Back to results
US 9,790,035 B2Granted
Gapping systems and methods
OwnerRaymond R. Neiser, Brian J. Resnick +1inventors
InventorsRaymond R. Neiser, Brian J. Resnick, Ralf Buerkle
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various embodiments provide systems and methods for providing a desired gap between articles within a continuously flowing train of articles. Various embodiment methods may include operating a material handling system including a plurality of conveying units, by generating motion profiles for a plurality of articles to provide a pre-determined gap between the articles, and controlling the plurality of conveying units to move each article in accordance with its motion profile as the plurality of articles move through the material handling system.
Claims18
A method for operating a material handling system to achieve desired gapping of conveyed articles, the method comprising:
- sensing, on an infeed conveyor, an initial gap between a lead article and a following article;
- prior to the lead and following articles transporting onto a series of variable speed conveying units, generating, by a computing device, a motion profile for the following article based at least in part on the initial gap between the articles and a target final gap as the articles are discharged from the series of variable speed conveying units;
- and
- for each interval of time as the lead and following articles are conveyed across the series of variable speed conveying units:
- determining an assigned velocity and a resulting distance that the following article has conveyed on the series of variable speed conveying units based upon the motion profile at the particular interval of time;
- determining a particular conveying unit that corresponds to the resulting distance;
- and
- controlling, by the computing device, the particular conveying unit to operate at the assigned velocity,
- wherein the motion profile includes a selected one of:
- (i) an initial gap that is less than the target final gap, (ii) an initial gap that is equal to the target final gap to maintain a gap, and (iii) an initial gap that is greater than the target final gap to create headroom as a gap bank for subsequently received articles.
7 more elements
A method for operating a material handling system to achieve desired gapping of conveyed articles, the method comprising:
- sensing, on an infeed conveyor, an initial gap between a lead article and a following article;
- prior to the lead and following articles transporting onto a series of variable speed conveying units, generating, by a computing device, a motion profile for the following article based at least in part on the initial gap between the articles and a target final gap as the articles are discharged from the series of variable speed conveying units;
- and
- for each interval of time as the lead and following articles are conveyed across the series of variable speed conveying units:
- determining an assigned velocity and a resulting distance that the following article has conveyed on the series of variable speed conveying units based upon the motion profile at the particular interval of time;
- determining a particular conveying unit that corresponds to the resulting distance;
- and
- controlling, by the computing device, the particular conveying unit to operate at the assigned velocity,
- wherein generating the motion profile further comprises limiting a jerk in rate of change in acceleration of second article to remain within a threshold amount to prevent sliding of the second article on the series of variable speed conveying units.
6 more elements
A method for operating a material handling system to achieve desired gapping of conveyed articles, the method comprising:
- sensing, on an infeed conveyor, an initial gap between a lead article and a following article;
- prior to the lead and following articles transporting onto a series of variable speed conveying units, generating, by a computing device, a motion profile for the following article based at least in part on the initial gap between the articles and a target final gap as the articles are discharged from the series of variable speed conveying units;
- and
- for each interval of time as the lead and following articles are conveyed across the series of variable speed conveying units:
- determining an assigned velocity and a resulting distance that the following article has conveyed on the series of variable speed conveying units based upon the motion profile at the particular interval of time;
- determining a particular conveying unit that corresponds to the resulting distance;
- controlling, by the computing device, the particular conveying unit to operate at the assigned velocity;
- determining whether a selected conveying unit is empty based on analyzing all active motion profiles at a current time interval;
- in response to determining that the selected conveying unit is empty, determining an adjusted velocity of an adjacent upstream conveying unit according to a motion profile associated with an upstream article when positioned to transition onto the selected conveying unit;
- and
- adjusting a velocity of the selected conveying unit to reach the adjusted velocity prior to the upstream article transitioning onto the selected conveying unit.
8 more elements
A computing device, comprising:
- a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
- sensing on an infeed conveyor an initial gap between a lead article and a following article;
- prior to the lead and following articles transporting onto a series of variable speed conveying units, generating, by a computing device, a motion profile for the following article based at least in part on the initial gap between the articles and a target final gap as the articles are discharged from the series of variable speed conveying units;
- and
- for each interval of time as the lead and following articles are conveyed across the series of variable speed conveying units:
- determining an assigned velocity and a resulting distance that the following article has conveyed on the series of variable speed conveying units based upon the motion profile at the particular interval of time;
- determining a particular conveying unit that corresponds to the resulting distance;
- and
- controlling, by the computing device, the particular conveying unit to operate at the assigned velocity,
- wherein the motion profile includes a selected one of:
- (i) an initial gap that is less than the target final gap, (ii) an initial gap that is equal to the target final gap to maintain a gap, and (iii) an initial gap that is greater than the target final gap to create headroom as a gap bank for subsequently received articles.
8 more elements
A computing device, comprising:
- a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
- sensing on an infeed conveyor an initial gap between a lead article and a following article;
- prior to the lead and following articles transporting onto a series of variable speed conveying units, generating, by a computing device, a motion profile for the following article based at least in part on the initial gap between the articles and a target final gap as the articles are discharged from the series of variable speed conveying units;
- and
- for each interval of time as the lead and following articles are conveyed across the series of variable speed conveying units:
- determining an assigned velocity and a resulting distance that the following article has conveyed on the series of variable speed conveying units based upon the motion profile at the particular interval of time;
- determining a particular conveying unit that corresponds to the resulting distance;
- and
- controlling, by the computing device, the particular conveying unit to operate at the assigned velocity,
- wherein the processor performs operations further comprising generating the motion profile by limiting a jerk in rate of change in acceleration of second article to remain within a threshold amount to prevent sliding of the second article on the series of variable speed conveying units.
