Racking system and method
AssigneeIntegrated Automation Systems, LLC
InventorsMichael E. Peters, Wesley Scott, Michael P. McHugh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Manual and automated racking systems and associated methods for loading/unloading glass panels (e.g., insulating glass units (IGU), laminated glass units, glass composites, monolithic glass, and the like) onto/from a transportable rack, and a rack for use with the manual and automated racking systems.
Claims12
An automated racking system for use with a production line for production of glass panels, said system comprising:
- a rack for transporting glass panels;
- a rack indexer assembly for transporting the rack along a travel path, said rack indexer assembly including:
- a frame defining the travel path for loading and unloading glass panels to/from the rack, said frame having a feed end for receiving the rack and an exit end for outputting the rack,
- a motor-driven assembly mounted to the frame for advancing the rack along the travel path, and
- a pop-up roller assembly having a roller unit comprised of a plurality of motor-driven rollers, said roller unit movable between a lowered position and a raised position, wherein in the raised position, glass panels are loaded/unloaded onto/from the rack;
- and
- a control unit for controlling the motor-driven assembly and controlling movement of the roller unit between the lowered and raised positions.
A system for producing glass panels comprising:
- processing equipment for a glass panel production line, said processing equipment having a plurality of rollers mounted thereto;
- a rack for transporting glass panels;
- a rack indexer assembly for transporting the rack along a travel path, said rack indexing assembly including:
- a frame defining the travel path for loading and unloading glass panels to/from the rack, said frame having a feed end for receiving the rack and an exit end for outputting the rack,
- a motor-driven assembly mounted to the frame for advancing the rack along the travel path, and
- a pop-up roller assembly having a roller unit comprised of a plurality of motor-driven rollers, said roller unit movable between a lowered position and a raised position, wherein in the raised position, the plurality of rollers of the roller unit align linearly along a horizontal axis with the plurality of rollers of the processing equipment;
- and
- a control unit for controlling the motor-driven assembly and controlling movement of the roller unit between the lowered and raised positions.
A rack indexer assembly for transporting a rack along a travel path of a production line having processing equipment for production of glass panels, said rack indexer assembly including:
- a frame defining the travel path for loading and unloading the glass panels to/from the rack, said frame having a feed end for receiving the rack and an exit end for outputting the rack;
- a motor-driven assembly mounted to the frame for advancing the rack along the travel path;
- and
- a pop-up roller assembly having a roller unit comprised of a plurality of motor-driven rollers, said roller unit movable between a lowered position and a raised position, wherein in the raised position, glass panels are loaded/unloaded onto/from the rack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.