# US 12,759,254 B1 · System of folding displays using an automatic display assembly machine and method of using the same

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- Number: US 12,759,254 B1
- Document ID: US12759254B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 19/032,087
- Filed: 2025-01-19
- Granted: 2026-10-13
- Earliest claimed: 2025-01-19
- Applicants: Diamond Display Group, Inc.
- Inventors: Jacob Yount
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12759254B1

## CPC

- B31B 50/26: Folding sheets, blanks or webs
- B31B: MAKING CONTAINERS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD OR MATERIAL WORKED IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO PAPER (making wound articles, e.g. wound tubes, B31C; combined making and filling B65B)

## Abstract

A system for assembling flattened displays using an autofeeder and an Automatic Display Assembly Machine (“ADAM”) with a pneumatic distribution assembly. The ADAM includes a frame surrounding a conveyor bed assembly with conveyor rollers for receiving the displays from the autofeeder, an injector assembly for squaring the displays, an erector assembly for erecting the displays, a main actuator assembly and head actuator assembly including a number of head beam assemblies with suction cups, and left and right side striker assemblies with flippers, components of which are actuated to create display front shelves with corresponding shelf support rails and which are locked into respective back shelf portions using a back striker assembly. The system further includes an ejector assembly for discharging assembled displays. The pneumatic distribution assembly controls air flow to pneumatic components of the injector assembly, erector assembly, main actuator assembly, head actuator assembly, and back striker assembly.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for folding displays using an Automatic Display Assembly Machine (“ADAM”), the method comprising:
inserting, using an autofeeder, a Pre-Packaged Weekender (“PPW”) display into the ADAM for assembly;
receiving, using an in-feed conveyor of the ADAM, the PPW display from the auto feeder and transporting it with conveyor rollers to a folding staged position;
squaring, using an injector assembly, the PPW display for erecting;
erecting, using an erector assembly comprising a side action beam and a bottom suction assembly, the PPW display to form a rectangular, erected PPW display,
wherein the side action beam is a lateral beam comprising a number of suction cup rail assemblies disposed along a length thereof, and
wherein the side action beam actuates 90 degrees and uses the number of suction cup rail assemblies to grab and erect the PPW display;
lowering a main actuator assembly and a head actuator assembly of the ADAM toward the erected PPW display;
capturing, using a number of suction cups of a number of head beam assemblies disposed on a downward facing surface of a center head beam of the head actuator assembly, a first face of the erected PPW display,
wherein the first face of the erected PPW display comprises a number of front shelves corresponding to a number of back shelves disposed on a second face of the erected PPW display, and
wherein an each front shelf of the number of front shelves corresponds to one of the number of head beam assemblies;
lifting, using the head beam assemblies, the number of front shelves of the erected PPW display, while collapsing, using side strikers of side action assemblies, left and right side-gussets of the number of front shelves, wherein the side action assemblies comprise flippers, flipper rotary pistons, and flipper stroke pistons;
releasing, by removing suction from the number of suction cups of the number of head beam assemblies, the first face of the erected PPW display;
holding, by lowering the head actuator assembly, the number of front shelves into place;
forming and folding, using the flippers of the side action assemblies, shelf support rails corresponding to the number of front shelves;
pressing, using tab strikers of the head beam assemblies, the number of front shelves into receiving pockets of the corresponding shelf support rails, to form latched front shelves;
pushing, using back strikers of a number of back striker assemblies, the number of back shelves towards the number of front shelves;
lowering, using the head actuator assembly, the number of head beam assemblies toward the back striker assemblies;
retracting the back striker assemblies while using the head beam assemblies to capture the back shelves and prevent them from lowering;
locking the back shelves into the front shelves by actuating the tab strikers to press a thumb tab connected to an each back shelf into a receiving hold of the corresponding front shelf while using the flippers to hold the front shelves in place;
holding, using the bottom suction assembly, the PPW display while retracting the tab strikers and the center head beam of the head actuator assembly along with the flippers of the erector assembly, creating an assembled PPW display; and
discharging the assembled PPW display.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the PPW display is a first PPW display of a number of PPW displays, and the method further comprises:
