Systems, apparatus, and methods for grouping articles into arrays of various configurations

A method of grouping articles of manufacture into a predetermined array having at least one row and at least one lane, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) advancing a plurality of articles in a first direction on an infeed carrier apparatus to an article receiving zone, wherein the articles are disposed in a single lane in the first direction and spaced apart from each other;
• b) providing a plurality of carriages for receiving the articles, the carriages having a base and a plurality of support members that combine to define a plurality of article receiving compartments for receiving individual articles, wherein the article receiving compartments are each defined by a compartment width extending in the second direction;
• c) sensing the location of an article on the infeed carrier surface;
• d) receiving articles into each carriage one at a time and moving each carriage in a second direction a predetermined distance after each article is received by the carriage, wherein timing of the movement of each carriage in the second direction is based on the position of the most downstream article on the infeed carrier surface;
• e) moving each carriage once filled with a plurality of articles in the second direction to an article discharge zone;
• f) transferring articles from one or more of the plurality of carriages at a first placement location on an outfeed carrier apparatus to form a first row of articles, the number of articles offloaded equaling the number of lanes of the row;
• g) moving the first row of articles in a third direction away from the article discharge zone on the outfeed carrier apparatus;
• h) moving the plurality of carriages such that a plurality of articles are located in the article discharge zone;
• i) transferring a second row of articles from one or more of the plurality of carriages onto a second placement location of the outfeed carrier apparatus that is adjacent to the first row of articles to form an array of articles, wherein the second placement location is different from the first placement location;
• and
• j) optionally repeating steps c-i until the predetermined number of rows in the array of articles has been provided on the outfeed carrier apparatus.

A method of grouping a plurality of articles into an array, wherein the plurality of the articles are received from an infeed carrier apparatus in a single lane and discharged onto an outfeed carrier apparatus in multiple lanes, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a grouping apparatus comprising a first carriage, a second carriage, a third carriage, and a fourth carriage, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth carriages are operably engaged with the grouping apparatus, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth carriages each have a base and a plurality of support members that combine to define a plurality of article receiving compartments for receiving individual articles, wherein the article receiving compartments are each defined by a compartment width extending in the first direction, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth carriages are configured to advance in a first direction about an endless loop, wherein a portion of the grouping apparatus is positioned between the infeed carrier apparatus and the outfeed carrier apparatus;
• b) sensing the location of an article on the infeed carrier apparatus;
• c) indexing the first carriage in the first direction proximate to the infeed carrier apparatus in an article receiving zone to intermittently receive at least one article onto the first carriage, wherein timing of indexing the first carriage in the first direction is based on the position of the most downstream article on the infeed carrier apparatus;
• d) moving the at least one article on the first carriage in the first direction toward the outfeed carrier apparatus;
• e) indexing the second carriage in the first direction proximate to the infeed carrier apparatus in the article receiving zone to intermittently load at least one article onto the second carriage, wherein timing of indexing the second carriage in the first direction is based on the position of the most downstream article on the infeed carrier apparatus;
• f) transporting the at least one article on the second carriage to the outfeed carrier apparatus;
• g) stopping or decelerating the first carriage proximate to the outfeed carrier apparatus in an article discharge zone;
• h) stopping or decelerating the second carriage adjacent to the first carriage at the article discharge zone;
• i) transferring the at least one article from the first and second carriages onto the outfeed carrier apparatus to form a first row of articles, wherein the number of articles in the first row equals the number of lanes in the first row;
• j) advancing the first row of articles in a second direction on the outfeed carrier apparatus;
• k) indexing the third carriage in the first direction proximate to the infeed carrier in a receiving zone to intermittently load at least one article onto the third carriage;
• l) indexing the fourth carriage in the first direction proximate to the infeed carrier apparatus in the article receiving zone to intermittently load at least one article onto the second carriage;
• and
• m) transferring the at least one article from the third carriage onto the outfeed carrier apparatus to form a second row of articles adjacent to the first row of articles, wherein the number of articles in the second row equals the number of lanes in the second row, wherein the first and second rows of articles are spaced apart in the second direction by a row spacing.