On-the-go check weigh system
AssigneeDimension Automation, Inc.
InventorHans Trechsel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for testing a batch of containers to determine if the containers have been filled with product to the proper volume with the apparatus including a conveyor for moving empty containers from a first location to a second location, a filling head for filling a batch of individual containers, a checkweigh platform for receiving a batch of individual empty containers from the conveying line and individually weighing each of the containers in both the empty condition and the filled condition and a robotic arm for transporting the containers to and from the conveying line and within the checkweighing station.
Claims15
A checkweigh system comprising:
- a set of containers each having an open top for filling each of the containers in the set of containers;
- a conveyor line for conveying the set of containers in an upright condition from a first location where the set of containers are in an unfilled condition to a second location where the set of containers are in a filled condition;
- a pre-staging platform for receiving a portion of the set of containers from the conveyor line;
- a scale for selectively weighing an individual container of the portion of the set of containers in both an unfilled condition and a filled condition
- a post-staging platform for temporarily holding the portion of the set of container transferred from the conveyor line;
- a robotic arm for transferring the portion of the set of containers from the conveyor line to the pre-staging platform and from the pre-staging platform to the post-staging platform;
- and
- a filling head for filing the set of containers to the filled condition while the set of containers are in either the conveyor line or the post-staging platform.
The method of checkweighing a set of containers that are being conveyed from a first location in an unfilled condition to a second location in a filled condition comprising the steps of:
- conveying a set of empty containers along a conveyor line from the first location toward the second location at a first speed;
- temporarily conveying the set of empty containers in the conveyor line at a second speed;
- simultaneously transferring at least two of the empty containers from the conveyor line to a pre-staging platform while the conveyor line is moving at the second speed;
- moving the at least two empty containers one at a time onto a scale to determine the weight of each of the empty containers;
- moving the at least two empty containers to a post-staging platform after the at least two empty containers have been weighed;
- temporarily slowing down the conveyor line to the second speed while filling each of the at least two empty containers;
- transferring the filled at least two empty containers to the pre-staging platform;
- moving the filled at least two containers one at a time onto a scale to determine the weight of each of the filled at least two containers;
- transferring the at least two filled containers from the post-staging platform back to a space in the conveyor line previously occupied by the at least two filled containers when the at least two filled containers were in an empty condition on the conveyor line;
- and
- on-the-go adjusting the amount of filling of the set of empty containers in order to fill the set of empty containers to a predetermined volume.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.