loading the number of PPW displays into the autofeeder at a first height;
engaging the autofeeder to move the number of PPW displays from a load side to a staged side of the autofeeder; and
raising, using the autofeeder, the number of PPW displays from the first height to a second height.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the first PPW display is inserted into the ADAM using the PPW injector mechanism of the autofeeder.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the engaging of the autofeeder to move the number of PPW displays from the load side to the staged side of the autofeeder comprises:
resetting the autofeeder; and
starting a production cycle of the autofeeder, wherein the production cycle comprises:
pushing the number of PPW displays from the load side to the stage side of the autofeeder, and
raising the number of PPW displays from the first height to the second height using a number of lift paddle assemblies.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, further comprising:
inserting, using the PPW injector mechanism of the autofeeder, a second PPW display into the ADAM machine for assembly; and
receiving, using the ADAM machine, the second PPW display from the auto feeder and transporting it with conveyor rollers to the folding staged position.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the lifting of the front shelves of the erected PPW display and the collapsing of the left and right side-gussets of the front shelf occur simultaneously.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the locking of the front shelves into place comprises:
forcing the front shelves down;
pushing, using flippers, a shelf support rail down and under a shelf rail of an each of the front shelves;
pressing, using tab strikers, the front shelves onto the locking tabs of the shelf support rails; and
retracting the center head beam from the erected PPW display.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the discharging of the assembled PPW comprises:
retracting the main actuator assembly; and
actuating an ejector assembly while the conveyor runs.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising
performing, while the PPW display is moving along the conveyor rollers and using an in-feed photo-eye, an initial positioning check of the PPW display to verify a presence and position of the PPW display prior to the squaring and the erecting.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising
staging, using the erector assembly, the PPW display prior to erecting and squaring, wherein the staging comprises:
stopping movement of the PPW display along the conveyor rollers using a stop gate to halt its forward movement;
verifying that the PPW display is in the folding staged position using a staging photo-eye; and
performing a second positioning check using the in-feed photo-eye to confirm the PPW display position.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising pushing, using an injector mechanism of the injector assembly, the PPW display against a squaring bar to align prior to erecting.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the squaring of the PPW display comprises
shifting, using the injector assembly, the PPW display over to a squaring bar to prepare for erecting.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein the erecting further comprises:
raising the bottom suction assembly to grip the second face of the PPW display with a number of bottom suction cups;
moving the erector assembly over and down to grab a side of the PPW display using vacuum cups from the number of suction cup rail assemblies;
retracting the number of bottom suction cups to hold the PPW display securely against the conveyor rollers and prevent the PPW display from lifting off the conveyor rollers; and
rotating the side action beam of the erector assembly, transforming the PPW display into the erected PPW display.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, further comprising:
verifying, using an erect-check photo-eye, that the erected PPW display is in an erect position,
wherein if the erect-check photo-eye detects a solid panel, the erected PPW display is fully erect, and
wherein if the erect-check photo-eye detects no panel or an incomplete opening, the erected PPW display is not fully erect.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, further comprising:
releasing the vacuum cups from the side of the PPW display; and
pushing, using the ejector mechanism, the erected PPW display at an upper right corner so that it compresses against the stop gate to form a squared, erected PPW display.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the forming and folding of the shelf support rails comprises:
actuating the flipper stroke pistons of the side action assemblies to cause the flippers to push down on a number of support rail portions corresponding to the number of front shelves; and
rotating the flippers via the flipper rotary pistons, to flip the number of support rail portions under the corresponding shelf rails and hold them in place during the actuating of the tab strikers.

