Case packing system having robotic pick and place mechanism and dual dump bins
OwnerDavid M. Fallasinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A robotic case packing system loads articles from one conveyor into containers on another conveyor using a robotic pick and place mechanism and a set of pivoting bins. A controller moves the robotic mechanism in first picking movements to pick and place articles from the conveyor into the first bin. Once the first bin is full, the controller pivots the first bin to allow the articles stacked in the first bin to be loaded into a container held below. While the first bin is pivoting, the controller moves the robotic mechanism to pick and place articles from the conveyor into the second bin. The process repeats with the controller pivoting the second bin during the picking movements used to fill the first bin and vice versa.
Claims22
A case packing system for loading articles into containers, the articles conveyed next to the containers, the system comprising:
- first and second bins disposed next to the conveyed articles, each of the first and second bins selectively rotatable between set and rotated positions;
- a robotic mechanism disposed above the conveyed articles and disposed in between the first and second bins, the robotic mechanism movable in three axes;
- and
- a controller operatively coupled to the first and second bins and the robotic mechanism, the controller configured to:
- pick and place, in one or more first picking movements, one or more of the conveyed articles into the first bin in the set position,
- pick and place, in one or more second picking movements, one or more of the conveyed articles into the second bin in the set position,
- rotate the first bin from the set position, to the rotated position, and back to the set position after the one or more first picking movements, and
- rotate the second bin from the set position, to the rotated position, and back to the set position after the one or more second picking movements.
A case packing method for loading articles into containers, comprising:
- conveying the articles along a first conveyance direction;
- conveying the containers along a second conveyance direction parallel to the first conveyance direction;
- picking and placing, in one or more first picking movements, one or more of the articles from the first conveyance direction into a first bin;
- picking and placing, in one or more second picking movements, one or more of the articles from the first conveyance direction into a second bin;
- emptying the articles from the first bin into one of the containers after the one or more first picking movements;
- and
- emptying the articles from the second bin into another one of the containers after the one or more second picking movements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.