7 more elements
A computing device, comprising:
- a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
- sensing on an infeed conveyor an initial gap between a lead article and a following article;
- prior to the lead and following articles transporting onto a series of variable speed conveying units, generating, by a computing device, a motion profile for the following article based at least in part on the initial gap between the articles and a target final gap as the articles are discharged from the series of variable speed conveying units;
- and
- for each interval of time as the lead and following articles are conveyed across the series of variable speed conveying units:
- determining an assigned velocity and a resulting distance that the following article has conveyed on the series of variable speed conveying units based upon the motion profile at the particular interval of time;
- determining a particular conveying unit that corresponds to the resulting distance;
- and
- controlling, by the computing device, the particular conveying unit to operate at the assigned velocity,
- wherein the processor performs operations further comprising:
- determining whether a selected conveying unit is empty;
- in response to determining that the selected conveying unit is empty, determining an adjusted velocity of an adjacent upstream conveying unit according to a motion profile associated with an upstream article when positioned to transition onto the selected conveying unit;
- and
- adjusting a velocity of the selected conveying unit to reach the adjusted velocity prior to the upstream article transitioning onto the selected conveying unit.
11 more elements
A material handling system, comprising:
- an infeed conveyor to convey a lead article and a following article;
- a series of variable speed conveying units to receive the lead article and the following articles that are discharged from the infeed conveyor;
- a sensor to detect a gap between the lead and following articles as conveyed on the infeed conveyor;
- a computing device in communication with the sensor and the series of variable speed conveying units, the computing device comprising a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
- sensing on an infeed conveyor an initial gap between a lead article and a following article;
- prior to the lead and following articles transporting onto a series of variable speed conveying units, generating, by a computing device, a motion profile for the following article based at least in part on the initial gap between the articles and a target final gap as the articles are discharged from the series of variable speed conveying units;
- and
- for each interval of time as the lead and following articles are conveyed across the series of variable speed conveying units:
- determining an assigned velocity and a resulting distance that the following article has conveyed on the series of variable speed conveying units based upon the motion profile at the particular interval of time;
- determining a particular conveying unit that corresponds to the resulting distance;
- and
- controlling, by the computing device, the particular conveying unit to operate at the assigned velocity,
- wherein the motion profile includes a selected one of:
- (i) an initial gap that is less than the target final gap, (ii) an initial gap that is equal to the target final gap to maintain a gap, and (iii) an initial gap that is greater than the target final gap to create headroom as a gap bank for subsequently received articles.
11 more elements
A material handling system, comprising:
- an infeed conveyor to convey a lead article and a following article;
- a series of variable speed conveying units to receive the lead article and the following articles that are discharged from the infeed conveyor;
- a sensor to detect a gap between the lead and following articles as conveyed on the infeed conveyor;
- a computing device in communication with the sensor and the series of variable speed conveying units, the computing device comprising a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
- sensing on an infeed conveyor an initial gap between a lead article and a following article;
- prior to the lead and following articles transporting onto a series of variable speed conveying units, generating, by a computing device, a motion profile for the following article based at least in part on the initial gap between the articles and a target final gap as the articles are discharged from the series of variable speed conveying units;
- and
- for each interval of time as the lead and following articles are conveyed across the series of variable speed conveying units:
- determining an assigned velocity and a resulting distance that the following article has conveyed on the series of variable speed conveying units based upon the motion profile at the particular interval of time;
- determining a particular conveying unit that corresponds to the resulting distance;
- and
- controlling, by the computing device, the particular conveying unit to operate at the assigned velocity,
- wherein the processor performs operations further comprises generating the motion profile by limiting a jerk in rate of change in acceleration of second article to remain within a threshold amount to prevent sliding of the second article on the series of variable speed conveying units.
10 more elements
A material handling system, comprising:
- an infeed conveyor to convey a lead article and a following article;
- a series of variable seed conveying units to receive the lead article and the following articles that are discharged from the infeed conveyor;
- a sensor to detect a gap between the lead and following articles as conveyed on the infeed conveyor;
- a computing device in communication with the sensor and the series of variable speed conveying units, the computing device comprising a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
- sensing on an infeed conveyor an initial gap between a lead article and a following article;
- prior to the lead and following articles transporting onto a series of variable speed conveying units, generating, by a computing device, a motion profile for the following article based at least in part on the initial gap between the articles and a target final gap as the articles are discharged from the series of variable speed conveying units;
- and
- for each interval of time as the lead and following articles are conveyed across the series of variable speed conveying units:
- determining an assigned velocity and a resulting distance that the following article has conveyed on the series of variable speed conveying units based upon the motion profile at the particular interval of time;
- determining a particular conveying unit that corresponds to the resulting distance;
- and
- controlling, by the computing device, the particular conveying unit to operate at the assigned velocity,
- wherein the processor performs operations further comprising:
- determining whether a selected conveying unit is empty;
- in response to determining that the selected conveying unit is empty, determining an adjusted velocity of an adjacent upstream conveying unit according to a motion profile associated with an upstream article when positioned to transition onto the selected conveying unit;
- and
- adjusting a velocity of the selected conveying unit to reach the adjusted velocity prior to the upstream article transitioning onto the selected conveying unit.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.