Vacuum beam product dispenser and singulator
AssigneeElectroCom Automation, Inc.
InventorJames M. Pippin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vacuum beam product singulator to singulate "soft" products in an automated order dispensing system (AOS) is comprised of a product cartridge and an inclined conveyor belt. The conveyor belt picks the products from the bottom of the cartridge using a vacuum control element and carries it up the conveyor until it reaches a pinch roller that holds the product ready to be dispensed to a central conveyor of the AOS. Products are picked from the product cartridge by the inclined conveyor in an unbalanced position such that a product will fall off the conveyor unless held by a vacuum generated by the vacuum control element. Thus, random multiplies removed from the cartridge with the picked product fall off the conveyor. The product stream from the hopper is thereby singulated.
Claims19
A product singulator for use in an automatic order filling system for singulating individual products from a stack of products stored in a container comprising:
- a selectively controlled inclined conveyor belt, said inclined conveyor having an upstream input end and a downstream output end, said upstream input end positioned under said container for receiving the stack of products to be singulated;
- a vacuum control element mounted at the surface of said conveyor belt for picking a bottom product from the stack of products and holding the picked product under vacuum control to the surface of the inclined conveyor belt during movement toward the downstream output end, said vacuum control element comprising:
- an exciter pad positioned on the conveyor belt surface having a higher coefficient of friction than the surface of the conveyor belt;
- and
- an opening extending through the exciter pad and conveyor belt;
- means connected to said vacuum control element for generating a vacuum through the opening extending through the exciter pad to establish a vacuum force between the picked product and the conveyor belt;
- means for positioning the container for the stack of products to extend over one side edge of the upstream input end of the inclined conveyor belt such that the center of gravity of any picked product is offset from the longitudinal center of the inclined conveyor belt, the picked product falling therefrom unless held to the conveyor by the vacuum control element;
- control means responsive to a product input signal and signals from said means for sensing to generate control signals to selectively control the rate of movement of the conveyor belt and cause product singulation from the container.
A vacuum beam product singulator comprising:
- a vacuum beam including a vacuum manifold coupled to a vacuum source, the vacuum manifold having a longitudinal slot defined in an upper surface thereof;
- a selectively controlled conveyor belt mounted for movement along the longitudinal length of the vacuum manifold, the conveyor belt having a slidable surface and an attached friction exciter pad said exciter pad including a vacuum opening defined therein and positioned for movement over the slot as the exciter pad and conveyor belt travel along the upper surface of the vacuum manifold;
- means for holding a stack of products to be singulated adjacent to the conveyor belt surface at an upstream input end of the vacuum manifold such that the center of gravity for each product in the stack of products is offset from the longitudinal center of the conveyor belt;
- means for sensing product location and product overlapping and generating signals indicative thereof;
- and
- control means responsive to a product input signal and signals from said means for sensing to generate control signals for selectively controlling the rate of movement of the conveyor belt to pick the bottom product from said stack of products and hold the picked bottom product by means of said vacuum beam during downstream movement toward a downstream output end of said conveyor belt, any product pulled from the stack and not held by the vacuum beam dropping from the conveyor belt.
An automatic order dispensing system for dispensing soft products comprising:
- a central output conveyor;
- a plurality of vacuum beam product singulators contiguous to the central output conveyor for delivering selected products to the central conveyor according to a product dispensing input, each vacuum beam product singulator having an infeed conveyor belt and a vacuum control element mounted on the infeed conveyor belt, and means for holding a stack of products to be dispensed overlaying a first end of the infeed conveyor belt, said vacuum control element picking a bottom product from the stack of products and placing the picked product under vacuum control to be carried to a second end of the infeed conveyor for product delivery to said output conveyor, and said means for holding the stack of products extending over one edge of the infeed conveyor belt such that the center of gravity of the product is offset from the longitudinal center of the conveyor belt.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.