Universal tire stacking and palletizing end effector assembly and system and method of using same

Abstract

A robotic tire end effector apparatus and system including a method for picking up and placing tires positioned horizontally onto vertical stacks of tires. The apparatus and system includes a totem support assembly having a support housing and support bars capable of bearing against the inside diameter of a tire bead and a bottom assembly mounted to the support housing of the totem support assembly. The bottom assembly includes pivot arms and fingers. The fingers are capable of bearing against the inside diameter of the tire bead and supporting the weight of the tire. The support bars are also capable of supporting the weight of a tire. The system includes a computer and program capable of receiving data from the tires for identification, tracing tire location, allocation, pick optimization and continuous calculation of sorting and pick options. The method of use of the apparatus includes positioning the end effector assembly over the top and center of the stack of tires and lowering the end effector assembly through the bead diameters of the stack of tires with the lower pivot arms and the upper support bars in their fully retracted position. The lower pivot arms are pivoted until the fingers firmly bear against the inside diameter of the bead of the lowermost tire. The support bars are extended outwardly until the support bars firmly bear against the inside diameter of the upper tires of the stack. The stack is raised by the end effector assembly to lift the stack of tires.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.