Packaging assembly
AssigneeMultivac Sepp Haggenmueller SE & Co. KG
InventorMichael Lang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A packaging assembly and a method of operating such a packaging assembly, the packaging assembly comprises at least one of a thermoform packaging machine, a separation robot, a conveyor and a checkweigher. The separation robot is operable to adjust a distance between packages of a group of packages formed by the packaging machine. The conveyor and the separation robot may be operated together to provide a flow of packages that is supplied to the checkweigher, wherein the flow of packages may include substantially constant distances between the individual packages.
Claims14
A packaging assembly comprising:
- a packaging machine for producing a plurality of packages, wherein the packages travel through the packaging machine in a production direction, and the produced packages are spaced apart in the production direction at a production distance;
- a conveyor for conveying packages in a direction substantially parallel to the production direction;
- and
- a separation robot for transferring packages from the packaging machine to the conveyor, the separation robot including a gripper with a plurality of product take-up devices that are displaceable relative to one another, wherein the product take-up devices are displaceable between:
- a first position, at which neighboring product take-up devices of said plurality of product take-up devices are spaced apart at a first distance in the production direction and at said first distance, said plurality of product take-up devices of the gripper are adapted to take up a respective package from said packaging machine;
- and
- a second position, at which said neighboring product take-up devices of said plurality of product take-up devices are spaced apart at a second distance in the production direction and at which the gripper is disposed to put down the packages taken up by said plurality of product take-up devices onto the conveyor so that said packages are spaced apart on the conveyor in the production direction at a conveying distance;
- wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance.
A method of operating a packaging assembly, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a packaging machine, a conveyor, and a separation robot;
- wherein the separation robot transfers a first group of packages from the packaging machine to the conveyor and, in so doing, enlarges, prior to putting the packages down onto the conveyor, a first distance between the packages to a second distance between the respective packages;
- wherein the second distance is at least one and a half times the size of the first distance;
- wherein, the separation robot puts down a second group of packages onto the conveyor after the first group of packages such that a third distance between a last package of the first group and a first package of the second group is approximately equal to the second distance between the packages within the first group.
A method of operating a packaging assembly, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a packaging machine, a conveyor, and a separation robot;
- transferring a first group of packages using the separation robot from the packaging machine to the conveyor, wherein said first group of packages comprises a plurality of packages;
- placing the first group of packages on the conveyor using the separation robot;
- enlarging a first distance between the packages of said first group to a second distance between the respective packages before said first group of packaging is placed on the conveyor, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance;
- and
- placing a second group of packages on the conveyor after placing said a-first group of packages such that, when said second group directly follows said first group, a third distance between a last package of said a first group and a first package of said second group on the conveyor substantially corresponds to the second distance between the packages within the first group.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.