US 2012/0233967 A1 · MACHINE AND METHOD FOR CARTONING ARTICLES

Abstract

Machine and method for cartoning articles in containers or boxes, in which the machine has a loading section comprising an article inlet area; a loading area for loading articles into the containers; a configuring device; at least a first robot arranged to load articles from the inlet area and transfer the articles to the configuring device; at least a second robot arranged to pick up articles from the configuring device and transfer them to the loading area, in which the configuring device comprises an array of seats for temporary accommodation of articles, and the array of seats of the configuring device is formed from rows of article-receiving seats having a variable transversal distance; the configuring device operates in a synchronised manner with the first robot and with the second robot varying the relative position between respective rows of seats to provide interface respectively with the first robot and with the second robot.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A machine for cartoning articles in containers or boxes having a loading section, the machine comprising:

an article inlet area, positioned to feed articles arranged in one row or in two generally parallel rows, with positioning of the articles in the inlet area substantially according to a 1×N line array or a 2×N two-line array during use, where N is the number of articles per row;
an area for loading articles into the containers;
a configuring device;
at least a first robot or manipulator positioned to load articles from the inlet area and transfer the articles to the configuring device;
at least a second robot or manipulator positioned to pick up articles from the configuring device and transfer them to the loading area;
and
wherein the configuring device includes an array of seats for temporary accommodation of articles, the array of seats of the configuring device being formed by rows of article receiving seats where the transversal distance between at least two of the rows of seats of the configuring device is variable.

4 more elements

A method for loading articles in boxes or containers in a cartoning machine, the method comprising:

feeding articles to an inlet area of a loading section of the cartoning machine, the articles being arranged in one row or two rows substantially forming a 1×N array or a 2×N array, respectively;
moving the array of articles in a configuring device for temporary accommodation of the articles, the configuring device comprising substantially parallel rows of seats for temporary receiving the articles,
generating the array of articles on the configuring device by means of one or more steps by at least one first robot or manipulator,
transferring at least one row of the array of articles from the configuring device to an article loading area through a second robot or manipulator,
operating the configuring device in a synchronised manner with the first robot or manipulator and with the second robot or manipulator, the configuring device at each work cycle varying the relative position between the rows of temporary receiving seats, at least between a first interfacing position with the first robot, and a second interfacing position with the second robot.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Machine and method for cartoning articles

Life of this patent

Machine and method for cartoning articles

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims13