US 8,473,094 B2 · Method and apparatus for gripping and transferring pieces of luggage

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for automatically removing pieces of luggage that have different surface properties and dimensions and getting the pieces of luggage ready for further transport by means of a gripper that is hingedly connected to a robot arm is described. The method includes: a) moving the gripper and the container that is to be emptied close together; b) determining the first piece of luggage to be removed; (c) gripping the piece of luggage using a horizontal suction elements (3) and withdrawing the luggage horizontally; d) if the vertical suction elements (4) are not yet able to sufficiently grip the luggage, the vertical suction elements (4) are repositioned and turned off, the vertical suction elements (5) are repositioned, and then turned on to re-grip the piece of luggage.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An apparatus for automatically removing pieces of luggage which differ in terms of their surface composition and their specific dimensions and for preparing for onward transportation by means of a gripper housing which is articulated to a robot arm and has suction elements, comprising:

a) a robot arm articulated to a gripper housing (2), comprising a horizontal suction element carrier (6) with at least one horizontal suction element (3) and a vertical suction element carrier (5) with at least one vertical suction element (4), wherein the vertical suction element carrier (5) comprises a push rod in the vertical direction, and the horizontal suction element carrier (6) is horizontally displaceable relative to the gripper housing (2),
b) the suction elements (3, 4) that are individually controlled and actively provide information to a control center by way of respective suction processes,
wherein both the horizontal suction element carrier (6) and the vertical suction element carrier (5) have in adjacent regions differently configured suction elements,
wherein at least one suction element (3, 4) has at least one activatable adjusting element (18) for setting a spring bias, and
wherein removal of the pieces of luggage is visualized in 3D and real time by an image recognition system.

2 more elements

A method for automatically removing pieces of luggage which differ in terms of their surface composition and their specific dimensions and for preparing for onward transportation comprising a gripper housing which is articulated to a robot arm and has suction elements, comprising:

a) moving the gripper housing (2) and the container to be emptied close to each other, wherein a plurality of pieces of luggage are disposed within said container,
b) determining a piece of luggage to be removed from the container,
c) gripping the piece of luggage with the horizontal suction element carrier (6) in combination with the horizontal suction elements (3) and withdrawing the piece of luggage from the container by retracting the horizontal suction element carrier (6) toward the gripper housing (2) from an extended position,
d) if the vertical suction elements (4) are not yet able to sufficiently grip the piece of luggage:
repositioning the vertical suction element carrier (5) and deactivating the vertical suction elements (4),
regripping the piece of luggage by moving the vertical suction element carrier (5) at least one of sideways, forward and backward, and reactivating the vertical suction elements (4) again, and
if necessary, repeating step d) until the piece of luggage is securely gripped by both the horizontal suction element carrier (6) and the vertical suction element carrier (5).

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and apparatus for gripping and transferring pieces of luggage

Life of this patent

Method and apparatus for gripping and transferring pieces of luggage

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20