Pickup and feed unit for stacks of blanks
AssigneeG.D Societa'per Azioni
InventorsAlver Tacchi, Alessandro Minarelli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pickup and feed unit for stacks of blanks, wherein a movable pickup head provides for successively picking up the stacks off a pallet, on which the stacks are arranged and oriented in a given manner, and for feeding them to a receiving member. The head presents a frame oriented in a given manner in relation to the receiving member; and a pickup device with suction cups, rotating in relation to the frame and about a vertical axis, so that the stacks, once picked up, are always oriented the same way in relation to the frame and the receiving member.
Claims8
A pickup and feed unit for stacks (2) of blanks, the unit comprising:
- a first frame (6) capable of being positioned above the stacks of blanks;
- a powered pickup head (7) supported by said first frame (6);
- means for positioning said powered pickup head in three dimensions with respect to said first frame;
- a receiving member (64) supported by the first frame (6);
- and
- means for positioning said receiving member with respect to said first frame;
- wherein said powered pickup head (7) further comprises:
- a second frame (29) attached to said first frame (6);
- a pickup means (43) downwardly depending from said second frame (29);
- means for rotating said pickup means (43), in relation to the second frame (29), about a vertical axis (33);
- a movable fork element (54) downwardly depending from said second frame (29) and pivotally mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis (58) in relation to said second frame;
- and
- means for pivotally rotating said fork element (54) about said horizontal axis (58) between an idle position and an operating position, and for selectively positioning said fork element (54) at one of said positions, wherein at least a portion of said movable fork element (54) extends substantially horizontally below said pickup means (43) in said operating position, and wherein said movable fork element (54) does not extend below said pickup means (43) in said idle position;
- whereby said movable fork element (54) is capable of being pivotally rotated and selectively positioned into said idle position, said powered pickup head (7) is capable of being positioned above a selected one of said stacks (2), said pickup means (43) is capable of picking up said selected stack off a supporting surface (3) on which the stacks (2) are arranged and oriented in a given manner and capable of engaging said selected stack, said pickup means (43) engaging said selected stack is capable of being rotated to a selected orientation in relation to said second frame (29) and said receiving member (64), said movable fork element (54) is capable of being pivotally rotated and selectively positioned into said operating position, said pickup means (43) is capable of releasing said selected stack onto at least a portion of said movable fork element (54) thereby supporting said selected stack, and said powered pickup head (7) is capable of transporting said selected stack onto said receiving member (64);
- and
- whereby said unit is capable of successively picking up a remainder of said stacks (2).
The unit as claimed in any one of the foregoing claims wherein said pickup means (43) further comprises a suction cup means (39).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.