about the first rotation axis (R1) between the picking station and the release station and between the release station and the picking station, and wherein the second gripping head is rotatable about the first rotation axis (R1) between the picking station and the release station and between the release station and the picking station;
wherein when the first gripping head is in the picking station the second gripping head is in the release station and wherein when the first gripping head is in the release station the second gripping head is in the picking station.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/752,616Filed 24 May 2022
Priority: IT 10202100001355625 May 2021
Published: US 2022/0380138 A11 Dec 2022
Granted: 18 Apr 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification13 codes

B65G 29/02
Rotary conveyors, e.g. rotating discs, arms, star-wheels or cones: for inclined or vertical transit
B65G 47/24
Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors: orientating the articles
B65B 35/58
Orientating, i.e. changing the attitude of, articles, e.g. of non-uniform cross-section: turning articles by positively-acting means, e.g. to…
B65G 43/08
Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting: control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed or discharged