### Claim 17

A system for folding displays, comprising:
an autofeeder; and
an Automatic Display Assembly Machine (“ADAM”), wherein the ADAM comprises:
a rectangular frame configured to surround and support a conveyor bed assembly, wherein the conveyor bed assembly includes an in-feed conveyor and conveyor rollers configured to receive a flattened, Pre-Packaged Weekender (“PPW”) display from the autofeeder and transport the PPW display into a folding staged position on the conveyor rollers;
an injector assembly configured to square the flattened PPW display for erecting by shifting the PPW display against a squaring bar positioned along a first side of the conveyor assembly;
an erector assembly comprising a side action beam and a bottom suction assembly,
wherein the side action beam is a lateral beam comprising a number of suction cup rail assemblies attached along a length of the lateral beam,
wherein the side action beam is configured to actuate 90 degrees and use the number of suction cup rail assemblies to grab and erect the PPW display, and
wherein the erector assembly is configured to transform the PPW display into a rectangular, erected PPW display;
a main actuator assembly positioned above a head actuator assembly on the rectangular frame and configured to move vertically toward and away from the conveyor bed assembly,
wherein the head actuator assembly comprises a number of head beam assemblies with suction cups disposed on a downward facing surface of a center head beam and a number of tab strikers disposed adjacent to the suction cups;
wherein the suction cups are configured to capture a first face of the erected PPW display comprising a number of front shelves, and lift and lower the front face away from the conveyor rollers;
wherein an each front shelf of the number of front shelves corresponds to one of the number of head beam assemblies;
left and right side striker assemblies, wherein an each of the left and the right side striker assemblies comprises side strikers mounted to an underside of a first horizontal beam of the rectangular frame and a number of side action sub-assemblies mounted to respective vertical beams attached to a second horizontal beam of the rectangular frame,
wherein each of the number of side action sub-assemblies comprises a flipper stroke piston mounted above a flipper rotary piston, and a flipper disposed below the flipper rotary piston,
wherein the side strikers are configured to actuate to collapse left and right side-gussets of the number of front shelves while the first face is lifted by the head actuator assembly and then the number of front shelves are configured to be held in place when the first face is lowered by the head actuator assembly, and
wherein the number of side action sub-assemblies are utilized to create shelf support rails corresponding to the number of front shelves and the number of tab strikers are configured to actuate and press the number of front shelves into receiving pockets of the corresponding shelf support rails to form latched front shelves;
a back striker assembly comprising back strikers positioned under the conveyor rollers, wherein the back strikers correspond to a number of back shelves disposed on a second face of the PPW display opposite the number of front shelves and the back strikers are configured to push the back shelves toward the front shelves;
wherein the number of head beam assemblies are configured to lower toward the back striker assembly and capture the back shelves to prevent them from lowering when the back strikers are retracted,
wherein the tab strikers are actuated to lock the back shelves into the front shelves by pressing a thumb tab connected to an each of the back shelves into a receiving hold of the corresponding front shelf while using the flippers to hold the front shelves in place, forming an assembled PPW display; and
wherein the bottom suction assembly is configured to hold the assembled PPW display while the tab strikers, the center head beam, and the flippers are retracted;
an ejector assembly configured to discharge the assembled PPW display from the system;
an electrical cabinet assembly comprising processors and memory for programming operations of the ADAM, power supplies, interface modules, and operator buttons; and
a pneumatic distribution assembly configured to control air flow to pneumatic components of the injector assembly, the erector assembly, the main actuator assembly, the head actuator assembly, the left and right side striker assemblies, and the back striker assembly.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, further comprising at least one of
an in-feed photo eye positioned along an injector side beam of the injector assembly and configured to confirm a presence and position of the PPW display as it moves along the conveyor rollers;
a staged photo eye positioned near a stop gate of the erector assembly configured to verify the PPW display is in the folding staged position;
an erect-check photo eye configured to confirm the PPW display is erected; and
an exit photo eye positioned along the injector side beam and configured to confirm the PPW display is assembled prior to discharging it from the system.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the bottom suction assembly further comprises
a number of bottom suction cups configured to grip the second face of the PPW display while vacuum cups from the number of suction cup rail assemblies are configured to move over and down to grab a side of the PPW display, and
wherein the number of bottom suction cups are configured to hold the PPW display against the conveyor rollers and prevent the PPW display from lifting off the conveyor rollers while the side action beam rotates, transforming the PPW display into the erected PPW display.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17, wherein the flipper stroke piston of the each of the number of side action sub-assemblies is configured to actuate to cause the respective flipper to push down on a respective support rail portion corresponding to one of the number of front shelves, and
wherein the flipper in the each of the number of side action sub-assemblies is configured to rotate around the respective flipper rotary piston, to flip the respective support rail portion under a corresponding shelf rail and hold it in place while the tab strikers are actuated.