AU2008200056A1

AU2008200056A1 - A robotic collator and palletiser

Info

Publication number: AU2008200056A1
Application number: AU2008200056A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Colin Wells
Original assignee: ROBOTIC AUTOMATION Pty Ltd
Current assignee: ROBOTIC AUTOMATION Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2007-01-29
Filing date: 2008-01-07
Publication date: 2008-08-14

Description

A ROBOTIC COLLATOR AND PALLETISER 00oo STechnical Field SThe present invention relates to robotic arms and conveyors and more particularly but not exclusively to robotic arms and conveyors that are operated so that the arm removes objects from the conveyors and places them on pallets.

INO Background of the Invention SRobotic palletisers are dependent on picking products from individual dedicated N pick off stations for each product. These stations often clog the working area.

oO 00 0A further disadvantage of the above discussed robotic palletisers is that the C1 o conveyors must be stopped in order for the robotic arm to remove the products for the purposes of placing the product on a pallet.

Object of the Invention It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention There is disclosed herein an assembly to collate items, said assembly including: a plurality of conveyors to receive the items and to move the items passed a predetermined location; a robotic arm at said location, the arm being operably associated with the conveyors so that movement of the arm is coordinated with movement of the conveyors: a gripper means configured to engage at least two of the items from the conveyors, the gripper means being mounted on the arm for movement relative thereto and movable by the arm to engage the items so that the articles are attached to the gripper means in a desired orientation and position; a scanner means operatively associated with the arm and positioned relative to the conveyors to identify the items being moved by the conveyors; and wherein said arm is operatively associated with the conveyors, scanner and gripper to move the gripper in unison with a selected one of the conveyors to engage a first item thereon and operate the gripper to attach the first item to the gripper in the desired orientation and position with respect to the gripper, with the arm again being operated

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1079093 I:hxa together with the gripper to move the gripper in coordination with a selected one of the 00 conveyors to engage a second one of the items, with the gripper attaching the second item to the gripper in a desired orientation and positioned with respect to the gripper and first c item, the arm then being operable to move the gripper to a further location at which the items are deposited.

Preferably, said conveyors are generally parallel.

O Preferably, said arm has an extremity to which said gripper is attached, with said Sgripper being movable angularly about a generally upright axis relative to said extremity.

SPreferably, said arm is mounted at said location so as to be movable about a 00 0o generally upright axis.

Preferably, said arm is movable along a path having a component transverse of the conveyors.

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation of a robotic arm and gripper attached thereto to engage articles mounted on conveyors to engage the articles and collate the articles on a pallet; Figure 2 is a schematic top plan view of the robotic arm, gripper and conveyors of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a schematic flow chart of the operation of the arm, conveyors and a scanner employed with the arm and conveyors.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment In the accompanying drawings there is schematically depicted a robotic arm assembly 10. The arm assembly 10 includes a base 11 mounted on a floor 12 at a desired location relative to the conveyors 13, 14 and 15. The conveyors 13, 14 and 15 convey items 16 in the direction of the arrows 17. Preferably the conveyors 13, 14 and 15 are generally parallel and co-extensive, and are operated so as to move in unison. The arm assembly 10 is mounted laterally relative to the conveyors 13, 14 and 15. The conveyors 13, 14 and 15 have upper conveyor surfaces 18 that are located in a horizontal plane and more preferably in a single horizontal plane, with the items 16 resting thereon.

2 1079093_I:hxa The arm assembly 10 further includes an arm 19 having an extremity 20 to which 00oO O a gripper 21 is attached for angular movement about an axis 22. The assembly 10 is operable to move the extremity 20 angularly about the generally vertical axis 22 as well Sas radially relative to the axis 22, and also angularly about horizontal axes provided by pivots 23.

One or more scanners 25 are located upstream of the assembly 10 relative to the direction 17, with the scanner 25 adapted to detect the presence of the items 16. For Sexample the items 16 could be bar coded and/or provided with tags activated by and Sdetected by the scanner 00 C 0 The extremity 24 is also provided with a motor 25 that is operable to angularly Ci move the gripper 21 about the vertical axis 24 passing through the extremity The gripper 21 may be a gripper device as described in Australian Patent Application 2004214591, a claw, vacuum or magnetic device enabling the gripper 21 to pick up a plurality of the items 16 so that an assembly 26 of items 16 can be transported from the conveyors 13, 14 and 15 and stacked on a selected pallet to form one or more stacks 27.

For example in Figure 1, the gripper 21 has an item 16a from the conveyor 13, and an item 16b from the conveyor 14, and an item 16c from the conveyor 15. However it should be appreciated that the gripper 21 could also have any mixture of items 16 from the conveyors 13, 14 and 15 including, as an example, two items 16b, or for that matter a single item 16.

In respect of the above described preferred embodiment it should be appreciated the items 16a on the conveyor 13 may be of a variety of shapes and sizes, and the same applies for the items 16b on conveyor 14, and the items 16c on conveyor The arm assembly 10 is programmable and is electronically linked to the scanner so that the arm assembly 10 can collect a required assembly 26 of the items 16 to form different stacks 27 according to the requirements of each stack 27. That is the scanner provides information for the assembly 10 in that the assembly 10 can select appropriate items 16 to form the assembly 26 to be transformed to a selected one of the stacks 27. It should further be appreciated the conveyors 13, 14 and 15 are also linked to the assembly so that the gripper 26 is moved by the assembly 10 in unison with the selected one of the conveyors 13, 14 or 15. This enables the gripper 26 while moving to engage the 3 1079093 l:hxa itemsl6 to form the assembly 26. Accordingly the arm assembly 10 is synchronised with 00 the conveyors 13, 14 and N, A programmable arm 10, for example, could be a robotic arm manufactured and ¢t sold by Yaskawa of Japan, with the brand name "Motoman EPL 300".

The gripper 21 is moved so that when engaging a selected one of the items 16, the article 16 is located in a desired position and orientation relative to the gripper 21, and IND any of the items 16 attached to the gripper 21.

SAccordingly in respect of the above described preferred embodiment, the arm Sassembly 10 can "randomly" pick different items 16 whether alike or unalike and place 00 S to them on pallets adjacent the location 25 to form the stacks 27. The arm assembly 10 can ,IC be operated to pick up a single article 16 or multiple items 16 are required.

It should be understood that the robotic arm assembly 10 can be synched with the conveyors 13,14,15 so that the robotic arm assembly 10 always knows from where to pick up the items 16 to be conveyed.

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Claims

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said conveyors are generally parallel.
3. The assembly of claim 1 or 2, wherein said arm has an extremity to which said gripper is attached, with said gripper being movable angularly about a generally upright axis relative to said extremity.
4. The assembly of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said arm is mounted at said location so as to be movable about a generally upright axis. The assembly of anyone of claims 1 to 4, wherein said arm is movable along a path having a component transverse of the conveyors. Dated 3 January, 2008 Robotic Automation Pty Ltd Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON 1079093 I:hxa